Chapter 02
When Bella’s bruises faded while she rested with some of his blood inside of her, Klaus quietly made his way out of the apartment and headed to Myriam, anger once again rising inside of him.
The wanker who hurt his Bella was no longer inside the security office, which was good, as Klaus would have killed him. He walked into the office and was met with a bright smile that was on Myriam’s face.
“How could you be smiling right now?” He demanded as he nearly slammed the door out if its hinges. “One of your girls was just assaulted! Bella!”
“I know,” she simply stated as she met his eyes. “Despite every security measure it still happened. This was a one in a million chance.”
“You’re not even remotely concerned?”
“Of course I am!” Myriam shot back as she rounded her desk to approach him. “I called you, didn’t I?”
Klaus growled as he pushed Myriam against the nearest wall. Myriam let out a cry of delight as she put her arms around his neck. “Sometimes I wonder if you truly care about your girls, even those you’re keeping safe.”
“Bella knows the risks, Klaus,” she rolled her eyes at him. “Especially since security can’t hear her thoughts.”
“Cameras.”
“Please,” she huffed.
“Voice activated cameras, then.”
“No, we’ve been over this a long time ago, you’re just acting like this because it’s a girl you like. Her mind is a fortress. She’s crazy as fuck. You’ve never had a problem with her working before and on top of that, I’m not forcing her.”
“I don’t have a problem with her working, I have a problem with assholes!”
Myriam slapped him. “You’re having a problem with yourself then,” she said as she poked him in his chest. “And you promised to let me run the club. I already agreed to everything you suggested, but apart from the cameras in the public places, everything that happens behind closed doors, stay that way. Why have cameras when we can read the girls? I’m not going to install cameras just because one girl can’t be read.”
“You are. Don’t make me make you.”
“I will have your balls if you’ll make me,” she threatened. “Just for your information, we took some pictures of him in our strip club, then tossed him out and took pictures of that as well before forwarding those to the press. They’ll spin their usual story about him and we get free press.”
“I would have killed him.”
“I also told him to never come back, get cleaned up and make a huge donation to the local women’s shelter.” She then grinned. “He’ll think that he lost his manhood when he sobers up. At least for a couple days or so.”
“I still would have killed him,” he muttered before angrily kissing her.
Myriam jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist as she returned his kiss. She could understand Klaus’ anger, and if she didn’t have a business to run – if Luke Harris had been an ordinary John – she would have killed the asshole herself. Nobody laid a hand on her girls like that.
She dug her hands into his hair and scraped his scalp with her nails as she broke off the kiss. “What’s the status of your cock, Klaus? Has it had any playtime lately?” She said in a low voice, watching his face. His eyes darkened as the expression on his face softened. “Do you want to play?” She teased him.
“I have no time for this,” he said playfully as he put his forehead against hers as his hand ran up the inside of her leg, scooting up the skirt of her dress. “But you could come home with me?”
“Screw you, you and I both know you never take me places for both our safeties,” she said as she put her hand between them and undid his zipper. “Fuck me. Now.”
He pulled her away from the wall and walked them over to her desk, kissing her neck, scraping his teeth over her skin as he set her down on top of it. Myriam cleared most of her desk with one swoop, lucky that her laptop didn’t fall, but the rest of the knicknacks were now scattered underneath them.
She laughed as she pulled him down with her with one hand and the other opening his pants so he wouldn’t have too much friction. “Oh, I knew you’d see reason.”
“I aim to please,” Klaus kissed her, hard, as his pants fell to the floor. “You should have called sooner,” he could feel her wetness on his hand as he had put his hand between her and her knickers. The heat radiating from her body was welcoming him back as if he’d returned to a warm home after having been away for far too long.
Maybe he had been, but after Freya had followed him, he could not possibly guarantee the safety of the girls. He wanted them away from his family, stay hidden in plain sight and luckily, Freya understood. She’d never tell Elijah about Débauche and what truly was going on.
Myriam whacked him on the shoulder with her fist. “You’re wandering off, how about you fuck me? I’m drying up here.”
He snickered at that. “Hardly, love,” he withdrew his hand and tore her panties before guiding himself towards her entrance and pushed in, only letting out a breath when he was completely inside of her.
“Shame, no foreplay this time,” Myriam complained as she looked at him with a cocky smile on her lips. “Next time, you’re going to devour me like you used to.”
“I am?” Klaus started to thrust as he licked along the vein in her neck.
“Yes. You just promised,” she let out a moan when one of his hands had managed to get underneath her dress and had cupped her breast. “You’re the only one I fuck.”
“Fuck with,” he said as he rubbed her nipple with his thumb.
“I fuck with everyone. I only fuck you. There is a difference,” she let out a moan when he hit a sensitive spot inside of her. “A girl has her needs.” She growled as she dug her nails into his back, drawing blood. “Harder.”
“Oh my God!” Autumn exclaimed after she opened the door. “In your office?! You knew I was going to come by to have a look at your laptop!”
“And you still don’t know how to knock!” Myriam looked over Klaus’ shoulder right at the woman’s face. “Leave!”
Autumn hesitated for a moment. “Can’t I join you guys?” She asked cockily and tilted her head to look at the amazing ass that was facing her. “I’d so tap that ass.”
Myriam dug her nails even deeper into Klaus’ back as she could feel him tense up. While he was quite the exhibitionist, this was unwelcome. Even for him, but she needed to keep him with her so that he wouldn’t snap the human’s neck. “Oh, Nique ta Mere! Leave us!” She demanded.
“I’m sorry,” Autumn quickly said before shutting the door.
Myriam then cupped Klaus’ chin and made him look at her. “You forgot to lock the door.”
“In my defense, I hadn’t anticipated such a rendezvous.”
“Always anticipate this. Now make me come.”
~o.O.o~
He had promised Freya that he’d leave it alone, but the mere thought of having seen his brother so… vulnerable – if that was even the right word for it – had kept him awake all night. To know that his brother showed remorse about what he had done, in his attempt to talk his actions right to the woman on the other side of that door, was oddly satisfying.
And frightening.
Elijah could not help but think that there must be something else behind his brother’s behaviour. Granted, when he assured that he had the sole custody of his daughter, he had changed. Mellowed out, somewhat. Everything revolved around Hope.
However, he had believed his brother’s softness and protectiveness towards his daughter had been nothing but the protection of power. The admiration of the potential his daughter had. His brother’s obsession with power, the ability to dominate everything and everyone came full circle. Why want more, when you are the father of quite possibly the most powerful being on this Earth?
Yes, it was family above everything. It had been that way for centuries and despite their differences, they always came back to each other. Niklaus had been the strongest, the fastest and the most deadliest of them all. And now the monster had a daughter. It was frightening, really.
He always believed that his brother’s notion of love was loyalty and nothing more. Maybe it was. Loyalty and curiosity. A desperation, a means to not feel alone. Perhaps Niklaus once possessed the ability to love many years ago, but that feeling, that experience, got lost along the years they lived. Elijah never believed that his brother could stumble upon something deeper, until he saw him patiently sitting against that door, talking to a woman who didn’t want to face him.
Elijah was well aware of all of his flaws, one of them being that he liked to examine something he found intriguing and he was never good at keeping that bottled down. He was going to find out everything he could about Débauche, and his brother’s involvement. Freya didn’t want to talk about it, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying to turn every stone for information. No matter the outcome. Surely something left in his brother’s hands was on the brink of crumbling?
Knowing where find his first source of information, Elijah picked up coffee and breakfast on his way to St. Anne’s Church. Now that his brother had allowed Marcel back into the city and had actually given the control back to him as well, Marcel had transformed the church into a gym, a fight club, for his newest vampires. To test them. To train them. And of course, for personal gain; letting off some steam.
Elijah had helped Marcel with setting it up, as he believed it was a great idea, and had used it himself a couple of times – in order for Elijah to be around his brother, he needed to take out his anger on someone.
“Elijah!” Marcel greeted him with that big smile of his. “Kinda early, isn’t it?”
“Good morning, Marcel,” Elijah spoke calmly and held up the coffee. “I brought you breakfast.”
While Marcel gratefully took the coffee and showed Elijah to a couple of chairs, he knew that this wasn’t simply ‘breakfast’. “What can I do for you, Elijah?”
Elijah appreciated it that he didn’t beat around the bush, it made things less tedious. “You and Niklaus, you were as thick as thieves in the past. At some occasions, you still are.”
“Much like yourself, Elijah.”
“Of course, but my relationship with my brother is entirely different from the one he has with you. He taught you everything he knows, did he not?” He asked with an amused smile, taking a sip of the chain-coffee and tried his hardest not to wince at the taste.
The vampire had an amused smile on his face as he, too, took a sip of his coffee. “I doubt that, but what do you want to know?”
“Have you ever been to Débauche, that strip club?” he asked carefully before seeing the expression on Marcel’s face change. “What?”
“Why are you asking about Débauche?”
“I’m merely trying to satisfy my curiosity, Marcel,” he replied as he retrieved a newspaper clipping out of his pocket. “This caught my eye, I thought I’d see what it was all about.”
“The A-Squad?” Marcel laughed and shook his head. “Man, clubs like that are so corny! Couldn’t they have thought of something more original to promote their shows? There’s a reason why I tend to go somewhere else, where there’s more excitement!”
“You know more about the city than my brother and I do, what kind of people go there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been there once, and it was shit. Seriously, Elijah, don’t go there. Even my vampires don’t go there.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not the best thing there is. This clipping is nothing but bought PR, I mean, look at that picture. It’s as if someone gave Hope scissors, glue and a thick marker and decided to use that as their advertisement,” he said with a chuckle. “If you want to get your rocks off, go to The Phenomenon near the Air Base or Nadia’s in Lakeview.”
Elijah thought for a moment and sat back on his chair. Marcel was far too deflecting, too passionate, about his dislike for the club. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“Both establishments are as far away as possible from the location of Débauche. Surely there’s something like that here in the Quarter so I won’t have to go out of my way to be entertained like that?”
“No.”
Marcel’s responses had been too quick, too calculated and too rehearsed for Elijah’s liking. It made sense that if Niklaus was truly hiding something, and Marcel had stumbled upon it – as Marcel liked to do – his brother would have compelled Marcel to run in the opposite direction. “Tell me, Marcel, did my brother ever compel you?”
“He doesn’t have to.”
“Alright, well,” he got to his feet and set his cup of coffee down. “I suppose I have plans for tonight. I’ll be going to Débauche.”
“Are you nuts?!” Marcel stopped him from leaving. “You’re not going there.”
“I believe that I am. I’m due for a night out in town. Would you like to join me?” Elijah said, entertained by the sloppy compulsion. Whatever it was, his brother obviously never took the time to expertly compel Marcel for whatever he discovered.
“I will never set foot in that dump again. I’d gladly paint the town red with you, Elijah, but not there.”
Elijah brushed Marcel’s hand off his shoulder. “Noted,” he said calmly. “Have a good day, Marcel. You’ve been very helpful.”
~o.O.o~
She had been a little disappointed when she awoke and didn’t find Klaus waiting for her. He never stuck around and she was conflicted about that. A part of her always wanted him to stick around, another part of her didn’t. And hadn’t it been for the hiccup last night, they’d probably have had some good sex too!
Bella dragged herself out of bed and went to the bathroom to fill up a bath for herself. Today was a new day. She was feeling a lot better and it was time to try again. She was quite sure that the attention Klaus had given her – and his blood, had something to do with her good mood. She was capable of doing everything, and she was going to do just that.
But first, a well deserved soak in the bath. Just like last night. Although this time she was going to extend her cleaning regimen. While she had quickly cleaned up last night, she was now going to take her time. She hadn’t done anything for days and it made her feel icky. She also needed to do something with her hair, maybe a few strands of color would make her feel better. She hated it when she was in a funk. And she hated it even more that it took an assault and the attentions of her friend to get her out of it.
She was doing better, however. She’d been living above the club for two years now and she liked it how things had settled down. No more running. She was now simply hiding. Maybe she got depressed every now and then because her life was missing something. Was she secretly missing the running that she had done? All across the world, for five whole years, while the Cullens and Victoria were on her trail.
There had been quite a few times where she’d simply given up, allowing her pursuers come incredibly close, but there was always something that kept her going. It had been easy to uproot her life after her mother told her to run. There was nothing for her left in Forks but misery and she ran. When they thought that killing her mother would have her return to them, she kept running. Her mother had wanted her to be safe, and she’d do anything to stay that way.
Bella was in Morocco when she heard of a safe haven in for women who were being pursued and abused by supernatural beings. This lead her to follow a few breadcrumbs here and there, taking her to Indonesia and Greece, before hearing that it was in America. It took her almost six months to find it in New Orleans and she’d been hiding out ever since.
And she felt comfortable. And in a way, she had the Cold Ones to thank for it because hadn’t it been for them, she wouldn’t have to find other means of getting money – she couldn’t stay in one place for too long to work in case they were on to her – and selling sex had been the best way. It hadn’t always been safe. But now it was.
What happened last night was just a tiny hiccup.
Drying herself off, she walked towards her music set and turned on the radio as she continued to dry her hair with the towel. She felt cleansed and clean. Both were very good.
By the time she was dressed – tight jeans and a crop top as it was still quite early, she was singing along loudly with the music coming out of her little set. Wouldn’t it have been great if she was a real tiger or a lion and could actually roar as loud as she wanted?
It was a good thing that the rooms were so well isolated though, Bella knew she couldn’t hold a tune but didn’t have it stop her from singing. Most girls would wake up well after the afternoon, even if they didn’t work. There was a skeleton crew working at the bar and club – mostly the cleaners and the managers, as they wouldn’t open until three or four.
She peeked into her cupboards and fridge but didn’t find anything edible so she was going to have to raid the communal kitchen for food. Which was fine, it was why it was there so that people like Bella didn’t have to go outside and possibly run into the very person, or persons, they were hiding from. Occasionally, when she really craved something that wasn’t in the well-stocked kitchen, she’d ask Myriam or any of the girls who didn’t live on the premises. Because even though it was truly disgusting, sometimes a Big Burger was the thing she needed.
She took one of her bags and left her apartment to cross the space to the kitchen, where she bumped into Ashley, a member of the A-Squad and apparently always in the building. Bella knew who they truly were as part of Myriam’s all inclusion deal with Bella. They were the main attraction to the club, sure, but in fact, they lead completely different lives. They weren’t normal.
“Shall we spar? The gym is free,” Ashley smiled at Bella as she opened a bottle of water. “Work out a little.”
“I just took a nice bath and cleaned myself up, I don’t want to become sweaty again,” she replied as she opened the pantry and was greeted by Ferrero Rocher by the buckets. “Oh, Christmas has come early!”
“It’s a miracle with the amount that you eat, and mostly shitty food as well, that you have the body that you have,” she slapped her flat stomach and smirked when her abs weren’t moving. “Hard work, this.”
“You know better than trying to make me jealous, it won’t work,” Bella said as she threw some chocolate in her bag, followed by a few bags of chips. She reluctantly went over to the healthy stuff to fill up her bag and waved at Ashley. “Have fun, I have a date with Ferrero and Rocher.”
“Oh, Miss Bella?”
Bella turned around when she heard her name to face the person wanting her attention. It was Emma, one of the humans Myriam employed for their blood and assistance in other things that didn’t directly involve the club.
“Miss Myriam requested your presence in her office.”
“I’ll be down soon, I need to put away my things,” Bella acknowledged as she opened the door to her apartment. “Thank you, Emma.”
Elijah used his influence to get information about the club at the cadastre and recorder of deeds. The history of the building, who owned it and what kind of modifications had been made. Maybe his brother would appreciate it if the building was family owned. The only reason he was allowed to walk in without an invitation was that it was a public space when he went there with Freya and with rules and ownership always changing when it came to these kind of establishments, maybe it was better to have it in the family – if, what Freya said was true about the happenings on the top level.
Of course, it had crossed his mind that this was an elaborate ruse. To get Elijah interested in something because his brother was involved, to not see the entire picture or simply to keep him busy and having him to stop fussing when it came to Hope. It could very well be a cleverly performed trick by his very clever and easily jealous brother. But if this was the case, would their sister Freya have cooperated as willingly as she had, or was she just as devious as his brother?
Deciding that no one was playing a trick on him, he started to look at the papers. The building had been remodeled several times over the last few decades, with the most drastic one in the eighties when they included another building and built another story on top of it. How had this been possible? The French Quarter was a National Landmark, things like these simply couldn’t happen ‘just like that’. Perhaps this had been possible as the club was situated right on the edge of it, but still, it was curious. There was no paper trail whatsoever and whoever acquired the necessary permissions to remodel it in such a rigorous way, must have had some pull.
The club even had a basement, one that Elijah hadn’t seen, but the plans told him that it was mainly used for storage. The first floor was more or less obvious, although should an inspector come by to make sure they’re up to code, he’d surely notice that the area on the left, behind the guest bathrooms, wasn’t a beauty parlor. Elijah believed it was where the offices were situated, and perhaps a staffroom.
The second floor had eight hotelroom sized rooms, and two master suite rooms that were three times the size of the others. This was undoubtedly the area where things happened in private; dancing or maybe even more than that. Most certainly more than that. While the plans didn’t say anything about a small cubicle near the stairs, he had seen it. It had been filled with two members of staff, security.
As shown on the plans, he found the lack of cameras disturbing. Sure, there were a handful, but if you ran an establishment where women were allowing themselves to be vulnerable, surely you’d have more visible security for them? Or was there something else in play?
The third floor was nothing like he had seen with his own eyes. According to the plans, there were a few criss-cross rooms. It was messy and unhinged, unlike the careful planning that went with what he had experienced. He knew there was a large area near the concealed stairs, there were at least three big apartments or rooms and a kitchen area. Why was it obscured on the plans? To keep refugees safe? Likely.
Pursing his lips, he casually flipped the papers to see who owned the building so that he could find that person, give him or her an offer they can’t refuse and purchase it in his name.
Elijah was surprised to see that his brother Niklaus already bought the building – under one of his aliases. “Generous anonymous donor, indeed,” he muttered to himself.
~o.O.o~
Bella made her way down the stairs and slipped out of the lounge before greeting some early birds making their way to the bar area. They looked like businessmen ready to do some business and perhaps some fun later. Giddy, she made her way through the secure door, passed Frank and Mark who were on security duty – more would come later, but since it was still early, it wasn’t really needed for the entire force to be present – and knocked on Myriam’s door before slipping inside.
The room smelled of sex.
No matter how well the airconditioning worked or how wide the vampire had opened the window, it still smelled of sex. And of Klaus. Klaus’ spunk. Klaus and his wonderful hands. His tongue. His cock. They had been all over Myriam and it was getting harder and harder to fight the jealousy, because Bella wasn’t a jealous person. Not at all. She didn’t even want to claim Klaus as hers because he wasn’t. And she wasn’t ready for a boyfriend or whatever, because they’d only mess with her jam. Her own beat.
“You wished to see me?” She chose to ignore all that she saw, all that she smelled. The ghosts that lingered. The ghost that she wanted to feel inside of her.
“Yes,” Myriam smiled at her. “I am glad to see that you’re doing alright after last night.”
“Water under the bridge. Or over it. Or turning into wine,” Bella said, waving her hand around. “Whatever.”
Myriam sighed. Bella was always good at making herself appear stronger than she was but she saw right through her. They hadn’t had a serious incident with a client in a very long time, mainly because of the safety they had put in place, but Bella was special, her mind couldn’t be read. They should have thought of something else for her to make her more secure. A panic button.
Not a huge bulky one, it had to look ordinary and small enough to carry around or place somewhere else.
But, until that was in play, Myriam was going to make sure that Bella was staying occupied with other things.
“I thought that maybe you could double check the numbers for me,” Myriam said as she got up from her chair and motioned for Bella to sit down. “And then, perhaps, take the stock inventory list and check the bar stock for me? While it’s great that we have a new bar manager and all, we still need to keep an eye on our stock. I have the feeling that we’re still losing a lot of bottles or he and his staff are giving alcohol away for free.”
“I wasn’t really planning on working today,” Bella replied as she sat down on Myriam’s chair and opened the spreadsheets to check them over with the loose papers that were on the desk. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to take a nap,” she smirked as she opened the door. “Only wake me when there’s something you can’t handle.”
“Bitch,” Bella muttered.
“I heard that!”
“I know you did!” It was payback because Bella now had to work in an office smelling of sex. Klaus and Myriam sex. Yuck. The moment Myriam was out of the office, she opened the windows and loved the slight breeze that came through the openings.
Bella wasn’t opposed to smelling sex. No. Not at all. Just not with the guy she actually liked. She never thought that she’d ever really like someone, someone she felt genuine deep feelings for, not after Edward, but there was Klaus. But admitting it out loud was a bit stupid, wasn’t it? She felt like a vampire groupie while it was merely coincidence that both men were vampires – Klaus more human than Fuckward.
She wanted to have sex with Klaus. But she couldn’t demand it, not like Myriam. She was grateful for Myriam calling him after what happened the day before, but he should come by on his own volition and he was obviously busy. With his family. With his daughter. Had he truly liked her in a way that she liked him, he would have come sooner, right?
Bella’s play for today was to continue her maintenance, and then maybe see if there was a spot available at the strip club. She wanted to lose herself in the music – well, she could do that in her room as well, but getting dollar bills to donate back into Débauche was much more fun. The interaction was more fun and damnit, she was the master of her own body.
Jake Harris was a douche. She was stuck doing numbers.
It hadn’t even been her responsibility to check the stock at the bar. Myriam always did it because she could do it in five minutes instead of a couple of hours like Bella had spent doing it. Myriam was punishing her for something, wasn’t she?
Bella had dinner and then went downstairs to look at the schedule for the strip club. There was an opening at 9.20 pm to 9.30 pm, in the middle of a break between Demelza dancing and the A-Squad. Ten minutes. Thinking about it for a moment, she signed her name and then went to Bobby to ask him if she could waitress that night as well. It would involve tips and lapdances, and she just wanted to have fun. While Bobby was grateful for her offer, he was completely full on entertainment and apologized.
At least she could show everybody that she still had ownership of her own body, even if it was for only ten minutes. She was going to make it memorable.
~o.O.o~
He had wanted to see how she was doing, and much to his surprise, Myriam told him that she was on the call sheet to dance tonight. He didn’t know whether to be proud of Bella – as she usually just kept going even on a bad day – or to be extremely cross with her – for the same reason. All he knew was that he had to be there to keep an eye on things.
Oh, yes, the club was well protected and had great security and now that she wasn’t locked in a room with a client they could get to her when she needed it but he couldn’t help but wanting to protect her. To make sure that nobody would yank her off that stage without her permission. If there was any yanking to be done, it was going to be him.
Klaus had spent the day with Hope, and realized that he had been neglecting his duties towards Myriam, and Bella. Granted, they were supposed to be a secret in case his enemies would try to get to him through them and maybe it wasn’t so wise to frequent the club but he couldn’t help himself. Myriam was a long time friend – with benefits – and Bella was this beautiful young woman who kept picking herself up after falling so hard. She was intriguing. She was beautiful and she was so stubborn.
He liked it.
He stopped having sex with Bella out of respect. He respected her as a woman and he feared that she saw him as a client, that the feelings weren’t mutual, which is why he never stayed after they had sex. Couples lingered in bed, muttering sweet nothings to each other, not two people who are not committed to each other. That was not how he worked. But he wanted to whisper sweet nothings in Bella’s ear. He wanted to fall asleep with her in his arms.
For a human, she was extremely comfortable around vampires. A level of comfort that even Camille didn’t possess. Bella didn’t seem to care that he could snap her neck with his pinkie finger if he wanted to. She was fearless. And also because of her history with the Cold Ones, he was afraid that that was the reason why things weren’t mutual between them.
Then again, how did he know that things weren’t mutual when they’d never even discussed their feelings?
It was silly, perhaps, to believe in true feelings such as love. Never in a million years he would have figured to feel something as pure and terrifying as what he felt for Bella. Granted, they had started out as acquaintances and were now good friends, but he wished for more. Being with Bella, imagining his life with her, melted away all the years of loneliness, even when he was supposedly in a relationship with someone.
Being with Bella made him realize that the past relationships had been nothing but immature infatuations. Lust. Jealousy. Or simply because he could. He was careful around Bella because he truly cared about her feelings, about her wellbeing and her state of mind. Granted, staying away for two months as he had hadn’t been his best move.
Klaus never said he was a good friend. Or a good lover. Or a good anything. Loyal, yes. But true friendship? True feelings of affection? He had tried to discuss this with Camille, but she was under the impression that he wasn’t capable of feeling this way, yet, he did.
He had even spoken to a witch to find out if something magical was at play – a spell of sorts, but she denied any magical involvement. His feelings were real. There was no magical bond and since she wasn’t a vampire or a werewolf, there was no sire bond to speak of. Camille joked about Stockholm syndrome and perhaps she was right. Or not.
He had thought about it, long and hard and figured that maybe he should keep his feelings to himself. That should he allow himself to bring her into his life – completely, he was endangering Bella. That he was going to endanger himself as it would be yet another person someone could use to get to him and his family.
On top of that, what if she didn’t want him? He didn’t want to get hurt over this, either. It would be terrifying to put his true feelings out in the open and then have her crush it by denying him.
They didn’t live in a Disney animated movie, there was no such thing as a happy ending for all. He didn’t want her to get hurt any more than she already had. Perhaps it had been wrong to have taken a liking to her, but what if it hadn’t been?
He hated to feel this conflicted.
Klaus straightened himself up at the other end of the room when Demelza left the stage. Demelza was an amazon, tall, gorgeous black hair and due to her athleticism she didn’t require to be able to dance that much. Some guys liked that. He thought that some of her tricks were freaky – and that was saying something.
The A-squad were true entertainers. Killers, but entertainers none the less. They had a show. A story. To him, that was more exciting than Demelza, but not as exciting as seeing Bella perform. Oh, she was an awkward mover, but that’s what made her so special. She wasn’t even trying to put up a show, she was only having fun. And that was sexy.
For ten whole minutes he forgot to breathe as he watched how she moved and occasionally stumbled. How men were throwing money at her. Money that she’d hand over to Myriam after collecting it all. A shame, really, she should treat herself to things. Luxury. After having been on the run for so long, she deserved to splurge on unnecessary things with her own money, but she didn’t. So Myriam donated the money back into Bella’s secret bank account. Myriam kept her wages, but all her tips were donated into that account. Had Myriam paid Bella her wages, she would see that whenever she was fiddling with the numbers.
Security knew who he was, so he followed her backstage after she was done. “That was great, love,” he said as he slipped next to her as she walked towards the staircase. She wasn’t even lingering, she was heading straight to her apartment. “I always like seeing you dance.”
“It’s fun,” Bella said as she looked up to him. “There’s a bottle of Patrón waiting in my apartment, I don’t mind sharing. I was planning on more fun by myself, but I suppose it’s fine if you join me.”
“I wanted to make sure you’re alright, love,” Klaus smiled at her as he followed her up the stairs. “I know you’re alright physically.”
“And mentally I’m fine too, Klaus,” she replied with a sigh. “Seriously. It happened. It could have happened to anyone.”
“But it happened to you.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because I do. You know I do.”
She was quiet until they reached her apartment. Letting him inside, she closed the door and headed straight for her bottle of tequila. “I don’t know,” she said as she took a gulp from the bottle and turned to look at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate all your help. I really do. And Myriam’s, of course. But there are days where I wonder why you care. No other girl in this place gets your attention like I do.” She took another swig of the bottle.
Yeah, she might as well put it out there that she wanted more. That she was ready for more and if he wasn’t willing to give it to her, she needed him to take his distance from her so that he wouldn’t cramp her style. “What are your intentions? No offense, I like it when we have sex but it’s the other things – you caring about me – that makes me think we’re blurring the lines a little.”
He watched her taking another sip from her bottle of tequila and sighed as he walked to the cupboard to take out his bottle of bourbon and a glass. As he poured, he quietly mulled over her words. She was right, of course. The thoughts had crossed his mind several times now. Even this evening.
There was nothing more that he wanted than to share his life with her. Everything. But that also meant putting her in harm’s way – should she ever decide that it was safe for her to leave her shelter. She left on occassion, he knew that, but her entire world was in Débauche. She felt safe there, and sure, they could change their relationship, but what good would that do when he couldn’t keep sneaking out like he had done before?
He wanted her at the compound. Keep her safe there, have her stop allowing other men to enjoy her body. Claim her as his and his alone. He was certain that she was strong enough to handle his siblings. But should she end up in the wrong hands, she could be used against him as a weakness and he wasn’t weak.
And then there were of course Bella’s own troubles, her nightmares, that were still haunting her. They were still around and while the compound was a fortress and well protected, the top level of Débauche was still a safer place for her.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Bella eyed him as she took another swig from her bottle.
“What do you want my intentions to be, love?” He asked quietly and took a sip of his bourbon.
“Don’t turn it back on me, Klaus. I asked first.”
“Why do you want to know?”
Bella let out a low growl as she took another sip of her tequila. Wasn’t it obvious? She liked Klaus. She wanted him all to herself. She was ready for this. She was ready for someone to be in her life all the time. She hated it that her happiness was connected to the few times he showed up and the last two months had been horrifying. If he didn’t see a future with them, then so be it. She was going to find someone else.
Klaus tiredly rubbed his face and sighed. What would Camille say about this? Man up, probably, but the thing was that he really wanted Bella in his life as his. Everything. But for safety purposes, this was impossible. He cared too much about this still so broken young woman. “You are an amazing woman, Bella. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with you, however, I cannot give you what you want. It’s best if we keep the distance we’ve put between us.”
She took another sip of the bottle, she was well in her way to be completely buzzed and her bravery was growing. “I’m nothing but a fun fuck to you? One you feel like coming to the rescue to because you don’t want to lose it?”
No. “Yes.”
Bella nodded and let out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. “Very well, this is good. We’ve discussed our feelings like mature adults and we know where we stand.” She straightened her skirt and nodded again as if she needed to confirm things in her head. “Good, then I can go and flirt with the guy at the bookstore tomorrow. He’s cute.”
He looked at her in surprise. “You’re going outside?”
“Yeah, with Alina. We both need new books to read and there’s a new book out from this author I like,” she said with a smile on her face and took another sip. “Flirting with the cute guy at the store is a bonus.”
“What if I don’t want you to flirt with him?”
“Tough, we’re not together. If you want to fuck me, I want you to fork over the fee right now and I shall take you to one of the rooms. I do not fuck clients in my own apartment. If you don’t want to fuck me, I want you to leave so I can get stupidly drunk and have fun by myself.”
