The text I had received earlier had been from Xavier and the words had my heart racing for reasons I didn’t want to admit.

My office. Eight thirty.

Even though the text from Xavier told me to be at The Den at eight thirty, I found myself walking in fifteen minutes early. I might have been a little bit anxious about seeing him after my dream.

Who was I kidding?

I was a lot anxious. The very idea of being in a room with him had my insides firing on all cylinders.

Ghost looked at his watch when he saw me approaching the secret door. “You’re early,” he stated.

“I know.”

“Boss isn’t ready for you yet. He’s in with someone,” he informed me in that menacing way of his that no longer had my body threatening me with incontinence.

Over the last week or so, Ghost and his reticent manner had grown on me. He was still one scary motherfucker, but it made me feel safe rather than afraid. If you were going to need someone at your back, he seemed to be the best choice.

“That’s okay. I need to put this in my room.” I held up the vase full of dark pink and white gerbera daisies in my arms and waited while he opened the door for me. I was halfway down the hall, getting ready to turn down the hall that housed my room, when I heard yelling come from Xavier’s office.

Halting my steps, I backpedaled until I could see his doorway. My eyebrows rose when I realized his door was cracked open. He never left his door open. Candy had told me his office was soundproof, as were all the other rooms back here. It seemed Xavier was big on his privacy.

Knowing I was in danger of getting caught, I still let curiosity drive me to take a few quiet steps in that direction and strain to hear what was being said.

“What were you thinking?” Xavier’s voice was deep and resonant, with a calm confidence that seemed to be innate to him.

The reply of whomever he was speaking with was muffled, and I moved a few inches closer to try to hear better.

“Unacceptable,” Xavier bit out at whatever the person had said. “You knew what my order was on the matter and you blatantly disobeyed it, not once but twice. I looked the other way the first time when you said you didn’t know blowjobs were included. Not going to happen again. I don’t give second chances. Turn in all your shit to Ghost and get the fuck out of here.”

More muffled words and then a loud crash followed by a thud against the wall. I jumped and clamped my hand over my mouth to quiet the squeak that wanted to leave my throat.

“Say it again,” Xavier taunted the person with him. “I want to hear you say it so I can put a bullet in your brain.”

The words were a chill that slithered across my skin. I couldn’t hear anything else and decided it was in my best interest to get the hell out of dodge before I was caught hearing something I most definitely shouldn’t be hearing.

I was four feet away from the door when it swung open. I spun around quickly and saw Big J walking out of Xavier’s office with a face of thunder. Xavier was right behind him and if I thought Big J looked mad, it was nothing compared to the other man.

Xavier’s jaw was hard and his lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes were so cold I felt an icy chill across my skin and his body rigid. The danger that emanated from him combined with the way he so easily threatened to kill a man had me wondering if he had a soul.

Big J gave me a glare as he shouldered his way past me. Whatever he had done wrong, he didn’t look all that sorry for it. Instead, he looked spitting mad and ready to brawl with anyone who stepped in his way. Except of course Xavier O’Brien. No sane man would tangle with him the way he looked right then.

“Aurora. You’re early,” Xavier said, his tone gentling a bit from the one he had used in his office a few minutes earlier.

I didn’t bother answering when he walked by me to escort Big J to the secret door where I presumed Ghost would take over in removing him from the premises.

Once the door shut, he came back to where I still stood, clutching my vase to my chest and wondering why the hell I was attracted to this man when he was so clearly dangerous.

And might be a sociopath, a small voice in the back of my brain added.

“Hi,” he murmured, stopping in front of me.

“Hi,” I whispered, no longer afraid of him, but rather drawn to him like a moth to a flame. My body heated and my throat became dry. This was the first time we had been so close in the handful of times we had seen each other. Even in my apartment he had kept a distance between us. Now he was close enough for me to see everything—right down to the scar under his right eye and the gold flecks in his blue irises.

My body ached with need almost immediately and I felt myself growing wet with the hungry way he looked at me. There would be no need for lube in Xavier’s presence. My body responded to his as if he owned it.

“Nice flowers,” he commented casually, and my eyes locked on his lips, wishing I could feel them on my body. Those lips turned up at the ends in the faintest of smiles and my breath caught. Good lord, I was pathetic. And something told me he knew it.

“Thanks.” I shook my head to break myself from the daze he had me in. It wouldn’t be prudent to let my boss see how badly he affected me. “You wanted to see me?”

His smile deepened after my attempt to get us on track. It was the first time I had ever seen him truly smile, and it was incredible. Stepping back from my body, he held his arm out towards his open door, silently telling me to precede him into the room.

Inside his office, I only had a moment to take in the dark wood and masculine leather couch and chairs before turning around to face him. He shut the door but made no moves to come further into the room, choosing instead to lean his shoulder against the wall.

“How are you adjusting to working here?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Good. Candy’s been showing me the ropes and most of the girls have been really helpful.”

“Let me guess, Cherry?” He deduced who was in fact not being really helpful.

I shrugged, trying to downplay what a bitch she was, not really wanting to come across as tattle tailing on her.

“There’s a private party tonight that I’m sending six girls to. You up for it?” He smoothly changed the subject.

“What kind of party?” If there were going to be coked out losers groping us, I wasn’t about to go. After Kevin, I drew a hard line where drugs were concerned.

“Bachelor party. Ghost will escort you and make sure things don’t get out of hand. Besides, once you see who the bachelor is, you’ll realize he isn’t someone who can afford to have things get out of control.”

Based on his cryptic answer, I could only assume it was someone in the public eye. The job was appealing, but I still hesitated. Even if the party was for someone who had something to lose, that didn’t mean they weren’t used to having messes swept under the rug for them. I didn’t want to get wrapped up in anything I was uncomfortable with.

“The pay is three thousand for the night,” he added.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Three grand was a lot of money for a damn party. It was exactly the type of job I needed to be getting for my plan to work out.

“Dancing only,” he went on.

“Just dancing?” I asked skeptically. “What about the other stuff?”

“All add-ons. Ghost will handle any deals and the girls will get a fair cut. Any other questions?”

“What time do I need to be ready?”

“A car will pick you up at ten.” He straightened from the wall, knowing he had me, and walked over to his desk. I saw several items on the floor and realized they were casualties in the struggle I had heard between him and Big J.