Into The Night

by Janelle Denison

  She headed across the room and slipped into the women’s lounge, where a few of the young girls were fussing with their hair and makeup. Because she was a new face in the crowd, they eyed her curiously, but didn’t say anything as she walked over to the closed door marked WOMEN and knocked.

  There was no answer, but Nicole knew the girl was inside. “Holly?” she said through the door as she knocked again, more insistently this time. “It’s Nikki.”

  “Go away,” Holly said, and sniffled.

  Nicole closed her eyes for a moment. The despondent note to the young girl’s voice nearly broke her heart. The need to talk to her, to make sure she was okay, made her more persistent. “Let me in, Holly. Please?”

  “No.”

  Nicole sighed but refused to give up. “I’m not going away until you do. If I have to, I’ll wait right here until you open the door to leave.” The girl had to come out sometime.

  Much to Nicole’s relief, less than a minute later the locked unlatched and the door opened a few inches. Nicole took it as an invitation to enter and quickly stepped inside, then rebolted the lock behind her so they weren’t interrupted.

  Her first thought was that Holly looked a wreck, physically and emotionally. Her puffy, red eyes revealed she’d been crying, and her makeup was smudged from wiping away her tears. Her eyes were filled with such hopelessness that Nicole had to resist the urge to reach out and take the young girl into her arms for a comforting hug.

  Holly’s chin lifted in a show of belligerence. The small, diamond heart pendant glittered from the hollow of her throat, a stark reminder of who she belonged to. “What do you want?”

  “Are you okay?” Nicole asked, and leaned back against the closed door.

  The other girl crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze. “Why do you care how I am?”

  Holly was back to being the hostile girl Nicole had initially met back at the nightclub. Remembering how she’d been able to reach past those defensive barriers, she attempted to do so again now. “Because I think you could use a friend.”

  She scoffed at that. “And you think you can be that friend? You’re the one that Preston wants,” she added bitterly. “If anything, you’re the enemy!”

  “I swear I’m not,” Nicole said, trying to convince her, and at the same time striving to establish some kind of trust between them. “I don’t want Preston.”

  “Whatever Preston wants, he gets.” Holly turned back to the vanity mirror and tried to repair her smeared makeup with her compact.

  Not this time, Nicole wanted to say, but couldn’t.

  Holly dropped the compact back into her purse and met Nicole’s gaze in the reflection. “Sloane told me I’m his favorite, and that’s why he likes to share me,” she said, her unsteady voice not holding as much conviction as it should have, as if Holly had her own doubts but was too terrified to speak them out loud.

  God, how Nicole understood how the other girl felt. Hadn’t Mark used the same tactics on her to persuade Nicole to engage in a threesome with a virtual stranger? The similarities made her feel nauseous.

  “Right now, I’m entertaining one of his friends, and when Preston sees how good I’m being, he’ll take me back and not want to share me anymore.”

  Nicole had to forcibly swallow back her anger at the situation. “Are you sure about that, Holly?”

  The young girl’s eyes flashed with irritation before she looked away and began digging through her purse. “I know he will. I just need a few of my pills to get me through the rest of the night.”

  Nicole’s stomach roiled as she watched Holly shake two white tablets from a small container. “Getting wasted isn’t the answer,” she said, speaking from her own experience.

  Holly clutched the pills in her fist. “I need them.”

  “What are you taking?” Nicole was not only curious, but concerned about what the girl was ingesting.

  “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Despair etched Holly’s features, and her bottom lip quivered. “Gwen gave them to me to take and they make me feel relaxed and calm. Taking the pills is the only way I can bring myself to let anyone other than Sloane touch me. They make me forget things I don’t want to remember.”

  “It’s only a temporary fix, Holly.” Nicole took a small step toward the girl, then another. “In the morning, nothing will have changed.”

  “You don’t understand!” Her voice rose in anger, and she popped the pills before Nicole could stop her, then scooped up water with her hands from the sink faucet to wash them down.

  Nicole felt so damn helpless, and hated the fact that she couldn’t get through to Holly. She watched as the girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to recompose herself.

  When Holly looked at her again, it was with reluctant determination. “I need to be good,” she said, calmer now. “I need to make Preston’s friend happy. If I do whatever Preston asks me to do, then he’ll know how much I love him.”

  The anguish Nicole witnessed in Holly’s gaze twisted her insides into knots, and she gently touched the girl’s arm. “Honey, you’re not old enough to know what real love with a man is.”

  Holly jerked away from her, a renewed fire igniting in her eyes. “So what if I’m only fifteen? I’ve had more experience than most girls my age.”

  Nicole didn’t hesitate to call Holly on her slip. “Fifteen?”

  Panic chased across Holly’s face as she realized her mistake, though she did nothing to correct it. Instead, she grabbed her purse and started past Nicole. “I need to get back to Richard before Gwen comes looking for me.”

  Nicole stepped in front of the girl and blocked her path to the door. “You don’t have to do this, Holly. Let me help you. Let me get you out of this place.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” Holly said, her voice choked with emotion. “I just want Preston .”

  “What happens when he no longer wants you?” Nicole asked softly, but her words were direct and painfully honest.

  Holly shook her head, as if she wouldn’t even consider that as an option. “I have to go .”

  Knowing there was nothing else she could do right now, Nicole stepped aside and watched as Holly walked out. Tonight, she didn’t have any choice but to let the young girl entertain one of Sloane’s guests, but somewhere along the way Holly had become Nicole’s personal mission.

  She wasn’t sure how Nathan was going to react to her decision, but Nicole wasn’t leaving this hellhole without Holly.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “See anything you like?”

  Nathan wasn’t surprised that Sloane had sought him out, especially since he was standing alone in the lounge area of the playroom as he waited for Nicole to return from the restroom. It was the perfect opportunity for Sloane to try to negotiate with him, but Nathan was holding firm until the other man offered him what he’d come here for.

  “No, not yet,” Nathan replied, smiling amicably at Sloane.

  “What did you think of Lisa?” he asked, his gaze both curious and hopeful. “She’s quite willing to be your plaything for the night. Just say the word, and she’s yours.”

  The thought of that young, naive girl giving her body so freely to a stranger was enough to turn Nathan’s stomach. Thanks to years of undercover work, though, feigning a nonchalant attitude came easily, despite his internal frustration. “Nice girl, but there just wasn’t any chemistry with her on my end.”

  “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately about Lisa.” Sloane grew thoughtful, a small frown marring his brow. “I’m thinking it’s time for Lisa to move on to make room for fresh, new young blood for my friends to enjoy.”

  Nathan didn’t care for the underlying tone in Sloane’s comment, and what it implied. “How do you mean?” he asked casually.

  “There comes a time when each of the girls has served her purpose, and that seems to be the case with Lisa.” He shrugged, as if the two of them were discussing the weather, instead of a human life. “It’s time
for her to go.”

  “Go where?” Nathan kept his voice mildly curious, but deep in his gut he knew exactly what Sloane meant. He just needed the man to say the words out loud to confirm Nathan’s suspicions.

  Sloane leaned closer and let his voice drop in tone, as if he didn’t want others to hear what he was about to share with Nathan. “Let’s just say I have a very profitable arrangement with a Russian businessman who is more than happy to take the girls off my hands when I’m done with them. Sending them off to Russia keeps things much simpler and cleaner than putting the girls back out on the street here in Vegas.”

  Jesus . Nathan’s mind reeled with the knowledge that not only was Sloane engaging in underage prostitution, he was also involved in human trafficking. The thought of him using these girls, then selling them off to another country to be used for white slavery was enough to make Nathan want to puke.

  Somehow, someway, Sloane had to be stopped.

  “But back to you, Keller, and finding you a girl who’ll pique your interest,” Sloane went on, forcing Nathan’s attention back to the business at hand. “You’re a hard man to please.”

  He shrugged, even as the urgency of getting Angela out of this place heightened. “I’m just very particular, and I want to make this worth my while.”

  “I completely understand. That’s why I’ve saved the best for last.” A crafty smile curved Sloane’s lips. “I figured if no one else appealed to you, my Angel definitely would.”

  Now, that grabbed Nathan’s attention, and the interest he displayed on his face was genuine. “Angel? Sounds promising.”

  Nathan followed Sloane’s gaze as he glanced across the room and motioned with his fingers. From the shadows, a young girl emerged, escorted by Gwen. From a distance, Nathan could make out flowing blond hair and a petite, slender body draped in a white slip-style dress as she glided toward them on flat slippers.

  The illusion of being an angel was apparent-from her choice of dress to the fresh innocence of her ethereal appearance. The other men in the room watched in envy while the girl passed by, and as she neared and her vivid blue eyes and face became more visible, Nathan felt a jolt to his system.

  Angela Ramsey. Finally .

  “I haven’t shared her with anyone yet, but it’s time,” Sloane said, keeping his voice low. “I’m offering her up to you first, so you might want to take advantage of the arrangement because she’ll be gone in a few weeks.”

  A chill went through Nathan. “Why’s that?”

  A twisted smile curved Sloane’s lips. “Let’s just say that the Russian made me an offer for Angel that I couldn’t resist.”

  Sloane had arranged to sell off Angela. His heart nearly stopped in his chest. “I thought she was your favorite.”

  “Every girl has her price, Keller,” he said like a man who never formed an emotional attachment to any one female, and was only interested in the bottom-line profit. “And every single one of them is replaceable.”

  Sick, disgusting fuck . Nathan had to forcibly swallow back the inflammatory words, and just in time as Angela came to a stop a few feet away from them.

  “Come here, Angel.” Sloane held his hand out to her, and she placed her fingers against his palm and let him draw her close to his side. “I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine. This is Alex Keller. Alex, this is Angel.”

  Nathan smiled at her, noticing the heart pendant necklace she wore, which marked her as a favorite of Sloane’s-but not for long.

  “You’re absolutely beautiful,” he said, all too aware of the other man watching him, and his reaction, very carefully.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  Her glassy eyes, combined with her docility and too-relaxed demeanor, told Nathan she was on some kind of narcotic. Her dossier had depicted her as a rebellious, troubled teen, yet here in this environment she seemed like a shell of herself, subdued and child-like, and far too innocent to be caught up in such an immoral situation.

  And it was up to him to get her out, as quickly and safely as possible before she was lost to them forever-to the Russian .

  Pushing aside his personal mission for now, he met Sloane’s gaze and gave him the impressed response he no doubt expected. “You certainly did save the best for last.”

  Sloane’s chest expanded with conceited male pride. “I only pick the best. Like I said, I’ve never shared her before, so consider yourself very lucky that you’re the first.”

  It was bad enough that Angela had been subjected to Sloane’s sexual advances. Nathan swore it would end there for the young girl.

  “Why don’t the two of you spend some time alone and enjoy the amenities here in the playroom?” Sloane suggested as he passed Angela off to Nathan. “Or maybe you’d prefer a private room for the evening?”

  Nathan knew exactly what Sloane was hinting at. If Nathan opted to spend the night alone with Angela, then the other man would be able to do the same with Nicole, which was what Sloane clearly wanted. Except under Nathan’s watch, the all-night exchange wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

  But he had to get Angela alone to assess the girl’s mental state and the situation, and that meant a brief swap was necessary.

  “No, not tonight,” Nathan said, openly refusing Sloane’s offer and making certain the man understood that he hadn’t agreed to a trade with Nicole. “I’d like to make sure she’s the one I want before I give you Nikki for a night.”

  “Very well,” he conceded, but not happily. “Where is Nikki, anyway?”

  “She had to use the restroom.” Nathan glanced in that direction and finally saw Nicole heading his way. “Here she comes now.”

  Nathan immediately noticed that something was wrong. He could see the distress in her eyes, but as soon as she saw Sloane, and then realized the girl standing next to Nathan was Angela, those troubling emotions disappeared. He’d find out later what had upset her, but for now she realized how pivotal this moment was for the two of them-that she needed to leave Nathan alone with Angela in order for him to talk to her.

  “Who is this?” Nicole asked as she looked at Angela, her voice infused with a believable amount of teenage jealousy.

  “This is Angel,” Nathan said, then used a more assertive tone to show Sloane that Nicole was his to command. “She and I are going to visit for a while, and I want you to do the same with Preston.”

  Nicole stared at him with big, round eyes filled with a plausible mixture of hurt and anxiety. “Okay,” she conceded in a soft, obedient voice, which Sloane seemed to appreciate.

  Sloane shifted beside Nicole and skimmed his hand down her back. She looked uncomfortable with his caress, and Nathan knew for a fact that her unease was real, not feigned as everything else had been.

  “Why don’t I take you to see my private art collection?” Sloane suggested. “It’s in a nice, quiet wing of the house, where the two of us can relax and talk.”

  Nicole nodded. “All right.”

  Sloane reached out and tucked his forefinger beneath Angela’s chin, lifting her face so her downcast eyes met his. “Remember what we talked about earlier, Angel,” he said, his tone gentle, yet firm. “Be a good girl and do whatever it takes to make Alex happy.”

  “Okay,” she whispered in a small voice.

  Sloane transferred his gaze to Nathan. “We’ll be back in a while. Enjoy your time together.”

  Nathan refused to return the sentiment. As he watched Sloane lead Nicole back upstairs, he felt torn between staying with Angela, and following Nicole to make sure the slimy bastard kept his hands to himself. Releasing a deep breath, he focused on what he’d come here to Summerlin to do. He had to trust that Nicole could take care of herself.

  Right now, he didn’t have a choice.

  Taking Angela’s small hand in his, he felt her tremble-and sensed her fear as he led her toward one of the draped beds. Angela watched him warily, and in an attempt to put her at ease, he plumped up the pillows so they both could sit up, rather than lie down, as
most of the other couples in the room were doing.

  He settled on top of the mattress and leaned against the mound of pillows, then patted the vacant spot beside him. “Come and sit down.” As soon as he saw the flash of apprehension in her eyes, he sought to relieve her anxiety. “I’m not going to hurt you or do anything you don’t want to. I just want to talk.”

  “Talk?” She eyed him skeptically.

  He chuckled, soft and low. “Yeah, just talk. I promise.”

  She hesitated only a moment before climbing up onto the mattress and sitting beside him-close enough for them to look intimate if anyone should glance their way, yet far enough so that she didn’t feel threatened by him. Being with Angela without any sexual contact was the first step to lowering her guard. Next was establishing a friendship and making sure she realized he had no intentions of manhandling her, that he wanted her to feel safe and secure with him.

  Angela absently pulled her dress over her knees and glanced at him shyly. “What do you want to talk about?”

  He smiled. “You.”

  A frown creased her light blond brows, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of his interest in her. “What about me?”

  Because he’d given her no reason to fear being with him, she was finally starting to soften, her initial trepidation fading, allowing her to relax more and more with each passing minute. Whatever she was on had a mellowing effect on her, and he took advantage of her docile disposition while he could.

  “How long have you been here?” he asked, keeping the exchange between them light and casual. He needed to get a feel for her mental and emotional state and gauge if she was going to cooperate with a rescue attempt, or not.

  She shrugged. “A few weeks.”

  He tipped his head curiously. “Do you like it here?”

  “It’s okay,” she replied softly.

  Nathan took her lack of enthusiasm as a good sign. Hopefully, the glamour of being one of Sloane’s girls was wearing off and she was starting to realize that running away from home hadn’t been the answer to her problems-that it had only created problems of a different kind. Then again, she was young and most likely couldn’t see the extreme situation she’d entangled herself in.