Chapter 222: Unseen
"We do clubs now?" Aveline muttered, her voice laced with contempt as she stepped out of the car and into the heavy, pulsing air outside the Diamond Club. Her heels clicked against the pavement, sharp and deliberate. "Like some cheap whore?"
Ben was already waiting at the entrance, his grin a little too eager, like he’d been waiting not just for her, but for the argument too.
"Sorry," he shrugged, unbothered, "they didn’t have anything decent at the hotel. You know how picky Caleb gets—it doesn’t matter where it is. Club, penthouse, alleyway. You just do your job."
Aveline narrowed her eyes, arms folding tightly across her chest. "Can I get only clients from now on? I don’t want to be on call for him like some kind of private plaything."
Ben raised a brow, amused. "Is that so?" he asked, tilting his head. "I thought you liked him. Thought you said he was good."
She hesitated.
"Yes... But—"
"But what?" he cut in, his tone still playful, but his eyes a shade colder now. "Don’t get soft on me, baby girl. Get your head in the game."
Aveline looked away, jaw tight. She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The low thrum of bass from inside the club seemed to echo her frustration, a beat for every time she bit back what she really wanted to say. There was no room for softness in this world—only deals and debts, desires and dominion.
With a cold sigh, she stepped past Ben and walked through the velvet-lined halls of the club, her figure drawing glances from the men who mattered, and those who didn’t. She didn’t look back.
The VIP room was just ahead—gold-trimmed and guarded like a kingdom. And across the hall, directly through the thick pane of glass, the Shephard brothers held court in their private suite.