Chapter 1 #3
You’d think by now that everyone knows the unspoken rules of a strip club. No, the stripper’s name isn’t her real name. When she tells you “her real name,” no, that’s not it either.
She truly isn’t going to fuck you, no matter how much cash you throw at her.
But that’s the game. The girls flirt and take their clothes off, and the guys’ horny monkey brains get them to empty their wallets…until it’s time to go home .
These four didn’t get the memo about that, though. Last night, these assholes thought the money thrown at me meant they owned me, that they’d bought my body. They got handsy to the point they got kicked the fuck out.
It takes a lot for Lou to kick someone out of The Mirage.
Fear ripples through me as one of them narrows his eyes at me—the one who was especially vocal last night about his opinion that cash meant he could fuck me. But I force a soft smile to my lips.
Kill them with kindness , as Maya always says. Stroke the male fucking ego .
That’s not a subservient thing. It’s a survival mechanism.
“Hey, guys.” I flash a wider grin. “You’re back! I’m just starting work now, so if you head in, I’ll be on stage in about forty-five?—”
“I don’t think so, whore.”
The word hits me like a slap, and I suddenly realize just how mean the looks on their faces are.
“Look, guys…” I force another smile as I edge toward the back door of the club. “I think everyone had a bit too much fun last night, huh? Listen, I’ll talk to the owner. He’s a friend.”
No he’s fucking not.
“And I’m sure we can put last night behind us if you want to come in again?—”
“That’s not why we’re fucking here,” another of them growls, his eyes vicious.
“You took three fucking grand off us last night,” the leader spits.
Yep, I walked with three thousand dollars last night.
…Which I promptly handed over to Diego, Derrick’s lawyer, when I met him at a bar down the street from where Pearl was parked for the night.
“You guys were amazing yesterday evening,” I grin. “Seriously, thank you. I’m glad you had fun! But really, I gotta head in?—”
The one to the right of the ringleader moves faster than I would have expected. Just as I turn for the door, he rushes me, making me flinch away. He storms past me and blocks the door, crossing his arms menacingly over his chest.
“Okay, guys?—”
“Three fucking grand , you fucking cunt,” the leader mutters. “And none of us even got our dicks wet.”
My jaw grinds as anger surges through me.
“That’s because I’m a dancer ,” I snap. “Not a whore.”
I can feel my pulse thudding as I glance at the guy behind me, fear crawling up my spine before I turn back to the other three.
“Well, we’ve been talking,” the leader goes on, grinning darkly. “And to us, it’s not that cut and dried. We figure we were promised a service that we never got. A service we paid for .”
“No one promised you shit!” I snap. “Girls take their tits out and dance, you throw money. That’s the transaction. Have you seriously never been to a strip club before?”
It’s like raising my voice to James. Pure, dark rage spreads over his face—the type you only see in men’s eyes when it’s focused on a woman they think is beneath them, or who owes them something.
“Fuck that,” he snarls. “It was pretty fucking heavily implied.”
“I think you should leave,” I blurt.
He grins and glances at his buddies, who all start chuckling.
“Not happening.” He takes a step toward me. “Not until we’ve all had a turn .”
It’s gut instinct, plus seeing the threat written so clearly in his eyes, that has me whirling and bolting .
Fear denotes like a bomb in my chest as I run headlong through the parking lot. I’m in sneakers and a skirt, they’re in dress pants and office shoes. But I hear them pounding the pavement behind me as I veer out the back end of the lot and sprint across the road.
There’s a 24-hour diner up the street. If I can zigzag between the warehouses, I can?—
The scream rips from my throat but instantly dies on my lips as a sweaty palm clamps over my mouth. A heavy body slams into me from behind, dragging me to the ground. My knees skid across concrete, pain slicing through me as my palms hit next, wrenching a cry from my mouth.
My skull crashes into the concrete, and I blink as my stomach heaves and my vision clouds.
“Yeah, bro!”
“Fuck yeah , dude!”
I’m dazed and floundering, kicking my legs and doing my best to lash out. But there’s four of them, all on me at once, holding me down, pinning my wrists and ankles and shoving a piece of fabric into my mouth.
My t-shirt is torn from my neck down to my navel.
Hands paw at my breasts. Others yank up my skirt.
Please, no.
Please don’t ? —
“ Uuuggghfff! ”
It happens instantly. One moment, the clawing, molesting hands are trying to yank off my bra and underwear, the sound of belt buckles jangling like the clash of knives in my ears.
The next second, all four guys are flying off me like they’ve been hit by a bus.
I start to struggle to my feet. But one of the guys stumbles backward, screaming, slamming into me and taking us both down. I try to push him off me, still screaming into the gag in my mouth. His head lolls to the side, and I see his face.
Holy fuck .
He’s out cold, blood dripping freely from a bashed-in nose and wrecked mouth.
I scream into the gag again, kicking and scrabbling away from the unconscious guy. Another cry rips my attention past him, and suddenly, I’m not moving at all.
I’m too stunned for that.
There’s a… something …fighting all three of them. I want to say it’s a man, but he’s everywhere at once. He’s dressed all in black, with his back to me, which makes him appear more monster than human.
The second finance bro goes down. Then the third. The fourth turns and tries to bolt, but the man in black suddenly reaches down, grabs a hunk of broken tarmac, and hurls it at him.
The guy grunts as the rock hits the back of his head, sending him to the ground.
Everything is throbbing. The world is spinning under my hands and feet as I push myself away from the dark shape. The rag has fallen out of my mouth, but I still can’t make a sound, not one that would be heard over the roaring pulse in my ears anyway.
The figure in black turns to me as my vision begins to fade.
The world lurches in various directions as my arms give out, dropping me back to the ground.
The figure walks closer and then crouches down beside me. Through the haze, through the fear, through the darkness swallowing me whole, I look up…
Into dark, black, devil eyes.
Then it all fades away.