Chapter Fourteen

Phantom

Francesca. Frankie.

I prefer Francesca.

I thought I’d prefer not to know her name at all, but this woman is different. I’ve wanted to know her name since I first set eyes on her.

A frightening thought, no doubt.

She’s not the first woman who questioned whether she’d be safe with me.

Women always find that they are safer with me than with most men.

Francesca is safe with me, and she will find that out soon enough.

Black Rose Underground is the safest club of its kind in Manhattan.

I’ve been a member here for several years, and I’ve never shown my face. Not that it would matter. Everyone who comes here is sworn to confidence. But for me, it adds to the dazzle. To the excitement. And it keeps me extra safe with regard to my real life.

I’ve brought women here in the past, but only rarely. I usually come here and find another member who’s willing to participate in a scene. If I do find someone outside the club who intrigues me, I like to meet them at the bar first a couple times. Get to know them—as well as I can get to know anyone when I don’t divulge much about myself.

Francesca—my angel of music—is something special. I knew the moment I saw her.

And I know it even more so now.

She’s a smart woman.

She was apprehensive about putting on a blindfold, about trusting me.

That is normal, and I respect that.

But now she’s here.

And we stop in front of the door that will lead us on a new voyage.

As the Bard himself said, “To unpathed waters, undreamed shores.”