One More TIme...

Like a druggie who needed her fix, I needed to see Lucien Delano, my lover, to hold him, to feel his strength one last time.

And so I found myself back at the club where it had all begun.

My shadow, the burly, unpleasant White, had murmured his misgivings, but I had insisted coolly and he had had no choice but to take me to the gentlemen's club where I had first met Gaston. He had appeared taken aback when I frowned at him and put my foot down, demanding that he drive me to the club.

"If you don't take me," I said firmly, glaring at him, "I shall simply take a cab." Breathing heavily, my face hot with anger, I went on calmly.

"You can't stop me.'

It was probably the first time I had opened my mouth to confront him, and his jaw dropped. Ana the cook, turned and stared at me, disbelief etched on her otherwise sneering face.

With a toss of my head, I marched out, my overly large jacket flapping in the wind as I went to the gates, determined to leave.

I had also calculated that White woul