“She was with some young dude a while ago. Then I got sidetracked. She looked like a newbie though.”
Dominic was striding toward his dressing room. “No shit. Look, have Raoul stall them or lock them in if they’re already in a room. Discreetly. No scene. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Kate, his wife, had followed him and was standing in the doorway. “Be where in fifteen minutes?”
He quickly explained in an edited version while he pulled on boxers and jeans. He called it a nightclub.
“Nicole’s twenty-two, Dominic. Maybe she’s okay.”
He pulled a navy sweater over his head. “Nicole has a history of making bad choices.” He’d quietly bailed her out of a few over the years.
“Shouldn’t that be her parents’ problem? I’m just saying. She might not like you barging into some nightclub,” Kate cautioned him with a yawn.
“I’m not asking her, and her parents don’t know what she does. How much did you tell your grandparents about your sex life?”
“There wasn’t a whole lot to tell.”
“But you didn’t tell them anyway. Right?” His voice was muffled as he reached into a closet and pulled out some shoes.
“Gramps would have scared them off.”
“From what I’ve heard about Roy, I’m guessing he’d vetted them already and just let it go.” He stepped into burgundy suede desert boots and swiftly tied them. “I’ll be back in less than an hour. Shut the children’s doors, will you? In case Nicole’s screaming at me when we come back.”
“Be nice, Dominic. She’s not going to like you monitoring her activities.”
“I’m not. Fuck—although I should have. Thank God Julian called.” He grabbed some car keys from the top of the dresser. He didn’t want to take the time for Henri to bring up the car. He stopped for a moment to give Kate a kiss, then patted her bare ass. “Close the kids’ doors, then get back into bed, baby. No sense in ruining your sleep.”
When he arrived at the club, he braked hard, cranked the Mercedes coupe nose in, straight up to the door, got out, pocketed his keys, and snarled, “Fuck you,” in French to the valet who started shouting at him to move his car. “I’m here to see Raoul.”
The man backed off like he’d been burned. Raoul owned this high-end sex club and ten others in Europe. He was connected and not to the aristocracy. Dominic had known him a long time, had done a lot of business with him in the past. They were friends, acquaintances, and, formerly, partners in vice.
Raoul was waiting for him in the foyer.
Dominic smiled tightly. “She still here?” He spoke quietly in French.
Raoul nodded. “I didn’t know she was your niece. They wouldn’t have let her in if we’d known.”
“I fucking didn’t know, so don’t sweat it. I don’t suppose you have a robe—just in case. I’m going to walk her out of here in about ten seconds.”
Raoul snapped his fingers and a bouncer rushed over. “I need a robe. Meet us in room fourteen. I want you there before us.” He was speaking to the man’s back at the last.
The club owner and Dominic walked through the luxurious bar—all glass, onyx, crystal chandeliers, and plush carpets—then through the even more richly appointed main salon with murals on the walls, antique furniture, and dim lights. Both rooms were packed with clothed and unclothed bodies, everyone high or drunk, sexual exhibitionism graphically on display.
“You’re happily married now, I hear,” Raoul said as if people weren’t fornicating all around them.
“I am,” Dominic replied blandly. Having frequented places like this for years, he didn’t react to the spectacle. “And damned lucky to be. You’ve got kids, right?” Raoul was pushing fifty, personal-trainer trim, well-dressed, good-looking. He’d been married forever, Dominic recalled.
“They’re in Barcelona with their mother. They’re great kids. Both at university now. Yours are young?”
“Yes.” Dominic smiled. “And precious.” He sighed softly. “My niece was sugarsweet too not so long ago. Last I heard from my sister, Nicole was at my apartment in Monaco taking a break after college. There’s a fucking snow job for you,” he muttered. “Goddamn little liar.”
“Give her a lecture from me too. This is no place for a young girl.”
“Who brought her?”
“I didn’t see. We’ll find out. Want me to bar him from the club?”
“Nah. I don’t care what he does so long as he’s not with Nicole.”