“Yeah, but it could be fake,” I blurted, then cringed at how stupid it sounded. As excited as I was about the possibility of visiting such a place, I was equally as nervous. Maybe more so.

  Ann-Marie’s head slowly fell to the side as she studied me. “You don’t want to go?”

  My heart hammered, and I twisted my hands in my lap. “Yes… no.” I chomped down on my lip. “I’m pretty tired.”

  “Is that the only reason?” she asked in a tone that said she knew it wasn’t. “It’s Friday night, and you seriously don’t want to go to what might be the hottest club in New York?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted, biting my lip as anxiety threatened to send me crawling into my shell.

  “What don’t you know about, specifically?”

  “I’ve heard things about that place. Like, it’s really wild… and kinky.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard everything under the sun about Enigma, including that it doesn’t exist. But it does.” She shook the invitation in front of my face. “We’d be idiots to not go. We’re never going to get another chance, Riley.”

  “True,” I conceded, anticipation stomping on the nerves.

  She grinned. “Besides, I did some research online.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Well, mostly crazy things, like the place is owned by Leonardo DiCaprio and he keeps it as a retreat for the Masons.”

  “Leo is good,” I nodded. “I’d go if there was the slightest chance he might be there. But what if the place really is crazy? What if everyone who enters is required to get naked?”

  Ann-Marie’s eyes grew wide. “I haven’t heard that one.”

  “I have.”

  She huffed out a breath. “Nudity being a requirement doesn’t sound likely. Let’s just go. We’ll scope it out. If either one of us feels weird, we’ll leave. No questions asked.”

  My heartbeat increased, but now it was from excitement. The rumors about Enigma might have run rampant, but one thing was true — the club was a legend. Though I’d heard about the place, I didn’t actually know anyone who’d been there. Like Ann-Marie said, we’d be crazy to pass up the opportunity.

  I stood up. “All right. Let me finish here, and then we’ll go home and get ready.”

  Ann-Marie’s hands, one still clutching the invitation, shot into the air above her head. “Yes! That’s my girl!”

  I rushed through the cleaning on autopilot, barely seeing what was in front of me. The mysterious club and what might or might not have been going on there was the only thing on my mind.

  I didn’t know what to expect when we stepped through Enigma’s doors. But I had a feeling that, no matter what was to come, it would be big.

  We caught our first subway train just as we entered the station. Still, we had to transfer, and it took forty-five minutes to get to our Brooklyn apartment. There, Ann-Marie and I rushed through showers and helped each other pick out outfits. I could hardly breathe as I wiggled into my black sequined miniskirt, and I turned to deep breathing to calm my nerves. I told myself that most of the things I’d heard about Enigma were probably false, but that didn’t stop my nerves from skittering to the top of my skin.

  The address on the invitation took us back to Manhattan. It was close to midnight as we walked through Alphabet City, but the late hour didn’t mean anything to the crowds milling around us. Most of the clubs were probably only just filling up.

  Ann-Marie scanned the passing addresses as I carefully watched for subway grates. Jumping sideways to prevent my high heel from catching in one of the steel traps, Ann-Marie stopped a few feet behind me.

  “What’s up?” I asked, backtracking to stand next to her.

  She peered at a glossy black door and lifted her hand to trace a bold red stripe. There was also some graffiti on the walls around it, and a faintly flickering lamp, but no sign hinting at where it might lead. “I think this is it.” She checked the invitation again. “Yep. This is it.”

  A shiver ran down my spine. Sure, Enigma was “underground,” but I didn’t think its facade would be so… creepy.

  “You okay?” Ann-Marie asked.

  I swallowed and nodded, but avoided her eyes. I was nervous, but not about to chicken out. “Let’s do this.”

  She pulled on the door’s handle, but it didn’t budge. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door flew open. A bulking man in black, who couldn’t be anything other than a security guard, gazed down at us. His eyes fell to the invitation in Ann-Marie’s hand, and one of his brows slowly rose.

  “Invite?” he asked in a low and rumbling voice.

  Ann-Marie nearly shook with excitement as she handed our invitation over to him with a flourish. “Here it is.” He checked it, tucked it into the breast pocket of his sports jacket, and stepped aside. Anne-Marie and I entered a dimly lit hall where a second security guard nodded and opened another heavy door.

  I braced myself for an assault of music and lights, but there was none of that. Instead, the club was subdued. We stepped through the doorway onto a small platform and paused to take in the room spread out in front of us. A short bar sat to the right. In front of it were about a dozen round tables with cushioned, curved booths. The place wasn’t exactly crowded, but each table was occupied by at least a couple people. On the far wall, an empty stage waited to be used. The place was decorated in red and black, much of the low lighting due to red bulbs. A second tier resting above our heads was even darker, but I could make out tables and a few bodies moving around.

  The place was small, no doubt, but whoever designed the club was an expert at working with constrained spaces. There was also a sensual, mysterious quality to the room that gave me a whole new kind of shiver.

  Ann-Marie squeezed my hand and grinned at me. I smiled back — seeing the inside of Enigma had immediately put me at ease.

  “Oh my God,” Ann-Marie gasped. “Is that Gisele?” I followed her eyeline and found the supermodel sitting at a table only a few yards away. “This place is amazing,” Ann-Marie practically squealed.

  A man in a tuxedo approached us and gave a slight bow. “Ladies, welcome to Enigma. I am your host, Fernando. Please let me know if you need anything during your visit.”

  I slid my eyes toward Ann-Marie. This whole expedition was her idea, so I was pretty much deferring to her. She grinned wide. “Thank you, Fernando. We’ll just grab some drinks and have a seat.”

  “If there is anything I can do to make your time here more enjoyable, it will be my pleasure.” With a half bow, he gracefully went on his way.

  I grabbed Ann-Marie’s hand and pulled her down the platform’s few steps. Now that I was in Enigma, I was pulsing with energy. “Let’s get drinks!”

  The bartender saw us coming and stepped up to meet us before we were even at the bar. “Good evening. What can I get you, ladies?”

  We went with his suggestion of two Old Fashioneds. The whole experience of getting a drink at Enigma was different than at any other club or bar. There was no hoard of people pushing and vying for the bartender’s attention. The guy getting our drinks didn’t stare at us with zombie-like eyes, slam a beer bottle on the bar, then walk away. Instead, the bartender carefully garnished our drinks with perfect orange slices and a cherry each, then served them to us like he was serving the queen of England.

  “Cheers.” Anne-Marie held her cocktail up, and I clinked mine against hers. The sharp whiskey filled my nose, and the orange peel hit my lips as I drank.

  Fortified with alcohol, I looked around again. Ann-Marie and I settled into two stools at the end of the bar. It was a perfect vantage point, one from which we could see almost everything happening around us.

  “See?” Ann-Marie asked. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”

  “No. It’s amazing.”

  She twisted on her stool to gaze at the stage. “They have shows. Maybe there’s something tonight.”

  No sooner had she said the words than the lights came up on the stage. Soft music began, and for the first time, I noticed the upright piano pressed into the corner. At it, a man played the keys like he was making love to them.

  A woman dressed in a slinky gown that shimmered like melted gold slipped onto the stage. She fluttered a peacock fan and began to dance. I wasn’t sure just what I was watching, but it was captivating—like a cross between modern dance and burlesque, but also so much more. The woman on the stage moved with a passion that I’d never seen. Like she was full to the brim with this life force, this agonizing sensuality, and not moving wasn’t even an option. She took each step like it was both the most painful thing she’d ever done and the most exquisite.

  Sweat from my Old Fashioned collected in my palm, and I went to set my drink on the bar. As I did so, I got that sensation of being watched. My head automatically turned up and to the left as if drawn by some magnetic force. A man stood on the second tier, just above me, his legs pressed against the railing. His face was shadowed, but I knew he looked at me. I could feel his gaze pressing on me like a heavy weight.

  The piano played on, the notes filling the club and wrapping all around me. I stared back at the stranger’s dark face, wondering if he could see me watching him. My head spun, and a strange, ballooning feeling filled my chest. It was like I was flying away into space.

  The song ended, making me jerk and look down at my lap. My heartbeat filled my throat as the blood rushed through my ears. What was going on with me? I was staring at that man like I was in a trance. It couldn’t have been my drink. I only had two sips.

  No, it was Enigma itself. It was something about the whole place. The second I walked through the doors, a spell was cast on me. I could now see why the club had such a reputation.

  The small crowd clapped, and I surreptitiously glanced back at the balcony, but the mystery man was gone. My heart immediately sank. In the course of ten seconds, I had grown insanely attached to the dark figure lurking above. My stomach twisted at the thought of never knowing who he was.

  I leaned forward until my lips were inches from Ann-Marie’s ear. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

  She didn’t look away from the stage, where a second woman had joined the first. “Want me to go with you?”

  “No, I’ll be okay. Be back soon.”

  I grabbed my clutch and headed for the short hallway the bartender pointed out for us when he served our drinks. The sconces placed along the walls made it lighter than the main floor. I pushed my palm against the door to the ladies’ room and stepped into the powder area. Leaning against the counter, I stared at my reflection. My pupils shrank and grew, and a few beads of sweat glistened on my upper lip.

  I looked like I was having a panic attack.

  Taking blotting papers out of my clutch, I dabbed the moisture on my skin away. After a reapplication of makeup, I finally looked normal again.

  I just didn’t feel it. My heart still hammered, and there was a giddiness flooding my entire system.

  I’d gone too long without the touch of a man. That was it. I’d been so busy working two jobs, just trying to pay rent and impress Crumbs’ manager, that I hadn’t even thought of dating in, like… God, I didn’t know how long.

  I’d stopped thinking about it. That was the real answer. It had been a little over a year since I last saw Jesse. Our surprise break up kind of killed my desire to ever interact with another man again, much less share a meal with one.

  But I couldn’t think about that anymore. Snatching up my mascara and lipstick, I dropped them into my clutch. This night was about having fun, not about dwelling on the past.

  I exited the bathroom, took two steps, and stopped short. A man walked down the hallway, his broad shoulders seeming to tower halfway toward the ceiling. My heart flipped and then stopped beating altogether.

  It was the air around the man. It crackled like lightning, causing me to freeze in shock.

  It was him. The man from the balcony.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Xavier

  She stood a few feet away, full lips parted as her brown hair kissed bare shoulders. She was more girl than woman. Or maybe not. A second passed, and the innocence in her face transmuted into something more mature. She lifted her chin slightly, probably not even knowing she was doing it. Brown eyes seemed to penetrate me, daring me to make the first move.

  It was a good thing calling the shots happened to be my specialty.

  “Did you enjoy the show?” I asked.

  A second passed. “Yes. It was wonderful.” Her voice was light and sweet but with a slight rasp to it.

  “We have them nearly every night.”

  I took a step forward, inviting her to do the same. She stayed glued to her spot on the carpet.

  “This is my first time here,” she explained, licking her lips, nerves showing in the gesture.

  “I know.” Her eyes widened, and I gave her a slow smile to let her know I wasn’t a danger. “Xavier Fields. I’m one of the owners of Enigma. In case you’re wondering, I make it my job to notice our guests.”

  “Oh.”

  A bit of disappointment resonated in the single syllable.

  “But I do have to say… I noticed you the second you walked through the door.”

  Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes fell to the carpet. Heat ripped through my veins even though demure wasn’t usually my type. I liked a woman who knew what she wanted, but this girl brought something fresh to the table. She had a doe-like quality shining from her brown eyes.

  Add that to her trim, tight body, and I was done hunting for the night. This girl was going home with me. And we were both going to love every hot, sweaty minute of her visit.

  I extended my arm in invitation. She bit down on her lower lip and hesitated.

  Maybe she won’t be so easy after all.

  “Come on,” I told her. “I don’t bite. Who are you here with?”

  Her dark lashes fluttered as she looked back at my face. “My roommate.”

  “Let me get you a table upstairs.”

  Her breathing changed, growing more rapid as I took another small step in her direction. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to.”

  She still didn’t move, but I could tell she was having a deeply physical response to my close proximity. Her chest rose sharply with each breath, and she kept licking her lips. She was probably sopping wet between her legs. But for some reason, she still wouldn’t touch me.

  I gazed into her brown eyes, daring her to resist my offer one more time. All it took was one look. She stepped forward and lightly rested her fingers on top of my forearm.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Riley.”

  “Riley.” I rolled the name over my tongue. “Let’s go find your roommate and get this night started right.”

  Riley took me to the bar, where her roommate sat swaying to the piano music, and introduced us. A sharp nod and flick of my eyes toward the upstairs area let Fernando know I desired a table. He removed the rope from the best balcony section, and I led Riley and Ann-Marie upstairs. The second girl was just as hot as the first, but there was something missing about her. She didn’t have the wild, untamed rawness of Riley. I didn’t know if it was innocence or general cautiousness, but I liked it. She presented a challenge, something new to be conquered.

  We settled onto couches as a synthetic beat began. The bass rumbled through the floor and traveled up my legs. Though the club often had dance music late at night, we kept it at a classy level. One of the things my three partners and I agreed on upon opening Enigma was that the club needed to possess a degree of refinement that was rarely found.

  One of the waitresses appeared almost immediately with my preferred vodka. She mixed three drinks and then left the alcohol, soda water, and garnishments in a bin of ice. I leaned back in my seat and studied the young women across from me.

  Ann-Marie crossed her legs and took a hearty sip of her drink. Riley mimicked her, clearly needing the fortification. They were nervous and probably questioning exactly why I invited them to hang out with me.

  “This place is so nice,” Ann-Marie gushed.

  I inclined my head in acknowledgment, but my eyes were on Riley. She looked back at me from under her lashes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I gave her my best slow smile, the one proven to draw a woman in.

  “Are you students?”

  Riley shook her head. “No. I graduated last year.”

  Ann-Marie bumped her shoulder against Riley’s. The music was getting louder, and she had to raise her voice. “She wants to be a pastry chef.”

  “Is that so?”

  Riley’s face took on a softness. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t have any real experience. I studied science, planning to go on to vet school. After graduation, I realized what I really want to do is open a bakery. I mean, I think I knew that all along, but just never let myself admit it. You know?” Her shoulders relaxed as she talked. With the conversation on what she loved, she’d entered her element.

  “I do know,” I agreed. I wasn’t a man prone to questioning my own motives, but I could clearly see how others made it a habit. It was an unfortunate way to live.

  “My parents were pretty annoyed. But it’s not like I ever had the chance to even talk about what I wanted. They both want me to be a veterinarian, simply because that’s what they are.” Riley downed half her drink. Judging by how quickly she was chilling out, it was a safe bet that she didn’t drink much.

  “You run this club all by yourself?” Ann-Marie asked me.

  “No. There’s a manager. And technically, I only own one-fourth of it. It’s more of a hobby than an actual business endeavor.”

  The track faded into the next one, and Ann-Marie’s knees bounced.

  “You should go dance,” Riley told her.

  She quickly shook her head and darted her eyes in my direction. “I’m good.”

  Riley swirled the small amount of liquid left in her glass. “You clearly want to dance.”

  “Come with me.”

  Riley laughed. “In this skirt? With my two left feet? Yeah, right. Just go.”