Gentleman Sinner

‘Thank you.’ She holds them up with a small smile and wanders back to her room as I slip my feet into some shoes and follow her.

‘I’m here if you need anything, Penny,’ I say to her back. ‘Even just to talk.’

She nods, taking the handle of the door, looking back at me with a smile I know is appreciative. ‘Thank you. Really.’

I wave off her gratitude with a dismissive hand. ‘Did Callum give you the pill I asked him to get?’

Another nod. ‘I took it straightaway. Is Theo okay?’ Her question has me pausing a beat.

‘Yes,’ I answer reassuringly. ‘He’s fine.’

‘That’s good.’ She shifts awkwardly, pushing the door open, and I ponder telling her what I know. Does she care? ‘I know you know,’ she says before I get the chance to decide.

I smile mildly, if a little awkwardly. ‘It makes sense now.’

‘I don’t deserve him, really. I’ve given him the runaround for years. He just wanted to make me feel wanted.’

‘You are wanted.’

‘I know,’ she admits, sounding thoughtful. ‘I’m lucky to have him. And he’s lucky to have you.’ She pushes her way into the room and closes the door, and I stare at it for a moment. I’m lucky to have him, too.

Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I head down the stairs to Theo, now eager to find him, not just to see him but to show him how lucky I feel. Does he realize?

After I’ve passed through the corridors and the office without seeing a soul, I break into the club, finding it bustling, music pumping, dancers dancing and . . . fighters fighting. The crowd of men around the arena is dense, all of them cheering on the two well-formed males in the enclosure. Sweat is flying as they swing at each other, both connecting on every hit. I grimace, looking over to the stage, where the dancers are pretty much seducing the poles for no one, everyone in the club more interested in the blood-bath happening in the cage.

I scan the space, looking for Theo, but find Jess instead, sitting at the bar. ‘Hey,’ I say as I pull a stool over and join her. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Thought I’d come see you.’

‘Except I wasn’t here, and you didn’t call me to tell me you were.’ My smile is teasing, and she completely ignores it. ‘Callum picked me up.’

‘Nice of him,’ I reply flippantly, signalling to the barman for a drink. ‘Where’s Theo?’

‘With his mother.’

‘Thought so.’ I accept my drink when it slides towards me. I bet she’s dishing out a thorough telling-off. I can’t help but feel sorry for my deadly boyfriend.

‘They’re like rottweilers,’ Jess muses, looking across to the cage with a shudder. I don’t look, certain I don’t want to see the carnage. But I find myself swivelling on my stool on instinct when a roar of cheering breaks out, seeing one man going down in a hazy spray of blood and sweat. He hits the deck with a deafening thud, and Jess grabs my arm as I cringe and quickly turn away from the massacre.

‘Everything okay?’ she asks a little tentatively, sympathy emblazoned across her face.

I smile my reassurance. ‘Everything’s fine.’

Jess frowns, and my glass pauses at my lips. ‘Then why did Theo look like he was about to kill someone when he got here?’

‘What?’

‘When he arrived, he looked possessed. Two of the security guys were talking to him.’

I lower my glass, rewinding back a few hours to when Theo left me in his bed. His phone was ringing. Who was calling him, and what did they tell him? ‘What’s going on?’ I say quietly, slowly lowering my glass to the table.

‘Judy asked the same question, as did Callum and Andy.’ She turns and points towards the dressing room. ‘They all went that way.’

I’m off my stool before she’s finished, making a beeline for the dancers’ dressing room. I don’t want to think what I’m thinking, but Theo’s apparent rage is making those thoughts unstoppable. His security men were talking to him when he arrived. Were they the ones who called him? Did they advise Theo where to find Penny’s attacker?

My mind spirals. The hollering and heckling of the crowds around the fight fade, my surroundings blurred as I make my way across the club, pushing through people, around tables, and rounding the stage. I have one purpose: Find Theo and get an explanation for his apparent fury. Stop him from breaking his promise to me. It’s only now I realize he didn’t actually promise me he’d let it go. Was he appeasing me? Telling me what I wanted to hear? God, I’m so stupid for believing Theo could let it slide. My pace quickens, and I skirt my way through a cluster of men, apologizing when I bounce off the arm of one of them, too focused on where I’m headed rather than actually getting there. ‘Sorry,’ I blurt, looking up at him.