by Jade Kuzma
I didn’t have as much shame as I would have paying off another woman.
I grabbed my vest and searched for my cash then handed it to her.
“That’s about two large,” I said. “I’ll get you the 50 when I get it.”
“That’ll do for now,” she said as she stuffed it into her bag. “Now… There is the matter of the rest of the night.”
Before she even finished, I was already lying on the bed.
“I’ve had a long drive to Ivory,” I said. “All I want is to get some rest. You can use the other bed if you want.”
I stared up at the ceiling and listened to her climb on the bed on the other side of the room.
“This is the first time a guy ever paid me to sleep in another bed… You sure are a strange one—”
“Go to sleep. We have a lot of shit to take care of tomorrow. You work for me now.”
The sound of her giggling filled my ears. It was almost enough to make me smile.
“You’re the boss…”
Chapter 6
ASIA
There weren’t many nice places in Ivory. It was a quaint town where most of the townsfolk lived an honest life. Most of the people who lived here were trying to escape all of the rigors that came with living in the big city.
Blade was the exception. With all of his growing business ventures, he managed to make a name for himself legitimately and under the table. He was able to make a small fortune, which he continued to invest back into himself.
That meant he owned one of the nicer officer buildings in all of Ivory.
As soon as I stepped inside, there were a couple of security guards standing in the lobby. They didn’t pay much attention to me because they knew who I was. I took the elevator to the fifth floor where his office was. The secretary greeted me with a smile before letting me inside.
Blade sat at his desk, looking as rigid as he always did. He had his cell phone up to his ear while he conducted whatever business he was dealing with this day.
I looked around at the spacious office. Fancy pieces of art hung on the walls and sculptures lined the room. Books filled the shelves to the sides. Outside of his own desk, Blade had a table at the center of the room where he conducted most of his business meetings.
And then there was the view. There weren’t many tall buildings in Ivory, so standing on a building with a fifth floor meant I was higher than everybody else in town. But I’d been in this room so many times that the view had gotten old quickly.
Blade put his phone down and greeted me with a smile. He fixed the tie on his expensive suit then slicked his hair back over his head.
“Asia… I’m glad you could join me.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said with a shrug.
“How was business last night?”
I reached into my bag and pulled some of the money I had. I put some of the cash that Charles had given me on the table in front of Blade. He sighed as he looked down at it.
“Why is this money all crumpled?” he asked.
“I was at Finn’s. I wasn’t exactly dealing with the types who carry money around in briefcases.”
“I suppose…”
He grabbed the cash and began straightening it out as he counted it.
“You always were my best girl,” he said. “I knew I could count on you to make something decent.”
“You say that to all the girls.”
“I might be tempted to but I don’t.”
Blade gave me a wink as he put the money away in his top drawer.
A few hundred bucks might not have seemed like much but Blade had more girls in the city working for him than anybody else. He made thousands every day without having to lift a finger. He was making so much money that he was able to start a legitimate business front for everything else he did.
“You can leave now,” he said as he picked his phone back up. “Maybe you should head back to Finn’s tonight since you did so well.”
“Actually… There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Is there now?”
He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Even with a smile on his face, Blade was the most intimidating man I ever met. I knew what kind of man he was. I knew what he was capable of. There was always something about the way he smiled.
I did my best to maintain my composure. If I was gonna do what Charles needed me to do, this would be the first step.
“You said that there are some people you want me to entertain this weekend,” I said.
“That’s right. What about them?”
“Who are they?”
Blade knew something was wrong but he kept smiling at me.
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m just curious,” I said. “It would be nice to know who I’m sleeping with.”
“Since when did you care?”
Shit.
I looked down at the ground and shook my head, searching for a way to convince him to give me the information.
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I’m just curious, like I said.”
“Curious? You’ve never been curious before.”
“I was thinking maybe I could do something special.”
“Special?”
“Yeah. Like a special outfit or a special place. I know this is a big deal for you. I really want to make this work.”
Blade bit his bottom lip as the smile disappeared from his face. I stared back at him, swallowing anxiously as I waited for his response.
I held back a sigh of relief when his smirk came back.
“I’m disappointed with you,” he said.
“W-what?”
“Every night a man spends with you should be special. That’s why people come to me. That’s why they sleep with my girls. That’s why you’re my best girl, Asia. Because you’re special.”
He sighed as he turned to the computer monitor on his desk.
“But I suppose you’re right,” he said. “This is a big business opportunity for all of us in the city. I pull this off, I’ll make enough money that even you won’t have to work again.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’ll be moving so much weight through Ivory that the few hundred dollars you gave me will seem like scraps.”
He stood up from his seat and walked over to me. I looked up at him as he put his hand on my chin.
“You think I’d have my best girl working for scraps? No, I won’t have it. You know, you’re part of the reason I’m doing all of this.”
“M-me?”
“Yes, you. I can keep you off of the streets with the money I make from the deal. Prostitution… You can make some decent cash from it but drugs… That’s where the real money is. That’s why the Triads are so rich. That’s why they’re so willing to pay off all the MCs in this town to work for them.”
He caressed my chin with his fingers, the smirk on his face still there.
“Once I make this deal, I’ll have enough money for you to retire,” he said. “Then you can spend all your time pleasuring me. It’s been quite a long time, now that I think about it. When’s the last time I fucked you, Asia?”
“I… I don’t remember…”
“I think it was right here, wasn’t it?”
He stepped away from me and pointed at the business table in the middle of his office.
“Yes, now I remember,” he said. “You came in here wearing that dress you always wear. Your legs. Your tits. I just couldn’t resist. I had to bend you over and take you.”
He stared down at me and looked me up and down.
“You’ll have to forgive me for partaking in some of the other girls who work for me,” he said. “I have to break them in. It makes them feel more comfortable working for me.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I replied. “You can sleep with whoever you want to.”
“Indeed… But it has been months since I’ve fucked you. You’ve always been sp
ecial, Asia. You’ll always be my number one. Come here.”
He took my hand in his and made me stand up straight. He leaned in close to me and kissed me on the neck. I closed my eyes and turned away. As soon as he trailed his lips to my face, I put my hands on his chest and pushed him away.
His smile suddenly disappeared.
“What’s wrong?” he said. “You holding back on me?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… I had a busy night last night. You don’t wanna have someone else’s seconds so soon, do you?”
He eyeballed me and sucked on his teeth. His eyes continued to roam all over my body before he nodded.
“I suppose not,” he said. “It’s just something you do to me. I’ll just have to get another girl to come in so I can fuck her. I’ll be thinking of you when I do it though. What do you think about that, Asia? Would you like that?”
I swallowed as I nodded softly to him. Blade burst into a loud cackle, his laughter bouncing off the walls of his office.
“You always were such a slut.”
He sighed a deep breath and straightened his tie before heading back to his desk.
“You’ve got the right idea though,” he said. “Treat these men special. If they realize I’ve got the best girls in town, they’ll be more than willing to do business with me. I’ll have all of Ivory in the palm of my hand. Now let’s see…”
I stood there and patiently waited for the answers I was looking for.
“I don’t know how this will help you,” he said. “But maybe it’ll make you feel a little more comfortable going into it.”
“Yes, that’s right. If I know who and what to expect, I can be more of myself.”
“Thomas Livingston. He’s an old man. I’m sure he’ll be happy with something vanilla. Jonathan Wynn. Another old guy. I don’t think he’ll ask for anything too special. Mario Blackwell. He’s a scary guy. Probably wants to dominate you. Be ready for that…”
I nodded in understanding. The names continued to ring in my head.
“Oh, and how could I forget Jamie Walsh.”
I did my best not to react.
“Walsh is a small-time dealer. Probably used to banging nothing but cheap whores walking the streets. He’s a bit of a cutthroat. And a hard worker, too. If I can have him on the corners working for me in this town, I’m sure I’ll make a lot of cash.”
“Jamie Walsh,” I said with a nod.
Blade looked at his monitor and thought to himself.
“Walsh is a young guy,” he said. “He’ll probably get wild when he sees you. I’m sure he’ll be happy if you just let him fuck you in the ass. I’d recommend getting a lot of lube.”
Blade smirked at me. I forced a smile onto my face and bowed my head.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know about your clients?” Blade asked.
“No. I’ll be ready to give them all I have this weekend.”
“Good. Now get out of here. I have shit to do.”
I turned around and started clicking my heels toward the exit. Just before I got to the door, Blade called out to me.
“Asia!”
I slowly turned back around and saw him staring at me.
“You look beautiful today,” he said.
“…Thanks.”
“Clean yourself up a little bit and find someone new to fuck you. Just because you’ve got some big clients this weekend doesn’t mean you’re getting any time off. I’m still expecting some money from you. Every day. You got it?”
“I got it.”
He ignored me as he went back to the work on his desk. I sighed softly to myself as I left his office.
I got the information I needed. Now it was just a matter of setting everything up with Charles.
Chapter 7
CHARLES
“Did you eat?”
“What?”
“Did you eat?”
Asia wrinkled her brow after she repeated the question. It was the same look you’d get from a concerned mother. I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Um…”
“What have you been doing in Ivory all day?”
“What’s with all the fucking questions?” I responded.
“I just wanna make sure you’re doing okay. If you’re dealing with Walsh, you’re dealing with Blade. That means this is serious.”
“But what the fuck does that have to do with me eating?”
“Because people don’t think straight when they’re hungry. I’m sure you were running around Ivory causing trouble but please tell me you haven’t been getting into any more shit. You’ve only been here a day and the both of us are already in deep.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I shook my head and sighed at the worried look on her face.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got a full stomach.”
“Good.”
“You know, you’re cute when you care so much.”
Asia rolled her eyes at me. But it wasn’t enough to hide her reddened cheeks.
“Please,” she said. “I don’t need any flattery from you. Not right now.”
She grabbed her drink and took a sip from it.
Asia contacted me and told me to meet up with her because she had some of the information I was looking for. After sitting around in my hotel room the entire day, it was nice to finally get out of it.
“What is this place?” I said as I looked around.
The bar was completely different from Finn’s. There weren’t as many people. The music wasn’t loud. Even the lights seemed a little lower.
“It’s just a place I like to go to when I wanna get away,” Asia explained. “Most people go to Finn’s when they’re looking for a good time. Out here, people just wanna have a drink and mind their own business.”
“It seems like there’s plenty of places in Ivory to mind your own business.”
“That’s one of the nice things about living in a small town,” she sighed. “Not many people to bother you when you wanna be alone.”
Asia took another sip of her drink. I gulped my beer as I leaned back in my seat. I stared at her, my eyes wide, waiting for her to give me the information I was looking. But all she did was stare back at me.
The innocence on her face made it hard for me not to smile at her. It didn’t help that she was wearing an outfit that made it hard for me to focus.
“What?” she said with a shrug. “What are you looking at?”
“You wanted to tell me something?”
“Oh! Right…”
She looked around to make sure nobody was listening then leaned forward across the table.
“I talked to Blade,” she said. “He told me some of the men he was doing business with this weekend. He said one of them was a guy named Jamie Walsh.”
My eyes lit up when I heard the name.
“Then he really is here in Ivory,” I said. “Fred wasn’t lying…”
“Hold on a second. I don’t know what the guy looks like. It could be another Jamie Walsh. You said you’re gonna…”
She shifted her eyes back and forth again before she whispered.
“…You said you’re gonna kill this guy. I don’t want you killing the wrong man.”
“Well, what did Blade say about him?”
“Nothing. He just said he’s a dealer. Young. I think the word he used was ‘cutthroat’ or something.”
“That’s Walsh. I’m sure it is.”
“Okay then…”
She sighed as she leaned back in her seat. She took another gulp of her drink and signaled for the waitress to come to our table.
“I hope you’ve got a plan for this,” she said. “I’m not interested in being involved if you’re just gonna kill this guy and don’t care about getting locked up.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be a long time before anybody figures out what happened.”
The waitress arrived and took Asia’s drink order. She continued to look nervous despite how much she’d been drinking alread
y.
“So… What’s the plan?”
She widened her eyes at me and held her hands out. I thought twice about giving her the details but having her work with me meant this wasn’t gonna be as messy as it could’ve been.
“The plan is you meet up with him,” I said. “Then I’ll show up and take care of him.”
I nonchalantly drank my beer as I looked around the bar. When I turned back to Asia, she gave me a blank stare.
“That’s it?” she said. “You’re just gonna show up and kill him?”
“I’ll strangle him until he stops breathing. Is there a problem? That’s what you agreed to.”
“That’s it? That’s your plan?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Are you kidding me? That’s a horrible plan! You can’t expect to get away with something like that.”
She leaned in close to me and whispered again even though nobody else in the bar gave a shit.
“You can’t expect to just choke a guy and walk away.”
“Why not?”
“Because… What about the body? What about the crime scene?”
“Before anybody shows up at the crime scene, I’ll be long gone.”
“And what about me?”
Asia had these deep green eyes. Even in the dim lighting of the bar, I could still see her staring back at me. And when I stared into her eyes, I finally realized why she was so concerned.
Stupid idiot…
“I guess that would put you in a difficult position,” I said. “You being last seen with the guy and then him disappearing.”
“I’m already in a difficult position now. After you do what you’re gonna do, I’m in even deeper shit.”
“You knew what I was planning on doing. Why would you agree to it?”
“Because… Because…”
She stuttered. She looked down at the ground as she hesitated.
“Because of the money,” she said.
“Money wouldn’t do you any good if the police are questioning you about some punk who’s gone missing.”
“I wasn’t planning on sticking around. I figure the 50-thousand would be enough for me to leave.”
“Leave? Where are you going?”
