PROLOGUE - Jon

I stared around at the blood that stained the front desk and white walls then down at the lifeless body of my brother’s personal assistant. Cursing under my breath, I squeezed the door shut before moving over to the sticky note that was plastered on the computer screen.

Seeing that you can’t control the bitches in your company, we decided to lend a hand.

I gritted my teeth before snatching the note from the screen and crumpling it in my hand. Lucinda had been a good PA. She was also an innocent. To her, Club Ignite had been just that, a club. So, her losing her life over my brother’s shit was not my agenda for the day.

The files she had been working on were blood-stained and crumpled beneath her head that had been positioned on the desk. Beside her was a lone red rose to signify that this was a compassion kill. A kill that had no place near my club. We did not need this type of attention.

Sighing, I fetched my cell from my back pocket and called my brother.

“Jon? You never call this early. Weren’t you going to meet with the distributors this morning?”

I drew in a deep breath with my eyes trained on Lucinda. It was barely 6 AM, he was going to have issues getting here before dropping my niece to school. But this was his mess and he was going to be the one to figure it out.

“Plans changed. You need to get to the club.” My tone was tight.

There was light shuffling on the other end of the phone. “You know I can’t get there before Mandy goes off to school.”

“Am I on speaker phone?”

“No.”

I sighed. “I’m standing over Lucinda’s dead body, positioned around the desk in your office.”

Silence. “What?”

“Your personal assistant is dead.”

“Jon—”

“Don’t,” I said cutting him off. “This is your mess, Tony. So, I don’t give a flying fuck what you need to do to get here. But you need to get your ass here with a cleaning crew before the rest of the staff finds her.”

CHAPTER 1 - Lexi

Raindrops hammered on the windshield of my Mini Cooper rental as I focused on maneuvering around the corners of the winding dirt road.

God, I hope this GPS is right and not leading me to my death.

Omaha was a beautiful city or so I thought when I first arrived a few hours ago. But now that my window of sunshine had begun to dim, I wasn’t so sure. Now the beautiful trees that had been providing shade from the sun along the sides of the road earlier were making it apparent that streetlights were a commodity here.

This was definitely not how I thought this romantic surprise of mine would end. The idea of quitting my receptionist job, packing my bags, and leaving New York, for the boyfriend I had been dating online for a whole year seemed logical to me at the time. My older sister, Rita had tried to warn me that what I was doing was beyond crazy. Her ‘all-knowing gut’ had told her that something was off with the whole situation.

But I had refused to see it. I had to believe that the relationship we’d developed was real. That he was real. We had something that needed to be built on in-person and I needed a fresh start. After graduating from university, my life fell into this stagnant dumpster pile. I struggled to land a good job. After my twelfth failed interview I decided to settle for a receptionist/send-out girl position for a bitch of an accountant. I lost my apartment. Then after crashing with Rita for six months, her on-again-off-again boyfriend moved in.

Talk about awkward. I was constantly the third wheel. And they frigged like animals. I needed to figure out my life. And, in my mind, that’s what I was doing with Dave. Dave was sweet, considerate, and cared about me. He was the dream man. The only thing standing in our way was that he lived almost two thousand miles away.

It was far less than ideal. But as my mom used to tell us growing up if you want something bad enough you will do whatever it takes to make it work out. And seeing that Dave already had a good job, and roots in Omaha, it would’ve been selfish of me to expect him to give it all up. Besides, Dave was averse to the big city. He had never actually told me that in so many words. But I could pick it up from his reluctance to come visit me in New York over the holidays.

Or so I thought until I popped up here and discovered the real reason.

All five of them. His wife and kids!

I am so done with online dating.

There were so many signs that I ignored. I was blinded by the fact someone as fine as him, as well put together as he wanted to date me. I was the curvy lady that couldn’t seem to get her life together or even land a job in the field she had spent thousands of dollars earning multiple degrees and certifications in. If I was honest the city life wasn't for me either. Sure, I was born and raised there but I just couldn't fit in.

What I needed was a fresh start. And that was exactly what I was going to get. After getting an earful of I told you so and needing to make better decisions speeches from my sister, she agreed to trust that I knew what I was doing.

I didn’t.

But that was beside the point.

I was adamant that returning to New York wasn’t the best move for me. I needed to learn to stand on my own two feet, and being away from her was the best way of doing that.

Hopefully, this job panned out. A lot was riding on this going well. Seemed like they needed someone to help them out and I needed a place to stay away from Dave. I didn't have all the details of the job yet, but this had to work. I was down to two hundred bucks in my bank account, and I was finding out the hard way that money doesn’t last long in Omaha.

I needed this job … badly. And not for the reasons Dave thought.

I risked a glance at my GPS as the road narrowed into nowhere. The lady was pretty vague as to what Ignite was, but she assured me that it wasn't a brothel and that she went there often. Plus, if I got the job, it would be coming with room and board which was all I needed to know.

I looked back up to find a deer in the middle of the street and screamed as I slammed on the brake which pushed the car forward instead of stopping it.

I don't wanna die.

I don't wanna die.

In a last-ditch effort to avoid death by beast engraved on my tombstone, I swerved into the fog that hid whatever was at the sides of the road and ended up in a ditch.

It's official, the universe hates me.

I sat in silence, mentally paralyzed, grateful to be unharmed but unable to move. as my heart rate slowed. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I pressed the gas and the car didn't move. I searched for my phone to dial for help and swallowed hard when I remembered that I had used it as a throwing bat on Dave's head after talking to Rita. I had left in such a rage that I hadn't stopped to pick it up.

Oh crap, I'mma die.

I can't believe this is how it ends.

Think, Lexi, think.

According to the car's GPS, Ignite should be about another mile.

I'm gonna have to do the rest of the journey on foot.

Switching off the engine, I squinted my eyes, searching through the windshield for any other potential monsters that were waiting to eat me before grabbing my purse and hopping out the car. I was about to search for my lightest suitcase when the roar of a diesel engine filled my ear. A mixture of relief and fear washed over me, and I swallowed. There was no way to tell if the person on the other side of that sound was my savior or an Axe murderer without facing them, however. So, I dug through the trunk for anything that could be used as a weapon.

Clutching my weapon of choice, the lug wrench, in my right hand and my purse in my left, I waited for the stranger to round his truck. I didn’t know who I was expecting to approach in the middle of nowhere, but sweet Jesus, the sexy hunk of a man that greeted me was not it.

I ran my gaze down the tall, muscular frame of the man who stepped out of the truck and swallowed the thirst that rose within me. He was clad in loose jeans, workman boots, and a slim-fit dress shirt that clung to all the right places. I could definitely get used to Omaha if all the men looked like this. Definitely not an Axe murderer, and if he was, death by a hot man may not be such a bad way to go.

Hello! Earth to Lexi.

Remember Dave? His wife and kids?

Right! I'm strictly on a break from men.

The quicker I could get to Ignite and away from the urges this man raised in me, the better.

“You okay ma'am?” he asked walking over, his piercing black eyes taking me in as I forced myself to not get lost in his southern accent.

“I am, yes. But my car not so much.”

His gaze met my rental and his brows arched in what seemed like disapproval.

“I bet, not too many people drive that around these parts."

"It was the cheapest rental available," I bit back, feeling the need to defend my choices. At the time I hadn't planned on ending up in the middle of nowhere without money or a roof over my head. And I certainly hadn’t planned on being verbally assaulted by an entitled stranger, regardless of how sexy and inviting his eyes were.

I folded my arms over my chest. “Couldn’t exactly take a bus out here.”

“Point taken. I didn't mean no offense. Where you headed?”

"Ignite," I respond half as a question. "I have a job Interview in about …" I paused to glance at my watch and sighed. "Ten minutes."

“Well, ain't it a small world? Seems you're my five o'clock."

"Excuse me?”

“I'm Jon Echoridge, my brother and I own Club Ignite, which should make you Alexi Greene, right?"

The fog Mr. Hunk had placed around my brain dissipated as the words he said registered in my brain. I had never truly been an overly outgoing person. I had only been to a nightclub once in my life. And that was after a drunken night in Uni. How on earth was I supposed to work in one?

"I see," I said, searching my brain for options. “So, Ignite is a nightclub?”

Jon’s eyebrow raised slightly before he flashed me a devilish smile. “Something like that.” He paused to pull something up on his phone and handed it to me.

My face went pale. It was indeed a nightclub. Not as big as the one I went to back in New York, but it was definitely a crowded club.

“It’s more a bar than a club,” he continued. “But there’s a dance floor. So, you can call it whatever you’d like.”

There was no doubt in my mind that I was far out of my element with this one. But I was not about to tell him that. Jon studied me as I handed him back his phone, but I pasted a smile onto my face. He gestured to his truck.

“Get in.” He smiled. “I can take you the rest of the way."

The last ounce of hope I had for a warm bed oozed out the door and slammed it shut as I scanned my surroundings. There was no way I was going to survive here without somewhere to spend the night and a paycheck. I swallowed hard realizing that my only hope may be to pretend I was an experienced woman that a club could hire. Just until I figured out a better plan than being homeless and alone in a brand-new city.

“You can leave your things here. We can send for them later.”

With a nod, I slung my lightest bag over my shoulder, silently accepting the change that lay ahead and locking away the truth of my past that definitely had no place in this risky facade.

Desperate time calls for desperate measures.