35. Kylie

Chapter thirty-five

Kylie

" W hy are we stopping here?" With a furrowed brow, I eye the club next to Sweet Connections.

"I've been instructed to bring you to Mr. Morelli, ma'am."

"Luca's here?" Frowning, I turn to look at Joseph.

"Yes." He nods.

"Okay. Uh ... does that mean you'll be waiting to take me home, or is Luca taking me back with him?" I can't imagine why Luca would want to meet me here.

"My instructions are to drop you off, ma'am."

Growling, I narrow my eyes at Joseph. "I wish you would cut out this ma'am and Miss Davis crap. Since you won't listen to me, I'm going to ask Luca to order you to call me Kylie."

Joseph chuckles. "As you wish."

I huff. "Fine. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I open the door, but turn back to him. "Are you taking us to the airport?" I've grown fond of Joseph and I wish he was as close to Luca and the guys so that he could relax and be himself around me like the other two are. Well … at least Gio is. I don't quite have Rafael figured out yet. Not that he's been around much to figure out.

"I'm not sure. I haven't been given instructions beyond today. "

"Alright, if I don't see you tomorrow, have a great weekend." I grab my backpack and step out of the SUV.

I've stopped Joseph from coming around and opening my door for me. He can't do it if I beat him to it and now he doesn't bother anymore. I haven't tested the waters and sat in the front yet. Something tells me that will be too much for him right now.

"Be safe, Ma—" Joseph quickly stops before finishing and then shakes his head.

I lean in and wink before stepping back to shut the door.

Baby steps.

When I enter the club, I search the floor but don't find Luca, so I walk to the bar and wait for the bartender's attention. It's not the guy from last time. Frankie, I think. This guy is younger, with hair tied back into a man bun that doesn't look very appealing.

"Can I help you?" The bartender gives me a once over. The way he's eyeing me, I wouldn't trust a drink from him even if he offered it for free.

"I'm looking for Luca Morelli."

Luca did know Frankie's name, so maybe this guy will know who Luca is as well.

The bartender leans on the bar and nods his head to the hall over his right shoulder. "He's in the office. You can head on to the back if you want."

Frowning, I eye the hallway, confused as to why Luca would be back there. I turn back to the bartender to find him smirking.

Something is off.

"Maybe we aren't talking about the same guy. He's—"

"Lady, there's only one Luca Morelli who owns this place," bartender guy sneers.

My head jerks back. What the hell? I'm confused and hurt by this information, but I know better than to say anything more to this guy.

"Right. Thanks." I walk off, my head a mess of questions. Is this one of the clubs Luca owns? He did say he owned a few clubs, but why would he not tell me this was one of them? Does he have some sort of agreement with the sugar baby company?

Stopping outside the office door, I take a moment to pull myself together. When I'm about to knock, sounds of moaning come from inside and I freeze as my body goes cold at the implication.

The moans get louder.

I can't fucking breathe. Tears form and I try to swallow, desperately trying to keep them from falling. I will not break down here.

I lower my hand, ready to bolt, but I'm not sure what to do or where to go?

Movement catches my eye and I turn to find the bartender watching me with a look in his eyes that tells me he knew exactly what I would find back here. Narrowing my eyes, I turn back to the door. The bartender yells stop, but I ignore him as I push the door open. I brace for what I'm about to see, but I wasn't expecting this .

"What the—" I slap a hand over my eyes and blindly reach for the door behind me.

"Kylie? What the hell are you doing here?" Gio asks as if I didn't catch him balls deep in the blonde server.

"My eyes! My eyes! I can't unsee that!" I turn and run right into the door in my panic to leave the room. Instant pain slashes across my forehead, causing me to jerk back. The hand over my eyes goes to my forehead and I look long enough to make my way out of the office and into the hall. "Fuck, that hurt."

"Shut the door behind ya! We aren't done." Lisa yells, laughing.

"Shut up, Lisa. Kylie, don't move. Lisa, get dressed and leave." Gio barks.

I lean against the wall and squeeze my eyes shut again. I can feel a headache coming on.

Sounds of clothes rustling reach my ears, but I don't dare open my eyes again. The pain in my forehead intensifies and I feel liquid slowly trickle down my fingers.

A body pushes into me, shoving me more into the wall.

Bitch . I know Lisa did that on purpose .

An image of her and Gio flashes in my mind again. Ugh, I'll never get that sight out of my head. It's bad enough I saw Gio's white ass pumping into her, but now I know Lisa's sex face.

I think I might puke.

"Jesus, Kylie. What are you doing here?" Gio gently takes my arm and leads me back into the office and over to a chair. He has to force me to sit, because I still have my eyes closed. "Fuck, you're bleeding. Luca will have my ass for this. Stay here. I'm going to grab the medical kit."

I don't open my eyes until he leaves and I find myself sitting in one of the two chairs that face the desk. It's pretty sparse in here except for a bunch of monitors and a small loveseat against the wall. I quickly turn away, since that's where I caught the couple.

The scene still fills my mind and I groan, squeezing my eyes tight again, and don't open them until Gio comes back into the room. I wince and look away. "I'll never be able to look at you again."

Gio chuckles as he turns the other chair to face me before sitting. He then grabs my chair to turn me around to face him, taking my hand to pull it off my head.

He winces. "You're gonna have a knot, but the cut is tiny and the bleeding isn't too bad." He opens the metal box and takes out one of the alcohol wipe packets. "Here, clean the blood off your hand." He rips open another one. When he dabs my forehead, he asks again. "Are you going to tell me why you're here?"

I continue to wipe the blood off my hand as I glance up at him. "Joseph dropped me off. He said Luca instructed him to bring me to him." I frown because it doesn't look like Luca is even here.

Gio pauses, then snaps his eyes to mine. "Luca isn't here. You said Joseph was instructed?"

I nod, then wince at the stab of pain.

"Cut it out." Gio gently grabs my chin to hold me steady as he tends to my cut. "Did he tell you anything more than that?"

"No. I thought it was odd when I walked in and didn't find him. The bartender directed me to the office. "

Gio's face goes carefully blank. "What did he say, exactly?"

"Just said he was in the office."

"What the fuck?" Gio's mouth pinches in anger. "The bartender told you to come to this office because Luca was back here?"

"Yes. I …" Unsure if I should admit what I thought, I glance away.

"Kylie?"

Sighing miserably, I confess, "I was just about to knock when I heard the moaning."

"And you thought it was Luca." Gio's voice softens.

"Yeah." I swallow before meeting Gio's gaze. "I was about to leave, but the bartender was standing at the entrance of the hall watching me. He was smug. He knew what I was walking into. I just don't understand what the point was when it was you and not Luca?"

Gio clenches his jaw. He doesn't say anything more as he pulls out a large bandaid.

"So Luca owns this club?"

Gio sighs. "Yes. He didn't purposely not tell you. He just—"

"Didn't think it was my business." I finish for him. It hurts, but I get it.

"Kylie—"

"It's ok, I understand. No—I really do. I'm not mad." Last thing I want is Gio feeling sorry for me, but it's probably too late for that.

Gio searches my gaze and must decide to let it go.

I change the subject before he changes his mind. "I guess I didn't knee you too hard after all."

Gio chuckles, shaking his head.

He finishes addressing my cut when Luca barges into the room. "Angel? Are you okay?" He kneels by my side and gently grabs my face between his hands.

"I'm okay. It's not as bad as it looks." I place my hand over his on my face and smile my reassurance.

Luca snaps his gaze to Gio with narrowed eyes. "How did this happen? "

"It's not his fault. I ran into the door." I try to explain, but Luca's still glaring at Gio. And because it all hits me, I burst out laughing. When I think about it, the entire scene was hilarious. From finding Gio the way I did to Luca storming in here as if I'm on my deathbed.

Luca frowns, and lets go of my face.

"You broke her." Luca glares at Gio, which has me laughing harder.

Gio shakes his head, winking at me before turning back to Luca. "Did Rafael call you?"

"Yes, he said Kylie walked into the club, so I rushed out of my meeting to get here. What the hell is going on?"

I finally snap out of it and glare at Luca. "Why would you rush here just because I walked into the club? And how does Rafael know?"

Luca turns back to me, and his eyes soften. "Angel, I have cameras everywhere."

"Oh." Then I remember what I walked into. I turn to Gio, disgusted. "Ew! You did that in here knowing it was being recorded?"

"Don't look at me like that. She knows we have cameras in here." He's trying to stifle his own laughter.

"Angel, why are you here?" Luca cups my jaw to bring my gaze back to his.

"Joseph said you instructed him to drop me off here." I shrug.

Luca and Gio look at each other as if they're communicating silently before turning back to me.

I already know the answer by their reactions, but ask anyway."You didn't tell Joseph?"

"No, but I'll find out what's going on." Luca pulls his cell out of his breast pocket and calls Joseph. "Why did you drop Kylie off at The Blue Velvet?"

Luca frowns, then snaps his gaze to Gio. "Something's off. Keep that message. I may want to look at it. Yes. She's safe. I'll talk to you later." Luca ends the call, and shifts to Gio. "He said you texted him the instructions."

"Bullshit." Gio feels for his back pocket but then moves to search the desk. "I don't know where my phone is. "

"Fuck. Let me call it. Maybe it's on the floor, considering what you were doing earlier." Luca pulls out his phone again and calls Gio's phone.

Our heads turn as the buzzing comes from the couch. Gio moves to lift a cushion and finds his phone as if someone stuffed it down there.

Gio turns to Luca, jaw clenched. "I set this phone on your desk when Lisa came in."

"Did you leave her here alone?" Luca growls.

"No, but she came in here earlier to ask me a question. I pinned her to the edge of the desk to feel her up and then sent her on her way so I could finish the reports. She came back in later and that's when I took her on your couch."

"Call Rafael. Have him review the video feed to see if she takes it. I'm going to run Kylie home and then I'll be back and we'll take care of this." Luca takes my hand and pulls me from the chair. "Is your head okay? Do I need to carry you?"

"No. It's really just a scratch. I'll be fine."

I don't know what's going on, but now is not the time to ask as I follow Luca out of the office. When we get to the main part of the club, I glance at the bartender and he avoids facing us as we leave. I still can't figure out why he would do that. He's gotta know that Luca will demand answers. As we walk out the door, I glance to the other side of the room and find Lisa watching us with narrowed eyes.

I knew that girl was trouble.