For His Honor

For His Honor (For His Pleasure, Book 4)

By Kelly Favor

© 2012 All Rights Reserved

Kane Wright told Nicole to meet him at his club, Venture, located in the Meatpacking District. Danielle wanted to go with her to make sure she was safe, but Nicole told her to stay home.

“Who will call the cops if both of us go missing?” Nicole asked her. That shut Danielle up temporarily.

But as the taxi had pulled up outside the apartment and Nicole readied herself to leave, Danielle stood in front of the door. “This is a really bad idea. Why are you still fighting for him, Nic?”

Why am I still fighting for Red?

She didn’t bother trying to answer, because there was no answer—at least, nothing that would satisfy Nicole’s overprotective roommate. Nicole was fighting for Red because she had no choice, and because despite everything, she still knew that he loved her and would have done it for her had the situations been reversed.

The taxi ride was long and the neighborhoods got worse and worse as they closed in on the address for the club.

Finally, just when they reached the most run down, desolate spot of all, the cab slowed and the driver announced that they’d arrived.

Standing outside Venture, Nicole was regretting that she didn’t have Danielle by her side. The cab took off before she had a chance to ask the driver to wait a moment until she was safely inside.

The street around her was empty, and she was surrounded by urban decay—

buildings that looked unused, crumbling. She thought there were likely several thriving crack houses in the area.

The club itself appeared to be closed, but she could hear the steady thump of industrial music coming from within.

Palms sweaty, heart racing, Nicole tried to open the door and found it locked. She pounded on it a few times with her fist. “Hello?” she called out, feeling like an idiot.

A moment later, the door swung open and a man in a skintight dark t-shirt stared her down. He was pale, so pale that she was sure he must be an albino. Or was he just a weird guy pretending to be an albino? Either way, Nicole decided he creeped her out in a major way. His pale eyes were like two glinting white marbles in his head.

“Yessssssss?” he asked with an odd, lopsided grin.

“I’m here to see Kane Wright,” she told him.

“Oh, honey,” he clucked, shaking his head at her. “I don’t think he wants to see you.”

“He’s expecting me.” She tried to stand her ground, even as everything in her told her to just run away as fast as she could.

The albino made a screwy face as if he really and truly couldn’t comprehend the notion that Kane Wright would want anything to do with a girl that looked like her. “If you’re wasting my time, I’m going to make sure you regret it.”

Despite the man’s flamboyant manner, Nicole sensed that he was a dangerous person. For one thing he was muscular, wiry—and he also looked like he’d been in a lot of altercations in his time. Pale, thick scars were visible on his neck, his cheek, and one scar ran the length of his bicep.

“I’m not wasting your time,” she told him. “But you’re wasting Mr. Wright’s time, and I wonder if he’d like that.”

The albino man grinned at her again, a leering, greedy look. “You better hope you’re truly a guest of Mr. Wright’s honey. For your own sake.”

She crossed her arms as he closed the door and disappeared back inside. Nicole once again considered turning around and getting the hell away from this place, but before she could convince herself to do it, the door opened once more.

The albino man was back, with a severely altered attitude. “We should hurry,” he said, the grin wiped from his face. “Come with me.”

Nicole tried to restrain a smile.

Inside, she could more clearly hear the thump-thump-thump of the base from that industrial music. The halls were dark and foreboding, the dim strobe light blinking off and on, and as they walked, she was aware of shadowy people watching her pass by.

She could feel their eyes on her, watching her, thinking god only knew what about her.

Bare chested men, semi-naked women, tattooed, clad in leather—these were the people that inhabited Club Venture.

The albino man led Nicole into a stairwell, and as they walked into it, she heard moans and groans and slurping sounds bouncing and echoing off the walls. The sounds came from a flight below—what must have been the basement level. It could have been a couple or it could have been five people down there, and Nicole didn’t care to know which it was.

They started to climb the stairs.

On the second floor, the albino stopped and led them out of the stairwell, into another long hallway with doors on both sides. “Go all the way down to the last door on the left,” he told her. “Give a knock and Mr. Wright will let you in.”

She started to walk down the long hallway.

“Bye now, honey,” he called to her. “I hope to see you again real soon.” And then he flitted away.

Alone in the hallway, Nicole almost missed her albino chaperone—but not really.

She walked slowly, hearing the thumping music louder again. Finally she reached the last door on the left and knocked.

When the door opened, Kane Wright was behind it. He was wearing a cream colored suit, his hair immaculate, smiling at her as if she were an old friend who’d dropped by his summer house out of the blue. “Nicole, my dear. So good to see you.

Come inside, please.”

She was surprised that the room she walked into was large, well-lit, with a white carpet and white, modern furniture to match. A window on the left wall overlooked the inside of the dance club from above. Strobe lights pulsed and flashed and a mob of people moved almost as a single organism below them.

Although this room was removed from the club atmosphere, it soaked it in a little just the same.

“Drink?” Kane offered.

She shook her head once. No.

“Please, have a seat then.” He motioned to one of the white couches. She sat down and felt its immediate luxury, sank into it just enough to feel enveloped.

Nicole had taken great care to dress down for this meeting.

She wanted there to be no confusion, so she’d worn unflattering jeans, sandals, and a light gray sweater. Her hair was not particularly styled and she’d put on no makeup whatsoever.

Kane went and poured himself a drink of some sort and then sat down across from her, affable, as he always seemed to be. “Any troubles getting here?”

She shrugged. “You’ve got a strange employee working the door, but other than that it was fine.”

“Oh,” he grinned. “You must mean Jeffrey. He’s nice enough once you get to know him. And as long as you don’t make fun of him being pale.”

“What happens if you make fun of him?”

Kane took a long, luxurious sip of his drink and then smacked his lips. “I think the last guy who made a joke ended up leaving the club in a stretcher.”

“How lovely. What a nice employee to have working for you.”

Kane shrugged, clearly not interested in what she thought about his associate.

“So,” he said, tilting his glass toward her, “have you heard from Red lately?”

“Why don’t you just tell me what you want?” she said, growing impatient. She crossed her legs and set her jaw, tilting her head slightly the way she did when she was angry or felt threatened.

Kane took note of her posture. “Don’t be so hostile, Nicole. I haven’t been rude to you, now, have I?”

“You threatened someone I care a great deal about.”

“It’s interesting that you’re so protective of a man who continually embarrasses you, Nicole.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Perhaps not,” Kane sighed. “But for some reason I feel like I want to help you.”

“That’s strange. You don’t even know me.”

“It is strange. I’ve been puzzled by it myself. But I think if we can come to terms tonight, I’ll be able to find out just what I’m so taken with you.”

“Maybe you’re just lonely.”

“Perhaps. But there are plenty of women willing to keep me company, Nicole.

That’s not really an issue. What’s more difficult is finding someone who I deem to be worth of my time.”

“Maybe you should try being a little less stuck up,” she said.

Kane smiled at her as if she’d just given him a huge compliment. “See? That’s part of it. I like your spunk. I like that you’re not going to back down. Sure, at first you might come off like a little mouse of a girl. But peel a few layers back and there’s Lara Croft waiting to riddle you with bullets.”

“I’m don’t raid tombs anymore. I’m officially retired, Mr. Wright.”

“Please. Call me Kane.”

“I’m not very interested in playing games, Kane.”

He nodded slightly. “Understood. But I’m not trying to play a game with you.

I’m trying to get to know you better.”

“You sure have a strange way of going about it.”

“Maybe you could give me a chance to start fresh. I’d like you to come with me to The Cayman Islands next week.”

Nicole actually laughed. She couldn’t help it—she thought it was one of the craziest things anyone had ever said to her. “Do women you’ve just met often agree to accompany you overseas?”

“Sure they do,” he said. “And I think you’ve got better reason than most to give me a chance.”

“What reason is that?”

He sat back and folded his hands over his stomach. “I’ve recently found out some disturbing information about Red Jameson. Information that could be very problematic for him if it was to be made public.”

“What kind of information?”

He sighed. “Information about his illegal activities. He could go to jail for it, possibly, and certainly public opinion would be very harsh if any of it were to come to light.”

“I don’t believe you. I don’t think Red did anything illegal.”

“Spouses rarely think the worst of their loved ones.”

“You’re going to threaten to release this information about Red if I don’t agree to go to the Caymans with you?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re even worse than I thought.”

Kane just looked at her. “I know you’ll be angry with me for awhile, but I feel confident we’ll get past it. And if you still hate me at the end of the trip, then…” he shrugged.

Nicole stood up. “I’m not going to even dignify this proposition with a response.”

“Nicole, don’t go,” he said.

She stopped and turned to look at him. “If you want to hurt Red, I can’t stop you by having sex with you. I’m sorry but I refuse to do that.”

Kane started to laugh. “Whoever said anything about sex?”

“I think inviting me on a trip to the Caymans is pretty much telling me you expect me to sleep with you.”

“You don’t know me, Nicole,” he said, still laughing. “Red must have truly traumatized you with his behavior if that’s what you think I’m indicating.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m simply asking you to spend some time with me—a few days. Let’s get to know one another.”

“I’m still in love with Red.”

Kane’s smile died on his lips. Clearly, he was a man not accustomed to being told no. “He’s weak, Nicole. When things got difficult between the two of you, he ran away.

What sort of man is that?”

“I can’t change how I feel,” she said.

“I don’t expect you to.”

“Then what do you expect?” She asked, knowing she should just walk out, but afraid to do so.

Kane stood up and came a single step closer to her. “Think about my proposition.

A few days in the Caymans with me. I promise there will be no demands made of you, other than you spend some time with me eating wonderful food, laying on the beach, swimming in crystal clear water. Most people pay quite a lot of money for a vacation like that.”

“And if I agree, you’ll make sure that this information about Red never becomes a problem. You won’t ever release it to anybody?”

He looked her straight in the eye. “I swear I won’t ever put it out there. And it could be very bad for him if anything ever did get out. Homeland Security in particular would be very interested.”

“Would they?” she said. “Why would Homeland Security care about what Red was doing?”

“He was helping undocumented workers from Middle Eastern countries gain access to the U.S. through employment with his company.”

“Why would he do that?” Nicole asked. “That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“You’d have to ask him why he did it,” Kane told her, turning and walking toward the window that overlooked the dance floor. “Maybe Red Jameson isn’t the man you believe him to be.”

Nicole was spinning from everything Kane had just told her. His threats and promises buzzed around in her head like a swarm of bees. “I think I should go home now,” she said.

He nodded. “Let me get Jeffrey to drive you.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

Suddenly Kane broke into a boyish grin. “Of course I’m joking, Nicole. Besides, Jeffrey’s having some problems with his driver’s license right about now. I’ll have my personal driver take you home instead.”

Kane took his cell phone out and texted something rapid fire. Then he looked up at Nicole. “Think about my offer,” he said.