Theirs, page 1
THEIRS
A DARK ODYSSEY NOVEL
KHARDINE GRAY
FAITH SUMMERS
Theirs Copyright © 2022 by Khardine Gray
Please note : Faith Summers is the Dark Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author Khardine Gray
All rights reserved.
Cover design © 2022 by Cover Couture
Photographer- Lindee Robinson
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This work is copyrighted. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The author asserts that all characters and situations depicted in this work of fiction are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations.
It is intended for mature readers. All characters are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual.
CONTENTS
Theirs
Dark Romance Note
Author Note
They needed me. And I needed them too...
1. Megan
2. Megan
3. Cristiano
4. Megan
5. Megan
6. Megan
7. Cristiano
8. Knox
9. Megan
10. Levi
11. Cristiano
12. Megan
13. Megan
14. Levi
15. Cristiano
16. Megan
17. Knox
18. Megan
19. Cristiano
20. Megan
21. Cristiano
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Faith Summers Collection
THEIRS
A Dark Odyssey Novella
USA Today Bestselling Author
Khardine Gray
writing as
Faith Summers
DARK ROMANCE NOTE
WARNING: This book is a standalone DARK ROMANCE. This book contains scenes that may be triggering to some readers and should be read by those only 18+ or older. **
AUTHOR NOTE
Please note Faith Summers is the Dark romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author Khardine Gray
THEY NEEDED ME. AND I NEEDED THEM TOO...
I’m broken again.
This time my life is in danger.
Desperation has sent me running right back through the doors of the Dark Odyssey.
For those with money, the club is the Billionaire’s Playground.
The heathens haven of dark fantasy.
But for those like me, it’s the gateway to sell your soul when you have nothing left to give.
After my deceitful ex-husband left me in a mountain of debt, working at the club was my only option.
Then I met them—Cristiano, Knox, and Levi.
The ruthless leader, the vicious protector, and the daring rebel.
They gave me a way out of the devil’s contract—
All I have to do is become Cristiano’s wife so he can inherit his empire and all my problems will disappear.
Knox and Levi are the added bonus.
Perfection.
Except this isn’t a fairy tale.
If our secret arrangement is discovered it’s game over.
1
MEGAN
I never thought I’d become a whore again.
I loathe that word—whore. It’s a cruel, vile thing to christen myself, but what else can I say I am if I’m about to sell my body?
It doesn’t matter what color I paint what I’m about to do, the truth is the truth, and nothing can change that.
Even if becoming a whore is my only chance of saving myself, this is the second time I’ve had to sell my soul to the dark side.
At twenty-seven years old, with a degree in psychology under my belt, I honestly thought my life would be different now.
I also never expected to become a widow at such a young age, or for my dead husband to be a fraud who screwed me over in every way possible when I inherited the half-million-dollar debt he left in my name.
I can’t even tell anyone the truth about him or the debt because I’m dead if I do.
I was warned not to trust him. I just never listened. Love blindsided me and made me the perfect pawn for Hunter’s game of lies.
Hunter Reid was my high school sweetheart and, for me, the one who got away. I wanted to believe he was the one good thing from my past that found its way back to me. But he wasn’t.
That’s why I’m here tonight on the doorstep of The Dark Odyssey, the infamous sex club those with money as old as dirt call ‘the billionaires’ playground’.
Owned by the Giordanos—an Italian mafia family—it’s nestled in the heart of one of Chicago’s busiest streets.
Tonight I’m going back through their doors as a returning staff member. After a two-year absence, I’ll resume my role as a special waitress.
Special, meaning one of the girls you can book for anything. Literally anything.
I make my way up the sweeping marble steps to the club’s doors and observe tonight’s patrons under the moonlit sky.
The women are all dressed in sexy lingerie, while the men wear dress shirts and suits. Everyone has on the Venetian masquerade masks for the club’s customary party. These parties are held every night and are part of the dark fantasy of being here.
I make my way into the foyer and spot Mimi Giordano talking to one of the receptionists at the concierge desk. Mimi is married to Salvatore Giordano, one of the club owners. She takes care of the girls who work here.
She smiles when she sees me, and I do the same.
When I reach her, she gives me a hug that feels as sympathetic as her voice did when I called her the other day to ask for my old job back. I told her my husband had died and sounded like the grieving wife I played to everyone else.
The thing is, it’s not an act. I’m grieving for so many things, just not for the reasons everyone believes.
“It’s great to see you.” Mimi’s smile brightens, and her long blonde curls bounce as she nods.
“You too.”
“Come, let’s go talk for a little while.” She gestures to the elevator.
“Thanks, I’d like that.” I’m eager for the night to be over but not eager to start. With the contract I’ve signed, I could likely end up being some rich bastard’s sex toy. While that’s where the money is, and would have appealed to me in my younger days, I’m not that girl anymore.
This version of myself was en route to having a respectable career as a therapist. Now I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to that.
We go into the elevator and get off on the third floor. Mimi takes me into her office, where she motions for me to sit on the white leather sofa by the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. It has a fabulous view of the Chicago skyline lit up by the city lights. I’ve always admired the view whenever I’ve been here.
She sits opposite me and sighs heavily, brushing her hair over her shoulders.
“I just wanted to talk to you properly before you start,” she begins. “How are you doing?”
“I’m… getting there.” My answer feels like more lies spewing from my mouth, but I don’t want her to think I can’t do the job. They have a policy here about being part of the fantasy. So you have to put on a show, regardless of how you feel.
“I’m truly sorry about Hunter.”
“Thanks.”
“It was such a horrible accident.”
Accident? No, Mimi, it wasn’t an accident.
Sure, that’s what it looked like when it made the evening news, but Hunter’s death was no accident.
He was found in his car in the woods by the Chicago River. The car, along with his body, had been torched. The only thing the coroner could use to identify him was his dental records. What I buried a month ago was his charred skeleton.
“I know I’m your boss, and we haven’t seen each other in years, but please let me know if you need to talk.”
“I will.” The most important thing I’ve learned from my extensive study of treatment therapies is that talking helps. Talking takes the edge off our worries even when we want to keep our feelings locked away from the world. But not if it could get you killed. Like it would in my case.
“I know how hard things must have been losing your husband like that. I can’t imagine what you must be going through.” Her voice deepens with emotion, and she presses a hand to her heart.
“It’s been awful.” Another half-truth.
When I first learned of Hunter’s death, my world ended. At the time, we’d only been married f
or two weeks. Then, not even a full day after the news broke, it became clear that one of the many enemies I didn’t know about must have killed him. I travel in enough inner circles to know that burning a person up is the best way to cover what really happened.
I wish I could say that to Mimi, but then she’d have questions I can’t or mustn’t answer. Like why am I not looking for Hunter’s killers, or how did I fall so quickly out of love with him.
And why don’t I care? Or maybe she’d skip all that and jump to the part where she asks why I think it’s appropriate to work in a sex club barely six weeks after I got married and buried my husband.
None of it is right. But I’m a woman who was given two choices. Become a sex worker on my own terms to clear the debt or do it under forced conditions where I’d belong to Hunter’s debtors forever.
Once again, I’m alone with no friends, no family, and no one I can trust enough to turn to. So this is the way forward.
I lift my chin and pull in a measured breath to steady my mind and the ache in my heart. “Thank you for allowing me to come back here.”
“You know you always have a job at the Dark Odyssey.”
“I appreciate that.” I do, even if I’m praying I’ll never have to work here again after this. As much as I have a wild side that would enjoy coming here for fun with my man—if I ever have one of those again—I’m not sure I’d want to come back ever again. People don’t tend to want to have fun in the places where they lost their souls.
Sympathy brims in Mimi’s eyes. She’s been working here since the club opened its doors over a decade ago. She knows what desperate looks like and what would push a girl to sign her body up for anything.
“I’ve arranged for you to take care of the VIP list,” she says.
That’s perfect, and I’m sure it will help me massively. VIP clients often pay you to be exclusive to them. I got lucky like that last time and made enough to put myself through college.
“Thanks so much.” At least tonight is starting out promising.
“No worries. Tonight you have a group of three guys who are all best friends.”
That translates to guys who like group sex. I’ve had threesomes here before. Adding one more guy to the mix will be different for me.
“They’re here for a business meeting, so you might have a short night.”
“That’s fine.” Short is great, but realistically, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is the end goal. So I need to push aside my reservations and embrace whatever I need to do to get my life back.
“Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Great, I’ll take you to the dressing room first, then we can go upstairs and meet the guys.”
“Thanks.”
When we get to the dressing room, my clothes are already laid out for me.
There’s a sheer black negligee made from material so thin it’s completely see-through. My light pink nipples are visible against the fabric when I put it on. That’s the idea though. Clothes like these are just a tease for the men.
At least the matching thong has a thicker bit of fabric covering my mound—just barely.
I’m comfortable with my body, and like most girls here, I’m okay to go topless, but I don’t like showing more until I get intimate with someone.
Once my hair and makeup are done, I look like I could fit right in with the ladies at the Moulin Rouge. Mimi then ushers me through the door to the left, which goes right into the club. Instantly I’m immersed in flashing strobe lights and the wild club mix music, cocooned in the beautiful Venetian-style hall with its high gold ceiling and classy European décor.
I’ve been to Venice and Rome, so I’m confident in endorsing the design this hall attempts to replicate.
The sea of partygoers on the dancefloor below are having fun, but the first thing anybody notices when they walk in is the people having sex.
Tonight it looks like everyone is doing it.
There are people having sex in the Arabian-style cubicles on the edge of the dance floor, people having sex in the sofa areas by the bar, and people having sex against the walls.
I consider myself sexually adventurous. During my time here, I’ve gotten up to all sorts of debauchery, but it’s still shocking for me to see everyone out in the open like this.
People like Mimi don’t flicker an eyelid because being here all the time makes public sex seem commonplace. People like me gawp, the way I am now at the acrobatic couple fucking on the ariel hoop in the ceiling as they sail past us.
I’ve seen that before, but it still throws me. The same as watching the threesome in the exhibitionist box at the far corner of the room.
This is what you call a dark fantasy. In the Dark Odyssey, sex is very much an art the same as dancing, singing, or painting because the owners think it’s an expression of your inner desires.
We branch off the balcony and walk through the fantasy maze where more couples blend in with the shadows against the wall. I’m then taken to the VIP lounge.
I gear myself up to meet the guys. But as Mimi opens the door to the first room, I realize nothing could prepare me for the sight of the three drop-dead gorgeous Italian men inside.
Dressed in full black and standing next to the table with the decanter and wine, they look like they’re posing for a GQ Magazine photoshoot.
I’m certainly not prepared for the raw heat spiking my nerves or for the deliciously sexy sight of them to wipe my brain clean of everything.
When the guy with the bright blue eyes looks at me with mischief lurking in his gaze, and the other two exchange curious glances that hold the same air of sexiness, I know I’m going to have one very interesting night.
2
MEGAN
“Hi,” I say when Mimi leaves us. “I’m Megan.”
“Pretty name for a pretty face,” says Mr. Blue Eyes. The other two both have autumn brown eyes.
“Thank you.”
“I’m Cristiano, and this is Levi and Knox.” He points to the other two guys, respectively.
Levi is taller than Knox. Judging from the sculpt of his body, he looks like he’s lived in a gym all his life. Knox and Cristiano, on the other hand, look like they’ve served in the Marines. They are each so ridiculously gorgeous I’m having a hard time looking away from them.
“Hello.” I give them each a smile.
“Hello, Goddess.” Levi winks at me.
“Buona sera.” Knox dips his head and makes a point of staring at my breasts. He has gorgeous, kissable lips. The kind you could sink into and kiss forever.
“Do you speak Italian?” Cristiano asks, drawing my attention back to him. His gaze drops from my face and goes straight to my pussy.
The scandalous look he gives me evokes an immediate reaction from my body. It takes me by surprise because moisture is gathering between my thighs as if I’ve been starved of sex for years.
I almost forget what he asked me until his gaze flicks back up to mine, and he arches a stern brow.
Italian. Do I speak it? Not a damn bit which is terrible considering I’ve worked with Italians for years.
“No. I wish I did.”
“That’s no problem for us,” Knox states.
“Come and sit with us.” Levi waves me over.
When I go to them, we sit on the leather sofa.
Knox and Levi sit on either side of me while Cristiano lowers to the chair in front. I’m completely blocked in, and I think that was by design.
“Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Megan?” Cristiano says, and I feel like I’m in an interview. I guess it is, and he’s trying to vet me to see what he wants to do with me.
