“Take a break, Estelle,” I commanded her and she scurried behind the bar. She was the oldest member of staff here and I didn’t ever ask her to dress up like my other girls.
She was invaluable to me in other ways though and I didn’t give a shit that she wasn’t here to give people an eyeful. I’d taken her in five years ago when her husband, who was a regular here, beat her black and blue. I’d kicked the asshole out of town with a broken arm and a few missing teeth and given her work until she could get back on her feet. Turned out, she’d not only loved the job, she was fucking good at it too, keeping all the staff in line and running a seriously tight ship. A lot of the staff called her Momma Stelle because she’d been so good to them and I had no plans of ever letting her go.
“Olly, you piece of shit,” I snarled and he rolled his eyes at me. He was as broad as me and his face was cut from stone, but I had the height on him.
“Come on, boss,” he groaned.
“Don’t fucking come on boss me. We’re opening in less than fifteen minutes and I swear to fuck, if Bella isn’t smiling her tits off when the first customer walks through that door, you’re gonna pay me every dollar I’ll lose because she’s walking around sniffling and sobbing while she takes her clothes off. It’s no way to do business, man.”
Olly ran a hand through his long, wavy black hair. “I don’t want her selling her pussy anymore,” he growled, pouting at me like it was my fucking fault. Like I was some sort of vag troll who forced girls to get on their knees for men in his creepy cave. But I let no such fucking thing happen in Afterlife.
I spammed him on the forehead in irritation. “It’s her choice. I don’t make her suck cock, but she sucks it good, so I’m gonna take my cut so long as she keeps choosing to do it, just like I’ll kill any motherfucker who tries to hurt her too.” Plenty of my dancing girls chose to fuck for extra cash, and I offered them protection and escorts to and from jobs to keep them safe. They were going to do it anyway, so I let them and took my cut. I wasn’t a pimp exactly, but well, alright I was a pimp. But one who actually gave a crap about the people who worked for me and made sure they got health care and shit, so at least I was a nice pimp.
A muscle worked in his temple as he continued to pout. “I can’t handle it, bro. I see her with other guys and I just wanna – argh.” He clenched his fists and I sighed.
“You knew what her job was when you started fucking her,” I said. “What do you want me to do about it?”
“Put her on the main stage so she can get bigger tips. If she earns more here, she’ll stop.”
“Bella’s not a good enough dancer for the main stage. If she wants more money then she can pull shifts behind the bar or show up to the fucking dance classes instead of being too hungover or high to attend all the time.”
He grunted angrily and I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up at me. “Whatever you do, don’t ever call one of my girls a dumb slut again or you’ll be out on your ass. I don’t need the drama and I certainly don’t appreciate the fucking double standards. You work in a strip club with escorts. You wanna date a fine, upstanding girl who worships your cock on a monogamous basis, then find one outside of Afterlife. If not then go make that girl smile, asshole.”
He nodded, pushing out of his seat and bowing his head obediently as he darted off towards the dressing room. I headed out of the bar down the corridor that led to my office and pushed inside, shaking my head at Olly.
Jessie appeared a few moments later, biting on her sugary pink bottom lip. Her long brown hair was streaked with UV paint and she wore a tiny silver outfit that showed off a lot of toned skin, all of which was covered in painted hearts and stripes.
She pushed the door shut behind her, smiling coyly at me as I leaned back against my desk. “You looked stressed, baby.”
“Olly’s being an asshole again,” I sighed as she closed in on me and immediately reached for my dick, rubbing my crotch to try and get me hard.
I swallowed what felt like a razor blade in my throat as she dropped to her knees and produced a strawberry flavoured condom from her bra. Her favourite.
She lowered my fly and I continued to force down razor blades in my throat as I watched her, my cock about as active as a dead fish. Not even one out of water, vaguely twitching. It was as dead as a Dodo. What the fuck Johnny D?
I thought of how hard I’d been inside Rogue, the way she’d panted and moaned, how she’d felt coming on my cock and I cursed as I abruptly stepped past Jessie, almost kneeing her in the face.
“Not right now,” I muttered, helping her to her feet and doing up my fly. She stared at the pink condom she’d taken out of the wrapper with a frown.
“Oh, but it will never fulfil its destiny now,” she said sadly as she gazed at the rubber and I snorted, turning her towards the door. She only had a few braincells, bless her heart, but what came out of them when she rubbed them together was pure magic.
“Texas should be here soon. Why don’t you go get yourself a piece of him?” I suggested.
Her face brightened at that and she nodded eagerly, bounding away down the corridor. The girl just loved sucking dick.
I dropped down behind my desk, knocking my head back against the chair and gazing up at the ceiling, swivelling from side to side in my seat. What the fuck was that? I was refusing blowjobs now? Why?
I thought of Rogue and cursed, shaking my head. I’d obsessed over that girl for too long, she was too deep under my skin. Maybe it was totally reasonable that I couldn’t stick my dick in another hole right away. But shit, I had escorting jobs booked tonight. Two regulars. I needed to get it together.
I stayed in my office – okay hid in my office – for an hour after the club opened, trying to figure out what the fuck to do as I busied myself with some paperwork – alright, fantasised about Rogue. I went over every second of claiming her body, committing it to memory and smirking to myself like an asshole.
A knock came at the door and I sat up straighter as Estelle walked in. “Sorry to disturb you, Mr Brooks, but your first client is here. She’d like to have a drink with you at the bar.”
I nodded, pushing out of my seat and mussing up my hair as I followed her into the corridor and through to the club.
The place was already filling up nicely and I smiled as I spotted Bella giving one helluva lap dance to a guy in one of the booths with a big ass grin on her lips. That’s my girl. Game face on. Whatever Olly had done, it had worked a treat.
I rounded the bar to where my client was waiting and ignored my violently pounding heart. “Evening sweetheart,” I purred, leaning in and kissing Lilith on the cheek. She was in her forties, her body in good shape and the tight fitting clothes she wore did her every kind of favour. But the idea of making her scream tonight didn’t appeal, especially when I recalled Rogue screaming beneath me. No one could top that sound. And I didn’t wanna forget it when Lilith started squealing like a pig in heat.
Olly poured me a whiskey and I knocked it back as I took my seat beside my client, rapping my knuckles on the bar for another one as I swallowed.
“You look tense, baby, what’s the matter?” Lilith ran her hot pink nails up and down my arm and I fought the urge to withdraw.
I palmed off the question, laying on the charm thick and going through the motions. I could do this. I just had to stop thinking about Rogue and then it’d be simple. The only problem was, stopping myself from thinking about Rogue was as easy as stopping the wind blowing.
A group of men entered the bar and my gaze narrowed as I spotted Kaiser Rosewood amongst them. Kaiser was a big guy who liked wearing pin-striped suits like he was some sort of nineteen twenties gangster. His hair was thick and silver and I guessed he was some sort of businessman, but God only knew what kind of business he dealt in. The asshole had inherited the Rosewood Manor after his old momma Mabel had died. She’d been good to me and my friends when we were kids, and that piece of shit hadn’t visited her for years so far as I could tell back th
en. I hadn’t even known she had a son until he came out of the woodwork when she died, sniffing around her corpse for scraps. But there hadn’t just been scraps, there’d been a whole fucking feast waiting for him.
Miss Mabel hadn’t had a will so her entire estate had deferred to him. The fucker hadn’t even been at her funeral. Only me, Chase and Fox had been there to say goodbye. And it had been one of the most miserable days of my life. It had happened a few years after Rogue had left and Kaiser had promptly moved into the property and started renovating the place. There was no chance of sneaking onto the grounds after that. And with Rogue and Maverick’s keys long gone, we had no way of getting into the crypt again to get the stuff we’d stashed there either. It had been a shitty little cherry on top of an already shitty sundae.
Kaiser didn’t just have a new fence put in and cameras all around it, he’d had a bunch of armed guards stationed there too. The guy was shady as shit and whatever he had going on in that manor couldn’t be good. He didn’t mix with the crew so we never had any reason to go up against him, but there were a few rumours circling that he was banished from town by the Harlequins a long time ago. He’d been allowed to come back by Luther apparently. Fuck if I knew why though.
I still floated the idea of breaking in there and blasting our way into the crypt from time to time with Fox. If Kaiser ever decided to force his way into it, it wouldn’t be long before we heard about it. But I didn’t imagine a guy like him had any interest in dusty old tombs. And so long as he had no reason to go looking in there, we were safe. I just hoped the notion never took him to knock it down and develop on the land. Because so help us if he ever did.
Whenever he came into my club with his guys, they tended to splash cash around the place like it was as common as water, so I didn’t mind his visits. I also had my girls feed back any information to me they heard about his business dealings because one, I was a nosy fucker, and two, Fox had me listening in on plenty of my customers anyway because Afterlife attracted the kind of dangerous people who could one day be a threat to us, or who would make a perfect asset to our crew.
Kaiser took over a booth with his men and a few of my best girls were soon surrounding them, including Di and Lyla.
Lilith caught my cheek, turning me towards her with a slanted smile. “What’s got you so distracted tonight, baby?”
“Am I?” I asked, painting on a smirk and she bit her lip, running her hand up my chest possessively and leaning close to speak in my ear.
“Do you wanna get out of here? I can take your mind off of whatever’s bothering you.”
I should have said yes. Or at least avoided the question, tried to get her to stay at the club tonight instead. But no. I didn’t do either of those things. I blurted the first thing that came to my head in an urgent whisper. “I’ve got the clap.”
I’ve. Got. The. Clap.
That was what I went with apparently. Lilith gasped, lurching away from me like I was contagious and I gave her an apologetic smile.
“Oh um, okay,” she said, getting to her feet. “Well perhaps we can rearrange something when, you’ve, um, dealt with that. Okay?”
“Yeah, sorry sweetheart.” I shrugged innocently. “I could see if Texas is available?” I took out my phone, but she waved me off, already heading for the door. Great.
What the fuck was I thinking? I’d just flushed five grand down the shitter just like that. And for what? Because my dick had decided it only wanted one pussy right now? Well I have news for you Johnny D, this is non negotiable. We need the cash.
It didn’t even twitch in response. Fucking stubborn asshole.
I know she felt like a dream wrapped in a wish dipped in melted chocolate, but fucking her can’t mean we don’t fuck anyone else. It just can’t.
Nothing. My dick was a dead weight between my thighs, declaring a silent protest in an attempt to make me agree. But it wasn’t a choice. Didn’t he see that? I literally needed him for my job. Stripping might have made bank on a good night, but it was never going to bring in the big bucks like escorting did.
Fine, you can have one moody bitch fit tonight and that’s it. Then we’re back to work tomorrow.
I caught Estelle’s attention over the bar, beckoning her closer.
“Everything okay, my love?” she asked and I leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Can you cancel my next appointment tonight. I’m not feeling so good.”
“Oh no, is everything alright?” she asked.
“I’ve got the clap,” I blurted. Again.
She nodded seriously, patting me on the shoulder. “Okay, I’ll handle everything, you just do what you need to do.”
“Thanks,” I said with a sigh then drew away from her and headed through the club to the dressing room, taking the back exit out into the parking lot. I’d just head home, jerk off in the shower and give my dick a good talking to about going all monogamous on the pussy he had a crush on, then tomorrow it would all be straightened out. It wasn’t like I couldn’t continue to fuck Rogue if that was what she wanted too, but I couldn’t write off my clients for one girl. Even if she was the girl.
I drove home with the windows down, the sea air whipping through the car and clearing my head. I wondered if Rogue was in her room and if I could sneak in there while Fox and Chase were busy and - shit. I was fucked. I was already craving her like candy dipped in ecstasy. I needed more. And I needed to get it right now. Fuck it, I wasn’t going to beat off to a Taylor Swift song while crying in the shower, I’d spend a whole night ruining her for other men and fulfilling the desires I’d had about her for endless years. Why shouldn’t I do that? I wanted her, she wanted me. It was easy math.
My dick was bouncing in my pants like an excitable puppy dog and I probably should have realised I was a goner the moment Jessie had stepped into my office and my cock had tried to hide behind my balls.
I revved the engine as I sped up toward the gates, but slowed again as a dark lump on the ground drew my attention. My heart thumped wildly as I slammed on the brakes and my headlights illuminated the gates, the blood, the fucking horror show waiting there for me. Rodriquez and Piston were dead on the ground, their heads cut off and laying there with their eyes rolling back in their sockets. Painted in blood across the gates was one blazing red word. WAR.
I leapt out of the car, typing in the code to open up the gate and cursing as I dragged their bloody bodies and heads inside before driving my GT up to the house with the engine roaring. I drove down into the garage, wiping blood off my hands onto my shirt as I ran up into the house. We’d have to cover that shit up later to keep the cops out of our hair but for now I just needed to know that everyone else was alright.
“Fox! Chase!” I bellowed and they came running in from the patio as I made it to the kitchen.
Fox took one sweeping look at the blood covering me and his eyes flared with fear. “What’s happened?’
“Where’s Rogue?” I demanded, panic clutching my heart.
“She’s upstairs,” Chase said and relief filled me though I still wanted to see her for myself to be sure.
“What the fuck is going on?” Fox demanded.
“Our men are fucking dead,” I snarled, fury bubbling through me. “Rodriguez and Piston. Some asshole cut their heads off and wrote war on the front gate.”
“Maverick,” Chase spat and I nodded, my teeth gritted tight.
“That fucking asshole, he won’t get away with this,” Fox hissed.
“What’s going on?” Rogue appeared in the doorway with Mutt at her heels and I had to fight the urge to pull her into my arms and make sure she really was okay.
“Get back to your room!” Fox barked and she frowned, looking to me for an explanation.
“JJ, what is it?” She took in the blood coating me with worry in her gaze.
“Our men have been killed at the gate,” I said and her eyes widened.
Fox took out his phone, starting to make calls, summoning our club members to
the house instead of The Oasis. I guessed he didn’t want to take any risks leaving Rogue here alone right now.
“Take her upstairs,” he shot at me and I nodded, catching her hand and towing her out of the room.
“We have to hit him hard this time,” Chase started saying to Fox as we left. “We have to gain the upper hand.”
Rogue tried to tug her fingers free of my grip. “Let go. I’m not going to be sent to my room like a naughty fucking kid.”
I leaned down, picking her up and tossing her over my shoulder as Mutt barked angrily. I jogged upstairs as she thumped my back, heading into her room and dumping her on the bed. She glared up at me, but I didn’t care, pulling my shirt off and tossing the bloody material aside before leaning down and kissing her. I clutched her cheeks and she gasped against my lips as I stole a fast and desperate kiss from her mouth before drawing away. “Sorry, pretty girl. You gotta stay here. It’s crew business. I’ll come see you later.”
“I’m not your whore, JJ,” she snarled and I paused in the doorway as she scowled at me.
“I know, sweetheart. There’s no price on earth that would ever be enough to pay for a girl like you.”
Her features softened just before I shut the door between us and I headed into my room, washing my hands of the blood and pulling on another shirt.
I jogged downstairs, finding club members already pouring into the house and it wasn’t long before everyone was here.
We went down into the basement after Fox sent a few of our men to deal with Rodriquez and Piston’s bodies. I sat between my brothers as Fox’s uncles, cousins and the rest of the main crew took seats around the space.
“I want to strike back tonight,” Fox growled. “We can’t wait. Maverick has walked right into the heart of our territory, been at our front door. Tell me how he crossed The Divide without our scouts seeing?” he demanded, his tone calling for blood.
Sinners' Playground Page 42
