“Man can’t even finish his morning coffee.” Ray downs the rest of his coffee in one gulp and jumps to his feet.

    “Man loves PI work even though he pretends he doesn’t,” I say as he heads out the door.

    He looks back over his shoulder and gives me a rare smile. He’s one of the best PIs in the city, and although he is in high demand, he is never too busy for Amanda, and he never misses a morning coffee with me.

    Midafternoon, I bring Ray’s report to Amanda for her approval. “Ray caught the guy climbing a tree, fixing his roof, chopping wood, and chasing his dog around the yard. If you’re happy with his report, he can sign a statement in the morning, or I can bring it to Redemption after work. I’m taking a jiu-jitsu class tonight, and I’ll see him there.”

    Amanda laughs. “Yeah, he’d love that. Mixing business and pleasure. No need to harass him. Tomorrow’s fine.”

    I just mixed business and pleasure in the worst possible way, and yet all I can think about is spending another night with Jack at Club Sin. I feel a stab of guilt about going behind her back, but it was just one night, and I haven’t disclosed any secrets or compromised the case. I just don’t know how I’ll deal with seeing Jack at the gym, knowing just what he can give me but never will.

    As if she can read my thoughts, Amanda says, “It looks like we might be able to evict Club Sin by Monday. I just went through the commercial tenancy agreement, and I think I’ve found a loophole. It might be easier to evict them than I initially thought. I’m going to keep it under my hat and bring it up at the hearing on Monday.”

    “What will they do?” I toe the floor, trying to hide my disappointment. “The whole place has been renovated to accommodate all their special equipment. I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy to relocate that quickly.”

    Amanda shrugs. “Not our problem. They took a risk leasing the space instead of buying property outright, although I feel for them because they negotiated a long-term lease with a view to making that investment pay off. If Gerry didn’t want them out so badly, they could have been there for at least another ten years.”

    “That’s great.” I force a smile. “He must be pleased.”

    She doesn’t return my smile. “He is pleased, but I’ll be glad when the case is over, to be honest.” She doodles on a piece of paper in front of her. “Something about Gerry doesn’t sit right with me. He’s too insistent on getting them out fast, too blasé about the legal ramifications of what he’s trying to do, and totally unconcerned about the tenants in the building. I know it’s all business, but one of the reasons I left my old firm was to get away from cold corporate clients like him, and now I feel like I’m falling into that trap again.”

    Maybe because she’s still flying a corporate brand. Amanda worked at one of the biggest law firms in the city before starting up on her own. Although she added her own quirky touches to her new office, outwardly it’s still got a big law firm feel—from her stationery to her website, and from her signage to her logo. Over the last year I’ve come up with a few different ideas for logos and branding, but I’ve never shown them to her. I figure when she wants a change, she’ll hire professionals. She doesn’t need her legal assistant telling her how to brand her business.

    “Anything else you need?”

    “Could you prepare a draft notice of eviction so it’s ready for Monday?” Amanda turns back to her desk. “I’ll bring it to the hearing so we don’t have any more issues with service.”

    “No problem.” A part of me is relieved that the club will be shut down. Although I feel bad for Kitty, Master Damien, and Jack, the temptation is almost too much for me to bear. If the club stayed open, I don’t think I could stay away.

    One taste wasn’t enough.

    One night with Jack has ruined me forever.

8

    Prepare to be punished

    PENNY

    After work, I head to Redemption. With all the beginner-level fitness classes under my belt, I was up for a new challenge, and the class coordinator, Fuzzy, suggested I try Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is one of the key martial arts used in MMA fighting. Blade Saw and Shilla the Killa, Redemption’s top female amateur fighter, are teaching tonight, and the dojo is packed with people wearing gis and belts in a variety of colors.

    I change into my gi and join the other white belts at the front of the class. Fuzzy suggested jiu-jitsu because it’s a good sport for smaller people who want to fight larger opponents, and from a quick assessment of the room behind me, I’m the smallest person here.

    “Sorry I’m late.” Cora slips into the space beside me, her eyes fixed on Blade Saw. After watching her and Blade Saw dance around each other at Score, both afraid to take that next step, I suggested she come to class with me to watch him in action. Blade Saw really comes into his own when he’s teaching a class.

    Shilla leads us through a warm-up unlike any I’ve ever done before. We do tumbling, army crawls, bear crawls, and cartwheels. We jump, lunge, crawl, roll, and do push-ups at specific intervals. By the time Blade Saw partners us for our first lesson, I’m ready to call it a night.

    “I think this was a bad idea,” Cora pants as we go to the beginner section to learn new techniques. “The drowned rat look isn’t particularly flattering. I can’t really get my sexy on when I’m beet-red and covered in sweat.”

    Blade Saw decides to partner everyone up to practice passing the guard. He shouts at everyone to get in line, grabs Cora for the demo, and sends me across the room to Rampage, who must have sneaked in when Shilla had us hauling ass across the mat.

    Heart pounding, I make my way across the dojo. What do I say to a man who chained me to the ceiling of his playroom and aroused me to the point of pain?

    Rampage tracks me with his gaze as I skirt around the people getting into position on the mat. He is breathtaking in his crisp white gi, a worn black belt tied tight around his narrow waist. Some of the fighters wear T-shirts under their gis, but I am not so lucky. As I slow to a stop in front of him, I am forced to endure the visual feast of his truly magnificent chest.