The Club Read Online Free

took a cab to the club and her heart sank before it had even pulled up to the kerb. Her dad had obviously missed the regeneration bandwagon when it had rolled into town after the bombings a few years back because, compared to all the bright new façades surrounding it, the club looked dated and scruffy. It had the same old scarred black doors as when he’d first bought it, and the wall was covered in messy posters, leaflets and graffiti.
    It was so seedy and neglected that Jenna couldn’t imagine anybody making an effort to come here for a night out. In fact, the only good thing about it was the location: smack in the middle of Deansgate, which had taken a massive upturn in recent years and was now chock-full of upmarket wine and coffee bars and swanky new apartment blocks. If she did end up selling – which was looking very, very likely – she’d get more for the postcode than for the actual building.
    Using the keys that the solicitor had given her she unlocked the door and went inside. She’d only ever been here a couple of times, and that had been during opening hours when it was fully lit and crammed with people, with music pumping out at an incredible volume. Standing in the foyer now, it just felt cold, dark, and far too quiet.
    Shivering, Jenna went through to the clubroom itself, which was pitch dark and really quite eerie. Propping the door open with a chair, she used the sparse light from the foyer to find her way to the lights control box which the solicitor had told her was behind the bar. Flicking switches at random, she had just found the one for the overhead lights when a door opened behind her and a man walked in.
    Leaping back when he saw her, he cried, ‘Holy shit ! You scared the crap out of me!’ Patting his chest then, he gave her a sheepish grin. ‘Guess you’re not an armed robber, huh?’
    ‘Definitely not,’ Jenna assured him, amused that he seemed even more alarmed than she was – he was lean and muscular and looked quite capable of taking care of himself. He was also very good-looking, she noticed. Mixed-race, clean-shaven, with ice-white teeth, unusual blue eyes and a soft American accent.
    And a broad gold wedding band on the third finger of his left hand, which he wasn’t trying to hide – unlike Jason, who had hidden his for six long years, the bastard!
    Shaking the irritating thought of Jason out of her head, she asked the man if he worked here.
    ‘Weekends,’ he said, presuming her to be one of the waitresses who worked mid-week when DJs Fiddy or Marky Day had their slots. ‘Shame we had to shut down, isn’t it?’ he murmured then, gazing around the room. ‘It’s a great place. And James was pretty cool for an old guy. But nothing lasts for ever, right?’
    Jenna nodded her agreement, liking him because he’d obviously liked her dad.
    ‘It’s Vibes, by the way.’ He held out his hand. ‘One of the DJs – or, at least, I was .’
    ‘Jenna,’ she told him, shaking it. ‘You say the club’s been closed down?’ she asked then, wondering why the solicitor hadn’t told her about that.
    ‘Yeah, the day James died,’ Vibes said, frowning quizzically. ‘Look, sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but shouldn’t you already know that if you work here?’
    ‘I’m the old guy’s daughter,’ Jenna told him, smiling when she saw the information sink in and show up in his eyes.
    ‘For real?’ Drawing his head back, he peered at her face, then nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess I can see it. You’ve got the same nose.’
    But not the same anything else , he thought, because she was absolutely stunning.
    Snapping himself out of it, he said, ‘So I take it you’re the new owner, then, huh? And you’re like – what? Just checking the place out?’
    ‘Something like that,’ Jenna replied. ‘I wanted to see what my instincts told me before I made any decisions.’
    ‘And what are they telling you?’
    ‘Not sure yet.’ She shrugged. ‘It’ll need major renovations if I do