by Koko Brown
But she wouldn’t allow herself to cry over something that was apparently all in her head. She had a job to do and if that included entertaining someone else tonight then so be it. Tam turned back to the bar. “David, could you get me a cranberry and vodka?”
“You got it.”
As she waited for him to refill her glass she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was expecting to see one of the clients, but instead, Tam found herself facing a smirking Natalia.
“I see you’re by yourself tonight.”
David handed Tam her drink and she took a generous gulp before responding to the other woman. Tam should have known that it would only be a matter of time before that bitch would be over here to gloat, but she refused to let Natalia see her crack. “I am. But hopefully not for long. The club seems to be full of clients tonight looking for some company.” She took another sip of her drink as she scanned the room and she noticed a couple gentlemen looking her way. She smiled at each of them in turn.
Natalia frowned, seeing that Tam didn’t appear to be upset over the fact that Seamus had gone off with someone else. “Well, I did warn you in the beginning that Seamus would eventually get tired of you. The fact that you even lasted this long should be a consolation prize for you but in the end, you’re nothing special.”
“I never claimed to be, Natalia. Look, I’m being paid to do a job and you seem to care more about me and Seamus together than I did.” The lie was almost hard to get out, but Tam silently congratulated herself for how smooth it sounded. If the words hadn’t come out of her mouth, she might have actually believed them.
“Well,” Natalia folded her arms and pursed her lips. “Since you're used to entertaining our VIP, there’s someone I have in mind for you.”
Tam raised a brow. “Oh? Where is he?”
Natalia smiled, which looked like a sinister sneer. “He’s not here yet, but he’ll arrive shortly. I think you’d be a great fit for him and you’d earn a bonus.”
Tam didn’t trust whatever Natalia was up to for a second, after all, how could she have known Tam would be free? “And this client, is he a regular?”
“He usually has the women come to him, but he’ll actually be making a special visit tonight.”
“I’m surprised you’re not asking one of the other girls to do it.”
Natalia patted her on the arm in mock concern. “You don’t have to do it. I would, of course, understand if you want to take off for the rest of the night after the entire club witnessed Seamus rejecting you.”
“This has nothing to do with him, it’s just…”
“Just what? You’re being offered a very handsome bonus.”
“What’s wrong with this guy?” Tam could only imagine what he looked like. Even though a lot of the men who frequented the Devil’s Den were wealthy, not all of them were easy on the eyes. Some were even grotesque with their questionable grooming habits. She’d heard one of the girls complain about a client who had fishy-smelling balls.
“Absolutely nothing at all. In fact, he’s quite handsome.”
Tam had reservations, but entertaining someone else would certainly be better than going to her apartment and crying over a man who obviously saw what they’d shared as nothing more than a transaction.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
“Atta girl. His name is Brian but he’s very self-important. He likes to be referred to as ‘sir.’ Do you think you can handle that?”
“Or course.”
“Good. Take a key to one of the private rooms and buzz me to let me know the room number so I can inform Brian when he arrives.”
And with that, Natalia walked away with a bounce in her step. Tam wondered what she’d just gotten herself into.
NINE
Seamus sat on the edge of the bed as the redhead knelt in front of him, sucking his dick as if her life depended on it. He couldn’t fault her technique but he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm of someone getting a blowjob. Sure he was hard, after all, he was a man, and a beautiful woman had his cock in her mouth, but beyond an erection, he felt nothing.
What made matters worse was that all he could think about was Tamryn and how different her full lips felt wrapped around his member. And how she’d moan as she sucked him off. He missed the ways she’d gently fondle his balls as she’d flick his tip with her tongue.
He grasped Nancy…or Nina by the head and moaned as Tamryn’s face appeared before him.
“Yes, Tamryn, just like that,” he groaned.
She stopped, pulling away from him. “It’s Nicki.”
“What?” Seamus asked, more than a little annoyed that she’d stopped just when he was starting to get into it.
“My name is Nicki. You called me Tamryn.”
“Who the fuck cares what your name is, just finish sucking my dick.”
She paused for a moment before continuing. Nicki was doing a competent job but by now, the little bit of excitement that he’d managed to muster was gone. His concentration was shot, making it difficult for him to stay hard. If he was with Tamryn, he would have ejaculated already. Fuck this shit. He shouldn’t have come here tonight. He was only with this chick to show Tamryn that she didn’t mean anything to him and to prove it to himself at as well. But this experiment had turned into one huge fail.
Seamus couldn’t bring himself to admit that he’d developed feelings for Tamryn when he’d convinced himself that women simply weren’t worth the pain they caused. He’d spent most of his life trying to live up to his father’s impossible standards and suffered the old man’s coldness all because Seamus looked too much like his dead mother. His own father, who had managed to avoid the law for most of his career in crime, had been taken down by a woman’s greed, the same woman who had taught Seamus a valuable lesson. Seamus had met Brenda on one of his trips back to Ireland, not too long after he broke things off with Natalia. He’d fallen hard for Brenda with her silky alabaster skin and raven hair and violet eyes. But it wasn’t just her beauty that had him falling all over himself for her. It was her sweetness and innocence. She seemed almost untouched by the corruption that surrounded him everywhere he went. He told her of his plans to eventually leave organized crime and she seemed supportive of him. Seamus was so certain she was the one that he’d brought her back to America with the intention of making her his wife. She wanted to be a homemaker and take care of him and Seamus had been okay with that. It didn’t bother him that she liked expensive things and she was an excessive shopper racking up weekly bills in the thousands. As long as Brenda was happy Seamus was as well. Even when she began to demand things like rare jewelry and high-end vehicles, the red flags weren’t raised because he’d been so blinded by love for her.
And then she started to flirt with other men. At first, he believed Brenda was simply being friendly but she started staying out late and not calling. They’d argue and she’d cry and Seamus would end up buying her something nice because he’d feel guilty for getting angry with her. And then one day he came home from a trip out of town to find her in bed with his father.
His father had laughed and told him that he didn’t know how to satisfy his woman. Seamus had wanted to kill them both. He kicked Brenda out but he should have known someone like her would land on her feet. His father took her in and for the next several months, Seamus had to deal with his father basically rubbing salt in the wound. It was clear that Patrick Haggerty had also fallen into Brenda’s trap. The cunt was using both of them to secure a comfortable life.
But one thing his father obviously hadn’t drilled into Brenda’s head was that any woman connected to him would have to be discreet. Besides her extravagant spending sprees, she started throwing Patrick’s name around town to get what she wanted. It drew a lot of unwanted attention toward her and the organization. The Feds had come down on Patrick because of it. They’d threatened Brenda with jail time and deportation if she didn’t tell them what she knew about Patrick’s dealings. The old man had been devastated to the point where he’d
nearly become despondent. Despite not being particularly close to his father especially after what he’d done, Seamus had made sure that Brenda ‘disappeared’ ensuring that she’d never be heard from again.
And the kicker of it all was that his father never recovered from Brenda’s betrayal. Patrick had been so stressed that he had a massive stroke. He died weeks later. The doctors said it was from natural causes but Seamus had known better. It was from a broken heart. Seamus had learned his lesson. No good could come from falling in love. Brenda and his father had taught him that. It was why Seamus preferred the company of the women at the club. He knew what their game was. He could fuck them and send them on the way without emotions getting involved.
Yet Tamryn had managed to get to him even in a way that Brenda never had. Maybe he was a coward for not allowing himself to give love a chance anymore, but he was certain that Tamryn would land on her feet. Women always did.
Even though the thought of her being with someone else, giving that sweet pussy to someone else infuriated him. Fuck. He had to go. The further away from here, he was, the better he could function.
He pushed Nicki off of him and stood up and adjusted his pants. “You can leave.”
She looked up at him with obvious surprise. “But I wasn’t finished. You didn’t come.”
Seamus was in no mood to placate her. He grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on. “Don’t worry. You’ll still be compensated for your time.”
She turned bright red, clearly embarrassed by his response. Seamus didn’t wait around for her response because he simply wasn’t interested. As he walked through the lobby he was intercepted by Natalia, almost as if she’d been waiting for him.
“Seamus, I didn’t expect to see you come back down so soon.”
He glanced at his watch to calculate how much time it would take for him to get home if he left now. “How would you know? Were you watching me?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s my job to know what’s going on in this establishment.” She ran her hand down his chest. “I’m glad to see that you’ve finally gotten that street rat out of your system. I was beginning to question your judgment.”
His relationship with Natalia was complicated. Even though they’d dated briefly, he believed their parting had been amicable. They’d been lovers off and on over the years because Natalia presented herself as the type of woman who could handle a no strings attached affair. But when she opened the Devil’s Den and he’d become her silent investor, it seemed to give Natalia the idea that she could question his comings and goings. He’d ended anything physical with her when she started to make a big deal about him utilizing the services of the hostesses. After letting her know in no uncertain terms that if she didn’t back off he’d withdraw his financial support from the club, that seemed to keep her quiet.
For the most part, Natalia had kept her opinions to herself until recently. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she’d make sly remarks about Tamryn and how she didn’t seem to be a good fit with the rest of the girls. When Seamus quizzed her about it, Natalia had said that the other girls believed that Tamryn was getting special treatment. Seamus had to admit that he’d rarely taken the girls outside of the club and none of them had ever seen the inside of his private apartment upstairs. And he’d never spent the night with any of them. Even though he’d told Natalia to mind her business, it started him thinking that perhaps he was spending too much time with Tamryn. It wasn’t healthy that she’d consumed so much of his time and thoughts. Things in his life were stressful enough as he was in the very precarious position of severing the remaining ties he had to his father’s legacy.
Maybe if Natalia hadn’t said anything, he could go on pretending that he wasn’t slowly falling for Tamryn, but since she planted the poisoned seed, there no denying her words hadn’t influenced him to cut things off with Tamryn. Now seeing the smug satisfaction in Natalia’s eyes he saw that she’d been waiting for him to do just that. He took a step away from her and glared. “Why does it bother you who I choose to be with? As long as I still give you funding that should be it.”
She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his chest. “We’re old friends and as your friend, I’m just showing a little concern is all. You’ve never been with any of the other girls for so long and I didn’t want you to get too attached.”
He raised a brow. “Why would it matter if I did?”
“It’s bad for business. I don’t know why you’re getting so defensive. All these girls are nothing more than hookers, highly paid ones albeit but still whores nonetheless. You’re not getting any younger, darling, and eventually, you’ll want an heir and you’ll want the right woman on your arm to give you the right image. None of these girls can give you that, especially that thing you dragged off the street. When you first brought her to the Devil’s Den I can’t tell you how disgusted I was. I never took you to be a bleeding heart but I suppose we all have our lapses of judgment. Besides, nothing would have come of it anyway; she’s having the time of her life with a new client. You should have seen the way she was throwing herself at him. Guess you didn’t mean much to her either.”
Seamus pulled away from Natalia and gave her a long hard look, really seeing her for the first time. One of the reasons he had gotten along so well with Natalia in the past was because he believed that she understood him and they had similar pasts with fathers who had criminal ties. Natalia had seemed to take their split well and didn’t make a fuss like he expected most women would, but had she been biding her time all along? That dig at Tamryn wasn’t missed by him. “If I didn’t know any better, Natalia, I’d think you were jealous. And my question to you would be, what exactly do you have to be jealous of if she’s nothing but a street rat, as you put it?”
“Exactly!” she snapped. “That bitch was walking around here like she was better than everyone else, better than me. She’s a nobody who gets paid to fuck for money.” Natalia’s face twisted into something ugly and undesirable. Seamus, who considered himself a good judge of character, had been completely fooled by her. His mistake with her was thinking she didn’t want anything from him besides the financial backing he already provided to the club. But the one thing he learned early on was if a person wanted something badly enough from you, they would be willing to wait. Not only that, they’d do what they had to do to get it. He silently cursed himself for labeling her as a non-factor.
He clenched his fists at his side “Even if I did want to settle down as you so delicately put it, who do you think I should choose? You?”
“Well, you could do worse, and we do have a history. I would even allow you your dalliances. We can expand the club and have one in every city. We can make a lot of money.”
“I see. I think you got a little too comfortable with the idea of me eventually coming back to you. I see that this partnership isn’t going to work out. But then again this was never really a partnership, was it? You were always expecting something from me that I wasn’t willing to give.”
“You’re just sowing your wild oats. Eventually, you’ll get tired of these whores and you’ll come back to me.”
Seamus could only shake his head. He’d always known that Natalia had a healthy ego but he never realized that she was delusional. “This isn’t Fairytale Land where if you keep wishing for something it’s going to come true. It’s never going to happen. As I said before, I think it’s better if you and I sever all ties. I’m sure you’ve earned enough capital to buy me out. I’ll accept a fair offer.”
She shook her head and grasped his arm. “You can’t do that. Seamus, we’ve known each other too long for you to turn your back on me like this.”
He yanked his arm out of her hold. “Be careful. You look like you’re becoming unhinged.”
She narrowed her eyes and sneered. “Fine, walk away but if I buy you out, I’m kicking that street trash out too. She doesn’t belong here.” A grin of malevolent satisfaction curved her lips. “And anyway, by the time Br
ian gets through with her, I doubt any client would find her appealing anyway.”
Seamus had been on the verge of turning to leave but at the mention of Tamryn, he halted. The name Brian sounded familiar and he couldn’t remember why but he was almost certain it couldn’t be good judging from the look on Natalia’s face.
He closed the gap between them until their noses touched. “What did you do?”
Natalia raised her chin defiantly. “I set her up with someone appropriate. I’m not sure why you even care. She’s no longer your concern, right?”
“What did you do?” he roared, making her jump.
Just then they were interrupted by one of the hostesses, the small blonde Seamus had seen Tamryn with a few times. “Uh, Natalia, I just saw Brian Manning going up to one of the private rooms. I thought he was banned.”
Natalia turned on the blonde and pushed her. “Don’t concern yourself with how I run things around here. Go do your job unless you’d like to find another one.”
To her credit the blonde stood her ground, squaring her shoulders. “I am concerned because you’re supposed to provide us with a safe environment and if you’ve allowed that psycho back in here then someone is bound to get hurt.”
It suddenly clicked in Seamus’s mind why the name sounded familiar. Because Natalia handled the operation of the Devil’s Den, she was in charge of the clientele selection. She’d briefly mentioned having to ban one of the clients because he’d crossed the line with one of the girls. In fact, he’d hurt her so badly she had to be hospitalized. He was banned from the club and the poor hostess was given a hefty settlement to keep the incident under wraps.
Tamryn was in danger!
Seeing red, Seamus reached out and grasped Natalia by the throat. “You spiteful, bitch. Where are they now?”
Natalia’s color changed to a deep red to a light blue as he was determined to squeeze the life out of her. She clawed at his hands but his grip remained firm. “Fuck you,” she wheezed.
