They went out the front door of the strip club where his black car was already waiting. King opened the door for her and Evie slid inside the car, sinking back against the expensive leather.
As Henry pulled out into the light traffic, Evie looked out the darkened window. The lights from the tall buildings were beautiful. Treepoint was small; the tallest building there might be seven stories compared to the skyscrapers reaching toward the sky here.
“It’s been so long since I was in a big city I forgot what it was like,” Evie murmured.
“Which city did you live in?”
Evie didn’t answer his question.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?”
Evie turned back to him. “Nothing, why?”
“I’m going to a dinner party, and I want you to come with me.”
Evie started to refuse then changed her mind. If she was going to find out what she needed to know for Shade, then she needed to see all aspects of his life, both business and personal.
“I can do that,” Evie replied as if it was no big deal. “Do you need Penni’s address?”
“No, Henry already knows it.”
Evie wasn’t surprised. From the information she had already gathered in the past week, there wasn’t much King didn’t know that went on in Queen City.
Five minutes later, his car slid to a stop in front of Penni’s apartment building. Henry got out and opened the door for her.
“Goodnight, King.”
“Goodnight, Evie.” His mocking reply had her wanting to tell him to go fuck himself; instead, she bit back her caustic reply and slid out of the car.
Penni’s apartment building was the most secure in the city. Shade had paid for it, making her switch from the one Jackal had kidnapped her out of.
As the doorman let her in, she thanked him, seeing the curious gleam in his eyes as he watched King’s car drive away.
Afterward, the nosy fucker gave her what couldn’t be a more gracious smile as he pushed the elevator button for her. Evie was relieved when the doors opened. Forcing herself to be polite, she tipped him before going inside.
Penni was already in bed when Evie let herself in the apartment. Shade had rented Penni a two-bedroom, so Evie went to the bedroom she was staying in. Showering, she got ready for bed, brushing her hair and sliding on one of Rider’s t-shirts.
Feeling melancholy, she went to her bed, pulling out the gold chain with a locket she wore infrequently now. When Levi had died, she had worn it all the time, never taking it off. Gradually over the last few years, she had placed it in her jewelry box, only wearing it when she had felt his memory slipping away.
Pressing down, she opened the locket and took out the ring it concealed. Looking down at it, she felt a lump in her throat, battling down the excruciating pain in her chest she felt each time she looked at the diamond. Lying down on the bed, she held the ring in her hand, rubbing her thumb repeatedly over it.
Nights like this were when she would climb into bed with one of the members and let them take all the heartache away so she would finally be exhausted enough to sleep. Some nights, it would take a couple of them and several glasses of alcohol to drive the pain away and send her into a sleep where she could forget for a few peaceful hours.
Sighing, she got out of the bed; she wasn’t going to be able to sleep anytime soon. She opened the curtains, taking a chair and pulling it to the window, curling up on it as she stared into the inky darkness with a thousand glittering lights. She stayed at the window long enough to see most of the lights go off as the city fell asleep while she remained wide-awake, reliving her past.
* * *
“You look tired tonight.”
“I never sleep well when I’m away from the club.” She almost put a hand to her face at his comment, but forced herself to appear relaxed.
Evie waited for King to make a nasty comment and was relieved when he didn’t. She was too tired to fence with him tonight.
King’s car pulled up to a large mansion and Evie raised a brow at it, whistling softly. “It’s a good thing I dressed up.”
“You look beautiful,” King said, getting out of the car behind her.
“First, I look tired, and now I’m beautiful. You need to make up your mind.”
King’s head tilted to the side as he stared down at her. “You look both; beautiful with a touch of vulnerability. It suits you.”
The mansion was filled with people. Evie wasn’t intimated, however, as she was escorted through the crowded room by King who came to a stop in front of a middle-aged couple.
“Evie, I’d like to introduce you to Desmond Beck and Marta Lewis.”
She shook both of their hands as King made the introductions. Evie could tell from one look at his eyes as they traveled over her body that Desmond Beck was a rich, elegant and cold bastard. Marta, on the other hand, was sugary-sweet and didn’t have two brain cells that connected. Her breasts were larger than her IQ.