by Dia Cole
Speaking of… I spied the homeless male on my way out of the lot. After rolling down the window and calling him over, I handed the guy a hundred-dollar bill. “Don’t ever bother Vana again, understand?” I pushed a heavy dose of compulsion into my voice.
The male, younger than I’d first surmised, blinked hard. “I won’t bother her.”
“Good. Also get off the drugs, clean yourself up, and get a job.”
The man nodded obediently.
If only all my problems could be solved so easily, I thought as I drove back home. Of course, I really had only one problem. One tall, blond, vicious problem that I needed to face head-on. No longer could I continue to play Tasha’s reindeer games in the hopes she’d ignore Mira. My recent conversation with Ty clarified one thing for me. Tasha would never allow Mira to survive past her first transformation. Ty and I both suspected that Mira would become a very powerful Alpha female as she grew. Once Tasha discovered that, she would destroy our daughter, bargain or no bargain.
I knew running wasn’t an option as there was nothing Tasha loved more than a good hunt. I’d seen more than a few poor souls meet a horrific end after leading Tasha on a merry chase across the globe. I also knew that I didn’t stand a chance of going up against her, even with Ty by my side. We needed help.
Before I could second-guess myself, I dialed Shoshanna’s direct line.
Initially, the Alpha female seemed anxious at my call, but that quickly turned to shocked delight when she’d heard my proposal. Thank the fates, she’d accepted and we’d forged a new alliance that would either remake our world for the better, or destroy everything and everyone that I loved.
After ending our call and making a pit stop to pick up dinner, I pulled into my garage. Eager to see how Mira was doing, I jogged into the house.
“Daddy!” Mira squealed. She zipped down the hallway on a toy car and smashed straight into my shins.
“Ugh!”
Ty, who was standing behind her in the foyer, shrugged apologetically at me.
Mira jumped off her ride and wrapped her arms around my legs. “Where did you go, Daddy?”
I dropped the flat box I was carrying on the entry hall table, bent down, and scooped her into my arms. “Just checking on Vana, sunshine. How are you feeling?”
She pursed her lips together. “Sad. Ty said Vana isn’t my nanny anymore.”
“Thanks, brother,” I said, my telepathic voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ty stiffened. “She wouldn’t stop asking about Havana, and it’s the truth, isn’t it? You fired her.”
I looked down at Mira. “We’ll be seeing a lot more of Vana. Don’t you worry.”
“We will?” Ty asked, a surprised look on his face.
Ignoring him, I said to Mira, “How does your stomach feel?”
She rubbed it. “Hungry.”
That’s a good sign. “Excellent. I picked something up on the way home.” Shifting her weight I bent down and picked up the box.
Ty grimaced. “Pizza? Really, brother? What’s next? Wine in boxes?”
“We’re not eating anything in there.” I motioned toward the kitchen. I didn’t trust that Mrs. Pierce hadn’t tampered with the food while under the influence of Emmanuel’s orders.
“What’s pizza?” Mira asked, sniffing the box in my hand.
“Your new favorite food,” I replied, covering her face with kisses.
After dinner and a few games of tag, I tucked Mira into bed, and went to my room to shower and dress. It was embarrassing how long I stood in my closet deliberating what to wear. I wasn’t exactly sure what tonight’s meeting with Vana would entail, but somehow a suit didn’t seem appropriate. Why do I have so damn many suits?
“Are you going to stay in there all day?” Ty asked from my bedroom. I quickly pulled on a pair of slacks and dress shirt and stepped out to see him standing with his back against one of the bedposts. The same post I’d tied Vana’s hands to, I remembered with a smile. I couldn’t wait to reenact that encounter. But it would have to wait. I let out a heavy sigh and then straightened my shoulders. I’ve waited a lifetime to find her, I can wait a few more months to claim her.
Ty gave me a once-over. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes. I need to return Vana’s purse. I’m going to drop it off at her place.”
He frowned. “Is that wise? It’s a full moon tonight.”
Ah. That explained some of the wild heat thrumming through my blood. “I’m just returning her personal effects, brother.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Ty said with a knowing look on his face. “That explains the cologne.”
“I always wear cologne,” I replied with a huff. I gave my shoulder a sniff. Did I put on too much?
“I suppose you’re expecting me to stay at the house to watch Mira while you’re out?”
I grabbed a pair of socks from my dresser. “I hoped you would.”
Ty made an exasperated noise. “So I get to babysit, while you get to ravish Havana.”
“That’s not going to happen.” As much as I want it to happen. I stalked back into my closet and put on the socks and dress shoes. “At least not for six more months.”
“Six months?” Ty’s gaze tracked me as I walked back to my dresser and ran a comb through my hair.
“I can’t escape these—” I clinked together the silver cuffs on my wrists “—until we overthrow Tasha.”
Ty’s mouth dropped open. “The fuck you say?”
I spun around not even trying to hide my excitement. “I’ve made an alliance with Alpha Moreau.”
“The Alpha whose nephew just tried to kill you and Mira?” Ty asked with a raised eyebrow. He’d been furious when I’d told him about Emmanuel’s plot and he didn’t agree that imprisonment was a fair enough punishment.
“I told you Shoshanna wasn’t involved. Anyway, with her help, and the help of her Moon Hunters, I’m going to force Tasha to abdicate. We’re going to do it at Tasha’s New Year’s Eve party.” It was the perfect venue as council law dictated that a faction leader had to verbally denounce their position in front of their people, the other faction leaders, and the council members themselves. “You know how Tasha always invites the other faction leaders as well as the council members to Sanctuary.” Tasha loved to show off all the “trophies” aka the taxidermied Lykos she’d used to decorate the mountain lodge.
Ty shook his head. “My mother will have dozens of armed Enforcers with her as well as her entourage. And you know she’s paranoid as hell. How do you plan on getting to her?”
“With your help.” The plan only worked if Ty used his spymaster skills to aid our cause.
Ty let out a dark laugh. “You’re asking me to help you betray and kill my mother.”
“Overthrow.” I wanted this done without bloodshed. Our people had suffered enough as it was.
The Alpha male rolled his eyes. “My mother will never step down as faction leader. To replace her, we must kill her—Tasha Digoski one of the biggest, fastest, and strongest Alpha females ever created. I don’t even know if she can be killed. And even if, by some miracle, we could take her out, what would happen next? You know our people will never accept Shoshanna as their leader.”
“Alpha Moreau has proposed Mira become the new Winterhaven Faction leader, with you and me acting as regents until she’s of age.”
Ty looked stunned. “Mira?”
“Yes. Shoshanna is even willing to sign a peace treaty with Winterhaven to last as long as Mira is ruler.”
“But we have to kill my mother first.”
“Overthrow,” I corrected him again. “So you’re in?”
“You still haven’t told me how we’re going to… overthrow her.”
I had to stifle my smile. I’d hoped that Ty would stand by me and his confirmation filled me with relief. “We have six months to work out the details, but right now—” I peered over his shoulder at the clock on the wall “—I need to go rehire a nanny.”
Keeping the
bouquet of flowers behind my back, I rapped lightly on Vana’s apartment door. My plan was simple, apologize for letting her go and implore her to come back to work. I also had to make it clear that there couldn’t be any kind of romantic relationship between us. Not yet anyway. As much as I longed to show her how I felt, I couldn’t risk violating the agreement with Tasha. Not now when I was so close to finally eliminating her as a threat. I had to keep the Beast placated and give her no reason to doubt me if our plan was to succeed. And it would succeed. For the first time in my life I was confident we’d take out Tasha and the choke hold she’d had over our lives for so long.
The door swung open revealing the purple-haired female wearing fishnet thigh-high stockings, a black thong, and nothing else.
I choked on my greeting, trying desperately not to stare at the female’s nipple piercings. “Good evening, Sydney. Is Ms. James here?”
“Hey, Daddy Warbucks.” Sydney’s head was cocked to the side as she inserted a large hoop earring into her ear. “Vana’s not here, but she left a note for you.” She stepped back and motioned me to enter. “Come on in.”
I hesitated. Being alone with this half-naked female didn’t seem like a smart move.
Sydney laughed. “Don’t worry. Vana said I couldn’t screw you under any circumstances. The note’s on the fridge.” She bobbed her head in the direction of a small galley kitchen visible from the doorway. “I’m also headed to the club. Max, our boss, is in a bad way tonight. Can you believe all but two girls called in? That canine flu is no joke.”
I walked in and inhaled deeply. Through the lingering odor of cleaning products, I made out Vana’s intoxicating smell. It was all over this place making the wolf in me want to drop to the floor and roll around in her scent. Curious about her whereabouts, I set the flowers and Vana’s purse on the kitchen counter and picked up the small yellow Post-it note stuck on the refrigerator.
Nathan, I need to do a favor for a friend. I’ll be home by 10.
As Sydney disappeared to the back of the apartment, she called out, “Vana will be so pissed she missed you. Hell, that girl made me scrub this place for hours. I think she was hoping you’d hang out and wait for her, but it’s only eight. She won’t even be hitting the stage yet.”
“Stage?” I asked in confusion.
She stepped back in the room wearing a tight purple dress and heels so high they looked painful to walk in. “Yeah at Eros. That’s where I’m headed now.”
Eros. That sounded familiar. I rubbed my jaw as I recalled Ty mentioning the place. He’d had to go to the restaurant to do his background check on Vana. Apparently she’d been a waitress there or something. “Isn’t that a steak place?”
Sydney giggled. “Oh, we serve up meat all right.” Her smile widened into something that the Cheshire cat might wear. “You know, you should go see her tonight. I need a ride anyway. Vana took my car and the goddess only knows if Leftie would actually remember to pick me up.” She grabbed a duffel bag and gave me an expectant look.
I wanted to see Vana and I couldn’t think of a reason to deny Sydney’s request. “Okay.”
She clapped her hands together the way Mira did when she was excited. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see her. You’re in for a real treat tonight, Daddy Warbucks!”
Hoping that Vana would be equally happy to see me, I let Sydney pull me out the door.
19
Havana
It was chaos at the club. The other dancers Max managed to beg, guilt, or bribe into working tonight filled the sweltering dressing room. Choking on the cloud of perfume, hair spray, and body glitter filling the steamy air, I muttered, “No dancers my ass,” under my breath.
Max had sounded near tears earlier today when he’d called Syd’s phone and asked for me. Reluctantly, I’d taken his call and listened to his sob story. Supposedly, all but two of his dancers had called in with the canine flu and he had a large group of corporate executive VIPs visiting the club tonight. When that didn’t move me, he added that Gavin had come down with the canine flu and Donna was home caring for him. Of course I was heartbroken hearing that. I loved that little imp and had been babysitting him since he was a newborn.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have thought twice about helping Max out, especially since I knew for a fact that the Strip Club Killer was no longer a threat. But Nathan was coming over and the last thing I wanted was to miss the opportunity to see where that brief kiss was going to lead. As I’d apologized to Max, he’d dug deep and reminded me of how he’d always waved the house fee for me and how he’d helped me out with a job when my mom had died. Ugh. I couldn’t deny him then. I probably would’ve ended up on the streets if not for Max giving me my first break.
Hoping that I’d still be able to run into Nathan later, I dusted off my gear, and rushed over to the club only to find the dressing room crammed with bodies. As I struggled to squeeze into my black leather underbust corset, I looked out at the familiar faces.
In the corner there was Cami yapping away on her phone. The big-breasted platinum blonde hadn’t bothered to put her outfit on and she twirled around her stool flashing us all her goods Basic Instinct style. I snorted. She and Syd were cut from the same cloth, it was odd they didn’t get along.
Crystal sat beside her carefully putting in her colored contacts. They changed the Asian beauty’s eyes to a striking ice-blue color that matched her wig and sparkly bodysuit. I’d long envied the way she could effortlessly slink out of those outfits onstage. The one time I’d tried stripping in a bodysuit, I’d resembled a caterpillar being eaten by its cocoon.
Next to Crystal was Jess, a voluptuous redhead wearing cowboy boots and a denim bikini. As Jess snapped on her crotchless chaps, she glared at the shorter, dark-haired woman pulling items out of the locker next to me.
To her credit, Lee ignored Jess. Wearing fluffy white wings and lacy white lingerie, Lee looked every inch the triple X version of an angel. No wonder Max had made her the club headliner. Lee exuded an alluring mix of seductive innocence that was at odds with the darkness in her eyes. No doubt this girl had lived through some serious shit. But then again, so had most of us.
This life wasn’t something most people chose as their first option or even their second. Desperation, along with the willingness to give the finger to society’s negative views of what we did, landed most of us here and the boatloads of cash kept us here. But it didn’t come without a cost. The lust-filled men sitting in the club didn’t care how smart we were or that rent was due or that we had family members depending on us. No. They only wanted to see us shake our tits. Here our only value was our sex appeal. And right now, I was really starting to doubt mine.
Months off the pole and too many of Mrs. Pierce’s meals had taken its toll on my figure. My breasts, with their added volume, had never looked more awesome, but I wasn’t so wild about the extra pounds on my waistline. It seemed my tiny corset didn’t like the added curviness either. Muttering a foul curse, I tried for a third time to lace up the damn thing.
Catching my eye, Lee said, “Do you need any help?”
Embarrassingly enough I did. I gave the dark-haired woman a grateful smile. “Could you do the laces?”
“Sure.” Lee stepped behind me and began pulling the loops tight.
I gasped and grabbed the side of the lockers for support.
“I heard about what happened with Jeremy this morning. It’s incredible that you were able to fight him off like that,” she gushed.
My cheeks heated. When I’d first arrived, I’d felt like a celebrity the way the other girls cheered and peppered me with questions. “Yeah, well, I channeled Mistress Robin and she showed him who was boss.”
Lee laughed. “I’ll have to remember that if I’m ever in a tight spot.”
I twisted around to look at her. “Seriously, don’t discount the survival power of seduction.”
Lee nodded. “I’ll admit I was surprised and disappointed to see you her
e tonight,” she said with a hard yank.
“Oh,” I panted, not sure how to respond to that.
“I’d heard that you got a sweet gig as a nanny. I kind of hoped you’d turned your back on this life.”
“What? And leave this all behind?” I waved around us.
Crystal, who was now using a hair dryer to mold a pair of platform stilettos to her feet, glared at us. “What are you looking at?”
“A bitch who’s going to get a taste of my whip if she doesn’t sweeten her tune.” I motioned down at my prop.
Crystal let out a huff and turned back to her shoes.
I continued glaring at the petite dancer. It seemed in the months I’d been gone, some girls had gotten a bit too uppity for their own good.
“Don’t mind her, she’s on the rag,” Lee said. Within a minute or two she had me all laced up. She stepped back to look at her handiwork and said, “You look gorgeous.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I look fat. You can say it.”
She shook her head. “Not at all. I’m pissed my set is after yours because you’re going to drain their wallets tonight.”
“Ah, thank you, girlie. Did I tell you that you’re my favorite dancer here?” I gave her a quick hug, making sure not to crush her wings.
“Hey! I thought I was your favorite!” Syd called out from the doorway.
“Oh great! Rainbow Bright is here,” snarked Jess.
“Sit on this and spin, Evil Bitch of the West,” Syd retorted, flipping off the sour-faced redhead. Then rolling her eyes in Cami’s direction she sashayed over to Lee and me. “Seriously, Camel needs to put on a thong or something. No one wants to see that shit.”
“Camel?” Lee asked in confusion.
I sighed. “Syd started calling Cami that because she—”
“Has two giant humps on her,” Syd finished waving her hands across her chest. Ever since Cami had gotten her boobs done, Syd had been giving her hell about it.
