Business Always
CHAPTER 12—AMELIA POV

"I can't believe you don't want a bachelorette party," I tell Jodie. We were all at

Jasmine's house for lunch, fawning over her precious baby.

"I didn't get to throw one for this bitch." Jasmine points at me. "And now not you, either."

"I'm sorry, guys, but oiled up strippers and straws in the shape of dicks really aren't something that I replace fun," she says.

"Don't apologize, Jodie. This is your day, and if you don't want to do anything, we don't have to," I reassure her.

"Thank you." She smiles gratefully. "Besides you're getting married soon so we can throw you a party then?"

"Yeah, we could do that." I shrug and Jasmine's face lights up.

"Are you sure though Jodie? It doesn't have to be a strip club. We can just dress up and go out for drinks?" Jasmine offers.

"Yeah, something low-key? It's a Wednesday night so it won't be too busy anyway," I chip in.

"Actually." She stops to think. "That does sound kind of fun. Let's do it."

"Great, look hot ladies! I need to pump before we leave," she groans. "Mel, you're in charge of picking a place with your billionaire connections."

We both leave, planning to meet up at my house before we leave for the club.

We weren't going to go crazy, as per Jodie's request, but just enjoy some drinks in the club and enjoy ourselves to relax before the wedding.

"Hey, baby." I give Alexander, who's working on his laptop in my kitchen, a kiss on the cheek.

"How was lunch?" he asks me, completely engrossed in his work.

"It was fun, Jasmine's baby is so adorable," I say pouring some orange juice into 2 glasses for each of us. "I'm going out for some drinks tonight, for Jodie's bachelorette party."

"Which one is Jodie again?" he asks, and I roll my eyes. He's never interested in my friends.

"The one who just got engaged," I say, hoping I ring some bells for him.

"If you are going out tonight, I received an invitation for this new club opening in

Central Park. Why don't you guys go there?" he suggests.

"You're not going?" I ask.

"I'm tired, my trip to London wasn't great." He sighs.

I can tell. His voice sounds groggy, and he has faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Why is the club opening on a Wednesday night?" I change the subject.

"It's just an opening party, invite only, probably for celebrities and such. It's open for the public this weekend," he clarifies.

"Makes sense. Alright," I agree to go.

After doing a quick workout and having a shower, I start getting ready. Jasmine and I agreed to wear purple to compliment Jodie's black dress and since it was her favourite

colour.

I slip into a purple figure-hugging dress which stops at the middle of my thighs. It's relatively simple a basic purple dress with spaghetti straps, but the sides are cut out, which gives it a little extra flair.

I paired it with black heels and a black leather purse then applied minimal makeup. Clubs were dark and I wasn't going through unnecessary effort for no one to see it. Soon, Jasmine and Jodie arrive in their shared cab to my house, I tell them to stay in the car and I'll join them.

"Bye. I'll be home late," I inform Alexander, whose eyes widen when he looks up at me. "You look good." He walks up to be putting his hands on my ass, uncomfortably. "Thank you." I kiss him, quickly, and walk out the door.

As promised, Jasmine is wearing a ribbed purple mid length dress with a deep v-cut neck and Jodie is in a sexy black sequinned mini dress.

"You look sexy." Jasmine smirks. "How has Alexander not pinned you into the bed?" Her eyebrows raise suggestively.

I laugh it off and tell the driver where to take us. "The Velvet Room, please."

"Ooh, sounds fancy," Jodie says.

"Yeah, Alexander got me some spots. It's their opening night today."

The ride to the club was mostly chit-chat about the wedding and Jasmine's

inappropriate jokes about how Jodie's wedding night will be.

After showing the bouncer the invite card Alexander gave me, we get escorted to a private booth.

It was 2 velvet sofas, with a mahogany table and a small button to call over a waiter for drinks and food. It was less of a bar and more of a restaurant in a bar setting.

The reason it got the name 'the velvet room' was not only because of the sofas, but the elegant deep red curtains around each booth that gave us privacy if we wished for it.

As much as I wanted to close the curtains, Jodie and Jasmine couldn't help but ogle at the many celebrities in the booths around us, those who didn't pull their curtains at least, and wanted me to leave ours open.

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The beginning of the night goes fairly well, we order a couple of drink not wanting to get too drunk and snack on sliders, nachos, and pizza.

"Ooh, who's the hottie in the booth behind us?" Jasmine moves her head to get a clear view of someone behind me.

I turn around to see 2 men talking. I can see one's face and the back of the bother's head.

The one facing away from me had straight, light brown hair and the one who I could see was Xavier King.

I quickly pull our curtain shut, the curtain rings making a loud noise as they hit each other.

"Why'd you do that? I had a nice view." Jasmine pouts.

"First of all, you're married, and secondly, that's Xavier," I whisper. I don't know if he noticed me, but I', going to make sure he doesn't see me again.

"That's Xavier?" Jasmine asks in surprise. "I knew he was hot, but damn." She wolf- whistles.

"Shut up, I say through gritted teeth.

"Please it's not like he could see us anymore, you didn't tell me he got tattoos."

"Why would I tell you that?" I ask and Jodie giggles.

"Whatever." She huffs.

"This is so much better than going to a hot and sweaty club," Jodie says, swaying to the sound of the R&B music in the background.

"Guys I'll be right back, I need to pee," I say, walking out of our booth. I wanted to hold it in as long as possible and go home to pee so that I wouldn't risk seeing Xavier, but I can't help it anymore.

The bathrooms were quite lavish as well, clean white walls and marble sinks with bronze faucets. I quickly do my business, wash my hands, and fix my hair and makeup before leaving the bathroom.

"You look good Miss Davis." Xavier's voice makes me jump on my way back to the girls. "Thank you," I mutter under my breath, looking down at the floor avoiding looking at him.

He was a foot or so away from me, but I could very well feel his presence physically and mentally.

He takes a step closer. "Why are you so shy all of a sudden?" he murmurs.

"I'm not being shy," I manage to choke out. All of a sudden, my face feels hot, and my breathing is heavy.

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"I wish you wouldn't lie to me," he says quietly, seductively. His voice makes me blush, even him reading the dictionary would be sexy.

His hands, cold as always, settle on my waist against my bare skin. The cut outs on my sides meant his skin touched mine directly.

He pulls me closer, so my back is pressed against his chest. He breathes in deeply as my body pushes against his.

His hands move away from my waist, and he holds my left hand "Come with me," he orders.

I want to.

"I-I can't," I sputter "They're waiting for me." My other hand shakily points in the direction of my booth, where the curtains have been pulled open again as soon as I had left.

"I'm sure they won't miss you for a few moments," he says heavily.

I look over to see Jasmine and Jodie pointing and gasping at all the celebrities, models,

and actors they could see around the club.

It's like I'm under some sort of spell as Xavier starts walking in the opposite direction

of where I'm meant to go, my feet helplessly follow.

He takes me to the side of the club. The music can still be heard from here, but it's

much lower in volume, and the echo of other conversations is gone.

"I told the owner of this place not to invite you, since I was sure you didn't want to see

me here...but you still found your way to me," he says, his tone laced with humour.

"I took Alexander's invite," I say. Suddenly, my voice is back, and I can talk normally.

"Right."

"Mr King, why did you bring me here?" I ask.

His hands replace their place around me again and his lips hover right below my ear. "Why

did you follow?"

His proximity to me makes me feel overwhelmingly uneasy but comfortably relaxed at

the same time. I take a step back, getting closer against him and his grip on my

tightens.

His hard body feels like I've backed into a wall. His face nestled in my neck, pushing my hair out the way and placing soft kisses.

"Don't start something you won't be able to finish, Miss Davis," he growls against my

neck.