Chaos descended towards the lower west level with Xavier several steps behind him. By the time the lift doors opened, the music from the main floor had almost completely disappeared.
Down here, Club X was quieter. Darker. The walls were lined with black stone and brushed metal, illuminated by low strips of warm light running close to the floor.
No crowds. No screaming. No drunken bodies stumbling into each other beneath flashing lights. Just closed doors, private rooms, people who had paid enough, inherited enough or threatened enough people to never be asked what they intended to do behind them.
Chaos walked past two security men stationed outside the west corridor. Both lowered their heads.
"Boss."
He continued without answering. Xavier followed. At the end of the corridor, another guard stood beside a pair of black double doors. He opened them immediately. Chaos stepped inside and stopped.
The room held perhaps a dozen people. Men. Women. Champagne. Half-empty bottles crowded the low tables. Jackets had been abandoned over chairs. Someone laughed from the far side of the room on the bed, while another couple spoke quietly near the private bar.
And in the centre of one of the large sofas—
Jaden Laurent.
She was deeply occupied. One of her hand rested against the back of a woman's neck as she kissed her with enough concentration to suggest the rest of the room had temporarily ceased to exist. The woman was sitting in her lap.
Chaos exhaled softly. Behind him, Xavier took one look at the scene and calmly redirected his attention towards the wall.
Chaos folded his arms. "Laurent."
Nothing.
The woman in Jaden's lap shifted closer. Chaos's expression flattened.
"Jaden."
Still nothing. He looked towards Xavier.
Xavier remained intensely interested in the architecture.
Chaos turned back. "Do I need to evacuate the room?" That did it. Jaden finally pulled away. The woman beside her looked mildly annoyed by the interruption.
Jaden did not. Her grey eyes found Chaos across the room, and her mouth curved.
"Well." She removed one hand from the woman's waist. "Look who finally decided to welcome me."
Chaos gave her a long look. "You arrived unannounced."
"I had an invitation."
"You were not supposed to interpret it as an emergency summons."
Jaden laughed.
Jaden Laurent looked exactly like the kind of woman who had never once entered a room wondering whether she belonged there. A fitted black dress followed the clean lines of her body, simple enough to appear effortless and expensive enough that nothing about it was.
Diamonds rested at her ears. Her brown hair fell smoothly down her back, untouched by the disorder surrounding her.
She crossed the room and wrapped both arms around Chaos.
"Hello, darling. Congratulations."
Chaos caught her automatically. Jaden squeezed him once before stepping back.
"The club is obscene." Her attention shifted past him. "Xavier." Her gaze flicked briefly towards the woman she had been kissing. Then back to him. "You can look now. The scandal has ended."
Xavier finally turned away from the wall. "Miss Laurent. I assumed discretion would be appreciated."
A quiet laugh escaped her. "Still painfully proper."
Xavier said nothing.
Chaos glanced around the room. "How long have you been here?"
"Twenty minutes."
"You managed all this in twenty minutes?"
Jaden followed his gaze around the room. Several people suddenly became fascinated by their drinks. She shrugged. "I socialise efficiently, love."
Chaos almost smiled.
Jaden caught his wrist. "Come. Come. I've missed you." She dragged him towards the sofa. Two men occupied the centre seats. Jaden stopped in front of them and made a small motion with her fingers. "Bougez."
[Move.]
Both men stood. Immediately. Jaden sat down and Chaos took the place beside her. She reached for the bottle of whisky on the table, inspected the label and made a face.
"Who selected this?"
One of the men nearby suddenly looked nervous.
Jaden poured two glasses anyway and handed one to Chaos. "To Club X."
Chaos accepted it. "To Club X." Their glasses touched. Jaden drank, then surveyed the room again.
"I'll admit it. Sergeyev did well."
Chaos's mouth curved. "That may be the nicest thing you've ever said about him."
"Do not tell him. His personality is already unbearable."
Chaos laughed under his breath.
Jaden settled deeper into the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. "I haven't heard from you in months. My father has been complaining about you."
Chaos's amusement disappeared. "Why?"
"You know why." Jaden turned towards him. "Adrian." She took another sip. "You haven't visited France in months."
"I've been busy."
"You are always busy. He also says you ignore his calls." Jaden's brow rose. "You do ignore his calls."
"Your father calls too much." Chaos stared into his glass.
"He calls twice a month."
"Exactly."
Jaden laughed. "You're impossible. Apparently, according to him, you've abandoned Laurent Automobiles, forgotten Europe exists and developed some sort of personal vendetta against returning messages."
Chaos considered that. "The last one sounds dramatic."
"We are French." Jaden lifted her glass. "Dramatic is how we live."
Chaos took another drink. "I'll give old man Laurent a call sometime."
"He still wants you to come by. Dinner, perhaps?"
"I won't make it."
"I haven't told you when."
"Still no."
"Next month?"
"No."
"Christmas?"
"I have plans."
Jaden sighed. "You know, one day he's going to stop asking me and simply call Caeser."
Chaos's expression changed. Jaden smiled sweetly.
"You're irritating," he said. "Repeatedly."
"And yet you continue keeping me around." Jaden leaned closer and reached up, lightly caressing his cheek.
Chaos kept his eyes on her. "You're useful."
She placed a hand dramatically over her heart. "How tender."
"You know what I mean. Don't act wounded."
She did anyway.
That was the uncomplicated thing about Jaden. There was no need to dress their relationship in prettier language than it deserved.
Their families had known each other for years. They had grown up crossing paths at racing events, royal gatherings, corporate dinners and the sort of parties where everyone's surname carried more weight than their first.
They had worked together. Slept together. And somehow remained close through all of it.
Jaden lifted her glass. "How is X Holdings?"
"Profitable."
She clicked her tongue. "Laurent Automobiles broke another track record last month."
"I saw." Chaos smiled.
Her head turned. "You watched?"
"I read the report you sent."
Jaden stared at him. Chaos shook his head. Her mouth curved before she settled back into the sofa. For several moments, they simply sat there while the room carried on around them.
No tension. No performance. Just the ease of two people who had known each other long enough not to fill every silence.
Then Jaden glanced at him. "You look different."
Chaos turned. She studied his face for several seconds and shrugged. "I'll figure it out."
Chaos gave her a warning look.
Jaden grinned and raised her glass again. "Relax. I just arrived." Her laugh carried across the room.
Behind them, Xavier remained near the doorway, expression composed.
Jaden reached for the bottle again. "Now tell me exactly what you and Sergeyev have built beneath this ridiculous nightclub."
Chaos took the bottle from her and poured another drink. "Corruption dearie."
💜~~~~~~
Zarri stepped through the entrance of Club X and immediately understood why Alex had been unbearable about it.
The place was ridiculous. Not merely expensive. Ridiculous. Music rolled through the building in heavy waves, vibrating beneath her heels. Violet and blue lights swept across the dance floor, catching diamonds, glasses and bodies packed together beneath the enormous silver X suspended above them.
Zarri stopped just inside the entrance.
Dante came up beside her, his gaze travelling over the club, higher, towards the private balconies. "Hm. Flashy."
Zarri turned. "That's all?"
Dante looked at her. "What would you like me to do? Cry?"
"You have no appreciation for beauty." Zarri scoffed and adjusted her gown. She had barely taken another step when someone across the room spotted her.
Alex.
He had been speaking to two men near one of the bars. He stopped, looked directly at her and abandoned the conversation without so much as an apology. One of the men was still talking.
Alex walked away anyway.
Zarri's face immediately brightened. She threw one hand into the air. "Alex!"
Dante slowly turned towards her. "You are embarrassing."
Alex reached them seconds later. "Princesa." Zarri barely had time to answer before his hands caught her around the waist. He lifted her clean off the floor.
Zarri yelped, then burst out laughing as he turned once with her before setting her back down. Her hands landed against his shoulders. "You idiot!"
"You came."
"You gave me VIP." Zarri smacked his chest lightly. "And Zarri Mathias never turns down a party invitation." She looked entirely too proud of this principle.
Beside them, Dante wore the expression of a man reconsidering every decision that had brought him here. His attention drifted towards the ceiling.
Alex's amusement faded when his gaze shifted to him. Cold and ssessing.
This guy again. Always there. At Kashi's house. Around Zarri. Hovering like he belonged.
Alex looked him over once.
What exactly was he? Surely the man could learn to stand three metres away without inserting himself into every bloody social gathering.
Was he sleeping with Kashi?
Alex's jaw shifted slightly.
That would be inconvenient. Mostly for Chaos.
Alex held out one hand. "Dante."
Dante looked at it, took his hand. "Sergeyev."
Their handshake lasted exactly as long as basic civilisation required.
No longer.
Alex released him first.
Dante adjusted the cuff of his shirt. "I'm going to find a drink."
Zarri watched him leave.
Alex's gaze followed Dante through the crowd.
Still thinking.
If Dante and Kashi were together, Chaos would know. Wouldn't he?
Alex's brow furrowed.
Then again, Chaos had somehow spent all this time obsessing over Kashi while apparently failing to ask several obvious questions.
Alex considered following Dante.
Perhaps asking directly. Subtly. He was capable of subtlety.
"I like this place…" Zarri stepped directly into his line of sight.
Alex looked at her. The music thundered around them. His mouth curved slowly. "You look beautiful."
Her expression betrayed her before she could stop it.
"That is not what I said." Zarri tried very hard not to smile.
Alex caught her hand. "Come. I want to show you something interesting." Before she could argue, he started pulling her through the crowd.
Dante reached the bar and glanced over his shoulder.
He watched Zarri disappear deeper into Club X with Alex.
Closed his eyes briefly and ordered something stronger.