3. Nick
NICK
“Come on, come on, come on ,” I muttered, checking the time on my phone for the umpteenth time.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” my Uber driver said from the front seat, his tone cold.
“Sorry, that wasn’t directed at you,” I said quickly. “I’m late.”
He seemed to accept that and we fell back into silence.
Today had not been a good day. I’d spent most of last night obsessively reading everything I could about the handsome stranger who’d given me that damn card.
Evan Williams was the perfect man according to every source I found. He was thirty, single, and gay. And he was also rich as sin. He came from old money and owned a bunch of super successful companies.
His sister, the bride-to-be at the event last night, was a retired model. Their father owned some huge corporation, and their mother seemed to be a professional philanthropist and socialite.
Evan’s net worth was well into the millions, and his family’s net worth was in the hundreds of millions.
Hundreds. Of. Millions.
How in fuck would a guy like that have a job offer for someone like me? Unless he wanted pole-dance lessons, I couldn’t imagine a single thing I could do for him that wasn’t sex related.
That question had kept me up most of the night. I’d barely slept, and I’d spent the day flitting about the apartment trying to keep my brain busy until work.
Since I’d been so distracted and tired all day, I’d forgotten to get a ride to work, even though I’d assured Aiden I was covered while he spent the night with his girlfriend.
Now I was late, again.
The car pulled up in front of the club. I thanked my driver and jumped out, nearly barreling into a dark figure on the walkway to the front entrance.
“Whoa,” said the figure.
“Eeek!” I jumped away from him.
Shit. Was it one of the guys who’d beaten up Gray? Had they come back looking for more of us to hurt?
Strong hands grasped my shoulders, stopping my momentum as I stumbled over my feet and pitched backward.
Panic clawed at my chest. My vision went snowy.
“Nick! It’s okay. It’s me.”
I blinked at the familiar voice and finally took a good look at the man. “Stone?”
“Are you okay?” He steadied me, concern written all over his handsome face.
“Yeah. I thought you were… Never mind.” I shook my head rapidly.
He let go of one of my shoulders but steered me toward the door with the other, walking with me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Just flustered.” I shot him a look as he pushed the main doors open. “Wait a second. How are you late to your own event? You’re never late.”
He waved to Mitchell, who held the inner door open for us. “Late?”
“Yeah…” I glanced around the club. I’d expected the event to be in full swing, but the patrons were quietly chilling at their tables and the stage was dark. Had I messed up the start time?
“We’re not late.” Squeezing my shoulder he brought me into the back room. “You’re good. No need to panic.”
The back room was bustling with people in various stages of getting ready, but Dash was the only one I recognized. Corey had said he was bringing in outside dancers for the event, but the twins were supposed to be here too. Where were they?
“You sure you’re okay?” Stone asked again.
“Yeah, thanks.” I smiled tightly.
He didn’t look convinced but gave his attention to a guy who’d called out to him.
I scampered over to the lockers and pulled out my phone to text the twins.
Nick : where r u?
River : c texted us an hour ago and told us not to show up
Nick : what??????
Zane : its because we helped gray
Nick : he said that?
Zane : didn’t have to
Nick : I hate him
River : we all do
Zane : you okay?
Zane : I don’t trust them. They’re up to something
Nick : yeah
Nick : just gotta get ready
Neither twin answered. I tucked my phone away, my head spinning.
Tonight was a pole showcase event. I knew the club was bringing in outside dancers because only Dash, the twins, and I did pole work, but cutting the twins off the roster was low, even for Corey.
Speaking of the roster, I went to the board to check when I was up. Dead last.
Fucking awesome.
This event was a feature night, which meant the rest of us dancers made way less than the headliner because the crowd wasn’t there to see us. The final slot was a tip death sentence.
Sighing, I sank down on a nearby chair. At least I didn’t have to rush.
* * *
“What’s up?” Stone plopped down on the bench next to me.
“Nothing.” Wincing, I rubbed the back of my left knee. Two nights of pole routines was hard on the body, and the backs of my knees were raw.
“Are you sure?”
The event was almost over and I’d made a fraction of the tips I would have on a normal night. I’d also been cut from the final set so Stone could have an extra turn. I was salty at my bosses, but it wasn’t Stone’s fault.
“It’s been a weird few days.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I bit my lip. I needed to talk to someone about this thing with Evan and his “business proposal.” I would have talked Aiden and Gray’s ears off by now, until I figured shit out, but didn’t want to mess up Aiden’s plans with Paige, and Gray was still recovering from his injuries.
I couldn’t bother him with this right now.
“I know we’re not close or anything, but I’ve known you for almost a year now,” Stone said softly. “You can talk to me if you need someone to listen.”
Guilt prickled at my chest. Stone had been nothing but friendly to me in all the times we’d worked together, but I’d been a total asshole to him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” He leaned back against the wall behind us.
“Why do you screw us over every week?”
“What?”
“You never show up for work and we always end up having to cover for you.”
He shot me a puzzled look. “I do show up for work...”
“You didn’t show up last week.”
“I wasn’t supposed to work last week.” His expression went shrewd. “You thought I was?”
“You’re supposed to work every week.”
He blinked at me.
“Aren’t you?” I said.
“No. I only work events.”
It was my turn to give him a puzzled look.
“I’m a headliner,” Stone said. “I don’t work for the club.”
I shook my head. “But Corey and Ray…”
“What about them?” He straightened up from the wall, his height looming as his shoulders went square. “Did they make it seem like something else was going on?”
Did they ever. “They put you on the roster every weekend,” I told him. “Then they make a big deal when you don’t show up and we have to scramble to fill the slots with extra sets.”
His lips folded into a tight line, his eyes narrowing. Hands pressed to the tops of his thighs.
“That’s not true?” I asked.
“No. I’ve never worked for the club. They bring me in to capitalize off my following, and I get compensated for that. Why do you think I’ve been subsidizing your tips on event nights?”
He’d been what ? “We’ve never seen an extra dime,” I said.
His eyes went dark with what looked like anger. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. The last event we worked together I made less than two hundred bucks for five routines. I make way more than that on a regular night.”
“That’s… I give a cut of my tips to the house to offset that.”
“We’ve never seen that money.”
“Holy shit.” He raked a hand through his hair. “ That’s why everyone is always so cold to me. Why no one seems to like me. I thought it was because I do porn.”
“Dude, we’re strippers. You really think any of us is gonna give a crap that you fuck on camera? Hell, I looked into it, and I know I’m not the only one who has.”
“I can’t believe they’d do that.” He paused. “Scratch that, I can believe it, but I had no idea any of this was happening.”
“Did you hear about what happened to Gray? And what they’ve been doing to our tips?”
“No.”
“Gray got beat up last week. A bunch of drunk alpha wannabes showed up and one of them started abusing his girl and Gray tried to stop him. He and his buddy beat him so bad he had to go to the ER and he can’t work for weeks.”
Stone’s eyes were so wide it would have been funny if we weren’t talking about something so serious.
“Then, after the twins took him to the hospital, we found out Corey’s been skimming our tips.”
He looked at me like, What?
“Yeah,” I said. “There was a whole scene and a huge blowout, but he’s been doing it for months when he collects the tips that end up on the stage.”
“Jesus. That’s…”
“He cut the twins from tonight’s roster too,” I blurted. Now that I’d started talking, I couldn’t seem to shut up. “Texted them an hour before I got here and said not to come in. They think it’s because they told him to fuck off and took Gray to the ER after Corey told them to finish their shift.”
“After hearing that, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve always gotten a bad vibe off them.”
“Me too!”
He patted my knee. “No wonder you’re distracted tonight.”
“Oh, that’s not what’s distracting me.”
“No?”
I clamped my mouth shut. Should I tell him?
Stone was older than me, and I supposed he had a lot of experience dealing with businesspeople. Maybe he could help.
“We had a private event last night,” I started.
He nodded encouragingly.
“A bachelorette party. They were great. Super respectful and tipped well. But the brother of the bride…”
“Was he inappropriate toward you?”
“I don’t think so. He overtipped.”
Stone tilted his head but didn’t say anything.
“And when I went to him after the event to tell him he was a moron for handing me hundred-dollar bills like they were BOGO coupons and to give them back, he gave me his business card and said he has a job offer for me.”
“What’s the job?”
“He didn’t say. Just said to text him to set up a meeting at his office tomorrow to talk about it.”
“He didn’t give you any info?”
“None. But he said it wasn’t a sex thing.”
Stone pursed his lips.
“Yeah, I don’t believe it either. He said it paid really well and came with a huge bonus. That’s it.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“I looked him up. He’s legit rich. Like one percent rich.”
“Can you tell me his name?” He dug his phone out of the sweats he’d thrown on.