Read Online Sloane by V. J. Chambers - Free Book Online

spine. Jesus, why did he
have to have a voice like that? Like satin and sex and—
    Axel was already walking through the club, not even
looking over his shoulder to see if I was catching up.
    I hurried after him.
    He started up a set of stairs in the back, and I
followed him. We went up to the top floor, which was empty and
quiet. The sound of the music was dampened by the distance. He
opened the first door we came to and made an elaborately polite
after-you gesture.
    I went inside.
    “This is my office,” he said, closing the door behind
us. It was carpeted with thick, crimson shag. There were two
leather couches against either wall, a glass table between them.
His oak, dark-stained desk was on the far end. There were framed
black-and-white nudes on the wall. I felt the hint of his breath at
the back of my neck, heard the purr of his voice. “Like it?”
    I jumped, lurching away from him. “Yeah, it’s
great.”
    He grinned. “You seem a little nervous.”
    “I’m fine,” I said, smoothing the front of my
windbreaker.
    Axel took off his fedora and tossed it on one of the
couches. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
    “Uh…” Why couldn’t I think? Something about Axel made
me feel so flustered. I jutted my chin out. “What kind of name is
Axel anyway? Your parents big Guns N’ Roses fans?”
    “No.” He drew down the corners of his mouth in
displeasure. “My mother happens to be Swedish. It’s a Scandinavian
form of the Hebrew name Absalom, if you must know.”
    Oh, so I’d offended him? Good. He’d gotten me all
off-kilter. He deserved it.
    He narrowed his eyes. “Your name is Sloane,
right?”
    I nodded. He remembered my name. I was surprised, and
to my horror, a little bit pleased.
    “Well, Sloane, certainly you didn’t make us come all
the way up here so that you could ridicule my name?”
    Now I was flustered again. I searched my brain trying
to put together what I wanted to say. What came out was, “The
Shepherd Foundation benefit.”
    “Yes?” He looked confused.
    “You’re going.”
    “Yes.”
    “I need you to get me in.”
    He drew back. “That’s why you’re here?” He laughed,
sitting down on one of the couches. “Well, I’m afraid that’s out of
the question. I’m only a guest at the benefit. I don’t have the
ability to invite people. The guest list is very competitive. Not
just anyone can go. Besides, I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone
who’d be interested in things like that.”
    This was going all wrong. “I don’t want to go to the
benefit.”
    “You just said you did.”
    I twisted my fingers together. “I need to get in.
There’s someone there I need to talk to. Dr. James Armstrong. I
can’t get to him any other way, so I need to get into the
benefit.”
    He stretched, cradling his head with his hands. “I
really fail to see how this is my problem.”
    Oh. Oh, right. I’d buried the lead. “It’s for
Leigh.”
    He furrowed his brow. “You know, Sloane, you may make
the least sense of any woman I’ve ever met.”
    “Sorry, it’s only that it’s complicated.”
    He smiled. “It’s not exactly a bad thing. You’re…” He
looked me up and down. “I mean, you’re obviously sort of pathetic,
but there’s also a kind of fierceness to you. You intrigue me.”
    I blushed. I looked away. “That’s not… Stop doing
that.”
    “Stop doing what?”
    “Looking at me.”
    He burst out laughing.
    I took a deep breath. “You remember how we were
looking for Leigh earlier?”
    He made a face, as if he was thinking very hard. “Oh.
Oh, yes, I suppose that’s why you came by. I’d forgotten all about
that. Did you find her? If you found her, could you tell her to
call me? I really do worry about her.”
    “No, we didn’t find her,” I said. “I mean, not
exactly.”
    He reached over and opened a wooden box on the table.
He retrieved a bag of white powder and wiggled it at me. “You want
a bump?”
    I gulped. “Is that