Chapter 19


    I stand admiring the finished bar and lounge area from my viewpoint on the stairs with a huge surge of


    pride swelling inside of me, walking to the deep sunken area and turn in a full circle taking in all the


    newly designed and staged areas around me. The whole club looks amazing and the ck and gold


    palette with greys and subtle whites make it not only luxurious and nightclub feely but there’s a hint of


    sexy in all the fixtures and fittings. Low ceilings, soft lighting and plush upholstery.


    This refurb hase in at over a million in costs from what I have been able to count and the whole


    ce is dazzling and sensual.


    Exactly the kind of club I would have put together if it was mine and I simply adore it. It screams of


    ss yet has a sinister edge that ispletely sexy—weirdly the same way I would describe Alexi.


    A long granite topped ck bar curving around a central pired wall of bottles in a half arc to one side,


    overlooking therge couch edged room and little nooks of morous privacy. The hall now leads to


    fifteen little themed boudoirs—one for every taste, and that has been repeated upstairs with matching


    rooms and ten more.


    We have twomunity areas, the second floor is our private V.I.P. area with its own bar and I literally


    cannot love my surroundings any more than I do.


    I was all about the fine details and little touches while Alexi was focused on the bigger picture and the


    whole feel of what he wanted. We came together and dare I say it, made a great little design team. One


    thing about Carrero is that we have simr tastes in decor and it is one area we never argued at all. I


    even love his bachelor pad upstairs and the progress meetings we had were almost enjoyable. We can


    be a good duo when we have a simr goal to focus on; when we stop bickering to just work.


    Alexi has built himself a very upper-ss whore house and already he has members queuing up at the


    doors to sample the Carrero hospitality. He has located a paid dating agency going into liquidation, and


    he’s slowly procuring the escorts on their books onto his own. Being selective and picking them based


    on kink and ss. He knows what he wants, and he has swooped in and taken control of all aspects of


    that area, of which I am thankful.


    I spent enough of my life elbow deep in sordid, and it’s nice to hand it over to someone more capable


    of taking it in his stride.


    ‘‘Club Carrero.’’ My nickname for this little endeavour that he finally stuck with, is lookingpletely


    divine. I have goosebumps for our opening tonight, and already the staff are bustling round stocking the


    bar and ice coolers, polishing sses and making everything ready for show time.


    I’m just admiring all our hard work and dedication with onest scrutinising walkthrough. The old bar


    staff have all been fired, they were ipetent anyway and now we have hired cocktail skilled


    bartenders and servers. Uniforms are unusually modest, considering the aim of this ce. The non-


    sexual staff are all in ck tie and waistcoats—trousers for the men and knee-length skirts for the


    women and a ‘’hands off’’ policy on anyone that isn’t contracted to give out favours.


    We have distinct differences in the requirements of our staff. Just the way Alexi wanted it.


    Product will be distributed by Alexi’s men; a perk of being a member and all cash paid via membership,


    so it’s an open bar with all kinks on the house. You pay to be a part of it and everything else is free.


    He’s charging a ton and more for his powerful associates to get their nose in the door, and with twenty-


    five members a night only list, it can be controlled. They must book a month in advance for the nights


    they want and his list is already into the hundreds. He is making them pay through the nose for both the


    pleasure of what he offers and the chance to rub shoulders with people they might not normallye


    across any other way.


    Men like him love to y, but they always like to have an angle and make connections that serve them


    well. He has it all tied up in the perfect package under one roof. Men doing what makes them happy—


    kicking back with other men while a flow of booze and cocaine keeps them perked and rxed and


    women suck and fuck them to their heart''s content. Raw and primal. Alexi knows what works.


    The waiting list is piling up from his contacts but his idea of one member for each room means no one


    will ever have to wait to get served. Each room is tailored to a variety of specs and tastes and women


    or men chosen ordingly. A member is awarded a card when they arrive, which gives ess to the


    themed room of their choosing. That means every night, twenty-five rooms are suited to twenty-five


    guests and it keeps everyone happy.


    It’s a brain ache nning out the guest lists to never ovep what they desire, a bit like pre-booking a


    table at a restaurant that serves a specific diet. This club is where business and crime meet; everything


    looks and feels above board. Proper employee contracts, and measures to keep things safe and


    regted. Despite the fact he sells sex and drugs under this roof!


    He doesn’t care how sordid a request a member has if his woman or man is consensual and safe


    words are used withoutint. Every client has a non-disclosure use in their sign up and the


    staff all have them too; nothing can go outside of these walls unless Alexi has a need for it too and


    getting in is like breaking into a fortress, what with the new triple entry system and lines of ck suited


    men wandering around all night. They’re all armed, easy to spot and terrifyingly huge with wireless


    headphones and mics on full show.


    Carrero’s infamous ‘Men in ck’.


    ‘‘You must be Cami?’’ A voice much like Alexi’s snaps me out of my obsessive detail checking and I


    turn in surprise at a tall dark stranger that could almost be him, standing in front of me suddenly.


    Looming over me in a very spooky moment of ‘‘I must be seeing things.’’


    I do a double take, inhaling sharply and mighty confused with the doppelganger that is most definitely


    NOT Alexi.


    ‘’Yes … How did you …?’’ I ampletely gawping at the insanity that someone could look that much


    like another person. It’s freaky and knocking me all sorts of weird.


    ‘’Get in here? Perks of being Lex’s twin. He mentioned he had a very sexy redhead running things


    down here. I’m Gino.’’ He extends a hand and it’s hard not to see this muscr giant is his brother,


    they are almostpletely identical in looks, minus the eyes. This one has blue and it makes a huge


    difference to the whole package. Somehow adding some life and colour to his whole face and softening


    it remarkably. I take his hand delicately and give it a little shake, still trying not to stare so obviously but


    it’s uncanny. I have never met twins before, never met people who are literally from the same mould in


    so many ways. He stands, looks like, sounds like and is built as beautifully, as Alexi. Although, I can


    still tell them apart, even without the eye colour.


    ‘’Pleasures all mine.’’ I smile sexily, and he breaks into a very non-Alexi grin. It’s strange to see on a


    familiar face that never tends to smile like this. Odd.


    I have to blink a few times to adjust to the strangeness.


    ‘‘He said you brought a touch of royalty to his pce, I can see what he meant now. The ent really


    is the cherry on top of the whole package isn’t it.’’ He’s very frank and forward I’ll give him that and far


    more animated and rxed in mannerpared to Alexi. If Alexi had a personality transnt maybe,


    then he could be him.


    I am a little touched that Alexi said something positive about me though. Stupid butterflies and teen girl


    reactions and I shake them away asplete nonsense. Ignoring the warmth spreading through my


    abdomen.


    ‘‘Which one of you is the eldest?’’ Twins have always intrigued me and these two are very alluring to


    me.


    ‘‘Me, although he acts like he should have been. Mr Boss and all that, I was born fifteen minutes earlier


    and I never let him forget it.’’ He grins again and this time with an air of cheeky and likeability, a hint


    that Gino is not a part of this world in the way Alexi is. A personality like his wouldn’t be an advantage,


    he’s too friendly, too smiley; unless like his brother he uses charm to disarm and is aplete psycho


    underneath. The masks they wear and all that.


    He doesn’t give me the same sense of unease as his brother though and normally my gut instincts are


    honed to the danger factor. That sinister edge ispletely missing.


    ‘‘He’s around somewhere, probably his office upstairs. I saw him earlier; would you like me to take you


    there?’’ I answer politely, pointedly and nod towards the internal door to the hall. Not really angling to


    stand and chatter to the look-alike when I have actual things to be doing.


    ‘‘Nahhh I know the way, I helped him choose this ce when he was scouting for a back-alley venue


    for his future man pad. I helped him sort out the apartment upstairs when he first started using it.’’


    ‘‘I see … As in D.I.Y.?’’ I find that unusual for someone with Alexi’s pay packet. Surely he would just


    hire someone in.


    ‘’No. I run a security firm, I installed all his high tech upstairs and you know … hand scanners and all


    the cameras in both the apartment and the other floors.’’


    My face falls, wave of unearthly chilling over me with that little detail. Cameras in the apartment?


    Since fucking when?


    ‘’I see.’’ I falter trying not to give my surprise away and mentally start cursing Carrero out. Stomach


    flipping over in knots as it dawns on me, what he just said.Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    He’s been filming the apartment this whole goddamn time, almost five months of me living here under


    his roof and never once told me. It feels like aplete vition.


    Complete fucking arsehole!