“When do you start breaking ground on the new place?” I asked, genuinely interested.

“We already have. We have the main room completed and the themed rooms were just started on. The bar they put in is fucking stellar, man.”

“I can’t wait to see it. Have you decided on the themes yet, or a name for the club?”

Diego and I shared the same interests when it came to the bedroom. We both dabbled in kink and required our women to submit to us and only us. I didn’t know much about Diego’s lifestyle choice but what I did know was that when he told me he wanted to put together a kink club, I was more than supportive and thrilled about the idea.

“Le Cirque du Diable,” he said with pride. “The Circus of the devil is what the club will be called and the rooms I’m still working on, but they will go with the feel of the club. I have some people I still have to hire and then we need to start practicing our shows but I sure as hell know who’s going to be the ringmaster,” he said with a glint in his eye.

I laughed as I shook my head. “Man, I would love to see you take center stage.”

“I didn’t take you for a guy lover,” Diego teased.

“In your fucking dreams, man.”

He laughed and grew serious for a second. “I do need to find someone to paint some designs on my walls.”

“Designs on your walls?”

“You know, the club has a vintage circus theme, minus the animals, and I need to add some decorative crap…add a woman’s touch, you know? But I need someone I can trust because I don’t want the club getting out to the public. It’s going to be invite only.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I stroked my chin as I thought about Diego’s dilemma. There was an easy solution that anyone could see and that would be to let Diego borrow Goldie, have her go over there and paint her little heart out but the thought of her being alone in a kink club with Diego gnawed at my gut. It didn’t seem like the best idea. I liked Diego but I didn’t fully trust the guy either.

“If I think of something, I’ll let you know,” I said instead, feeling slightly guilty that I already had a solution to his problem.

“Thanks, man.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Now, on to the good stuff, I was able to do some…snooping, thanks to some friends that I have and I found out the kind of bid your dad put on Lot 17. It’s not a bad bid, man, and he’s offering a lot of concessions as well. It’s not a formal bid, more of an acknowledgement of what he could offer.”

Diego handed me the paper and I took a look at it. The price tag was exactly what I was looking at for myself so that was easily matchable but as I looked at the concessions, I realized that my dad was trying everything in the book to get what he wanted. There were kickbacks from his building that would be given to the sellers for five years, under the table of course and there was also lifetime VIP access into his “gentleman’s” club which was just an illegal strip club that I knew of but couldn’t quite prove just yet, I was still working on doing some more snooping myself.

I looked up at Diego and said, “Thank you. I appreciate this.”

“Anything for you. You changed my life, Jett.”

“You changed it, Diego. I just gave you an opportunity.” I finished off my drink and set the empty glass down on my desk. “I’m going to the Fairfield event this Friday. Anyone I need to make sure to shake hands with?”

“Let me check and I will text you later with the information.” Diego peeked over at my cameras and nodded toward them, “That the girl?”

I looked up and saw Goldie holding a wine glass and standing in the dining room while having a conversation with Miss Mary. Her posture was straight, she held her wine glass properly and she seemed to exude a little more confidence than normal.

Not able to lie to Diego because he would be able to see right through me, I said, “That’s the girl.”

Nodding in appreciation, Diego replied, “She’s got one hell of a rack, man.”

Smiling, he got out of his chair and buttoned his suit coat. It was best he left because his little comment had my rage starting to flare up.

“I’ll be in touch. Play nice, Jett.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Diego threw his head back and laughed. “I never play nice.”

And that was what I was fucking afraid of.

***

Jett: Send Babs up

I wanted nothing more than to bury myself deep inside Goldie but knowing that my head wasn’t in a good place, thanks to Diego’s ribbing and the new found information on my dad and Lot 17, I decided to opt out of the Bourbon Room and call up Babs.

We had a lot to go over and now was the perfect time.

There was a light knock on my office door, alarming me that Babs had arrived.

“Come in,” I called out.

Babs walked in, wearing a business shirt over her Jett Girl kit, a pair of thigh high black boots and her hair was a purple bob wig rather than her long blond hair. Her mask wasn’t on which I normally would have harped on her for but the club was empty now and she took the back stairs.

“Hey, boss man,” she said as she took the seat across from me. “You beckoned?”

“I wanted to go over your makeup line and make sure you were on track for your launch.”

Each Jett Girl had the opportunity to gain an education through the Lafayette Club and apply that to real life after they left the club. Babs chose to start her own makeup line. It was a real passion of hers but she needed help getting her business going and working on a marketing strategy so we have been meeting every once in a while to go over her plan. Babs would be leaving soon, my first true Jett Girl to leave, and I wanted to make sure she was fully prepared and ready for her departure. I had to be honest, I was damn proud of the girl.

Babs’ face lit up from my interest in her new adventure. She leaned forward, placing her hands on my desk and started talking animatedly. “I just received my test packing in the mail today and I could not be more pleased. I went with a black-and-purple theme, I hope that’s okay?”

I smiled. “It’s perfectly fine with me.”

“I wanted to switch things up, you know? After thinking about it, I really wanted to play off your choice color of purple for justice because this makeup line is my justice. This is my second chance and I want to make sure I take full advantage of it.”

“I couldn’t be more proud,” I said honestly. “Have you opened a business bank account and filed as an LLC yet?”

Babs cringed. “Not yet, but that’s next. I hate paperwork and all that business stuff seems too confusing. I’m good at planning and making things but the business side of things is confusing.”

“Aren’t you taking that business class?” I asked while propping my right ankle over my left knee and sitting back in my chair.

“Uhh, well…”

I looked at her sternly and said, “You’re to put everything on hold until you take that class. There is to be nothing else planned, picked out or produced until you pass it with flying colors. You need to know the basics of operating a business if you want to be successful at all. I expected more from you, Babs, you have to set an example.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me and then sat back in her chair.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was only busy helping out Lo so she felt like she fit in, so she was able to prove to everyone that she was meant to be a Jett Girl. Sorry that I took a break from my life to help her out.”

My stomach flipped from the mention of Goldie’s name and I refused to think about why.

“She didn’t have to prove that to anyone, I knew from the start.”

“You know that’s bullshit. She might not have had to prove it to you but she sure as hell had to prove it to Kace.”

“Kace has no authority where I’m concerned.”