One Wild Night (The Owned Trilogy #1)

Chapter 1

Siena

I was nervous; there was no doubt about that. It was my first day at a new job, which wasn’t anything new. I had been changing jobs every few months for the last three years. No...I was nervous because I would be doing something I had never even considered when I was growing up.

After taking a deep breath, I looked up at the building in front of me. The outside was nondescript. In fact, if it weren’t for the neon sign hanging above the door and the blacked-out windows, it would look just like any of the other buildings on the block: gray exterior, gray door, gray, dirty sidewalk in front of it where people passed by without a single glance around them. Come on, Siena! You can do this, girl! This is exactly the break you’ve been needing, so grab it by the balls and run with it. Own it! You’ve got this!

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I grabbed the handle and opened the door to Cherries, one of Chicago’s most well-known gentlemen’s clubs. Despite being slightly on edge, I managed to walk in with my head held high. I took a look around the main room and realized that the place wasn’t at all like I had expected. When I thought of strip clubs, I thought of dark, dingy places filled with crack whores who would do anything for their next fix. Cherries was dark, don’t get me wrong, but the place was pristine and obviously well taken care of. The main stage was designed to draw attention to it immediately. There was a beautiful blonde woman in nothing but a flimsy G-string and high heels, on her hands and knees at the front of the stage. I watched in fascination as she crawled toward a man in the front row, rose up on her knees, and let him put cash down the front of her barely there panties. There were tables throughout the room, only about half of which were occupied, and a long bar with barstools that spanned the wall off to the right. The few other women I noticed around the establishment were well groomed and extremely gorgeous. Most wore skin-tight, revealing clothing, or even just bras and panties, and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It made me pause for a moment to wonder why I was even offered the job in the first place. I was a plain Jane compared to the beauties here. Still, I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After straightening my posture, I approached the bar with a smile on my face. A petite but beautiful young redhead approached me when she noticed me standing there. She was wearing a low-cut, white crop top and a pair of jean Daisy Duke shorts. Her black, lacy bra was visible above the fabric of her shirt, and I had to admit she had amazing boobs.

“What can I get ya, Hun?”

I glanced around the club again before bringing my eyes back to her. “Actually, I’m supposed to be meeting with Mr. Valenti. Do you know where I can find him?”

Her bright blue eyes traveled up and down my body as if she was sizing me up. I was about to clear my throat when she cracked a smile and answered. “He’s in the back room with the boys. Go down that hallway and it’ll be the last door on your left.”

“Thank you.” With a quick smile, I turned around and headed in the direction she pointed. I hadn’t noticed the hallway on my initial inspection of the club because it was tucked away in a dark corner. Last chance to get the hell out of dodge, my inner voice urged, but I had only ever run from one thing in my life, and to this day, it was still chasing me. There was no way I was running again. Yes, Cherries was a strip club, but I was very clear with Mr. Valenti when he offered me a job. I would not, under any circumstances, take my clothes off for anyone. I would happily dance on stage, and wear skimpy outfits while doing it, but I wasn’t a whore. I wouldn’t strip for money, and I definitely didn’t plan on fucking people for it, either.

When I got to the back room, I stood in the doorway and silently took in my surroundings. Mr. Valenti was sitting at a poker table with five other men, all in three-piece suits. There were also several guys standing around the room, all dressed in the same manner, and all with very serious looks on their faces. I realized at that moment that Mr. Valenti, whoever he was, must have been a very important man...not someone to be messed with.

With a few sets of eyes on me, I slowly stepped through the doorway. I cleared my throat and gathered the attention of the rest of the room. Mr. Valenti quickly rose to his feet and walked up to me.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Valenti. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

He laughed loudly, slicing right through the thick tension that permeated the room. “Nonsense, my dear, sweet girl. And please, call me Carlo. I reserve Mr. Valenti for individuals I don’t like.”

I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but I couldn’t keep myself from laughing. He was a very intimidating person, but also had a way of making me feel at ease. It was one of the reasons I even considered the position in the first place.

“Carlo, thank you again for this opportunity. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I trust you were able to use the money I gave you to procure appropriate attire for your debut?” he asked, eyeing me up and down with a questioning look.

I patted the oversized purse I was carrying. “Yes, of course. I just figured it would be okay to change here. Was I wrong? I shouldn’t have assumed...” I had chosen to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a tight fitting, red top. It was sleeveless and low cut, accentuating my cleavage perfectly. I had decided not to dress in the outfit I bought for my first dance because I didn’t want to look like a tramp before I had to. It was one thing for the men in the club to see me half naked while I paraded around on stage. It was a completely different thing to have half of Chicago see me that way, as well. At least when I was working, I would be making money, and that’s really what it all came down to.

“No, dear girl, you may change here, of course, but before you do, I’d like to introduce you to a few people.” With a smile on his face, he put his hand on the small of my back and guided me toward the table.

Every set of eyes in the room were on us as we stood in front of several men, who all rose the moment we approached. “Trixie, I’d like you to meet my son, Antonio, and the manager of this club, Ryan Lawson. Boys, this is Trixie, our newest dancer.”

I smiled at the two men, who both looked to be in their early twenties. Antonio was what most would consider tall, dark and handsome. If I had to guess, I would say he was an inch or two over six feet, with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He was clean shaven and smiled at me, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. Most women would give their left tit to sleep with a guy like him, but he wasn’t at all my type. Ryan, however, was gorgeous. He was what I considered sex on legs with his light brown hair, crooked smile, and beautiful green eyes. Plus, from what I could make out beneath the suit, he had a body to die for. He didn’t look like someone you wanted to piss off, though...that was for sure.

Reaching forward, I politely shook Antonio’s hand. A chill ran down my spine as I did. The way he was leering at me with his nearly black, beady eyes creeped me out, so I quickly pulled away. When my eyes met with Ryan’s, however, I couldn’t look away. His dark green orbs gazed directly into my soul, and I felt myself get weak in the knees.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Trixie,” he greeted with the silky smooth voice of a god. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning at the pure sex that dripped from his tone.

“Welcome to Cherries.”

“Uh...th...thank you,” I replied, completely flustered from his penetrating gaze. Finally breaking eye contact, I turned toward Mr. Valenti and smiled. “What time will I be dancing tonight, Mr. Val...uh, Carlo?” I asked. I needed to put some distance between Ryan and me, and fast . If I didn’t, I was afraid I would end up jumping on him right then and start dry humping him.

“Let me show you around the club first, and then you can change in the locker room. Are you okay with that?”

“Sounds great.” As we walked toward the door, I felt eyes following me. Chancing one last peek at the table, my eyes met with Ryan’s again and my breath caught in my throat. He was staring at me intently, as if memorizing every inch of my body. The look of lust on his face had me unconsciously clenching my legs together. Until today, I had never had a man make me squirm with just a look. Damn, what I wouldn’t give for a night with him.

Carlo glanced back to see what I was looking at, then offered me his arm and led me through the door.

––––––––

A fter Carlo showed me around, he introduced me to Libby, one of the other dancers. She was a real sweetheart, and for the first time in years, I could see myself actually becoming friends with someone. Libby was tall and slender, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. Her personality was what drew me in, though. She was from a small town like I was, so she was easy to relate to.

Libby introduced me to several of the other ladies, most of whom had no qualms about taking off all their clothes for extra tips. They had gorgeous bodies, and they weren’t afraid to show it. A few of them were pretty friendly, but most were standoff-ish and obviously thought I was beneath them. That didn’t bother me in the slightest, though. I was here to make some money, and once I had enough, I was going to disappear...for good.

Libby and I talked for a few minutes at the back of the club before she led me to the locker room so I could change. Not wanting to leave mid-conversation, she stayed with me so we could finish chatting. As much as I liked her, I was wary to share anything about myself or the past I was running from. Maybe I would be more comfortable in time, but for now, I had to keep those secrets locked away.

I set my bag down on one of the benches and removed the new outfit I had chosen specifically for today. Never having been to a club like Cherries before, I had to guess as to what I thought the patrons would like. I ended up choosing a pair of silver hot pants and matching bikini top, finishing off the outfit with some sexy, strappy silver stilettos.

While I didn’t plan on taking my clothes off for money, I wasn’t ashamed of my body. I stripped down in front of Libby and put on the new outfit, grateful that she seemed to be trying to give me a little privacy by not staring at me while I changed, at least. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my makeup bag and walked to a mirror on the wall.

As I listened to Libby tell me a little more about herself, I applied my makeup, putting it on heavier than I normally would. When I was done, I stood back and stared at my reflection, hardly recognizing the woman in front of me. My mousy brown hair hung in ringlets down my back, and my mocha colored eyes stood out strikingly against the smoky gray eyeshadow I wore. My lips were coated in a deep burgundy lipstick, and my cheeks were slightly pink from the rouge I had brushed on. Satisfied that I looked pretty hot, I turned around to face Libby.

“Damn, girl! You are fucking sexy ! If you look like that every night, you’ll have all the guys here eating out of the palm of your hand in no time,” she giggled. “Do you have a song selected for your first dance? We have a kickass DJ named Jesse working tonight, and he has almost every song you can think of. I think you’ll like him. Come on, let me introduce you.”

I had to laugh because she hadn’t even given me time to answer her question before she was dragging me out of the locker room and up to the DJ’s booth. She was right, though. Jesse was a cool guy and did have practically every record imaginable. As we talked music, I couldn’t help but smile. I may have been there to dance and show off my body, but the fact that Jesse didn’t once leer at me like most of the other men in the club had, made me instantly like him. Maybe he was gay.

When I told him that I wanted to dance to Madonna’s Like a Virgin , he grinned at Libby and shook his head. “I think she’s trying to make a statement. What do you think, Libs?”

Libby just laughed and grabbed my hand, then proceeded to drag me backstage.

By the time the current song was drawing to a close, my palms were sweaty and my heart was pounding in my chest. I had taken ballet in high school, and to warm up, we would do some exercises with a pole. To actually pole-dance, though—seductively in front of a room of drunk, horny men—was a completely different story. Needless to say, I was nervous as fuck.

Libby must have been able to tell, because as Carlo’s deep, melodic voice came over the sound system to introduce me, she pulled me into a suffocating hug. “Relax, Trixie. You’ll do perfectly fine out there. Just remember that you’re in control, and stay confident and sassy. The men eat that shit up.” She pulled away like nothing weird had just happened, then slapped me on my ass and shooed me out onstage just as Carlo announced my name. “Good luck!” she whispered before making her way back out front to watch my performance.

I took my place right by the pole mounted at center stage, and even though the room was nearly pitch black, I could feel several people watching my silhouette in anticipation. When the music started and the lights came up, I placed one hand on the pole and circled it, making eye contact with as many of the men in the front as I could. I made it all the way around and then bucked my hips into the cold metal, sliding up and down a few times before spinning around it again.

I had a few tricks in my arsenal, but I wanted to save those for a little later on in the song. Still gripping the pole, I walked halfway around so my back was to the crowd. There were loud catcalls and wolf whistles when I started shaking my hips to the beat of the music. They got even louder as I hooked my left leg around the pole and spun in quick circles until my ass was on the ground and the pole was between my legs. Using my hands as leverage, I planted my feet and lifted my hips, thrusting seductively against the shiny object.

Men from the tables in the back of the room rose from their seats and were closing in on the stage area. Figuring it was now or never, I got to my feet and shimmied around again. Facing away from the audience, I placed my hands high on the pole and jumped up, straddling it and squeezing my thighs together to hold me in place. Arching my back, I released my hands and used my stomach muscles to support me as I flashed some cleavage at the patrons. After a few seconds of holding the position and nearly falling out of my top, I straightened up and slid my way down the pole, shaking my ass and earning more whistles.

When I spun around, my eyes met with Ryan’s for a brief moment. I couldn’t help but smirk at him and toss my hair over my shoulder as I continued to dance. Was it possible that god-like creature wanted me? The mere thought of it turned me on more than anything ever had.

I made a full circle on the pole when I saw him waving a hundred dollar bill around, trying to get me to come over. Feeling overly confident and wanting to fuck with him a bit, I sauntered over and shimmied my hips just inches from his face. His eyes were locked on my covered pussy, and I could have sworn I saw him lick his lips. An image of him between my legs flashed through my mind, and I felt myself getting damp with arousal. Shaking my head slightly to clear it, I continued with my dance.

Every time Ryan reached up with the money, I backed away so he couldn’t touch me. He wasn’t supposed to touch me anyway. At least...I didn’t think he was. None of the customers were allowed to touch the dancers according to what I’d been told. Carlo had said that Ryan ran the club, though, so I wondered if that meant he was an exception and could do what he wanted. That thought both thrilled and terrified me.

Still, I shook my head with a smirk on my face and sank down to my hands and knees. His eyes were focused on my tits—they were nearly bursting out of my bikini top as I began to make my way toward him—so without him even noticing, I pulled the money from his hand with my teeth.

“Thanks!” I winked as I rose to my feet and headed back to the pole to finish the song. I could feel his eyes boring into me until the lights went out and I collected my other tips.

When I walked offstage, I placed my hands on my knees and bent over, drawing in quick, shallow breaths. I was dripping with sweat and felt like I was going to hyperventilate from my time in the spotlight. Being the center of attention was something that would definitely take some getting used to if I was going to keep the job.

When my breathing returned to normal, the sound of the crowd came into focus, and despite Jesse’s attempt at introducing the next dancer, they were all screaming my name. Straightening up, I noticed Libby making her way toward me.

“Oh my god, Trixie! You were ah-maze-ing! Did you hear how the crowd reacted? They fucking loved you! And holy shitballs ! The way you took that money from Ryan with your teeth? I about creamed my panties right then and there. Girl, that was smokin’ hot!”

Her mention of Ryan had me glancing around to see if he had made his way to the back, but disappointment set in when I didn’t see him. There was a mutual attraction between us—that much was obvious—I just wasn’t sure what I would do about it. Could I do anything about it? I mean...he was the manager of the club and I was an employee. Carlo hadn’t mentioned any rules about not dating other people that worked there, but maybe he didn’t think he needed to. The one thing I did know was that Ryan was sexy as hell and I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone.

“Earth to Trixie!” Libby’s voice broke me out of my Ryan-induced trance, and I shook my head to clear it. “Do you want to rinse off and get changed? There are showers in the locker room. You’re only dancing the one time tonight, right?”

I smiled at her and nodded. “A shower sounds like heaven right about now. And yes, Carlo wanted to see how I did before he offered me a permanent position. This was an audition of sorts.”

Libby smirked. “Well, Carlo is a dumb jackass if he doesn’t hire you after that !”

“I guess we’ll see what happens.” I laughed as we made our way to the locker room. When we got there, I pulled my clothes out of my locker but then paused. “Hey, Libby? Is there a place around here I can smoke? I’m jonesing for some fucking nicotine.”

Wrinkling her nose, she giggled and teased, “Oh, you’re one of those, huh? Yeah, if you walk out of the locker room and make a right, the door at the end of the hall leads out into the back alley. You can smoke out there. I would offer to keep you company, but I go on in ten minutes and need to touch up my makeup.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for showing me around today. I really appreciate it.”

She pulled me into another tight hug before stepping back. “Anytime. I like you, Trixie. I have a feeling that you and I are going to be great friends.”

I was going to tell her that I really didn’t have friends, but stopped myself. Maybe things were changing and I could allow myself to get close to someone for once. It would be nice not to feel so alone all the time. “You might just be right,” I said instead. With a smile on my face, I grabbed the pack of smokes from my purse and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you in a few.”

Finding the alley was easy enough, and I was about to light up when a sound caught my attention. I glanced down the narrow space about twenty feet and froze at what I saw. Ryan was there with two other burly men. The three of them were standing over a guy on his knees as he clutched his stomach.

I watched in horror as the men with Ryan pulled the other guy up and held him there while Ryan threw punch after punch at him. The poor man was begging for Ryan to stop, but that didn’t even slow him down. He hit the guy over and over, and when the two men let him sink to the ground again, Ryan began kicking him in the ribs relentlessly.

Having been on the other end of abuse, I wanted to run over and stop him, or scream for help. I wanted to do something...anything...to help the poor stranger now curled up in the fetal position, but I was afraid of drawing attention to myself. Like the scared little girl I was when I left home three years ago, I cradled my purse to my chest and made my way back inside quickly and quietly. No one had seen me witness that attack, and I planned on keeping it that way. As a shiver ran down my spine, I also decided that, for my own safety, I needed to stay as far away from Ryan as I could.