The club was a dizzying kaleidoscope of neon lights, the air vibrating with deafening music and thick with the cloying scents of tobo and alcohol, a potent cocktail that numbed the senses. The atmosphere was one of debauchery, a decadent spiral into oblivion.


    "Where''s Chasel?"


    The moment Cassius pushed through the door, a chilling aura preceding him, the eyes of every predator in the roomtched onto him, mesmerized.


    "Well, hello handsome. All alone tonight?" A man with sinuous grace sidled up to Cassius, his handnding lightly on his shoulder before giving it an unwee squeeze. "If you''re bored, I can definitely keep youpany."


    Cassius''s handsome face was a mask of cold fury, the veins on the back of his hand standing out like awork of thick cords.


    Winston scrambled through the crowd, spotting Cassius towering over the throng like a deity besieged by serpents. He let out a yelp. "Don''t you dare touch him!"


    The next second, a heavy thud echoed through the music.


    Like a bomb had gone off at their feet, everyone shrieked and scattered. Winston''s eyes focused to see Hex standing as immovable as a mountain. The lithe man who had osted Cassius was now writhing on the floor at his feet, clutching his


    backside in agony.


    Winston breathed a sigh of relief. Good old Hex-no chivalry required, just unwavering loyalty.


    "Where is Chasel?" Cassius asked, his long legs striding past the man on the floor as he approached Winston.


    "Over... over at the bar. I''ll go with you!"


    "No need."


    Cassius''s voice was a raw, scorched whisper. His gaze swept past Winston and he plunged into the crowd, his powerful frame a maic presence that stillmanded attention.


    Winston sighed, a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind. Hex was right; Chasel was nothing like Aubrey.


    Aubrey had been gentle and quiet, the very picture of domesticity. He would never have set foot in a ce like this unless it was for work, and he certainly wouldn''t have


    entertained the advances of sleazy strangers. Hex had once said that being with Aubrey was simples Comforting. Winston had always assumed Hex''s type was the gentle, understanding partner, the kind who soothed the soul.


    But looking at things now, that didn''t seem to be the case at all.


    Aside from a devastatingly beautiful face that mirrored Aubrey''s, Chasel was a wild stallion with a stubborn streak a mile wide. He was the


    constantly pushing Hex''s


    boundaries. Winston had once thought Hex''s tolerance fo for MR Bright was solely due to that face Now, he saw it was much more than that.


    Hex was utterly in love with him. It wasn''t just the handsome exterior; he loved all of Chasel''s ws, his defiant, untamable spirit. This love, Winston realized, ran deeper than anything he had ever felt for Aubrey.


    Meanwhile, Chasel, draped in avender silk shirt unbuttoned low to reveal the sharp line of his corbones and smooth, pale skin, was leaning against the bar, his eyes hazy with drink. A man was pouring liquor down his throat, his own eyes wide with infatuation.


    "I saw you the second I walked in," the man slurred. "You''re exactly my type. I''m falling for you."


    The pickup line was atrocious, but it sent Chasel into a fit ofughter. He turned his head, deliberately showing the man the scar on his cheek. His voice wasced with mockery. "And now? Am I still your type?"


    The man stared at the cross-shaped scar, momentarily stunned, before reaching out to touch it. "Beautiful... you''re my Venus."


    But Chasel gave him no such


    chance. He suddenly shot to his feet, used the barstool as a springboard and leaped onto the elevated stage,


    grinding against a muscr pole dancer. Under the psychedel lights. every line of his body was pure seduction, an irresistible, dangerous beauty.


    The man who''d been hitting on him was practically drooling. He started to climb onto the stage, but a sharp pain shot through his wrist, followed by a sickening crack. He screamed as he was lifted into the air and then mmed back down onto the floor.


    The crowd gasped.


    A towering shadow fell over the man''s pale, terrified face. Cassius nted a foot on his stomach, pressing down hard enough to make him gag.


    "If he''s Venus," Cassius snarled, his voice a low threat, "then who do you think that makes me?"


    ***