Kink Club owner, Zachary Coles would openly tell you commitment and monogamy are for fools and hedonism was the only game he subscribed too.
That was until he agreed to help out his long-time friend, Max Jenson and offer his son, Ellis a summer job...
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~ ~ Zack ~ ~
"You look worse for wear this morning, man. I know how you feel."
The comments set my teeth on edge. The guy, a new bar manager, Craig, perched on the other side of the bar and presumed to know me, when in fact this was only the second time I'd spoken to him.
I didn't hire him. James Charles, my right-hand guy, did, which was surprising because I trusted James implicitly, but he was off the mark with this one. Something was off, I could taste his arrogance like a mouthful of rusty nails.
Fuck me. The day had not even started and I felt like ripping my eyes out. I blinked and tried to relax my jaw and the fucking obvious scowl. I needed to chill out. With a deep breath, I rubbed over the space between my brows. Having just spent the better part of an hour with Craig, going over inventory and staffing, I was coming close to losing my patience but I'd give him this though, he at least stopped me thinking, which in my current state—was a good thing.
Not picking up on the fact that he was annoying the shit out of me, I turned away from him and yanked my phone from my pocket as it rang out, again.
"Zachery Coles," I answered without checking the caller ID. I didn't even try to mask the gruff irritation when I clicked the answer button on my cell phone and all but slammed it to my ear. The damn thing had been ringing non-stop.
"Bad time?" came a familiar voice of my friend, Max, who seemed immune to my umbrage because I'd slept what? An hour at most? Thanks to a visit from a dark-haired siren...Sasha.
I regretted little in life and trusted others even less so. But beneath my wide chest beat a loyal heart. Especially to those I considered friends. I'd learned the hard way the meaning of friends. But along with loyalty, this heart came with a few cracks. And Sasha Darling, my best friend's daughter, was a huge fucking crack.
"No. Just some shit I have to sort out here and sorry for not getting back to you." It had slipped my mind, or rather Sasha had stolen it, or I'd completely lost it. The jury was out.
"Anything I can help with?"
What? Max offering to help? That wasn't like him. Max was usually what didn't kill you made you stronger kinda guy. It was one of the things I appreciated about our friendship. But if I needed him, he would be there. No questions asked. "Nothing I can't handle. You wanted something?"
"I won't keep you long, but I'm calling to ask a favour."
Oh, now I was intrigued, walking through the main floor of Risk on the way back to my office. "I'm listening." Thankfully, there were only a handful of members in the club, most of whom had pulled an all-nighter; and here at Risk, we respected their privacy.
The line went quiet as I made it to my fourth-floor office and slammed the door behind me. I should have been at our morning meeting by now, but fuck it, James could handle it.
