With that, the woman moved on. Her message was cut-and-dried, with no warm fuzzies to buffer the reality of what she was telling Holly to do. Nicole’s chest felt heavy with heartache and grief for Holly-and a deeper rage against Sloane.
“Who was that?” Nicole asked, certain the woman was someone important to Sloane-and if that was the case, she and Nathan needed to know all the players the other man kept in his employ.
“That’s Gwen. She’s Sloane’s assistant.” Holly stood up, her gaze despondent, yet resigned to her fate. “I’ve got to go before I get in trouble.”
Nicole watched Holly walk away, moving like a wooden, emotionless doll. She stopped at the bar, ordered another drink, then downed it in one gulp before disappearing down a hallway that Nicole assumed led to private rooms.
Knowing what awaited Holly in the sapphire room, it took every bit of control that Nicole possessed not to go after the young girl and rescue her from this degrading situation. She felt so damn helpless, and she knew why, but she had no time to dwell on her own past. Right now, she just hated being powerless to save Holly.
Pushing her own emotional turmoil aside, she exhaled a deep breath and focused on what needed to be done next. She now knew where Angela Ramsey was being sequestered, and she needed to let Nathan know so they could decide on their next plan of action.
Retrieving her cell phone from her purse, she texted Nathan the flirtatious phrase they agreed she’d use once she had information to share.
Nathan’s conversation with Sloane went fairly well, with the two of them enjoying a drink while covering a wide variety of topics-from the Vegas casinos they preferred to play at, to Sloane’s recent vacation at his villa in Italy, to the new business venture Nathan was considering investing in-a fictional deal set up by Lucas Barnes to add to Nathan’s portfolio as an entrepreneur. Eventually, their discussion came around to Nicole and the young girls at the nightclub.
And there were many from what Nathan could see. Some had hooked up with the men in the lounge, while others were mingling and openly coming on to the older gentlemen; most of the beds were occupied with couples getting busy. A few girls who looked high on something, either alcohol or drugs, were dancing provocatively together, their youthful bodies writhing against one another and providing a classic girl-on-girl fantasy for most of the guys in the club.
For Nathan, the atmosphere was nothing short of sleazy and a repulsive display of depravity, at the very least. Sloane’s lifestyle, and the careless way the other man exploited children, went against every ethical bone in Nathan’s body and was a stark reminder of how imperative it was that this undercover case concluded much differently from his last mission as a vice cop.
And that meant treading carefully with a powerful man like Sloane. One wrong move or slipup, and innocent lives would be in jeopardy. And that was something Nathan refused to allow this time around.
“See anything you like, Alex?”
Sloane’s curious question cut into Nathan’s thoughts, and he glanced at the other man reclining in the red leather chair next to his. “You have quite a stable of girls to choose from.”
Sloane casually swirled the dark liquor in his snifter glass and smiled. “Variety is a good thing, don’t you think?”
“For some.” Sensing the conversation held the undertones of a test, Nathan chose his words carefully. “Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer being with one girl, not many.”
Sloane lifted a brow, a daring light in his eyes. “Are you sure about that, Keller?”
Before Nathan could reply, Sloane signaled to a girl standing nearby, who immediately moved toward them, eager to do his bidding. Like every other female in the club, she looked too damn young, yet too experienced in other ways. She was wearing a miniskirt, a too-tight top, and high heels, and her shoulder-length black hair framed delicate facial features and a sweet smile.
She came to a stop in front of them, a little unsteady on her feet as she waited for her next cue from Sloane.
“Alex, this is Jasmine,” Sloane said, introducing the girl to him. “She’s one of the favorites here at the club. Whatever you want, she’ll be more than happy to provide, isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Jasmine nodded, and before Nathan realized her intent, she sat down on his lap and wriggled her bottom suggestively against his groin, which did nothing to arouse him. If anything, it took supreme effort not to shove her right off his lap in disgust. He reined in the impulse and instead managed to pretend her brazen behavior didn’t bother him in the least.
“I haven’t seen you around before,” Jasmine said, her voice soft and languid as she draped an arm around his shoulders and cuddled closer. “You’re cute.”
He couldn’t smell any alcohol on her breath, but judging by her dilated pupils and her slurred speech, there was no question in Nathan’s mind that she was on some kind of narcotic. Or maybe she sedated herself in order to deal with the nightmare that her life had become.
Aware of Sloane assessing his response and reactions, he reached up and gently brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen across her cheek, the caress more caring than sexual. “And you’re very pretty,” he said, returning the compliment and hoping that’s as far as things went between them.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and laid her head on his shoulder while pressing her free hand to his chest. “Would you like to dance? Or maybe I could give you a massage?”
The words sounded rehearsed, as though she’d said them dozens of times before, to at least that many men. It was a disturbing thought, and one Nathan couldn’t dwell on at the moment. What he could do, however, was put an end to her advances.
“Maybe next time,” he said, turning her down as gently as possible. The last thing he wanted was her getting in trouble for not persuading him to take advantage of her offer. “I promised my girlfriend that I’d be good tonight.”
She pouted, but before she could do anything else to try to sway him, Sloane snapped his fingers and ordered the girl to leave them alone. Obeying, she slid off his lap, and moved on to a guy sitting across the lounge who immediately welcomed her overtures.
Unable to stomach what the girl was about to do, Nathan looked away and found Sloane watching him, his gaze a little too perceptive for his liking.
“You just passed up a sure thing, Keller,” Sloane drawled, and downed the rest of his drink. “You could have had Jasmine and Nikki never would have known.”
Sloane was questioning his motives, and possibly even his loyalty, and Nathan had to think fast on his feet. “What can I say? It’s fresh and new and exceptionally hot with Nikki. Right now, she gives me everything I could want or need sexually.”
“For now, yes,” Sloane said, the look in his eyes changing, darkening with determination. “But every man has a weakness, and mine, at the moment, happens to be Nikki.” His smile stopped just short of being perverse. “Now, we just have to find yours, and hopefully the two of us can come to some sort of gentleman’s agreement.”
Having made it very clear what he desired, Sloane stood and inclined his head at Nathan. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to take care of. You and I can catch up later.”
The other man walked away, leaving Nathan feeling as though he’d just been sucker-punched in the gut. He sat there, trying to regroup, and less than a minute later the cell phone in his front pants pocket vibrated, startling him. He was so goddamn tense that the buzzing sensation nearly had him jumping out of his skin. He pulled the phone out and read the text message Nicole had sent to him.
