“Everyone’s busy. Besides, it’s only a few blocks. I’ll be fine.”
“It doesn’t take more than a second for some drunk asshole to snatch a girl off the street.”
“That’s a lovely thought.”
His eyes were hooded as he studied me. He seemed to be arguing with himself as he did, as though he wanted to do or say something, but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. He finally gestured toward the door, urging me back on the path I’d been following before he interrupted. To my surprise, however, he followed. I wondered if it was such a good idea to leave the club during peak hours, but I didn’t question him.
The silence outside the club was almost deafening after the noise of the club. I reached up and pressed my fingers against my ears, trying to equalize the pressure the absence of noise had disrupted.
“It’s a miracle we don’t all go deaf.”
I glanced at Xavier. “Wouldn’t be as much fun without the music, though.”
“I suppose not.”
I shifted my bag on my shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest, wishing once again—not for the last time, either—that I didn’t feel obligated to constantly wear high heels. My feet had stopped blistering, but it was still painful just the same.
“I contacted a friend with ICE,” Xavier suddenly said.
I glanced at him. “Why?”
“I wanted to check into getting your brother and sister brought over here.”
“Through ICE? I thought…”
I knew I should be panicking, but I wasn’t quite sure how to fake such an emotion. I bit my bottom lip and stumbled a little, catching myself before I fell over completely. We had just reached the street and I caught sight of the SUV that sat on the corner outside the club whenever I was there. I thought I saw a man in the driver’s seat, but when I did a discreet double take there was no one there.
Xavier gripped my upper arm to steady me even though I’d already steadied myself.
“I know you’re illegal. I know most of these girls are illegal.”
“Then why would you call the very people who could get us all deported?”
“Because I didn’t want you to get involved in something that would haunt you for the rest of your life. And, really, it’s not that complicated to bring them here legally. It’s just going to take a lawyer and a lot of money.”
“I don’t have a lot of money.”
“I do.”
I shook my head, pulling away from his grip. “I won’t do that. I won’t be indebted to you.”
He frowned. “I’m not attaching strings to it. I want to do this to help you.”
“Nobody ever does anything without expecting something in return.”
“Isn’t it enough that I like you?”
I didn’t respond to that right away. I could feel him watching me, could feel the weight of his unasked questions. I shook my head again, not sure how to explain it to him.
“People always want something. Those men back there in that club? They want to feel viral, to feel like they could actually get a woman who looks like me or Mercedes or one of the other girls even though they probably go home to women who are worn out from having too many babies or working too many long nights. And those women want a man who understands they can’t make them feel viral, that they’re too tired to care about anyone else’s needs.”
I glanced at him, wondering if he was following me. He was still watching, his eyes too dark to read.
“When I first started working the clubs, it made me feel powerful to make those men work themselves up into a froth. I even let a few of them touch me, let some of them take me home. I thought I could make them want me enough that they’d be willing to do anything for me. I thought that was the power I wanted. It took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t the one with the power. And that’s when I promised myself I wouldn’t give my power away anymore.”
“I get it.”
I looked at him again, really looked into his face. I wanted to believe that he did get it. This man… he was a ball of contradictions. He was capable of doing horrible things, yet he wanted to do me a favor, a favor that could cost him more than money if my story was true. Why would he offer to do such a thing? Did his offer prove that he and Rahul and whoever else weren’t really helping these girls out the way they claimed they were?
It was complicated, all these lies, all these truths. I was beginning to lose track of what was what.
We arrived at my apartment building. He followed me up the steps, taking the key out of my shaking hand as I tried to open the flimsy door. He pushed it open and followed, breezing through the small room that made up my tiny apartment, looking into cracks and doorways like he expected to find someone hiding there, waiting for me to return home.
“If you’re looking for my boyfriend’s clothes, he keeps them in the top drawer of the dresser.”
He turned to the dresser like he was actually going to look, but then turned back to me. “You take your personal safety too lightly.”
“What are you expecting to happen to me?”
“I told you, you pissed off Rahul. That guy’s a ticking bomb waiting to go off.”
“Where was Rahul tonight? Didn’t think he’d miss a night to harass us girls.”
“He was running some errands.”
Xavier brushed off my question casually, but I could see he was concerned about what was happening across town. I was a little surprised that he wasn’t there at the port, joining in with his employees. But I supposed the boss never got his hands dirty.
“As you can see, the place is empty. And I’m exhausted.”
He inclined his head slightly, coming toward me like he was going to leave. But, as he passed me, he slid his arm around my waist and tugged me hard against him. He lifted my chin and his lips brushed mine almost casually before he came in for a rough, deeply satisfying kiss.
I moved into him, the way my body melted into his already familiar to me. My entire body ached each time he touched me, my heart pounding in my throat whenever his hands slid over my body. My lower belly ached, my juices running at full blast like a faucet whose tap had been left wide open. He was extremely hot and irresistible. Just the taste of him was enough to send my nerves into overdrive.
He lifted me up, set me on the edge of the small counter, his hands slipping under my tee as he explored the bare flesh along my back and ribs, his fingertips just teasing the underside of my bra when he suddenly pulled back.
He groaned softly. “I should go before you begin to feel indebted to me.”
He was gone in a flash, the door slamming behind him hard enough to send a vibration through the room despite its flimsy construction. I blinked, my body feeling limp.
Asshole!
Chapter 12
Xavier
I walked back to the club at a brisk pace, wishing I hadn’t allowed that woman to get under my skin. She was beautiful, funny, independent, and smart—the kind of woman I never imagined I’d find here in this place. I thought I’d left women like her behind when I left New York, when my life turned upside down and I was pushed out of the life I’d worked hard to build for myself. I thought I’d left a lot of things back there.
Was it possible I could actually find a decent existence in this damned place? Could I actually find a little slice of happiness?
Not if she thought I was asking for favors in order to do her a good turn. How dark her past must be to have left her so cynical.
It was naive, these thoughts of happiness. But was it really so unrealistic?
The club was still hopping when I walked through the backdoor, the music deafening after the silence of the world outside. I went up to my office, expecting to settle down to some paperwork before heading home myself. Instead, I found Rahul pacing in the corridor, speaking in angry Spanish on the phone.
“What are you doing here?”
He turned to me, his eyes narrowed in fury. He rushed toward me, slamming me up against th
e wall with his forearm, trapping me like I was a child.
“Did you tip the cops off?”
“What?”
“The cops were fucking there! They arrested my entire crew and they got the girls.”
It took every ounce of control I had to not reveal the relief that rushed through me at his words. The cops had the girls. Thank God!
“Why would I tell the cops? Do you really think I want them raiding the club? You think I want that sort of heat on my head?” I pushed him back, catching him off balance. He fell against the one-way mirrors that lined the far side of the corridor. “I have as much to lose in all of this as you do. Hell, I have more! Watch what you accuse me of, Rahul.”
It was true and he knew it. If going to the cops was all it took, I would have done it a year ago.
“Someone tipped the cops. The only people who knew about it were me, you, and my crew. No one else.”
“Someone must have heard something.”
“Where? We talked about it here and at your place. No one here has balls big enough to cross me.”
“It wasn’t me, Rahul. You must have a snitch in your crew.”
“Bullshit!”
His face reddened and he stepped toward me again, his fist raised, but he stopped just short of touching me. He cursed in Spanish under his breath as he marched down the hall, bursting into my office. I followed just in time to see Selena startle at his sudden arrival.
“Get the fuck out of here, bitch!”
Selena stared him down. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“I know who I’m talking to. You think you’re all that because you’re related to Jack, but he’s in prison, bitch. I’m in charge here! Get the fuck out!”
Her eyes moved from him to me. I offered a slight nod. She didn’t like it, but she left, her head held high as she walked out of the room.
Rahul jerked something out of his back pocket and turned it on, moving around the room, the device held out in front of him as he walked around. I watched, somewhat amused by the way he moved, by the way he acted like it was some sort of diviner or something.
“What is that?”
“It detects radio signals, sounds waves, or some bullshit. My guy told me that if we have a bug in here, this thing will find it.”
“Is it finding anything?”
Rather than answer, Rahul came over to me and waved it around my body. I pushed it away when he came too close, but he kept moving it around, a frown on his face as he did it.
“Nothing?”
“There’s got to be something somewhere.”
I followed him as he moved from room to room, checking out all the offices on this floor. As he worked, moving methodically, pausing every little bit to answer a phone call or a text, the club closed and the sound levels changed. The music stopped, but the sound of voices raised in laughter continued, coming from the employees as they cleaned up and prepared to go home. Rahul didn’t seem to notice this change. He kept moving from place to place, desperately seeking the electronic signal that had betrayed him and his crew.
“No one betrayed you, Rahul. Has it occurred to you that the cops might have been tipped off some other way? Couldn’t they have gotten their information from the shipping company or someone associated with your buyer?”
“Why would my buyer tip off the police? He’s out as much as I am.”
“What about the shipping company?”
“They don’t know what we put in the containers. We pay extra to make sure they aren’t curious.”
I just shook my head as I continued to follow him around. “But it’s clearly no one here.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“What are you going to do? Check the whole damn place? That could take days!”
“You don’t have to stick around.”
But I did. I followed him as he made his way down the stairs and checked everything at the bar—every bottle, every glass—as he moved around the VIP tables, the guest tables, the stage. He moved into the dressing room, chasing off the last of the girls as he held that stupid device up to each of the drawers and cubbies at the girls’ stations. I could see defeat in his eyes as he approached Audra’s station, as the little red line on his device remained unmoved.
“All that’s left is the storeroom. Are you really going to check every box of liquor, every costume, every bag of pretzels?”
Even as the words came out of my mouth, that little line began to waver. And then it began to dance.
“Fuck me,” Rahul whispered as he held the device over a jeweler’s box tucked into one of the drawers at Audra’s station. He picked it up and pushed the lid open, revealing the sapphire earrings Audra had been wearing on stage tonight. When he held the device to the earrings, it lit up like a seismic graph.
“It’s her,” he said in a deep, dark tone full of rage. “She’s a damn cop!”
I stared. There was nothing I could say to argue. He had the proof right there.
Chapter 13
Audra
My thoughts were on Xavier as I walked into the club early Saturday afternoon. It’d taken me a long time to get to sleep last night after what he’d done, after he gave me that intense kiss and then walked out of my apartment. I wasn’t sure he knew how much he affected me when he touched me like that. It almost overshadowed the reality of the raid on Rahul’s cargo last night. I still didn’t know how that had gone, but a part of me was afraid I could be walking into a trap when I stepped into the club if it hadn’t gone as expected.
But all seemed well. The place was quiet, only Ali on duty as I stepped into the heart of the club. And he smiled when he spotted me.
“Hey, girl, how’s it going?”
I shrugged with a little sideways tilt of my head. “It’s too early to be conscious after last night.”
“It’s always too early, sweetheart.”
I had to agree with that. I swung my bag onto the bar and settled in a stool with a heavy sigh as he set a glass of Coke in front of me.
“You want a little kick in it?”
“Not today.”
I lifted the glass to my lips, sighing as the familiar sweetness flooded my tongue.
“You do something you shouldn’t have?”
I looked up a little more sharply than I should have, meeting Ali’s caramel colored eyes. “Why?”
“Xavier wants to see you.”
He gestured behind me to where Xavier’s goons were standing, their expressions and body language completely indecipherable. But then again, they always were.
“I guess I made so much money last night that he wants to thank me for making him a little bit richer.”
Or he wanted to expand on that kiss he left smoldering in my apartment.
Ali laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. “I’m sure that’s all it is.”
“Sure it is. I’m too good for the place for him to fire me.”
Ali straightened up and moved back to the stack of clean glasses he’d been putting away when I walked in. “You should go straight up.”
I nodded, staring at the henchmen in the mirror behind the bar. They were not the kind of guys who appreciated having to wait for anything very long. Just the same, I took my time sipping my Coke. I was only halfway through it when they came over, one of them grabbing my arm and dragging me out of my stool.
“You realize if you put bruises on me, your boss won’t be happy, right?” I asked, my voice sugary sweet. “He doesn’t like the merchandise damaged.”
They didn’t respond, but the goon holding my arm didn’t loosen his grip, either. In fact, I think he squeezed a bit tighter.
They pulled me around the bar to the stairs. Xavier was standing at the end of the far corridor, leaning forward slightly, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched Ali put glasses away downstairs. He looked especially hot today, dressed in dark slacks and a red linen shirt. His tie was loose around his neck, the only indication that today was not a normal day. He
didn’t look up as we approached.
“Who do you work for?”
What? My heart skipped a beat. How did he find out? Do I play dumb?
I bit my bottom lip and tried to look beaten. It wasn’t a look I’d ever made before or needed in my real life, so I wasn’t sure I was pulling it off properly. Xavier came over and grabbed my chin, forcing my head up so that our eyes met. It wasn’t a kind touch. Neither was the darkness in his eyes.
“Don’t play games with me, Audra! I know you’re a fucking cop!”
A cop? Maybe he didn’t know all he thought he did.
“I’m not!”
He didn’t say anything more. He just held up a jeweler’s box that I recognized immediately. My heart sank to my feet, a sense of defeat washing over me before I could hide it. He caught it and his eyes narrowed.
“Goddamn, Audra!”
His expression tightened. Any advantage I might have had disappeared in that second. I’d just confirmed it all for him and he knew it as well as I did. There was nothing more to be said.
He squeezed my jaw hard enough that, for a second, I thought he was going to break something. But then he pushed me away.
“Put her in my car. I’m going to get rid of her.”
“What? No! Xavier!”
He turned away, a little slump in his shoulders as he faced the one-way mirror again. Rahul appeared in his office doorway, a satisfied grin on his lips as he watched the two goons drag me back around the corridor to the stairs. I struggled as they pulled me out the backdoor, well aware of how useless it was. But it was human instinct and I knew it was expected, so I fought them up to the moment they slammed the door of the luxury car on me.
I knew Gray Wolf had two men watching me. I twisted in my seat, trying to spot one of them, hoping they had seen those goons shove me into the car and were set to follow. But the alley was empty.
“Are you looking for your pals? Dumpy and Grouchy?”
I jerked around, panic beginning to build in my chest.
Xavier glanced into the rearview mirror, his eyes meeting mine. His eyes were hard, dark little pebbles that offered no hope, no sympathy, nothing I could hold onto.
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