by Meghan Quinn
Timidly, they stood up and looked at each other, wondering if they were going to get in trouble. What the hell had happened to them all?
Wanting to make them feel more comfortable, I said, “I’m Goldie, like Rex said. The only reason I know him is because he used to pay me for sex. I used to live on Bourbon Street, where I worked at Kitten’s Castle as a half nude waitress until I was recruited to be a Jett Girl.” All their heads popped up and their eyes lit with interest.
“You were a Jett Girl?” one of the girls asked meekly.
“I was, and it was amazing. I learned a lot from that experience, and I’m going to teach you guys the same thing, but first, we need to drop the submissive act and learn about each other.”
“We can’t,” the girl who’d gained enough courage to open her mouth answered for everyone. “If Rex saw us speaking, he would fire us, and we can’t be fired; we can’t afford it,” she trailed off.
My heart turned in my chest. They were in the same position I was a few months ago, but to my luck, Jett Colby offered me a contract, not Rex Titan.
“Well, when you’re around me, you can talk, because hell if I’m going to teach a lap dance to a bunch of muted mannequins. If Rex has a problem with that, he can talk to me. So, tell me your names.”
There were three girls, two with brown hair and one with the same color hair as me; they were distinctly different from one another, though. One of the girls had short brown hair that fell to her chin. Another girl had long honey-colored hair same length as mine and she was blessed with bright green eyes, and the girl who had enough courage to speak to me was the other one with brown hair. She was very exotic looking, quite gorgeous.
Looking around, the girl who spoke looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m Evangeline, but everyone calls me Eva. This is Bizzy,” Eva said, pointing to the girl with the short hair, “And this is Mercy,” she finished, pointing to the girl with the bright green eyes.
“Well, have Mercy,” I said, channeling my inner John Stamos, and while waving my hands in the air, garnering not even one smile from any of them. “Okay,” I cleared my throat, “You guys are kind of boring, but we’ll fix that. Mercy, Bizzy, nice to meet you. Eva, thank you for having the courage to speak. I promise I’m not here to report you three. I’m here to help, okay?”
They nodded their heads, still acting a little stand off-ish. This was going to be so much harder than I thought. Where were Babs and Francy with the shot glasses when you needed them?
7
“My Sundown”
Jett
“Why are we sitting around the stage? Shouldn’t we be practicing?” Pepper asked Kace.
“Jett has to talk to us, so quit your bitching and hold still until he gets here,” Kace replied abruptly.
They all sat in silence, listening to Kace’s direction, while I watched them from the doorway.
Ever since Goldie’s departure and Lyla’s arrival, there had been a lot of questions running around, and it was time I settled them before things got too out of hand and rumors started to float around the club.
I straightened my tie and walked into the room, noticing all the girls in their uniforms. Lyla fit in perfectly with the other girls, wearing her shirt well. She was quite beautiful, gorgeous actually, but even though she was very pleasing to the eye, I felt nothing for her. I felt nothing for anyone except Goldie.
My soul ached for her. My body pleaded with me, begged me to go over to Rex’s house and take her away, but my brain stopped my body from acting on its needs.
My Little One was in danger; I could sense it. She was with an evil man, someone who would take what he wanted and would have no qualms about who he hurt in the process. Rex Titan was just like my father, maybe even worse, because he enjoyed gloating about his victories.
Needing to put on a strong façade, I pushed the thoughts of Goldie’s circumstances out of my mind and addressed the girls. I cleared my throat as a cue for them to direct their attention toward me. Kace was sitting on the stage with a somber expression on his face, while the girls looked slightly confused. I could tell he was hurting just as much as I was. Even though I hated the fact he had feelings for Goldie, I understood how he was feeling, because my heart was going through the same battle.
“Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me,” I said to all the girls.
“You know you don’t have to be so formal with us, right?” Babs asked with her legs swung over one of the arms of the chairs she was sitting in.
I ignored her and continued. “As you all know, Goldie has left the Lafayette Club, and we replaced her with Lyla…”
“Stop,” Francy said, while standing up, shocking me a bit. “Can you seriously just talk to us, Jett? I can tell you’re hurting; I can see it in your eyes, even though you’re trying your hardest to hide it from us. We know how much Goldie meant to you…we saw how she made you feel, how she lit up your room when she walked in. You love her, Jett.”
I pulled on my cufflinks and studied the floor as I listened to Francy. I love her, yes, that was an accurate statement, a feeling I never thought I would succumb to, but somehow Goldie made me feel, she made me fall for her; I had no choice in the matter.
Once again, ignoring Francy, I looked back up and continued. “Lyla will be staying with us in the meantime, making sure the members stay happy until we can find a permanent replacement. Lyla has made it quite clear she is just helping us out temporarily.”
As I spoke of Lyla, I watched as Kace scanned Lyla up and down. He might be hurting about Goldie, but he sure as hell wasn’t having a hard time making himself feel better. There was heat in his gaze when he eyed Lyla.
“What about Goldie? Aren’t you going to bring her back?” Pepper asked, looking a little angry.
“Goldie has made her choice,” I swallowed hard.
“Bullshit,” Pepper spat at me. “You’re such a coward, you know that, Jett? You’re just going to let her walk out of your life? What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you were the kind of man who took what he wanted and didn’t let anyone get in his way. Never did I think I would see the day when you would just roll over and play dead. Frankly, it’s disgusting.”
“What do you want me to do?” I cracked, as my voice roared. “She thinks she can save the world by going back to Rex. I can’t do anything about that.”
“Yes, you can,” Babs cut in. “You can walk up to Rex’s place and take back what’s yours.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said, as I ran my hand over my face. “If I’m not careful, they’ll harm her. I can’t have that, even though she left me, I can’t fathom the thought of her getting hurt.”
The room fell silent as there was a knock on the door. Jeremy, my assistant, popped his head in and said, “May I come in, sir?” I nodded my head and he entered, holding his iPad close to his chest.
He sidled up next to me and practically whispered, “I have some news you might be interested in.”
Looking at him with a raised eyebrow, I asked, “What kind of news?”
“I heard from one of my friends that Rex Titan is going to be at the gala this weekend. He plans on talking up some of the city council members about Lot 17 before the interviews start the following week.” He paused for a second and then spoke softer. “He RSVP’d for two.”
Instantly, my stomach fell to the floor at the thought of Goldie showing up to the gala latched on to Rex’s arm. Would she really attend an event with Rex, knowing there was a slim possibility I would be there? If she had any concern for me, she wouldn’t. She knew it would tear me apart.
“Is the other RSVP for my father?”
Shaking his head, Jeremy said, “No, he declined his individual invitation.”
Fuck.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Jeremy spoke. “Would you like me to cancel your invite?”
Seeing Goldie with Rex at the gala would be devastating, it would completely crush me, but on the other hand, getting a chanc
e to see Goldie was an urge I couldn’t squash.
“No,” I responded. “I will still attend, and would you please invite Keylee to go with me? Apologize for my late notice, but I will need her there for appearance purposes.”
Jeremy nodded and took off. I turned back to the girls to find them all glaring at me.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Francy asked. “You’re going to take Keylee to that event. Are you trying to hurt Goldie?”
“No, I’m trying to make it seem like I’m not about to lose my fucking mind since she left me. I have to make it seem like I don’t care about her.”
“Why?” Pepper huffed out.
“Because my dad will harm her if I don’t. Until I have some kind of leverage over him, some kind of evidence that the man is the actual low life he is, then I have no choice but to act like Goldie means nothing to me, or else, he will harm her. He would do anything to hurt me, to crush me, and right now, he knows Goldie means something to me. He knows,” I broke off while rubbing my forehead.
“What can we do?” Babs asked. “How can we make this better?”
“You can’t. Leave it to me and Kace. You keep conducting business as usual and make sure Lyla knows the routines. We can’t show that there has been a ripple in the club, because if it gets back to Rex and my father, they will take full advantage of it.”
“How long is this going to go on for?” Babs asked.
“I’m not sure.”
It was the truth. I really had no clue how long this tug-of-war would go on. I was tired, though. I wanted it to all be over, and honestly, I was moments away from pulling the plug on Lot 17. It’s caused more hurt than good. I could build a park for the kids somewhere else; I would donate millions to update their facilities if I needed to, but the one thing that kept me from pulling the plug on the project was the fact that if I did, my father would see that as a sign of weakness and he would know that he had me by the balls, that Goldie was the key to what he wanted and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t put her in that position, no matter how bad she hurt me.
Speaking with a gentle tone, I looked at the girls and said, “I appreciate your concern. I will try to make this better, somehow.”
“If she came back, you would take her, right?” Francy asked while Tootse sat in her lap, completely silent.
Would I take Goldie back? My heart would, my soul would reach out and grab her faster than I could tell her no, but if she slept with Rex, if she shared a bed with the man, I didn’t know if I could ever recover from that. I knew my heart wouldn’t be able to survive it, knowing the one person who was made for me, who was brought to me by my mom was with someone else; the thought was unforgettable, no matter her intentions.
I shrugged my shoulders and just said, “Depends. I do ask you all to stay out of it, though. I’m at a loss as to what to do at this point, and I don’t need you trying to make things better and making them worse instead. Please, just take care of the club for me.”
They all nodded their heads in understanding.
With a heavy heart, I turned and walked out of the Toulouse Room, just as my phone rang.
“Jett Colby,” I answered.
“Jett, it’s George. I have some news.”
“What is it?” I asked, growing anxious.
“I was able to find out about the interviews and who the front-runner is. Unfortunately, right now, Rex and Leo have the advantage. They’ve made some promises to some elites in the city that are outweighing your plans for the lot, as well as Zane Black’s plans.”
“You can’t be serious?” I asked, while stopping in the hallway to pace and run my hand through my hair. “Fuck, what can I do?”
“Not sure. Unless there is something you can find out about Rex and Leo, we are pretty out of luck.”
“What about the mayor wanting to run a clean bidding process? What happened to all of that?”
“He’s not the one who will be making the decision; it’s a panel. He only has so much pull in the matter. Rex and Leo have infiltrated the right people.”
Grinding my teeth together, I thought about what my next step was going to be. Goldie was out trying to gather information about Rex, at least that’s what we assumed she was doing, that was what I was trying convince myself of, but I couldn’t rely on whatever scheme she had in her head. I needed to take control of the situation; I needed to figure this out on my own.
“Thank you for the information, George. I will be in touch.”
“What are you going to do?” George asked, with a bit of skepticism in his voice.
“That is none of your concern at the moment.”
“Jett, please don’t do something stupid.”
“George, how little you know me. Have a good day.”
I hung up, but didn’t put my phone away; I had one more call I had to make.
“Mr. Colby, do you need me to meet you?” Jeremy asked into the phone once he picked up.
“Jeremy, I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything, Mr. Colby.”
I loved how loyal the man was.
“Gather all the information you can on a Zane Black from New York City and schedule a meeting with him. Sometime soon, please, within the next couple of days. I will fly to him.”
“Can I ask what this is for?”
“I need to make some special arrangements,” was all I said, and then hung up for Jeremy to be left to his task.
Feeling a little more in control, I walked back up to my office to take care of some of my business. I still had an empire to run. I still had to be the Jett Colby everyone expected me to be, even though I could feel how broken I was inside.
8
“The Girl”
Rex
Kitten flowed through the club with ease. It was thrilling to see her fall right into step with our plans. At first, she seemed to have a little resistance with how we ran things around the club, but she warmed up quickly and had the girls moving flawlessly to a seductive song that would entice our members most definitely.
The way the club was set up was, the members would come in for a show at a designated time. They would have to reserve chairs beforehand with a deposit, and once they arrived, they were showered with food and drinks. Once they were comfortable, the girls would come out to do a dance or whatever kind of act Goldie prepared for them. Then the men would vote as to who they would want the main attraction to be for that night for Blane to do a demonstration on. The voting process would only be until I was able to permanently make Goldie the main demonstration, a goal both Leo and I had set in our sights to tip Jett over the edge. From the look of Goldie’s dedication, we were going to have her on stage quicker than we expected.
After the demonstration, if a member paid extra, they would have a chance to have a one-on-one with Blane and Goldie, but if not, the men would be able to take one of the girls back to a playroom. Right now, we only have three girls, but Leo and I are confident in being able to recruit more, especially after we secure Lot 17. We will be able to expand our operation.
Masquerade was a play off of the Lafayette Club, but much better. Where the girls were covered at the Lafayette Club, the girls here had to be naked at all times. Lap dances were as close as you could get to the girls at the Lafayette Club, and you weren’t even allowed to touch them, but at Masquerade, touching was allowed, and fucking was encouraged. The girls were there for a reason; they were there to be used.
I watched as Goldie had the girls bending in all different directions, while mingling their bodies together. I was getting a hard on just from watching them, and I wasn’t one to sit and watch with a hard on. When I was excited, I had someone take care of it for me.
I adjusted the crotch of my pants so I was slightly more comfortable. “Mercy, come with me,” I called out, as I started walking to one of the back rooms.
Mercy was, by far, the most beautiful specimen I had ever seen, even more beautiful than Goldie, which was rare. They were quite similar
, though, in their build and hair. But where Goldie was smart mouthed and challenging, Mercy was the perfect submissive. She was also my accomplice. She kept an eye on Goldie for me, to make sure she wasn’t up to anything crazy.
So far, Mercy was only able to report back about Goldie’s first initial speech to the girls, where she told them to drop the submissive act. Luckily, I trained my girls well and they didn’t falter much. Eva, I had to keep my eye on, because according to Mercy, she was more outspoken than she should be.
I could hear Mercy’s padded footsteps behind me, trailing like the good girl she was.
My conversation with Goldie when she first showed up at my door constantly rang through my head. She wanted to be a part of my future; she saw herself as being with me in the long run. That night, I felt a little nostalgic over what we used to have, the suspense of it all, but after I met Mercy, I knew there was no turning back. Right now, Goldie was a means to an end for me, the end of Jett Colby, and if I had to lie to her, to let her believe I was waiting for her, then so be it.
Leading Mercy into one of the playrooms, I watched as she walked past me into the black out room. Everything in the room was black, from floor to ceiling. You could choose the lighting you wanted reflecting off of the walls, so for today, I chose yellow, because Mercy looked gorgeous under the color.
Clicking the door shut, I turned to see Mercy, kneeling before me in a submissive pose, just waiting for my command, just the way I’ve instructed her in the past. From the look of her kneeling before me, I felt myself grow harder, it was that easy when it came to Mercy.
“Mercy, you have such a way of pleasing me.”
She didn’t speak. She just continued to look down at the ground like a good submissive. Kneeling before her, I lifted her chin so she was forced to look me in the eyes. Her green eyes found mine and, once again, I got lost in them. With just one look, she was able to make me surrender every wall I put up around my heart.
