Chapter 24 Violet #2
The heat hits my cheeks, and I roll with it, like I have another choice. “I’m sorry, I just…”
“You’re asking about Gianna. Why? You don’t know her.”
I shrug. “I guess I’m thinking about who from work, and like I said, there’s no one else who comes close to you in looks. Unless it’s one of the guys. Alex is cute, but didn’t his wife have a baby?”
She doesn’t say anything, just nods. And I don’t think the nod is about Alex in accounting…He is guy who manages the funds for the congressman and salaries…being a secret kink fiend who frequents that club. I think it’s a silent agreement that it isn’t him.
“I also guess I’m just curious. Because if she was still there, I’d say someone as pretty as Gianna might be the one.
Looks wise. And…” I let out my breath and take another swallow, careful to keep it casual.
“Gianna’s disappearance was all over the news, like huge.
I expected some gossip, but no one even mentions her.
And I figured, maybe she ran off with a guy from a club like that. So, that’s why…”
Macy’s arms relax. “I like adventure, you do, too. Clearly. And…Gianna…” She gives a little shrug and then leans right in.
“Gianna liked to be a little wild, you know? Yeah, I first went there with her and one of her friends. It was a week before she disappeared, but I got the job offer from the guy I hooked up with. And…and I’ve been working there ever since.
As he said, why not just make money from doing what I like? ”
What friend? What guy? Allistair? Or someone else? He doesn’t run the club on his own. There must be someone who recruits girls, who tests them, offers them jobs. And thinking of it, that’d be how things are done.
I have so many questions in my head, and I want to ask them all, but I also don’t want to seem fixated on Gianna, and have Macy shut down.
Besides, that would be weird, and while the pressure of minutes ticking down for Gianna crush tight around my chest, I won’t get anywhere pushing.
“Tell me more about the club. Do you like working there?”
Macy just laughs and shakes her head. “You’ve no idea.
I love it. So much that I’d quit if I didn’t want my parents on my back about my mysterious income when I don’t seem to have a job.
But I get to have rich, important men shower me with attention, give me gifts and money outside the job.
They make me come, and it’s so unbelievably hot to be treated like one of the most desired women around. ”
Desired? I guess having men paw at you and want to just fuck you like meat could be seen as desire if that’s what you’re into. It’s what I’m into. In my fantasies but working in a place like that would destroy my fantasies.
That’s more than clear to me.
In my head, my fantasies get me going. And in real life, there’s only one man who can make them become everything I want.
Cade can make the fantasies bigger than I even knew I wanted. He can blow expectations out of the water.
And maybe we’re barking up all the wrong trees here. Maybe whatever’s happening with Gianna has nothing to do with the club. She’s being trafficked but not there. Maybe none of the girls are being forced.
“You know,” Macy says quietly, stopping her rave about the place, “I’m not really buying you want to work there. And, it’s odd you’d bring up Gianna. What’s really going on?”
Ice whips through me, but as I gaze at her, I don’t exactly feel backed in a corner. It’s more like an opening for me to be honest.
Cade might do this differently and make it work, but I’m not him. So, I take a chance. I think I can trust Macy. “I’m trying to find Gianna.”
Macy stares at me. “Why?”
“She’s missing?”
“You’re not a cop. And I don’t think you’re some baby private detective. So, what’s the deal?” Macy grips her glass tightly. “It’s been a year, and people are finally accepting she’s gone.”
“No one, no parent accepts someone’s gone without proof.” I sigh. “I’m just…look, I can’t go into details, but I’m sure she’s alive, and I think the club might somehow be involved.”
“You think she’s alive?”
“I spoke to her. It wasn’t in…let’s just say I was in a bad situation, and so was she. I didn’t see her, but we spoke.” I hold up a hand. “That’s all I can say, I shouldn’t even have told you that, but I need to trust someone.”
“I don’t think the club would be. Too many rich and important people go there. They don’t want scandal, trust me.” Macy taps her hand on the table. “Look I think the best way to get answers is to go with your original thing, a job. If you work there, looking around won’t be as suspicious.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll even talk to Thomas and vouch for you.”
I drag in a breath.
Cade’s going to kill me.
“I’ll think about it.”
I change the subject, and we just chat about some reality show Macy loves and then the office gossip of which there’s more than I even thought.
When my phone lights up, it’s a message from Cade, letting me know he’s outside. It’s my perfect cue to leave.
I finish my wine, right as she does, and then I say, “I need to go.”
“I’ll get you that job,” she says. “I liked Gianna, so if she’s alive then I want her found. I’ll help you, I promise.”
Cade is definitely going to kill me.