Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 294: The Platinum Club 2

"Ready?" Damien's hand hovered on the doorknob of their private room when Katherine held his arm to stop him. "Hmm? What is it?"

"It's just Can I ask you something? Before we go inside, I just have a few questions." She bit her lower lip, wondering how she could extract some information from him. Asking is easy but she was sure that he would know something was up. But right now, this was her only way.

Looking at her curious gaze, he didn't hesitate. It was her who wanted to talk, of course, he would not let this pass. "Sure One second," he said before he briefly told Caleb and Alianna to order the food first and that they will join them in a few minutes. 

When he closed the door, he faced Katherine once again and waited for her to start her question. "I'm all ears."

"It's nothing really I was just curious. Isn't this restaurant exclusive?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do you happen to know all the members? How does one become a member of this restaurant?"

Taking off his coat and loosening his tie, Damien casually replied, "Well... you remember I told you about The Platinum Club, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't really know much about it I just know that you're a member." 

"It's an exclusive social club. The last time I heard the club has about 500 members only and considering it's across the states, that number isn't a lot. Although I don't know every member, I can assure you that they're all from the upper class. Being a member of the club, we get access and tickets to special events along with member-only events, perks on all Central Corp Properties, access to several members-only restaurants under the club, including this restaurant."

"So, only members of your club are allowed to dine in this restaurant?" Katherine wanted to confirm.

He nodded to reaffirm her saying, "Yes, but we're allowed to bring guests over."

"And how does one become a member?"

"Recommendation from an existing member. There's also a substantial fee to pay upon registration and an annual fee."

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him as her curiosity became even bigger. "How 'substantial' are we talking about here?"

Feeling hesitant about disclosing the amount to her, Damien wet his lips with his tongue and blurted, "A hundred."

"One hundred dollars?" She raised a brow, knowing she was already wrong as soon as the words came out of her mouth.

"A hundred grand. And fifteen thousand yearly," he said in a toneless voice.

"Holy shi You're kidding?" Katherine's hand flew to her mouth. A hundred thousand dollars for a club membership?! They all must be insane. And this man in front of her is one of them. Her eyes darted to the side as though she was trying to count the zeros in her bank account. Surely she had that amount and a lot more but was she really going to spend that much? She would be one of the crazies who paid for that much just to be part of the club! 

Watching the change in her expression, Damien somehow guessed what was going on in her head so he added, "It's not just about the money, Katherine. One may have that amount but not anybody who can afford can just join. Apart from the recommendation, the board must approve you too. One would have to be someone like"

"Like you"

"Well, yeah They mostly approve membership applications from influential people like politicians, celebrities, and wealthy people."

Katherine's mind brought her back to Chris as she thought about who he was meeting here. Being a member of the club certainly had plenty of privileges it would open a lot of doors for her. She had this gut feeling that it was going to be helpful in order to take down Shadow. She just knew it.

"Why are you suddenly interested?" Damien wondered.

"Could you recommend me?"

He studied her expression and saw the seriousness on her face. "You want to be a member?"

"One hundred thousand is a lot but"

"I mean, I can always take you here anytime. You don't need to be a member as long as you're my guest." Did she like this restaurant that much? A realization hit him when Katherine did not respond to what he said. "You can't talk about it with me, can you?" he asked.

She kept her lips tight. She knew he would catch on.

"Katherine, when are you going to realize that whatever it is, I can handle it?" Damien stepped closer to her, feeling frustrated that she couldn't tell him things.

"That's the thing, Damien I have no doubt that you can." She couldn't look him in the eye, afraid of what else she would give away. Because when it came to him, she's too vulnerable.

"Then why can't you tell me?" He gently held her wrist, subtly brushing her pulse with his thumb.

The contact made her shiver when electric shocks went straight to her gut. She could pull her hand away but it felt nice to be held by him so she gave up fighting it.

"This thing it's bigger than us." Katherine looked straight into his eyes and told him, "But this is my fight. Not yours."

If Katherine thought that he would give up just because of what she said, that's where she was wrong. Even though he believed he wasn't worthy of her, his will to protect her was stronger.

"If it's bigger than us, how can you handle it alone? There's only three of you, right?" Damien slid his hand to hold hers. "I was serious when I told you that I would spend the rest of my life paying for my sins to you, Katherine. You don't have to be alone in this."

The two of them stared at each other. There were so many things they wanted to say to each other and they chose not to say it. Damien was feeling conflicted because of his fear that Katherine would push him away if he forced himself on her some more. But how could he just let her do whatever she was doing? If only she would just let him in.

Slowly, Katherine withdrew her hand from his grasp. She didn't want to let go of this man but the more she allowed him to hold her, the greedier she got. She had to stop herself before it gets harder.

"I appreciate it, Damien I really do. But no"

'I'd rather die fighting it alone than bring you to hell with me,' she said in her thoughts.

Hearing her refusal, Damien could only nod. But it didn't mean that he was going to let go of this. She did promise him that they would talk soon. He could only hope that he didn't have to wait that long. Wanting to brush away the gloomy air around them, he formed a small smile on his face as he gestured her towards their private room.

"We can talk about it when you're ready. Let's just head inside first so I can feed you..." he said, placing a hand on the small of her back as they walked.

"I can feed myselfthank you very much!"

"Mhmm And you're not doing a very good job at it, seeing that you have gotten skinnier."

Katherine snorted as they opened the door, "Says the man who looked like he also lost weight."

With a cheeky grin on his face, he chuckled, "Yeah I'm not doing a good job at it either. So you can feed me."

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