The Bad Crowd Ch. 01

"Can I have this dance?" he said smoothly and without waiting for an answer, he took Hayley by the hand and eased her away from me and into the middle of the group. As I went to sit back down, however, someone took me by the arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Annabel.

"I was just going to grab a drink and have a sit-down," I replied, indicating towards the table where I'd been sat.

"Because my husband has stolen your wife?" she said with an arched brow.

"I'm not a huge fan of dancing anyway," I didn't want her to think I was offended. I didn't want to blow anything, not when I was on the edge of becoming a partner.

"Well, that's a shame because I'm a husband short now and was hoping you'd fill in for him."

Again, I didn't want to offend anyone, so I let her lead me back into the middle of the dance floor again, where she leaned in close to me, making me want the slow music to stop and go back to something more uptempo again. Not that Annabel wasn't attractive. She was. She was in great shape for her age. Older than me while not looking quite as old as Ray, who was old enough to be my father. Slim and petite, her figure still had curves and her long dark hair smelled sweet and fruity as she stood on tiptoe to talk into my ear.

"I like you," she said softly, and I felt her hand slip down my back onto my butt.

"Thank y- um, thank you," I stammered slightly. "I'm flattered but-"

How did I handle this unexpected turn?

"Ray likes Hayley too," she said before I could finish. "This is why I'm dancing with you. To talk."

"To talk about what?" I replied, easing myself away from her, alarm bells suddenly ringing in my head.

"Come with me," she said gently, and calmly pulled me towards the bar and then through a door behind it. The room beyond was a small office, and she gestured towards a desk with two chairs. "Sit down."

I did as I was asked, but my mind was reeling and was heart was beating fast. What was going on?

Annabel sat down opposite me, her dark eyes considering mine. "How much do you want to be a part of our family?"

"Very much," I said honestly. "Why?"

"Because there are certain conditions that Ray always insists on, before letting someone on the inside of our organisation. He needs a special level of trust."

"I can understand that," I said slowly, wondering where she was going with this.

"Jason and Kyle are his sons," Annabel continued, "But even they had to pass certain conditions to allow Monica and Lene into the family."

"He controls who his sons can marry?"

"Not quite," Annabel explained, "But he does control who joins in the organisation, and in the business that we're in, it's hard to be married to someone on the inside and not be involved. So, when Jason married Monica and Kyle married Lene, there were certain conditions that had to be met, to ensure that they could be trusted as partners."

"What about Joel and Penny?"

"Yes, them too. They almost didn't go through with it, but in the end, they did - and they're much happier and wealthier for it. So if you wanted to speak to them about it, or Lene or Monica and the brothers - for advice - before making a decision, that might help you."

"A decision about what?" She wasn't making a lot of sense.

"Shall I just come out with it?" Annabel said in a tone that didn't match the smile on her face.

"Please do," I said as kindly as I could manage.

"Everyone that has joined the company has either spent a night with Ray, if they're female, or if they're male, their partners have."

Annabel said it so casually, with that practiced smile, that I had to ask her to repeat herself, sure that I'd misheard. She said it again, word for word. I couldn't believe it.

"So, what you're saying, is that if I want to become a partner, I have to make Hayley have sex with Ray?" I stood up, a ripple of anger running through me.

"Sit back down," Annabel said, as cool as ice. "You don't have to make her do anything."

"Too right, I don't," I replied but I didn't sit back down.

"You misunderstand me," the pretty Thai spoke softly again. "What I meant is that Hayley might actually want to, rather than you having to make her."

"I seriously doubt it," I snorted incredulously. "We're married, for god's sake."

"So are Joel and Penny. So were Sarah and Joseph, who was a partner before you. Monica and Lene weren't married to the boys at the time but they were serious steady girlfriends."

"You're telling me that Ray's slept with Penny? And both of his son's wives?"

"Yes, he has. And he still does, from time to time. Add to that list: Sarah, who was Joseph's wife, and Jessica who was another partner's wife, I forget his name. So, yes. It's his condition; his way of connecting us like family and setting a certain bond between us all."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't believe it," I muttered, "And even if I did, it's wrong. It's like blackmail or something."

"No, it's not blackmail," Annabel shook her head, her dark hair tumbling over one shoulder. "He has a way of charming the women. None of the wives or girlfriends I just mentioned have ever said no to his offer or slept with him without wanting to. Perhaps you should ask Hayley what she thinks before you just say no. At least talk it over with her."

"You're his wife," I pointed out. "Don't you mind him doing this? Oh, and he's not doing it to make special bonds and all this family trust bullshit. He's doing it because he likes fucking women. It's as simple as that. And he gets away with it."

"Of course he likes fucking. All men do," Annabel pointed a slim finger my way. "Be honest, if you were wealthy and powerful, wouldn't you abuse your status a bit - to get what you want? He's already rich enough to quit this all tomorrow and has enough money to live on for the rest of his life. He's can buy anything he wants. So he gets his kicks this way instead."

"And you don't care?"

"I did, at first," she shrugged. "But I get to do whatever I want with whoever I want too. It works both ways."

"But - it's wrong," I said, sitting down lamely. "It's just wrong."

"You do know what this business does, don't you?" Annabel tossed her head back in laughter. She was even more attractive when she smiled and laughed genuinely. "We're hardly paragons of virtue, Paul. We extort money, launder it, invest it in other even less lawful enterprises to make more money. It might feel wrong to you, Ray using his authority like this, but compared to what else he does..."

I didn't like to think about what else he did. He was a big, powerful looking man. I could easily imagine him cracking people's heads. People that disagreed with him.

"So, for me to become a partner, I have to let him fuck my wife, that's what you're saying?"

"It's just how it is," Annabel said simply. "Why don't we go back into the room now? Take some time to think about it. Speak to Hayley. Talk to Monica and Lene, or the boys. They've all been sat where you are now. They know what you're going through."

With that, she got up and walked over to the door, waiting for me to follow her and without replying, I did. I hadn't thought about Hayley dancing with Ray the whole time I'd been talking with Annabel, so I didn't know what to expect, but to my relief, Ray was at the bar getting more shots while Hayley was sat down talking to Monica, the leggy brunette wife of Jason who was sat nearby, laughing and joking with his brother.

"We're leaving," I said to Hayley. She gave Monica a look which told me that she knew what was wrong, and I wondered if Ray said the same to her while they'd been dancing, as what Annabel had to me in the back room.

"Okay," she said, her eyes meeting mine. "I guess we need to talk, don't we?"

That confirmed it. She stood up but as she did, Monica passed her a piece on paper with a telephone number on.

"Call me?" she said as I dragged Hayley away. I knew that everyone was watching us, Ray included, but I couldn't stay there and pretend to be enjoying myself after having such a bombshell dropped on me. Plus, the reality of what had happened was setting in. A surge of disappointment was washing over me at the knowledge that I wouldn't be a partner in the business. I'd have to go back to my boring legal job and back to our mundane way of life on mediocre wages. There was no way Hayley and I could go through with this.

Was there?