A Billionaire's Mistake

60|Secrecy

Sienna

After the events of today, I'm utterly drained by the time I reach Riley and Carmen's apartment. The original plan was for all of us to stay at Lincoln and I's apartment, but after the scare at my building earlier, it didn't feel safe there, either. Nowhere seemed safe.

After accompanying me home to ensure Muggles got fed, we trucked back to their apartment together, where Carmen and Riley stayed up and binged Lifetime movies with me, which didn't help since both of them included some form of a deranged psychotic stalker. It felt good to be around my friends, but as soon as they went to bed, I lay on their couch, staring at the dark ceiling with nothing but anticipation.

It felt like the finale to Travis's game would hit at any minute. He was toying with my emotions, preying on my weaknesses, and soon, he would tire of teasing. Soon, he'd have the final match, but it was the matter of when that had me on edge.

It'd been two hours since Carmen and Riley went to bed, yet sleep seemed like a foreign, unattainable thing. How could I sleep knowing someone had been following me today?

The footage I obtained from the security building (shockingly) held a glitch during the last thirty minutes when I was at work. Archer had said he'd gather footage from nearby facilities to see what he could find, but there hadn't been any luck tracking down who was in the building with me. The obvious answer would be Travis, but I knew him well enough. It wasn't time to reveal his cards. Not yet. Whoever was following me may have been hired by him, but Travis wouldn't show his face until he knew for certain he had me.

I had just closed my eyes when a light shadow danced before my eyelids. I popped them open instantly, settling on a tall, dark figure in a belted trench coat.

The pepper spray I held in my hands flew to the figure's face, and I doused them, scrambling to my knees on the couch just as I heard a familiar cry.

"Jesus, Sienna!" The figure fell to their knees on the carpet, pressing their palms against their watering eyes. "It's me! It's Carmen!"

Carmen?

"What the hell are you doing in a trench coat at midnight?" The question fell from my lips before the obvious dawned on me. Someone had been following me all day today. Someone entered the building without alerting the security Lincoln hired. The person following me down the stairs...

Carmen continued to blink her eyes into the dark, and when they settled on my face lit up from a nearby window filled with city lights, she quickly grabbed my hands, shaking her head profusely. "Sienna, I am not the person who did that to you. I'm not working with Travis. How could you—" She followed my gaze to her suspicious trench coat and let out a sigh. "I know this looks bad, but I'm not..."

"Tell me the truth." A command. One she could either answer or lose our friendship entirely.

Continuing to swipe at her eyes from the pepper spray, she rose to her feet and loosened the belt of her trench coat so it would fall open. Underneath, she wore a lime green lingerie set that outlined every curve of her figure. Her belly button-piercing was a dangling swan caressed in diamonds, my brows scrunching together in confusion. "What..."

"I'm a dancer, Sienna." Letting out a huff, she plopped down next to me on the couch. "Normally, I change at the club, but we stayed up late tonight with you to watch movies, and Riley doesn't know, so...I had to sneak out when I could. I thought you were sleeping already."

"Why the hell would you hide that from us? Are you in trouble? Do you need money?"

A small smile graced her lips. "No, not in the way you're thinking. As you know, I support my family back home in Nigeria. After I came to live here with my aunt when I was seven, I promised my family I wouldn't let them down. I'd create a life they dreamed of for me, and eventually, I'd make enough to move them here myself.

"The flower shop has been a huge success, but lately, we've been struggling a bit financially. Not enough to hinder us," she added quickly, knowing I would immediately try to find a solution, "but enough where my dreams of moving my family to the States are on standby. And before you offer, I'm not taking any of your money. This is a promise I made for myself to fulfill and no one else. I love dancing, and the money is good. Really good."

"But what you're doing is dangerous, Carmen!"

She analyzes her freshly done nails, giving a simple shrug. "Not where I dance at. It's a club for only the elite members of the city. Highly discreet. As I said, they pay very well."

Her explanation didn't make me feel any better. Those were the people she needed to be worried about—the men who could do anything to her and make it go away with a snap of their fingers. The men who had power thrumming at their fingertips. Tech, finance, realty... All the head honchos who committed despicable crimes every single day and got away with them just because of their name and status.

Then again, aren't I a head honcho? Isn't Lincoln? We aren't all bad. The last thing I want is to make her feel less than, especially when she's in the middle of coming clean to me about a long-kept secret. For now, I'll keep my opinions to myself.

"And you're...okay? You're happy doing this?"

With a simple nod, I have my answer. I know Carmen well enough. She's honest to a fault. "Very happy, actually. Sometimes it's fun to live a double life, you know? I can escape from the realism that is my life. It can be stressful at times, but when I dance... I'm in a different world."

My face suddenly pales. "Is that why things didn't work out with Archer?"

The light of happiness that sparked in my friend's eyes suddenly dims, leaving them hollow. "I confessed after he started questioning why I couldn't ever spend the night. As I guessed, he wasn't comfortable with it. He got upset and..." She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "He said some things to me that weren't okay, but it's fine. I'm used to it. Men rave about their masculinity until they have a woman who dares show some skin on a stage."

My heart breaks for her. "Carm..."

"It's fine," she repeats. "I've accepted it. I'm...happier now."

I arch a brow. "In what way?" My eyes are drawn to the apparent diamonds dangling from her navel, and then I remember the luxurious purse she sported to lunch.

Jett.

Jett was most certainly part of these elite clubs. I don't exactly know what he does for a living, but from his background check, mostly investments and real estate. He'd been living off of his father's money since he was a teenager, and now that he was desperate for his portion of the shares in his father's company, one could only assume he was running out of money.

But from the luxury bag to the diamonds of her piercing...

What does Jett really do for a living?

"Do you dance for the man who bought you that bag?" A tentative smile forms on my face at the visible way her body stills at my question.

"Sometimes," she admits. Then, she drops her voice an octave, barely a whisper. "You can't tell anyone, Sienna. The members who attend are subject to secrecy. What happens in the club stays at the club. Otherwise.." She shudders at the thought. "Just keep it to yourself. Please."

Just how much does Carmen deal with at this club? Although I've attempted to avoid the limelight and everything that comes attached to being a billionaire, I've heard rumors about the people who attend it. What goes on in those clubs isn't simply dancing. It's a place for the scheming, influential men of New York to conduct their dirty work.

But Carmen is an intelligent woman. She's the bravest person I know. If anyone could dance at that club, it would be her. With her no-bullshit attitude and confidence, I'm more afraid of the men she dances for than her.

I purse my lips as if deep in thought before finally deciding to let this go. She knows how to handle herself. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I said a man. I didn't say his name."

She knows as well as I do that the person I'm referring to is Jett, but from the grateful smile that beams back at me, I can tell she appreciates my secrecy. If this is truly something she loves to do (with Jett somehow in the mix), then that's her business, not mine.

Her secret is safe with me.