by Lulu Pratt
I tapped in the numbers and twisted the handle, laying the safe open. There were stacks and stacks of cash filling the two-foot-deep safe to the very brim, each stack worth ten thousand.
Shit, I needed to carry all this. Who knew that a ransom exchange could be so complicated?
After grabbing a leather bag from my room, I began to stuff it full of stacks, counting carefully so as not to give Mac a cent more than he was due. In about ten minutes, I’d successfully filled the bag with exactly four hundred thousand and not a penny extra. I called my limo driver and told him to meet me at the curb.
Money in hand, I got back in the elevator and rode it downstairs. Once on the bottom floor, I took off in a dead bolt, leather bag thumping against my side with every step. I would make it in time, I still had some forty minutes to spare, but the sooner I got to Kiki the better. Mac had allotted me an hour, but God knows he wasn’t a man of his word.
My limo driver was idling at the curb as promised. I flung open the door, shoving the bag and then myself inside.
“Go to RES, and ignore stoplights.”
The driver nodded and did as he was told, peeling off from the curb as though it were a NASCAR event. I liked that in an employee — total disregard for the law when necessary. I reminded myself to give him a generous holiday bonus.
RES was just down the Strip. Traffic was a bitch, and I tapped my foot with such a fury I thought I might break through the carpet.
At last, after what turned out to only be ten hellish minutes, we were in front of RES. I threw open the door before my limo had even come to a complete stop, and my feet were on the ground in a second.
Calm down, I told myself. You can’t let them see you anxious.
That was a good point. I needed to seem relaxed, like I didn’t have a care in the world, as though this were just some average business dealing. I had half an hour to spare. I could afford to put on a show.
So, with great restraint, I stepped lazily out of the limo, which had now come to a halt, thank God.
As I ambled to the door, I saw Mac’s promised bodyguard waiting by the entrance. I recognized him from the virginity sale. He was the Russian guy with the mean mug. I waved my left arm to get his attention, my right one still occupied by the leather bag.
He nodded a discreet hello as I crossed the plaza. What an asshole. He didn’t even look agitated about this whole thing. Maybe Mac held people for ransom on a consistent basis.
“You’re here,” he observed as I finally stopped a few feet in front of him.
“As promised, yes.”
“Good. I’ll take you downstairs.”
With military precision, he turned on a booted heel and led me into RES. Had Mac been recruiting from the Russian secret service? And if so, where could I find some of these guys? Clearly, I needed to get some better staff.
I was led past the machines and tables to what appeared to be a staff elevator, well concealed inside a hallway so obscure that even a drunken moron would be hard-pressed to mistake it for a public entrance.
We rode down in silence, the man appearing to watch me without actually laying his eyes on me, a creepy talent that made me shiver.
The doors opened onto a stock basement, similar to the one at Dazzlers. I used to play in the one in my casino as a boy when my dad insisted on taking me to work. I never liked the loud whir of the main floor — or the people who filled it — so I’d escape downstairs to frolic in the mountains of bottles and snack packs. The workers in the basement had always been kind, letting me make mazes out of the piles or build a city with the boxes for my toy cars. It was one of my few happy memories associated with the casino.
That, of course, was now blighted from my mind, yet another piece of childhood falling by the wayside.
My escort led me past a series of stacks, and then to an unremarkable door set into the concrete wall.
He knocked three times, in some indistinguishable pattern, and the door swung back.
Kiki.
She was the first thing I saw. She was strapped to a chair, her arms and legs bound. Her head hung down, but I could see a black gag wrapped around her head, scrunching up her curly red hair. Was she even alive?! Oh my God, was I too late?
“Kiki!”
This time, I spoke her name aloud. She didn’t stir.
I lunged to her, my arms outstretched for her unconscious body, ready to untie her, but I was stopped mid-air by sets of hands. I didn’t need to turn around to know that the rest of Mac’s security team was here, and they weren’t about to let me make contact with Kiki.
That’s when I spotted the man himself in the far corner of the room — Mac. He was looking on with blatant satisfaction as two other burly guys pinioned my arms behind my back.
“I hope you’re happy,” I cursed.
Mac shifted off the wall and strode to me.
“I am, thanks for asking. This has certainly brightened my day, and it’s only getting better.”
Mac stopped walking and pivoted to cover the few remaining steps between him and her. He leaned down to her bound body and laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t touch her!” I shouted before I could stop myself.
So much for staying calm.
“I’m just waking her up,” he said mildly as his lips moved to her ear. “She smells so good.”
I know.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“I’d rather fuck her, if you don’t mind.”
With that, Mac jostled her shoulder roughly, and whispered in her ear, just loudly enough for me to hear, “Kiki, my pet, wake up. Look at this sorry excuse for a man.”
After several long moments, I saw the green of her eyes.
She was alive.
CHAPTER 28
Kiki
I BLINKED ONCE, twice, trying to regain my understanding of the world.
Where was I again? Had I laid down to take a nap? I’d been so sleepy all of a sudden…
And then my vision focused, and I saw Tate standing before me, arms held behind his back by two men I’d never seen before. His body trembled with a fiery anger, and reality rushed over me.
Tate was gorgeous in his fury — even my distracted, crazed mind told me that much. His blue eyes shone like the ocean, his muscles straining beneath the seams of his shirt as he attempted to wrestle free from the guards. His chest heaved and his luscious lips, which I had kissed so deeply, fell open as he murmured my name.
“Kiki, Kiki, Kiki.”
It took me a moment to remember what he’d done, how he’d betrayed me. The seconds between waking and that realization had been beautiful, but false. This wasn’t some kind of savior. He was a bad man who’d done bad things and who had in no way earned my forgiveness.
I opened my mouth to tell him to go away, then realized I had a gag tied tightly around my face.
Tate, seeing my forced silence, turned to Mac.
“Tell your men to let me drop the bag.”
Mac nodded his head, and the men allowed Tate to drop the carry-all. It hit the floor with a dampened thud. No sooner had it touched ground then they took his arms behind his back once more.
“There’s your money,” Tate explained, kicking the bag with a free foot. “Let her go.”
That was it. I couldn’t stand him trying to buy me off once more.
“I don’t need your help,” I said through the gag, the words muffled by the cloth.
Mac laughed and reached behind my head to undo the bind.
“I’m gonna let you talk,” he told me, “but behave, okay?”
I wanted to chomp my teeth at him, to take a bite of his flesh, to make him feel pain, but I also didn’t want to feel that damp rag and sudden darkness once more, so I played nice.
Mouth free, I looked to Tate and replied, “I can pay my own way.”
“You didn’t let me explain earlier,” he said through tight lips. “This is the money I owe Mac. At least, according to his fucked-up rules. Unbeknownst to y
ou — I’m guessing he never tells girls this — Mac takes a forty percent cut of whatever you make off your virginity sale. When you decided you didn’t want payment, Mac didn’t receive his chunk either. Isn’t that right, Mac?”
The other casino owner nodded.
“That’s about the long and short of it,” Mac agreed. “No need to sound so cranky, it’s just business.”
“I had no idea,” I whispered.
There were so many emotions running through my mind that I barely even registered my anger at Mac for trying to quietly take four hundred thousand dollars from me. For a man like that, I knew, the money was nothing, but it was nearly twelve years of my wages. But moreover, what did this mean as it regarded Tate? Had he really not been trying to buy me this whole time, but rather to give me shelter from Mac’s wicked ways?
Tate nodded at me, the veins in his neck popping out as he struggled against the guards.
“I didn’t want to tell you, Kiki, you shouldn’t have had to worry anymore.”
“Is that why you arranged the poker game, so you could cover the expense?”
He looked askance, then replied, “No, I found out afterwards. Still, I hope you understand that all I’ve ever wanted to do is take care of you, to ensure that the only person profiting off you is you. Men like Mac shouldn’t make a penny off your back.”
Mac laughed and interrupted, “Hey, watch your tone. My guards are always ready for a fight.”
The men grasped Tate tighter, and I knew that Mac was being serious.
Had I gotten it all wrong? Was it possible that Tate was the good guy here? I’d been so presumptuous, thinking that his insistence on paying me was degrading. But when push came to shove, maybe he was the only one in this for the right reasons.
It made me wonder…
Looking to Mac, I asked, “Were you the one who told the press all that shit about Dazzlers? Because I’ve worked there for six months — and before that, spent a lifetime in the casino — and I’ve never seen any of the stuff that article suggested. In fact, the only place I’ve ever seen women sold is at RES.”
Mac shrugged, turning his back to me and whistling as he paced the room, the harsh halogens reflecting off his bald head.
Tate nodded to my question.
“Yes, Kiki, it’s all a lie. Mac made everything up to discredit Dazzlers and take his revenge against me. He admitted as much when you were asleep, but of course he won’t say it now.”
Words floated back into my head as if from memory, like a déjà vu I’d never quite lived.
I knew with an absolute certainty that Tate was telling the truth, knew it as though it were the very blood in my veins. He wasn’t lying to me. He never lied to me. Tate was only ever trying to protect me.
I’d tried to pass Tate off as some scumbag or lowlife, but if I was honest with myself, it was only because I’d been terrified of the connection between us and how instantly it had blossomed. I’d make up one excuse after another to avoid my real feelings to Tate, the stunningly handsome and kind man I’d spent a perfect night with, to whom I’d lost my virginity.
I was only just then realizing that my affection for him ran deep, and it might have been too late.
If only my pride hadn’t made me take another job, if only I’d let Tate, who was wildly rich, help me with my expenses… if only…
I regretted everything.
As I broke free of my trance, I saw Mac reaching for the bag on the floor, about to palm Tate’s money as though it were rightfully his. I’d had enough of men deciding my life for me.
“Tate!” I cried, shaking in my chair. “Don’t give him the money. It’s not his, and you shouldn’t have to kneel to lesser men. Please, Tate. Don’t let him have the satisfaction of winning this round.”
There was a distinct sparkle behind Tate’s eyes.
Shit was about to hit the fan.
CHAPTER 29
Tate
KIKI’S WORDS filled my ears as Mac’s security guards tightened their grip on my arms.
Lesser men.
Did that mean she felt something for me? That, in spite of all my many errors, there was still a chance that we could grow together?
“The money is already mine, sweetie,” Mac told Kiki with condescension. “But nice try.”
There was a future for Kiki and me, I was sure of it. The way she’d just spoken, her energy — she didn’t hate me anymore. In fact, I reckoned she just might love me. I thought of her body on mine, the way we’d moved together that night.
In a sudden surge of strength, I ripped my arms free from the guards and bolted to Kiki.
“Tate, don’t!”
Just as I was about to reach her — to set her free, to kiss her, I wasn’t sure — their hands fell on me once more. Only this time, one kicked me in the knees, the other landing a firm punch to my eye. I went to the ground, legs buckling beneath me as the world swelled.
With my good eye, I could see Kiki fumbling and thinking, her brow furrowed and ruby lips spread wide.
“Stop!” she shouted at Mac. “Stop it! If you harm Tate or take his money, I swear to fucking God, I’ll go to press about the virginity sales you run.”
“What did you just say?” Mac intoned, his eyes going dead like a shark’s.
“I will, I swear, I’ll do it.”
He dusted an invisible piece of lint off his shirt, and with sudden ease, replied, “I don’t believe you. It would mean telling the whole world that you sold your body.”
“Oh please, like I care? Women sell their bodies every day. I won’t be ashamed of what I did just because you want me to be.”
I suspected that that wasn’t quite the truth, but I held my tongue. Telling the world that you were part of a virginity sale couldn’t be easy. Being known as the once twenty-one-year-old virgin was also hard, especially in a town like this. And, given how much she cared about her father, I imagined it would be challenging to reveal just what lengths she’d gone to protect him. Even so, this was the right thing to do. If it meant exposing herself, I guess, so be it. Taking the high road ain’t always easy.
Mac smiled. “You’re still lying.”
“I’m not.” As she said it again, her voice began to strengthen with conviction. “It’ll give me a platform, too, to talk about my dad’s gambling addiction, to explain why I had to make so much money, so quickly. Going public with my story might help other people in similar situations feel less ashamed of their families, and urge them to get support for their loved ones. It won’t be easy, yeah, but I’ll do it.”
Mac’s eyes began to darken once more. Apparently this time, her tone was convincing. He opened his mouth, perhaps to curse Kiki to the ends of the earth. I wasn’t about to let him talk to her like that, not my girl.
I cut him off before he could get a word in edgewise.
“Kiki, please. You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to expose yourself to public vitriol just because of Mac. It might put you in real danger.”
“Danger of what? People knowing I sold myself? They can call me a whore, or whatever else the public thinks is an insult. I did what I had to for my family, and there’s nothing to be ashamed in that.”
Mac twitched at the mouth, then let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, Kiki. Who the hell is going to believe a cocktail waitress? We can dismantle your story in an opposing publication within minutes. You’d just end up looking like a crazy bitch.”
Just then, an idea flitted across my mind. Kiki didn’t have to do this alone.
“I’ll support her claims,” I countered. “And you know I carry weight.”
Mac doubled over now, laughing maniacally and wiping tears from his eyes.
“You? You’d support her? Oh, Tate, if you think Dazzlers is blackballed now, you should see what happens when I get mad.”
He righted himself and I saw that his face was bright red. He could laugh all he wanted, but Mac’s real fury at being challenged was written all over his visage.
&n
bsp; This ended now.
CHAPTER 30
Kiki
I LOOKED TO Tate, anxious to see what he’d do next. Mac was right — unless a man supported my claim, I was just one woman up against a casino conglomerate. It seemed other women weren’t likely to come out and back me up, given that they probably wouldn’t want their own sales publicized. Tate was my only chance.
Tate took a deep breath, then said, “I don’t care if you blacklist me, Mac, because I’m shutting down Dazzlers.”
“What?!” Mac and I cried at the same time.
We both tried to speak again, but Mac cut me off. “I’m calling your bluff, Tate.”
“It’s true. You don’t have to believe me. That’s your prerogative. But I’m done with this bullshit thing we call showbiz.”
Tate turned to me — as much as he could in the guards’ grasp, anyway — and continued.
“Kiki, since I’ve met you, you’ve shown me that it’s possible to be good. I’ve grown up surrounded by the worst sorts of people, all damaged and conniving. Meeting you made me realize that I don’t have to be like that, that there’s another way to exist. I believe in that future, the one where I’m not saddled with my father’s legacy, where I can carve my own path. I can’t own Dazzlers and be my own person. So I’m letting it go.”
Tears dropped down my cheeks.
“You learned all that just from me?” I murmured. “But I’m nobody.”
“Don’t say that. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met.”
I glanced from Tate to Mac, who was absolutely speechless. I know gamblers, and I know the expression of a man who has played all his cards.
“We’re walking out of here,” Tate declared. “Together. Mac, let me go. I have to take Kiki home.”
Mac, looking stunned beyond speech, nodded subtly to his guards, who dropped Tate’s arms.
