|| Chapter One ||
Chloe Lane surveyed the charred remains of the dance floor in her club. A little more than three hours ago she received the call from the Salem Police Department that publishing heir and multi-billionaire Shawn-Douglas Brady had been found screaming while shooting a gun inside her club and when the police tried to apprehend him, he set fire to part of it in a last stand. It took her so long to get here because three hours ago, Chloe Lane was preparing to leave Salem for good.
Her long black hair swept across her bare shoulders when she bent down to pick up the distorted gold ring with the Kiriakis emblem. Emotions she'd rather not feel clouded those impossibly blue eyes of hers, and she had to straighten herself out before the cops who let her in returned.
It was unfathomable really, the way her mind refused to let images of the past go. She'd trained herself a long time ago to not let the past cloud her present. She tended to act on logic than impulse because emotions only served to do two things as far as Chloe was concerned: one) get others hurt or two) give them the power to hurt you. She'd lived the past eighteen years with that philosophy and did pretty well so far.
Chloe wasn't extremely rich, but she wasn't destitute either. She lived comfortably in a condo overlooking the city, and far off to the outskirts, a lake. She drove a Mercedes, dined in the finest restaurants in town, and was incredibly well known. Not bad for a woman of just thirty.
Of course, not being of the high, noble class in Salem, and being that her club, Eden, was considered little more than a brothel, Chloe wasn't too high on some people's lists. She heard the snickers of the upper crust wives of the men who practically owned the town. They never said anything to her face, deeming her too unimportant to even address, so Chloe didn't let it bother her. In truth, she liked it when those women complained and talked about her behind her back, for she knew that only the night before, their husbands lay in the upstairs part of her club in the beds of the girls she employed.
It filled Chloe with such devious pride to be the one to bring a little decadence into this town, not that Salem needed anymore help in that department. It was just something about knocking those upper crust bitches down a peg that appealed to her.
"Are you going to stand there and stare at me," Chloe began saying as she turned to face the man darkening the somewhat burnt doorway. "Or are you going to ask the questions you came to ask? Though I don't know how much help I'll be since I wasn't present when my club went up in flames."
District Attorney Jason Masters stared at the raven-haired beauty who often occupied his thoughts late at night, drinking in the sight of her. The halter-top that tied in a loose knot around her neck carried a dangerously low back and an even more deceptively low front. He could see the sides of her breasts, their fullness and color bringing forth memories of when she lay naked beneath him. The leather pants clung tightly to her hips and accentuated the natural curve of her body. She was just as beautiful as she'd always been. And she was still just as deadly to desire.
"It's always amazed me how you could do that," Jason said, standing in his same spot at the door. He was afraid if he got any closer to her, he wouldn't be able to do his job. More than that, he was afraid he would kiss her. "Can you do that with just me or with everyone else?"
Chloe looked her old friend over casually, not giving away the fact she already knew he was aroused at the sight of her. She knew Jason wouldn't advance on her since he needed to remain any type of distance or his body would betray him. An absent smile crossed her lips when she noticed him toying with his wedding band. "I'm sure that's not what you came here to ask me, Jason." She stepped closer to him, taking away his choice in this game. "Just like I'm sure Jan made sure you wore that ring when she found out you were coming to see me." Her smile turned positively cold when she asked, "How is the little wife by the way? Still trying to get my scent out of her bed sheets?"
Jason's eyes flared with anger. Chloe always knew which buttons to push. "What happened here?" he asked, having had enough of being here. The sooner he asked the questions, the sooner he could leave and get drunk and possibly get her out of his head by the time he climbed in bed with his wife.
"As I said before, I wasn't here." She moved closer to him until she was damn near inches from him. She was certain no one would come and see them like this because she knew Jason had sent the cops off. He wouldn't allow anyone to see him cozying up to the town harlot. That could be very damning to his career. She licked her lips, never taking her blue eyes away from his. "But that's not what you came here to ask either, is it?"
Jason cleared his throat. "Why don't you tell me what I came here to ask since you're psychic now." He tried very hard to focus on anything but her eyes. She could sink a ship with those eyes.
"You came here to find out if Shawn-Douglas Brady is one of my clients." She backed away from him and turned to face the inside of her club. "I can assure you, Jason, none of my clients would do this." She turned back to face him; something unholy had taken place in her blue orbs. Something Jason knew all too well.
"Have you ever had any contact with Mr. or Mrs. Brady?"
"Which generation?" Chloe asked with a smile that was purely seductive. A smile she used only when she wanted to screw with him.
"Don't play cute with me, Chloe," he admonished her.
"That's funny; you've never used that adjective to describe me before. Goddess usually comes out of your mouth."
"Stop it," he said when she reached out to touch him. He moved from the door, stepping around her, and further into the remains of the club. "I'm a married man."
"That's never stopped you before." She was at his back, her body inches from his. He could smell her perfume. Something exotic and wholly her.
"I have a job to do," he said when he turned to face her. Chloe backed off, that was usually the defense he used. The only one she had yet to find a way to get through. She flashed him a look and he continued. "Have you ever had contact with Mr. or Mrs. Brady?"
"No," she answered easily.
A little too easily as far as Jason was concerned. "Are you sure?"
Chloe's blue eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Yes. I know every patron who has ever graced my dance floor, my bar, or any other place in my club. As you well know."
"Then why do I have witnesses who've said they've seen you and Mr. Brady together here at the club?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask your witness why they lied to you when you leave here."
"I'm not so sure they are lying," he said and watched her eyes for any indication.
Chloe laughed softly. "Is that based on your own personal dealings with me, Jason? I thought DA's were supposed to be objective."
"I am objective, Chloe, but not when it comes to you. I know what kind of person you are."
"And what kind of person is that?"
"The kind who would do anything to survive."
Chloe smiled again when she noticed the desire he tried to fight off in his green eyes. "You always did have beautiful eyes." She reached out and touched his cheek, surprised when he let her do so. "I've always told you so."
"And your lifestyle will be the death of you." He reached up and removed her hand from his face. Trying hard to forget the times they shared when they were younger and different. "I've always told you so."
Chloe sighed indifferently. "Seems we're at an impasse here, Jason. I don't have any information for you. I wasn't here. I don't know why someone told you that Shawn-Douglas Brady was with me, but I can assure you he wasn't."
She moved away from him, knowing the game they were playing was over. Knowing that she should leave town before someone else - anyone else - said things or asked questions.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to call the insurance company and find out how long before I am able to open the doors of Eden again." She leveled him with a cold look. "If you want answers, I suggest you talk to your nameless witness or Mr. Brady himself."
Jason nodded, turned to go and stopped at the door. "You're too good to be a common prostitute, Chloe," he told her. Her back was to him but he saw her shoulders bristle at the classification. "Maybe the destruction of your club is a sign."
Chloe turned to face him with a face that was impossibly unreadable. The blue eyes that he once loved, that he still loved, held no emotion in them as she said, "I'm anything but common, Jason. I'm very good at what I do. As you well know." She tossed her profession in his face, it always hurt him more.
"I will find out what happened here, Chloe." She knew it was a threat as soon as he said it. "I promise you that." And just like that, he walked out of her doorway and out of her life for the foreseeable future.
Chloe waited a full minute after Jason was gone before pulling out her cell-phone. She dialed a number from memory and spoke clear instructions to the person to find Shawn-Douglas Brady before the sun peaked over the horizon.
When she hung up, she pulled the ring out the opening of her shirt. That nameless witness would have to be taken care of. She'd come too far and done too much to have some idiot spouting off. She really didn't need to have another price placed on her head on top of everything else.
She twisted the ring around her finger absently, not daring to look at it anymore. "Oh, Shawn," she said softly. "I'm sorry it has to be this way."
