by Gwyn McNamee
“Very true, Stone, very true. I wouldn’t say I have a lot of friends.”
Savoring the burn of the whiskey down my throat, I take a moment to consider the situation. Castillo is ruthless. Dom’s been battling his desire to expand their territory for years. It doesn’t surprise me they are making another push. It does surprise me Dom would be dumb enough to insult the man to his face. There’s no way that didn’t aggravate an already touchy situation.
“I’ll contact Castillo and ask for a meeting tomorrow.”
Dom nods and drains the last of his drink. “Good. One less thing for me to worry about.”
I check my watch.
12:30.
Nora should be going on stage right about now with her second dance. That damn little schoolgirl outfit. Not normally my style, but on her?
Fuck.
I need to remember not to think about her while sitting in business meetings. My swelling cock is bound to get noticed one of these times. With as much discretion as possible, I adjust my poor, neglected dick and finish my drink.
“If there’s nothing else…I’m going to take off.”
His brow shoots up. “Got somewhere else to be?”
You could say that.
“Kind of. I’ll let you know what I get arranged tomorrow.”
Dom heaves his bulky frame up from his chair and meets me on the side of the desk. He grasps my hand and claps me on the shoulder. “You’re a good kid. If I haven’t mentioned it, I’m glad you’re home.”
He has mentioned it. Many times.
And repeatedly told me that the continued success of his empire is essentially in my hands from now on.
But I’m not going to remind him of that. Right now, there are only two things on my mind. Getting out of here fast enough to catch Nora’s last dance of the night…and getting some blow.
Working at TWO today is going to provide three things I desperately need: money, peace of mind that Stone won’t be watching me from the dark recesses, and space from Savage and Gabe. The last is especially needed after my blow up with Gabe last night when I confronted him about not offering me the opportunity like he did the other girls.
Criminy!
Who the fudge does he think he is, anyway?
He wouldn’t admit it, but I know, without a doubt, that he and Savage didn’t tell me because they want to be able to keep an eye on me, and that’s easier to do at the main club. They dramatically underestimate my ability to take care of myself. Even after I helped Savage when that fight broke out, back when he started dating Dani, he still sees me as a princess, not Xena Warrior Princess like he should. Okay, that’s probably an overstatement. I’m much more likely to back away from a fight than start one, but I don’t like knowing he feels like I need protecting.
TWO has only been open for about a year, but it already appears to have a pretty decent crowd from what I can see when I push through the front door. It’s barely four in the afternoon, but the place is already packed. The bouncer gives me a once-over and approaches.
“You Cashmere?”
I crane my neck up to look him in the eye.
Dang. This guy is a giant.
“Yeah.”
He grins, extends a massive hand, and crushes mine with a vise-like grip. “Solomon. But people call me Big S, or Saint.”
Ouch! You certainly are big.
No, big isn’t even the right word. Enormous is close. Maybe ginormous?
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” He tosses his head toward the bar area behind him. “Vance is over there. You can check in with him. Let me know if you need anything.”
I nod and wander off toward the bar, taking stock of the crowded main floor on my way. A rowdy group of college age guys surround the main stage. The pile of bills at the feet of the girl on the pole gives me hope for the evening. A small table in the corner holds a duo of older men in suits who are more interested in whatever they’re discussing than what’s happening on stage. And there’s another group of men who look like mini-van dads sitting off to the side and watching everything from a safe distance.
From the bar, a tall, thin, and incredibly handsome blond guy watches my approach and offers me a grin when I finally reach him. “Hey, you must be Cashmere.”
“I am. Are you Vance?”
He nods and makes his way around the bar to meet me on the other side. “Follow me to the back. I’ll introduce you to the girls.”
A short hall leads back to a changing room very similar to the one at the main club. Rows of vanity mirrors line two walls and lockers take up the one across from where we enter. Three women in various stages of undress glance over at us before returning their attention to their preparations.
“Cherry, Rose, Carmen, this is Cashmere. She’s going to be helping fill in until Michaela and Jasmine are back.”
Mumbled hellos and waves over their shoulders are the only welcome I get. Not that I expected much different. This is their domain. I’m an outsider.
Crap. I hope they don’t know who I am.
If they knew I was Savage’s sister-in-law, that could make this even worse. Given their lack of interest, though, I’m pretty sure I’m safe…at least for now. I’m sure Vance knows, no doubt Savage or Gabe mentioned it to him as soon as I told Gabe I wanted to come over here. But everyone at the club is pretty good about keeping real names and anything else personal private.
Vance leads me to an empty vanity station and motions toward it. “You can get ready here. There are open lockers for your stuff.” He glances down at his watch. “You go on in about an hour. I need you on the floor until then. Let me or one of the girls know if you need anything. Thanks again for helping out.”
“No problem.” Really, he’s the one doing me the favor. Dancing was supposed to be a way to escape from the shitty choices I made—something mindless and easy and fun. It’s turned into a giant complicated pile of crap since Dani married Savage and Stone started watching me.
Maybe here, I can get some relief.
My ass barely hits the chair before a young blonde woman with breasts the size of basketballs appears in the mirror behind me. She smiles and leans down, resting her elbow on the back of the chair. “So, how long you been dancin’ for?”
“About a year and a half, almost two.”
Her eyes widen. “Wow, that long? I just started a couple months ago.”
If I didn’t know the law required her to be twenty-one to dance, I would be sure she was barely eighteen. But Savage and Gabe would never risk having someone underage working for them. The only reason I was allowed to keep dancing when the new law upping the age passed was because I turned twenty-one a month before the grandfather clause expired.
“What did you do before this?”
The question is innocent enough, but my gut clenches, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from snapping at her to mind her own business. “Uh, I was in school.”
“For what?”
I sigh. My answer is bound to create an issue, and if I don’t answer, she’s going to think I’m anti-social or uppity. I’m screwed either way, so I might as well just be honest. “Pre-med.”
She jerks up, and her eyes narrow on me. “Oh, one of those smart girls who thinks she’s better than all of us, huh?”
Exactly why I didn’t want to answer your question.
I turn to her and try to do some damage control by telling her the God’s honest truth. “Not at all. I never should have even been there. This is where I belong.”
Her pale blue, heavily-makeuped eyes consider me for a moment before they soften slightly. “If you say so.” She turns away from me, and I slump down further in the chair.
Well, the night can only get better from here…right?
Godfuckingdammit!
Not only did I miss Nora last night at the club because of how long Dom kept me in the meeting, now she’s not here at all when she would normally work tonight. Just my fucking luck.
“Where is Nora?”
Byron quirks a dark eyebrow at me and leans against the bar. “Why do you care?”
A growl forms deep in my throat, but I doubt he can hear it over the thumping bass of the music.
“I have some business with her.”
He chuckles and runs a hand back through his hair as he straightens. “I bet you do…”
I slam my palms down on the bar top. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Byron doesn’t even flinch, just crosses his arms over his chest and watches me with a knowing glint in his eyes. “Do you honestly think I haven’t noticed you sneaking in and out the back door and sitting in the corner booth watching her over the last couple months? I’m not blind, you know. It’s my job to know what happens around here. I’d be surprised if your brother doesn’t already know too, considering the way he watches those cameras with an eagle eye.”
Shit.
The fucking cameras.
But…no…no way Savage has noticed. I would have had my ass reamed out a long time ago if he saw any correlation between me being here and Nora. He must be too wrapped up in being a dad and the new construction on THREE happening to be watching as closely as he used to. Which is probably the only reason he hasn’t tried to skin my hide.
Savage may not be on my case, but Byron has apparently made it his business to question my interest in Nora.
“Are you going to tell me where she is, or what?”
He considers me for a moment before dropping his arms and reaching for a glass. “She’s over at TWO. They had a few girls get sick and needed some people to fill in for a couple days.”
A band tightens around my chest.
Shit.
The thought of her at TWO makes my skin crawl. Not because of anything specific, but mostly because I’ve never set foot in there, and the unfamiliarity of it equals unsafe in my fucked up mind. Working so much with Dom over the last several months has shown me the real seedy side of NOLA. It’s not that I didn’t know it existed. I’ve represented some pretty shitty people in California and they are everywhere. But NOLA’s crime and underworld is something else entirely. And it’s something Nora doesn’t need to be within a hundred miles of.
At least here, I know she’s safe. Byron, Savage, Gabe, and the bouncers ensure that. I don’t know the guys at TWO. And that means I don’t trust them.
Byron slides a tumbler full of a dark liquid across the bar to me.
“Have a drink.”
I reach out and grab the glass, raising it to my lips for a sip of the warm, spicy bourbon he poured.
Chill, Stone.
There’s no point in freaking out or flying off the handle about this. Especially not at Byron. The guy’s been a loyal employee and everyone loves him.
He watches me for a moment before he leans against the bar and sighs. “Can I make a suggestion?”
My glass clinks against the bar a little harder than I intended when I bring it back down. I grit my teeth. “Sure.”
“Nora is a good girl. I still don’t know how she ever ended up in this place. When she started, she told me she just liked dancing, but I know there’s more to it than that. There’s a lot to that girl, and she doesn’t need your kind of trouble in her life. And you don’t need the kind of trouble it would cause you with Savage and Dani if you pursued anything with her. So, keep skulking in the corner and watching her if you want to, but I would recommend keeping your hands to yourself when it comes to Nora.”
Visions of my fist smashing into Byron’s face flash in my head, but I manage to contain my rage long enough to drain my drink and take a step back from the bar. The last thing I need is to beat the shit out of Savage’s bar manager. Ending up in jail and even further on my brother’s bad side are two things I’d rather avoid.
“Thanks for the advice.”
He nods, but we both know I’m not going to take it.
I’m drawn to her like a fucking moth to a flame. Or more like a hungry wolf circling an injured lamb. The whole innocent thing has never done anything for me before. I prefer women who let me give them what they need, even if they don’t know they need it. Women who are open and willing are my usual fare. Nora will run screaming if I try to do what I really want to.
The drizzle falling when I step outside cools my temper but not my desire for her. The engine on my Aston Martin Vanquish roars to life, and I peel out of the parking lot onto the rain-dampened street.
Fucking shit.
My bone-crushing grip on the steering wheel turns my knuckles white.
Why can’t I stay away from this girl?
It’s not like me to do stupid and reckless things, at least, not anymore. I went off the rails a bit during my formative years, but control is my life now. I crave it, I need it more than I need oxygen most days. And this woman makes me want to throw all that carefully honed control out the window.
I can’t have her.
I know that.
That fact had been accepted the moment I met her and took her small, cool hand in my huge warm one to shake it. Her cornflower eyes had flickered up to meet mine, and a flush had spread over her pale skin instantly before she lowered her gaze to the floor and pulled her hand from mine.
Our first encounter told me all I needed to know. She was polite and surprisingly shy and soft-spoken. And it was clear she’s a born submissive.
Under normal circumstances, that fact would have me practically coming in my pants. But when the girl was so tangled in my already fucked up family dynamics, and clearly a good girl, that fact instead gave me the worst case of blue-balls I’ve had in my life.
Fuck. Just FUCK.
And now, I’m driving across town for this girl.
Why?
We’ve barely spoken to each other and when we have, the vibes rolling off her certainly weren’t take me back to your place and have your way with me. They were more if you even think about touching me, you’re going to lose your balls.
She’s attracted to me, that’s one thing she can’t hide. But attraction isn’t enough, not for what a girl like Nora wants and deserves. For a girl I’ll spend a night or two with, sure. But not Nora.
The sign for The Hawkeye Club II appears and I veer into the lot, barely touching the brake.
An unstoppable need to see her drives me across the pavement. Night fell hours ago, and the lot is packed with cars. Despite my desire to get in to see her, there’s no way I’m parking my baby anywhere near the vehicles of the drunk revelers, especially when it’s raining.
I pull around the back of the club toward the rear door. A flash of white blonde hair draws my attention to the corner of the lot and I slow.
Nora.
She jogs toward a car parked under a lamp. A dark blue truck three spots over slowly inches out of the space…without its headlights on. A shiver rolls through my body. Whatever the driver is up to, it’s no good.
Why the fuck isn’t someone escorting her out?
My foot moves from the brake to the gas almost involuntarily, and I crank the wheel and gun it. Eating up the pavement, the car shoots across the lot toward her.
She pauses next to her car and rummages through her purse, seemingly oblivious to the fact there is someone in the truck watching her. It creeps forward out of its spot toward her.
It only takes a few seconds for me to reach her, but it feels like hours. My car skids to a stop next to her. At the squeal of tires on the wet pavement, her head jerks up and wide eyes search the dark tinted windows.
Grasping something in her hand, she turns and lunges for her car door just as I throw mine open.
“Nora!”
The truck tears off without me ever seeing who was driving
“Nora!”
My hand lands on her shoulder, and before I even know what’s happening, my arm twists sideways.
Fuck!
And something smashes into my balls.
“You kneed Stone in the balls?” Caroline’s incredul
ous tone matches my feelings about what went down last night perfectly. I still can’t believe it happened.
I sigh and drop my face into my hands. “Yes. Hard too. He dropped so fast, I thought I’d ruptured something.” I look back up at her to gauge her reaction.
Caroline scoots forward to the edge of her chair, her eyes wide and begging for more. She’s practically salivating. “Oh, my God, what did you do then?”
“As soon as he collapsed, I jumped in my car and got the heck out of there.”
She jerks back. “You just left him there? With potentially damaged nuts?”
Fudge!
The look she’s giving me right now does nothing to alleviate my guilt. I barely slept last night thinking about what happened. He just came out of nowhere. I didn’t know it was him. What was I supposed to do?
“I didn’t know it was him until after the damage was done. It all happened so quickly. All I saw was this silver sports car barreling across the parking lot toward me, and I panicked. I tried to get in my car, but then someone grabbed my arm. I guess my self-defense training paid off because I just reacted and twisted his arm back and threw my knee into him. I didn’t even see who my attacker was until I had pulled out of the spot and turned the car around. My headlights landed on his face. At that point, I was so flustered…I didn’t know what to do, so yeah, I left.”
“Whew. Girl, kicking a man in the nuts is no small thing. Are you sure he’s all right?”
I reach out for my water and gulp it down, trying to soothe my dry throat. The thought I may have seriously hurt him has been weighing on me. I still can’t believe I actually kneed him in the junk. Poor Stone…
But seriously, what was he thinking? Charging at me like that and then grabbing me? He’s lucky I wasn’t carrying a gun.
“No, I’m not sure he’s all right, but what can I do now?”
Caroline chuckles and grabs her glass of wine. “You could at least check on the poor guy.” She takes a sip, eyeing me over the rim of the glass.
