Nothing to Hide

SEVENTEEN

SEVENTEEN

As if streaming for the first time wasn’t pressure enough, Roxie then had to deal with her first real meet and greet at Crimson. No one paid much attention to her. The contest winners were ecstatic to be in the private VIP lounge with Zairn and his people. Kesley Walsh’s attendance took even more of the heat off. The actress and Zairn greeted each other like old friends. Fond ex-lovers who held no grudges.

Whether that was true or not was anyone’s guess.

Turned out the Crimson Experience winners were allowed to bring a friend. Made sense, sharing their experience would enhance the joy. So rather than three, there were six people seated on the raised platform in the VIP lounge. Zairn had his own couch at the head of the group. His usual posse were behind him, Astrid, Tibbs, and Ballard. A couple of servers floated around. Security agents congregated by the door. Maybe those guys belonged to Kesley Walsh… or the club expected trouble with newbies around.

Greg and his colleagues were filming everything around Zairn as it unfolded. Despite not being an actor, Zairn was aloof and didn’t acknowledge them or appear irritated by their presence.

With everyone otherwise occupied, Roxie ebbed from the throng of people baying for Zairn’s attention and went to sit elsewhere. A rise of noise at the doorway heralded the arrival of a new group. All guys. Hot guys too… mostly. The host left his couch to go greet them. She didn’t know who they were, though they did look familiar. Sports maybe?

“It must be strange.” Roxie hadn’t noticed Kesley approach, but there she was standing at the end of the couch. “Can I join you?”

“Oh, uh… Sure, yes.”

It was a free country. Roxie didn’t own the club… or the couch. She moved her clutch off the seat and Kesley sat down, leaving little space between them. Hollywood was touchy, feely, lovey; were they gal pals now?

“I still wonder how he does it,” Kesley said, fixated on Zairn shaking hands with the half dozen new guys before introducing them to the Experience winners. “He remembers everyone’s name. Have you noticed that?”

“Oh, this is my first night out like… this.”

“Really?” Kesley asked, glancing her way. “And you’re not in the thick of it?”

Roxie laughed. “I have enough to worry about without stepping on any toes… I just came here to dance.”

“You’re the winner, the woman from the Sunset prize.”

“Yep,” Roxie said. How did she reciprocate the acknowledgement? “You do movies.”

The beauty exhaled a laugh and cast her attention back to Zairn. “Yes, I do.”

Damn. Cringe. Great, so the fabulous, talented actress thought she was a fool. Fantastic.

“It was lucky you were in town,” Roxie said, trying to salvage the conversation. “At the same time as Zairn being here, I mean. And that you’re still on good terms.”

“Z is on good terms with everyone. Even those he isn’t on good terms with.” Kesley enjoyed her own comment; Roxie wasn’t sure she understood it. “He has this knack for making everyone feel special.” The actress swayed closer, pointing at Zairn. “Look at that… you see the way he put his hand on her back.”

The group was returning to the couches. Kesley was right, Zairn was guiding one of the winners across the room, his hand on her back.

“Yeah,” Roxie said, shrugging it off. “What does that mean?”

“You see how he keeps it just under her shoulder blades? He won’t touch any woman below the waist… on the back. On the front, it’s below the neck.”

“I don’t know what—”

“He’s so aware.” Kesley’s awe was palpable. It dripped from her words and shone from her skin. “He never wants any woman to be uncomfortable and is so careful not to do anything that could be misconstrued.”

Hmm, maybe they weren’t talking about the same Zairn. “Misconstrued?” Roxie asked. “Like that he’s coming onto them?”

“Yes,” Kesley said. “He keeps his touches light and in the most appropriate places. He won’t sit next to a woman; he lets them come to him and boy, do they.” She laughed, still watching the focal crowd as they sat and settled into their groove. “It took me a long time to notice… It’s incredible… I think it’s the respect that does it. He gives women all the power… in the approach anyway. Once the wheels are in motion, it’s all him. Every woman could benefit from a Zairn Lomond courtship.”

Finishing her drink, Roxie leaned forward to put the empty glass on the low table in front of them. Less than a full breath later, a server appeared to put new drinks down. What the…? Where had she come from?

“Thank you… very much,” Roxie said. A smile was all she got from the blonde picking up the used glasses. “I don’t even have any cash.”

Kesley laughed as the server departed. “You don’t have to tip here. Zairn takes care of all that.” The guy took care of a lot. “The drinks are him too. People are taken care of when he’s around; hosting is what he does.”

“I suppose he wouldn’t have got far in his business without mastering that skill.”

“It’s amazing, he’s so good at knowing what everyone else needs,” Kesley said, concentrating on him as she picked up the fresh drink. “But has no clue what he wants.”

“We’re all guilty of that.”

Although happy in life in a general sense, she wasn’t aiming to hit any specific objective. Zairn had to be goal-driven, right? Wasn’t that how successful people achieved their potential?

“I would never wish bad things for him,” Kesley said and sighed. “I would never say it to him, but I miss him every day… Life after Zairn Lomond is never the same as it was before. There’s something so… secure about being with him. Not in fidelity, I was always hyperaware of the hundreds of women in his life. About how they offer themselves to him. I’ve seen it. Some of them did it right in front of me. They have no shame… He has this way of putting women at ease. Like bees to honey.”

“He’s an attractive guy,” Roxie said, conceding a shrug. “There’s appeal.”

“Yes, like the money and the connections. That’s why he avoids LA so much. Just walking down the street can be a minefield. People think if they can be granted VIP access to Crimson that they’ll rub shoulders with key players with the power to make their careers. Zairn could do that, if he wanted to, but that’s not what he’s about.” A lingering silence stretched the moment. “I think that’s why he felt safe with Dayah.”

“Dayah?” Roxie asked, recalling Talk at Sunset. “Dayah Lynn?”

“Yes, her career was on the rise. So young and she received the Oscar nomination… He went to the ceremony with her.”

“They were together?”

“No one knows that for sure,” Kesley said. “They were pictured together several times and Dayah was a Crimson Queen.”

Shifting to angle toward the actress, Roxie seized the opportunity. “What exactly is a Crimson Queen?”

“Often a woman who’s slept with Zairn,” Kesley said. He really highlighted the notches on his bedpost by titling them “Queen” in his clubs? Was that creepy or sentimental? The actress turned away from Zairn to witness Roxie’s confusion. “That’s not a hard and fast rule. They’re women with access to all Crimson sites.”

“Don’t all his friends have access?”

“Most people only access one or two clubs. Queens can show up whenever, wherever. Anyone else has to clear their VIP admission with the club in advance… Them or a representative anyway. Crimson Queens don’t need to do that. We each get…” Reaching up, she pointed to a red gem on a hair slide. “It’s a ruby.”

“Was Dayah a Crimson Queen?”

“Zairn and I broke up a few weeks before he and Dayah started to be photographed together. I always assumed there was overlap. Things weren’t good between us for a while… His life is so busy, and he meets new gorgeous people all the time. The courtship is amazing, but he just can’t sustain it.” A laugh warmed her breath. “Ironic to say that given what he can sustain elsewhere, right?”

Kesley returned to gazing across the room at Zairn. That question implied… Not that Zairn was good in bed. Weird, but even in her limited experience that seemed like a given. No, the implication was that she and Zairn were sleeping together. He’d said people would make assumptions. She’d shrugged off that warning and sure hadn’t expected anyone to be so explicit in their presumption.

Switching focus, she wracked her memory for details of Dayah Lynn’s death. At the time, it was on the news. Her girls chattered about it. The glamorous Dayah Lynn died in LA. As to how Zairn was connected… Dayah had been at Crimson with him on the night of her death. Wasn’t that what her girls said? Damn, if only she’d paid more attention.

The chance to converse with Kesley had come out of the blue. If she had anticipated the conversation, she’d have done research. Not about Zairn and Dayah, about Kesley. The woman was way more personable than she’d imagined a famous person would be.

“How have you been getting along with Ogilvie?” Kesley asked, interrupting Roxie’s thoughts.

“I haven’t spent any time with him.”

Her prevailing memory was him calling her a media w***e. That wasn’t fading any time soon.

“Believe me, that’s a good thing,” Kesley said. “He’ll literally walk into a room and talk to Zairn as if you don’t exist. He’s a serious guy. All business. Difficult to get to know. I don’t know anyone who’s done it. He keeps Zairn’s mind on business… usually when I didn’t want him to… Og likes to have influence at the top.”

“Are they family?”

“Zairn doesn’t have family, not blood family. Ogilvie dated Z’s mom before she died. They didn’t see each other for years, but Og got in touch somehow after his grandfather died.”

And the young Zairn received his six million inheritance. Coincidence? She chose to reserve judgment.

“Ballard is important to him,” Roxie said.

That was evident from the way they talked to each other. Zairn was employing Ballard’s young cousin too.

“They go way back. I don’t really know the story. I never asked,” Kesley said, suddenly bouncing around to face her. “Gosh, listen to me, he’d hate me spilling all. I don’t suppose it counts among Queens. And you’ll be one of us soon.”

“The plan is to visit all of the Crimson venues. No one said anything about being a Queen.”

“Zairn never gives warning of it. He just slips the pin in your hair while you’re getting dressed.” Not getting dressed in his vicinity was a good indication of the likelihood it would happen to her. “We’ll invite you to the dinner,” Kesley said, shocking Roxie again.

“There’s a dinner?”

“Welcome to the lifestyle, honey,” Kesley said, throwing out an extravagant hand. “You’re going to love it. Any excuse for a get together. I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

Kind and optimistic. Kesley knew next to nothing about her yet was warm and welcoming. Maybe it was just the way of people in the entertainment industry. She had no idea.

“Now,” Kesley said, sliding to the edge of her seat. “Grab your drink and come with me. There are some Bruins I am desperate for you to meet.”

Roxie hesitated. Bruins? That could be a problem. “I’m from Chicago.”

Kesley laughed. “That’s okay. I won’t let them hold it against you.”

The lifestyle: drinking, schmoozing, staying up late. Roxie could do that. She could have fun. What was so difficult about that?