The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter thirty-nine.

THE LARGE BUILDING, as it stands, is a total dump.

Walls crumbling, the roof half gone, a door hanging from its hinges.

"What do you think?" Nathaniel asks, standing beside me, adjusting one of his black leather gloves. How he manages to look regal even in this rundown neighborhood is beyond me. I fit in here, amongst the cracks and rough edges, but he is all pristine lines and neat hair. It is a shock every time I remember that he was homeless once upon a time. He couldn't be further from that now.

"Oh it's lovely. I especially like the mold and...is that a rat?"

A smirk kicks up the corners of his mouth. "Builder says it's got good foundations. It needs to be gutted, obviously. But it's not a complete tear-down job."

I hum, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do you want it themed the same as Sin City?"

"You're Operations Director. You tell me."

I glance up at him to find his eyes already on me. We stand side by side outside the building that will eventually become the new franchise of the club, morning sunlight warming our backs.

"There should be a clear connection," I say. "But it should be refreshing, an original take, something that will draw our most loyal customers out here so they can experience something different, and draw new ones in."

Dark eyes soften on me like chocolate melting in the sun, bubbling with heat.

I feel my heart patter in my chest the longer he stares at me, his gaze dipping down to my mouth.

"Stop it," I warn him quietly.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me like that."

His eyes face toward the building once again. "I'm not even allowed to look at you anymore?"

I stroll forward, trying to sound unbothered as I take in the intricacies of the building, kicking aside some rotting wood with my foot. "You're allowed to look at me, just not like that."

"And how was I looking at you, exactly?"

I stop, feeling him close behind me, his presence like a shadow I can't shake. When I turn to face him, it is with my chin tipped, my eyes sharpened. If he wishes to push boundaries and get too close, he will come away with wounds. "Like you want to taste every inch of me, then fuck me right here for anyone to see."

The pupils in his eyes blow wide. His tongue wets his lower lip. Most times, figuring out what Nathaniel is thinking is borderline impossible. Right now though, I can see the fantasy playing out in his head, clear as day. It's playing out in mine too.

"When you say things like that, you make it very hard to stay professional, little bird." His voice is husky. His hand rises, fingertips trailing around the skin of my wrist. Starbursts of electricity race up my arm. "And you're wrong: If I were going to fuck you in public, it wouldn't be here, on the side of the road. It'd be at the club, so all those men who saw you half naked while you were working for me would know exactly who you belong to now."

A sound dangerously close to a whimper is barely swallowed down in my throat. With the way he has been acting lately, proclaiming that he will give me whatever I want, it is easy to forget who Nathaniel truly is. He is not a lovestruck fool; he is a viper. A fox, clever and sly. Every word out of his mouth, every action supposedly guided by care, is a move on the chess board that we have thus far been unable to stop playing. I fear he is slowly closing in, a checkmate inevitable.

I can't play chess the way he can, so my only option is to step away from the board completely.

I move back, putting much needed space between us. "You're right, that was inappropriate of me. I apologize. I'm going to draw up some concept ideas for the club, then I'll start speaking with the contractors about what we need done. I'll call pest control as well."