Chapter Nine
Nashville
Beast is out of action while he gets his head around the fact he has a seventeen-year-old daughter he didn’t know about.
She had nowhere to go for reasons he is refusing to talk about so is currently at Raven’s apartment.
Nero gave him a few days to get his head straight but expects him to take ownership of his responsibilities.
It’s not because he’s a father himself now, Nero is a hard man, but he has a heart, even if he hides it really deep down where you need a flashlight and a pickaxe to find it. He won’t see the kid out on the streets. Which reminded me of Charley being at my place.
I haven’t told anyone else she’s there, and know she hasn’t mentioned it to anyone, because Ellie would have been on my ass about it.
She keeps to herself around the house, like she is trying not to bother me. I have no intention of kicking her out. And truth be told, I’ve not been looking for somewhere else for her to stay either.
I’ve been out of the house a lot partly because Nero has needed me with this whole mess with Beast, and because I don’t want to crowd her or give her the wrong idea about why I’m doing it which is getting harder for me to ignore.
I’ve never lived with a woman before, the house smells different with her there. It’s not like she is doing anything out of the ordinary, or spraying perfume and what not around, it’s just her scent. And my dick is getting the wrong idea. So I’ve stayed away.
I brought takeout home a couple of nights ago, and she watched my guilty pleasure TV show with me, surprised as hell by it.
Shocking people is one of my favorite things to do, though it’s not usually about my enjoyment of teenage vampire shows. We couldn’t talk much because we were eating and watching but it was nice. Different.
I’m not sure what it says about me that I still haven’t done anything to find her some place else to go, or get her car fixed.
There is going to come a point when she asks, or maybe she is happy staying with me. It’s safe there, she doesn’t need to worry about anyone breaking into her room.
It’s time to stop thinking about Charley and handle what I’ve got to get done. First, taking a delivery at Elegance, which needs to be done while Beast is examining his feelings or some shit.
My phone rings so I tell the others to go inside, Ratchet and Wheeler have come with me, to help they said, but I figure it's more about having time to chat with the dancers. Not that they’re disrespectful, and if they were, I’d beat their asses.
No one messes with our dancers. Unless they initiate it. Nero laid down the law when we first opened the club. The women are to be looked after and protected.
It’s not about the money we make here, it’s about keeping them safe. We have very strict rules and aren’t afraid to enforce them, even with our own men.
It’s my brother calling.
“Hey,” he greets me. “We’re closing in on your target.”
“Do you have to talk like some special forces secret agent, it’s just me dipshit.”
“You want my help or not?”
“All you gotta say is we have found Sheridan and we’re gonna go talk to her.”
“What do you not understand about us closing in?”
“Something obviously because it doesn’t sound like we’re on the same page.”
“Jesus, I forgot what a pain in the ass you are.”
“Just speak layman to me, Camy.”
“You’re a fucking idiot. We haven’t found her yet, but we’ve tracked down some people who know where she’s been.”
“So you’ve got nothing?”
The phone goes quiet and I can picture him holding it away from his ear so he can call me names, or count to ten like he used to do when we were kids.
Shit, I need to take this seriously, this is about the mother of Nero’s kid.
“Cam… Camden…Hey.”
“You done being a dick?”
“It’s out of my system. Dazzle me.”
“Jesus, can I deal with someone else in the club.”
“I’m done. So you found someone who has seen her?”
“Yeah, in Elizabethtown in Kentucky. We’re heading over there tomorrow. Once we’ve got more news, I’ll give you a call. Did you want to be here when we grab her?”
“Yeah, Nero will want that. And less of the grabbing. We’re not arresting her, we just need to talk to her, find out why she disappeared on her kid.”
“Leave the fucking attitude at the clubhouse Callum. I’m not having you on a job with us if you’re going to be an idiot.”
“It’s a sibling thing, I promise I’ll remember you’re the boss and behave. Just keep me posted and as soon as you need me, I’ll be there.”
Cam hangs up. Pissing off my older brother is like second nature to me. Sometimes I forget he is an ex-marine, scary as shit bounty hunter now, and in a fight he’d likely beat my ass.
Nero will want to know about this but I push it out of my head for now. I’ve got to get shit done here and make sure the club is okay without its leader.
Inside the lighting is dim as usual and it takes my eyes some time to adjust. Ratchet and Wheeler are talking to Max, strolling through to the back. They give a cursory glance to the woman standing by the private booths but don’t stop.
Charley is watching them like a hawk, something ticking over in her brain. I’m not sure I like the way she is looking at them, I can’t figure out what it is.
“Charley, everything okay?” I ask stopping behind her. She jumps and whirls around.
Why is she such a bag of nerves? I hate that I scared her. I really want to know what it is that keeps her up at night, or had her staying in that shit hole, and why she so desperately wants to dance at Elegance.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
It’s taking a lot for her to speak, that much is obvious. I’ve been watching her these last few days, not when she is sleeping or anything, that would be creepy as shit. She projects this persona of being strong, but there is a vulnerability to her too.
“I need a favor,” she says.
She’s proud, and doesn’t like asking for help. Yet here she is, asking me for something. And I don’t mind helping. Which is why I answer without waiting to hear the favor first.
“Just let me handle this delivery them I’m all yours.”
“Okay,” she bites her lip. “I’ll be in the room where-”
“You dance, got it. I’ll be there as soon as I can. And don’t worry, whatever it is we can figure it out.”
Her face blanches a little, but she turns and hurries away before I can ask why.
It means I get the delivery and storage sorted in record time, then tell the others to fuck off back to the clubhouse or their own jobs.
The dancers are out on stage practicing some routine and having these assholes ogling them wouldn’t be tolerated by Beast, so I’m not having it either.
Once all that is done, I go find Charley.
She turns when I knock and open the door.
My heart almost falls out my ass when I see her.
She’s wearing a thong, so her whole ass is on show, and a complicated looking sparkly top that wraps around her tits with a tie between them, it has long sleeves that almost cover her hands and dips low into her cleavage.
I’m about to excuse myself and leave but she calls my name. My real name. And that makes this a whole hell of a lot more dangerous.
“Could you close the door?” she asks.
I do as she asks and step inside. The lighting is down low and there is music playing that I hadn’t noticed when I first came in, far too fixated on her perfectly round ass.
“Ellie is down two dancers, and there is a big private party here on Saturday.”
I know all about that. It’s something Nero has been working on and is looking to secure a business deal with these guys. Having a private party at Elegance is one way of getting them on our side.
“She’s asked me to fill in. Which is great, I can do the routine no problem but Ellie is concerned.”
“About what?” I take a few steps closer, then notice the chair in the center of the room.
“That I’ll freak out and ruin everything.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I’ve never danced in front of an audience.”
“I’ve seen you do it,” I say, confused as fuck.
“Yeah, but not…”
“Oh.”
It dawns on me what she means. This is her first dance out on the stage. Things must be desperate if Ellie has asked Charley. Beast has been adamant she can’t do it till she turns twenty-one.
Another reminder to me how young she is. I mean, I’m twenty-nine, it’s not like I could be her dad or anything. Fuck, not the time.
“Ellie wants me to dance for someone.”
“Naked?” My eyes widen.
“Well, yeah,” she smiles, it’s a little nervous, but she’s amused at my reaction. “I trust you. I need to nail this Callum, not just for Ellie. If I mess this up, I’ll lose my job and the only chance I have.”
“Charley, if you’re so scared to take your clothes off and dance, how can you ever do this job?”
“That’s why I need you.”
Oh hell, don’t say that shit. Not when you’re half naked and begging to take the rest of your clothes off in front of me.
“Please, Callum. I know I can do this, but Ellie wants me to prove it.”
“She probably means with the other girls.”
“I could do it in front of the girls with my eyes closed and Ellie will see right through that. She wants me to prove I can do it for a man. Men.”
This is a bad idea. I’ve been attracted to her from the get-go but having got to know her a little, to see some of the things she has been hiding, it’s a whole lot more complicated. I’ve fucking jacked off to thoughts of her, and felt like the world’s biggest dickhead afterwards.
She looks at me with such pleading in her eyes, and a touch of disappointment because she is expecting me to say no. Fuck. I can do this for her. I mean, it’s no hardship. And all I have to do is just watch and let her prove to herself and Ellie that she can do this.
I scratch the back of my head and look around. For a split second, I think about having her ask one of the other guys, but a burning rage fills me at that thought. Her dancing out there, with the other girls, and the men not able to get near her, is all good and well.