“I know that’s how we started, but it’s more already,” he added, his voice growing softer. “You’re not someone I’d fly in, just for sex. You’re worth an expensive dinner, quiet time together, any view you want. It’s your company I wanted tonight, because I was missing you. I just want you to know all of that. I don’t…”

I covered his hand and swallowed over a lump. “I know. It’s the same for me.”

He stared into me, searching, and for a moment, I felt like I got a glimpse of the real Cole. He was dangerous, mysterious, and mesmerizing, but he was more. Kind. Considerate. I saw a glimmer of someone who cared.

A jittery sensation grew in my stomach, and I licked my lips. Confusion, euphoria, exhaustion. All of those emotions slammed into me, and I didn’t want to think about them. I pressed my hand harder against him and leaned forward. The feel of him—his other hand had moved to my waist—anchored me. I was getting swept up, but I needed my feet on the ground.

I heard myself saying, my voice a hoarse rasp, “Let’s go to The Octavia.” The sudden need to experience this club was powerful.

He nodded, his hand dropping into my mine.

He’d told me I was beautiful. He’d told me I was more than sex to him now.

But he hadn’t kissed me, and I was suddenly drowning for the touch of his lips on mine.

He led me out the door, and two men fell in step with us. One walked before us, standing a few yards away, and the other walked behind. They were far enough away to give us the sense of walking without them, but they were there, and I clutched Cole’s hand.

Who is Cole?

That question grew more and more urgent, nagging me, but when he glanced over and I saw the lust in his eyes, the question dissipated. I was beginning not to care who he was, as long as he was with me.

We went through a back door into The Octavia, and even though it was dark, I knew the instant we changed buildings. We’d gone through a back hallway that connected the two. As soon as the door opened, techno music hit our ears. A makeshift wall rose in front of us, and neon light flashed behind it. The smell of dry ice filled the air, along with sweat and, as Cole had said, the smell of sex, too.

We went down a hallway, seeming to circle around the main dance floor, and sex was all I felt. I heard moaning behind closed doors, then heard moaning in the music itself. We passed a clearing, and I looked over. It was like we were rounding a stadium, except there were no seats. The stadium floor was for dancing, and there were sections cut off that circled the building and led up to where we were, at the top of the entire thing. All those separate sections had their own bars, with the floors lit up in the same neon color that flashed in rhythm with the music. Some sections had couches. Others were filled with people dancing, and a lot of people were on the stairs talking. The stairs connected everything, except the top floor where we were. Two thin poles ran the length from each makeshift wall so we were kept from going below, or they were kept from coming to us above. I had a feeling it was the latter. A few people nursing drinks glanced up when they saw us, and they looked surprised. It was like they hadn’t realized people could walk above them.

I squeezed Cole’s hand harder. I knew I’d said I wanted to come here, but I hadn’t known. This place was huge—not as huge as a real stadium, but bigger than any other nightclub I knew about. Who was his friend? And if his friend owned this, what did Cole own? Or maybe he helped manage these places? Maybe he was just connected to someone wealthy. But as the guy who’d been leading us turned back and spoke to Cole, I didn’t feel like that was the case.

I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear the words. The music was too loud, and a second later, Cole nodded. He changed our positions, so I was holding his left hand instead. I felt like he wanted his right hand free. He was walking closest to the makeshift wall now, and as we kept going, another man materialized out of nowhere. This guy wasn’t walking right next to me, but close enough. I was smack in the middle. The two others had closed their distance, so now I was surrounded by four men, in a diamond shape.

I couldn’t even process this switch, so I held on to Cole’s hand. That was it. I focused on him, and a moment later, he ducked inside another room. It was a private box, directly above the DJ’s booth, which was three floors below us.

Cole spoke to the three men before he shut the door behind us. I was relieved.

He noticed me watching the door as he came over, his hand touching the small of my back. “What?”

I didn’t ask who they were. Gut instinct told me he wouldn’t answer. “I thought they were coming in with us.”

“No.” His hand tightened its hold on my back, his fingers pressing in. “But two of them will stay out there. It’s just typical security measures.”

I held his gaze. “Really?”

He stared back, not blinking, no reaction, until his hand fell away. “They’re a part of the stuff I can’t tell you about.”

That was what I thought. “Don’t bullshit me, okay?”

One corner of his mouth curved up, and his hand came back to my waist. “I won’t.” His finger tucked into a part of my dress where there was an opening, and he tugged me back until I came into full contact with him. He pressed right up against me, and his arms came around, holding on to the box’s wall as he dipped his head down to rest on my shoulder. He spoke right next to my ear. “I’m sorry.”