9. Pleasure Palace
Chapter 9
Pleasure Palace
FRANK
“ N umber Seven, crouch down and hold out your tongue. Mikail, face this way and place your hands in your pockets. Oh, but can we take off the eye wrap?” the photographer asks the assistant to help the fucker next to me take off his eye wrap while he poses with a cig in his mouth because he refuses to put it out, but I want to snatch it from him and stomp it because Jessica doesn’t like smoking.
Plus, it’ll get on me, but since she’s out of town, I guess I’ll let it go. I do as instructed and we pose in the maid outfits for the new ads going out for the reverse maid café that’s opening at the club.
I really didn’t want to do it, but they offered to pay me the model rate, so why the fuck not?
Once the shoot is over, I pull out my phone, texting baby.
Husfriend : Is everything okay?
Husfriend : For fucks sake Jessica why are you making me worry?
I’m not really worried. I have people on her trail, so I know about how that piece of shit coach yelled at her and made her kneel in the snow. Honestly, I’m tempted to put an end to the mother fucker, but again… Jessica would fucking hate that.
I put a tracker in her bag, so I heard the commotion on the bus. It seems like the asshole and some other asshole got into an altercation, resulting in my baby getting yelled at. All of them are already considered dead in my eyes, but the only reason I’m restraining is because I want her to be able to focus. However, this shit is getting out of hand. Why the fuck isn’t she picking up?
It seems Jessica is avoiding me… I fucking hate it. What went wrong? Was it the necklace? No, it can’t be, she was definitely happy when I gave it to her, so what could it have been? Am I moving too fast? Maybe… but how can I help it when she’s?—
“What the fuck are you grinding your teeth so loud for? It’s annoying.” I hear on the side of me and I curl my lip. I’ve only been behind the bar for a day, and I want to trip this blind fucker, but even when I try he never seems to fall for it. Ignoring him, I go back to writing about my wife.
I don’t know what I did wrong, but I won’t fucking let this continue. I’m sick and fucking tired of this… Maybe I need to just kidnap her and fu?—
“Number Seven, the big bosses are calling for you,” the secretary for the owners of Pleasure Palace calls out, and I sigh because it seems like these mother fuckers won’t let me finish my journal entry today. I snap it closed and stand, following the guy to the back of the club, where he stands at attention and bows while I saunter inside.
Upon entering, I see the big bosses of the club. Dustin, who sits behind the desk, and Rafe, who stands with his arms crossed, watching me.
Etiquette is the standard, one is to wait for them to allow you to be seated, but I’m nobody’s bitch or submissive, so I go up to one of the chairs in front of the desk, pull it out, and take a seat, waiting for them to say what the fuck they have to say so I can get back to finishing my journal entry.
“You sure took your time coming to see us,” Dustin finally speaks up, and I cock my head to the side.
“I didn’t see the need in regards to a decision that was already set in stone. I’m not taking any more clients. Why do I need to speak to you about who I choose to stick my dick into?” I snort, raising my brow, and Rafe smirks, glancing over to Dustin, who looks none too amused. But like I said, I wouldn’t give a fuck if it was the Irish Don himself. I fear nothing but losing Jessica.
“You’re as bold as they say, but that’s rich coming from a guy in a dress,” Dustin sneers and I throw my head back, laughing.
“Yet I’m here to address the problem of massive amounts of pussy being thrown my way,” I smirk.
“Touche,” he nods, smirking as if I passed a test before he sits back, relaxing. “Anyway, it seems you are aware of the issue at hand, but it seems you have no plans to do anything about it,” Dustin says and I shrug.
“I heard about it from my old assistant Tony, who was running my roster before I switched over to the bar. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told him… ain’t shit I can do about it. I’m done. It’s not my fault they can’t take no for an answer.”
“On the contrary, it is your fault,” Rafe finally speaks up, grabbing the file on the desk, flipping through the papers. “You didn’t complete your roster, and you didn’t give the women a heads up. You simply canceled without even a recommendation.” Rafe drops the files, staring at me as if he expects me to explain, but I have nothing to say.
I already told them everything I needed to fucking say, so we all just sit there silently, neither one of us willing to cave until Rafe goes over to the wall where I see a grey cord laying on the floor. He picks it up and plugs it into the socket, and the phone immediately begins to ring and Dustin places it on speaker.
“FRANK! BABY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! I LOVE YOU! I MISS YOU, PLEASE JUST TALK TO ME! I LOVE YOU! I NEED IT! I NEED IT! I NEED IT! I NEED IT! I NEED IT! I NEED IT! FRANK, PLEASE BABY!!!” a woman screams franticly on the phone, and I sit up, placing my elbows on my knees as Dustin clicks and ends the call, but another comes through, and he answers.
“Frank, my love, how could you do this to me?” A woman weeps over the phone, slurring her speech as if she were drunk. “Please Frank, my love. I will ne—” Rafe presses the button to end the call, but again, another comes in.
“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” another call with a different irate woman comes in. “I WILL NEVER LET YOU END THIS! YOU AND YOUR DICK BELONG TO M—” Dustin ends the call, and multiple calls continue to come through until Rafe goes over and snatches the cord out the damn socket, ripping the thing from the wall.
Damn this good dick! I knew one day it would cause me too much trouble.
“So, you’re ready to talk now?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say. This dick is just too good. If I was them, I’d cry too,” I shrug. “I see how this can be a problem, but what do you want me to do about it? There has to have been like ten women. Do you have any idea how many women I’ve fucked in my roster?”
“Yeah, you’re the number one pick on the board every month without fail, so I can imagine, but this cannot go on,” Dustin grunts as he runs his hands through his hair.
“I agree, so we’re in the process of vetting your entire roster. We want you to go through it and see if you can identify any of these voices. Also, how about not working at the bar? Instead, you can manag?—”
“No.”
“Hear me ou?—”
“No. My woman is the only one getting this dick from no?—”
“For fuck’s sake, just listen!” Dustin growls.
“…from now on, and there ain’t shit even you two can do about it,” I finish
“You’re annoying, you know that?” Rafe snorts out a laugh, and I shrug.
“So I’ve been told, but I said what the fuck I said.” I level them with a look and Dustin rubs his temples.
“As I was fucking saying, the playroom is not one for sex. It’s more like a lounge slash meet and greet bar. We just opened it to test it out, and we want you to manage it. It’s called Illicit.”
“Illicit?”
“Yes,” Rafe nods.
“And this place has nothing to do with sex?” I snort at the name, and they nod.
“Correct. Our new partner Romeo is against sex trade, but he wants the illusion of it. He wants to sell the allure of men and women that can arouse the customer with something as simple as their look, singing, acting, dancing, but not completely stripping. His motto is, ‘too much of a good thing will make his customers overdose,’” Dustin finishes. Hmmm…
“The bar is unique and meant for only the upper echelon of our clientele. Even the membership fees will be astronomical. All those working there will be called by some form of drug, alcohol, or illicit substance name,” Rafe follows behind him and I nod, interest piqued.
“And you want me to manage this bar? Why?” I ask, sitting back, and they glance at each other.
“Multiple reasons. For one, your looks fit the bill. I’ve heard from a few subs that you’d help with difficult customers,” Dustin voices, and I snort.
“So? Oh let me guess, you need someone who’s unassuming, but is able to make it so the customers don’t get to handsy with the product,” I raise a brow.
“Bingo. And honestly, I’m sick and fucking tired of your customers coming by. If you take this job it’s getting your customers out of my hair and you get to do what you want.” Dustin sits back, and I cock a brow.
“First, I’m not helping because I give a shit about them. I just hate trash people, and two, aren’t you supposed to deal with customers who step out of line?”
“We are, but in your case, you’ve fucked half the clientele… it’s too many.”
“Fair…”
“Also, you said you don’t like trash people, so would that include yourself?” Rafe throws my way and I snort.
“Especially me. In fact, I’m the trashiest of ’em all,” I shrug, and Rafe burst out laughing.
“I like this guy, Dustin. It has to be him.”
“Well, are you down?”
“No,” I shake my head and stand.
“May we ask why?” Dustin grunts, frustrated.
“Because I don’t want shit to do with them bitches. All my time goes to my girl,” I answer completely honestly.
“It won’t take up much more of your time compared to the bar, since you’ll be working part time. The guy you’re working with right now was also recruited, so you can split the shift. It’s not a bad deal. It’s better than working at the bar and the women having access to you. On top of that, you’ll make more money than when you had a roster,” Rafe states and I pause in my thinking. Fuck…
In hindsight, I really don’t even have to do this shit. It’s not worth making my baby mad, but if I’m not even working at the club and I’m not dealing with the women on my old roster, then it really isn’t a bad deal like he said.
“When does the place open?” I sigh, resigned.
“In two weeks.” Two weeks… is that enough time to devote solely to Jessica? No, but still …
“Fine… I’ll think about it,” I nod and Rafe stands, pulling a file from the desk before coming over and holding it out to me.
“Here. When you have time, read it over and tell us your thoughts.” Looking down at the black envelope with blood-red letters that boldly spell
ILLICIT
I get the strange feeling that this bar will be much different than what the guys are letting on, but I take the file anyway.
“Yeah,” I sigh, walking out, not waiting for whatever the fuck they have to say as I make my way over to my Rolls Royce. I make the quick fifteen-minute drive to my condo, where I change to go see my baby. Just as I slide my skirt on, I hear my front door open and a gang of footsteps before I hear laughter and my television turns on. Jesus…
I walk out shirtless and wig-less to see the six idiots my parents gave birth to prior to me ruining me and my precious baby’s home, and I can’t have that. I pull out the gun strapped to my thigh and point it at them. It’s my oldest brother, Pierce, who spots me first, eyes going wide.
“Whoa, what are you doing here? Don’t you normally go to your other house?” he frowns, cocking a brow.
“The fuck you mean what am I doing here? It’s my place,” I curl my lip.
“Still, you’re never here,” Gannon, the fifth mother fucker born, stuffs his face, munching on a bag of hot fries, taking Pierce’s side.
“I don’t give a fuck. Get the hell out. I plan to bring my baby here this weekend.”
“Oh? Is that the infamous woman that’s got our baby brother all twisted and acting so strange?” Echo, my second oldest brother, smiles mischievously.
“Yup. Gannon and I met her. She’s pretty,” Genesis, the fourth of my brothers says as he texts on his phone.
“Stop talking about my woman. Anyway, get the fuck out,” I growl, and the sixth of the super idiots, Wilder snatches off his gaming headphones, looking pissed as usual.
“Fucking son of a bitch! They beat me again! I don’t know who this asshole is, but I’ll fucking make their life a living hell! Saint, find them for me!” he snarls but pauses when he sees me flinching. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“Why do you assholes keep asking me that?! Get the fuck out! This is now my love nest!”
“But all my gaming gear is here!” Wilder frowns like I’m supposed to give a fuck. I don’t
“Move it or I’ll trash it,” I curl my lip.
“You devil! You evil, evil being,” Gannon snatches up some salt, throwing it at me.
“Quit it, you fucking son of a b—” I pause when I see that Jessica is almost to her destination by bus and curse. Shit I don’t have time to fuck around with these bastards! “Take it out and replace it with gym equipment. My baby needs a home gym when she moves in this weekend,” I frown, wondering how long it’ll take to get to her. I should have just left this morning with her… maybe I should have stowed away on her bus…
“Can you at least put the gun down? We’re your brothers,” Saint yawns, taking off his headphones, and I see he’s watching those stupid ASMR videos again.
“No,” I cock the gun and he chuckles. “You’re adorable, Le?—”
“Stop it, Saint. You’ll just piss him off even more,” Pierce groans, pushing back his hair and taking off his glasses that he doesn’t even fucking need.
“Yeah, shut up. You want to get shot again? I’m fucking sick of fishing bullets out of my ass!” Wilder grumbles. “Plus, mom always takes his side when we tell.”
“Fine. We’ll leave and fix up the room for our precious little sister. In return, you have to let the rest of us meet her soon.” Echo drums his fingers together, and I throw him a warning, daring him to try some shit, but he holds up his hands. “I promise to behave.” Yeah the fuck right…
“I’ll make sure it’s done by the time you get back,” Pierce sighs. “And you’ll all help. It’s for our sister-in-law,” he warns them and they groan but nod.
“Good, also it needs to be top of the line and state of the art. Nothing is too good for her.”
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Genesis smiles, and Gannon nods.
“I’ll make sure it’s something our little sister will be proud of,” Pierce stands, cracking his knuckles as if ready to go to work while Saint groans. I leave that shit to those idiots since my jet is being fueled now. I need to see my baby. From the moment I met her, there hasn’t been a day I’ve slept away from her, and I don’t plan on starting that just because she’s out of state… I miss her.
I want to hug her, and I want to see what the fuck is keeping her from answering my calls.
The flight is only about an hour and twenty minutes. By then, I was able to buy tickets to her game and Saint had sent me her hotel and room number. I go from the jet to her hotel, and the drive takes no time at all. I make sure to dress inconspicuously and make my way casually up to her room, then I make my way to the room closest to her. I open the veranda and easily hop up onto her small balcony, then pop the lock. Thank God she got the only room with a balcony… it would have been difficult getting into her room from the front since her coach is monitoring the cams on their floor.
It’s one o’clock in the morning, and I don’t need to guess if she’s asleep. Jessica is the type to be out like a light once her head hits the pillow. That’s how she’s been unable to detect me coming into her apartment every day to sleep next to her.
I creep over to her, smiling at her wild sleeping form, cover half-thrown off the bed, and lightly snoring. I take up the cover and go to place it over her, but I pause when I notice her cheek is swollen. What the fuck?!
My heart quickens, and my mind goes blank. My throat feels raw, and my vision fades. What. In. The. Fuck. Happened?! I go over, crouching beside her, gently running my hand over her flesh, willing it to go down. Who hurt you?
My eyes roam over her person, checking for any other inconsistencies, and anger flares over my being when I notice a gash on her knee. I have to pat my heart to keep it under control as I place a kiss on the gash and go to look in my bag to apply something when I spot a bag of medicine on the floor with a card lying inside.
I’m sorry. I hope your knee is okay…
This is a man’s handwriting… but it’s not that son of a bitch’s who was at her house. I looked over his schoolwork and analyzed his writing. He doesn’t write like this… it seems my baby has more cockroaches around her than I thought. I see I’m not being as proactive about protecting what’s mine as I need to be.
I throw the bag and the card in the trash and pull out my phone.
#7 : Get more eyes on my girl
Idiot #4 : How many?
#7 : Is that that even a real fucking question?
Idiot #4 : You’re right. Done and dispatched.
#7 : Also take the key sitting in the bowl in my room and make sure to put cameras up in baby’s place and in the classes she attends.
Idiot # 3 : I’ll do it. The others are out getting equipment, but which key is it? There is like 20 of them!
#7 : Oh they are all the same. I made extras in case I lost one.
Idiot # 3 : For fucks sake this is overkill.
#7 : No such thing
I go over to her and put the good shit on her knee and cheek, then sit next to her, just breathing her in, wanting to pull her into my arms. I should have known some stupid shit like respecting her privacy wasn’t going to work. Now I have no idea what the fuck was happening in the time I was gone, but it’s a mistake I’ll remedy. I will never let anything happen to you again.
I place a kiss on her fingertips next to my face and watch her breathe peacefully.
How can I miss her even though she’s right here? Damn.