Claimed by Iron

Chapter One

Mercedes

The pounding music was soothing to me as I swayed my hips long with what ever beat was playing.

I could zone out the men yelling and the women laughing and just get lost in the music.

The pole was one of my main spots in the club. It got the most look in which helped build up my tips for the night.

Opening my eyes I watched a few guys come in cheering as they came close to my area.

They looked fresh out of high school which meant that I was going to be leered at without any tipping.

They would eventually get bored and go to the dance floor where they would try and find a hook up for the night. It’s normally that way.

“Hey baby. How about a private dance” I ignored him as his friends egged him on.

The club had no private rooms, and it was also a no full strip club which was nice. I was in a tiny nurse outfit that barely covered anything, but I wasn’t naked which was a sell for me when I came looking for a job. I was a dancer not a stripper. The strip clubs were down the road.

“Hey. It’s nice to reply” I swung around the pole swaying my hips to the music.

I wasn’t required to speak. Guys and girls came to watch me dance and give me money in my little box that was at the front of my station.

Tips were a bonus. I got paid hourly at a high price, so I didn’t feel the need to force myself to talk to these assholes.

“Something wrong?” I smiled to myself as Duke walked up standing in front of my stage. I turned to focus more on the group next to me. They gave me a smile watching me but didn’t say anything as they placed a tip in the box.

“Move on”

“We are paying customers. If we want a private dance, then we will get one” I sighed smiling at another group that walked up.

“This is a no private dance club. If you want one of those then you can go down the street” the music changed again as I zoned them out. I knew I was safe. This was one of the safest clubs in the area.

The club Duke was talking about was actually a full strip club just down the road that was owned by the same guys that owned this one.

I have picked up shifts there once or twice when I needed the extra cash but never as a dancer only as a server.

They gave us the choice of what we wanted to do which was a plus.

“Fine. Didn’t think this club was that lame. Let’s go” I swung around the poll lifting myself upside down. I waved as the one that wanted a dance glared at me.

“You should not provoke men like that” I snorted as Duke leaned on my stage.

“More like children. I highly doubt that they were all eighteen. You might need to check the guy at the door” one did look younger than the others.

“Smith is on the door tonight. He has a new hire so I will get someone to watch him” I nodded as the light turned red on my stage.

“Ouch” placing my feet down I walked off as my stage went dark.

“Get some rest on your break, I have a feeling by tonight is going to be busier later on” I stretched as Duke followed me to the employee door.

“Will do. I’m starving”

Opening the door there was no one around which was good. My break was normally at ten, the breaks were taken every hour so that there was only one girl missing from the floor each hour. I would typically dance for about six hours and have a forty-five-minute break.

“Fucking hell that feels good” kicking off my heels I went to my section dropping down on the comfy chair. Another perk of the job was the chairs and free food that was always in the fridge for us girls.

It was a good difference from some of the places I have danced before. Coming from a conservative background this was not what I would have thought I would be doing right about now.

My parents would want me to do some sort of study that would lead me to a ‘safe’ job, but I didn’t want that for me. When I was younger, I fell in love with dancing and wanted to peruse that.

Then one thing after another and many fights later I left and had my first taste of pole dancing. I loved it but the places I went to, to dance, it wasn’t safe until I stumbled upon Kaleidoscope.

“Give me a sandwich” I opened the communal fridge seeing it packed with sandwiches and other goodies.

I could also take a few sandwiches home if I felt like it.

“Hey girl. I saw the group of assholes hounding you” Sissy walked in grabbing a sandwich and drink.

“They were ok, just normal young kids wanting to see a boob” Sissy snorted from the couch.

“I heard that they were causing a stink outside when they left. The bouncers have notified the other clubs of them to keep an eye out” Sissy was one of the bartenders that knew everything that was going on each night.

Also, partly she was nosy and needed to know everything. Even though I had only just started here last month she has shown me a lot of things and taken me under her wing. I was kind of waiting for her to call her break so she could come in here and ask me how I was.

“Just be careful and maybe get one of the bouncers to walk you to your car”

“Umm” I saw the glare before she sighed.

My car unfortunately broke down this morning and was still in the shop, but she doesn’t need to know that. I could just take a uber home after my shift or walk. It wasn’t that far away from the club anyway.

“What. You have a ride, don’t you?”

I shook my head as I finished my sandwich.

“Car is in the shop. It will be ready by tomorrow hopefully” I shrugged which earned me another glare from Sissy. My car had started acting up for a few months now which was odd to me but now it finally cooked it yesterday.

“You are waiting around here until I finish so I can drive your home. We need to keep you safe. Especially after tonight with the stupid boys” Sissy tsked making us both laugh.

“Oh well this is a profession I chose to be in. Having men scream at me to take my clothes off is a part of my job unfortunately”

“Can't you apply to work behind the bar? You are way too young to even dance like that” I was twenty-three and more than fine to dance like that. but I know that she worries which is nice.

“I’m safe. Duke was with me the whole time” Sissy just hummed then the conversation went onto basic things. Before I knew it, I was back on stage shaking my ass to the pounding music as the club became busier.

I did love night like this.

Iron

Sipping my energy drink, I walked inside one of my clubs. A couple months before it had been broken in, but everything seemed fine, and we opened up shortly after that.

The Prez gave me these clubs to manage, and I wasn’t going to fuck it up. Not even if a group of fuckheads would break in and screw around.

But here I was watching a group of kids be shoved out of the door kicking and screaming. Smith one of my best was shaking his head and the man next to him. I hadn’t seen him before, so I guess he was a new hire.

“Fuck you. Do you know who my family are?” I laughed as Smith turned to me surprised then guilty. I just stood there with my other two bouncers next to me Tick and Frank were huge and towered over me. They normally helped me deal with the unruly lot that came through here.

Dealing with these pieces of shit would be nothing for them. But tonight, I would let them go because I was feeling charitable.

“Let them go. What kind of shit did they do to deserve this?” I took another sip wishing this was something stronger, but the Prez wanted me on my game when I came to the club. One thing that my business did for the club was to deal with people that threatened the club.

Most of the time I did the clean-up, not like Angel up in Sydney, but I did clean up the messes that the club didn’t want to have come through. I understood that. The club was a safe place for everyone and didn’t need that shit coming through.

“They were wanting a dancer to get a private room with them. She ignored them like she should and kept on dancing. They got pissed off from there” I flicked my eyes to the boys. Two of them looked scared and wanted to leave while three of them looked ready for a fight.

“Piss off. This is my club therefore my club has rules. The dancers are clothed and safe at all times. If you want a strip show, then there is plenty of places around here that can cater to your needs. Leave now before my bouncers get even more angry” I finished off my can as the three that I knew were wanting a fight started for me.

“Don’t hurt them much, the other two that are stepping back can be let go”

I didn’t look back as I made my way inside, tonight was an off night for me which meant I didn’t have anyone tied up in the hold for me to interrogate which was nice. I could have a relaxing night while I watched everyone dance to the music.

Kaleidoscope was a gold mine. It brought in more revenue than my other three clubs which is huge, and I was proud of where it is going.

I spotted the dancers at their poles as they danced along to the music.

I wanted the club to have a risqué vibe to it but keep it calmer than a strip club.

My dancers had the maximum protection so little shits like the group outside couldn’t force them into doing something that they didn’t want.

Outside the club was another thing, but inside they stayed at their poles and made money.

“Boss. That’s the girl that got haggled tonight” Duke pointed to a girl swinging around the pole like it was made for her.

Her body was strong and slightly covered in tattoos.

Even in the light I could see the tattoos shine down her ribs to highlight her visible abs. Shit even her thighs were built.

I was never attracted to slightly muscular women, but I could see her muscles from the years of dancing. It wasn’t fully made in the gym which was so sexy to me.

“What’s her name?”

I couldn’t look away for a moment as she grinned down at a group of women cheering her on. Her hair was long and brown from what I could see from here.

“Mercy. Her actual name is Mercedes, but she told us that she wanted to be called Mercy” I chuckled making my way to her stage.

“Looks like I have to owe an apology” I hid my groan as she twirled around the pole to kneel in front of me. From this height she was level with me thanks to her stage.

“That’s ok. There are always a few here and there”

I leaned up against the stage grinning at her as she flicked her eyes around my face.

“Keep safe” I tapped the stage with my knuckle as I pulled away. Up close she was stunning with her hair in a slight curl to her blue eyes. The little nurse outfit that she had on was something that left very little to the imagination.

Rubbing my mouth, I walked away with my men following behind me.

She was temptation in the flesh, I could see the attitude and sass in her eyes as she looked at me and smiled. She was not a meek one that’s for sure.

“See to it that Mercy gets higher protection, anything concerning her should go through me” looking back I could see that she had gotten up and was now dancing again. Shit just looking at her ass under the tiny skirt was fucking tempting.

“Will do boss. Anything else?” shaking my head I walked into the office that had a huge window that overlooked the whole club. Resting my arms on the windowsill I could spot Mercy swinging around her pole as a group of guys came up and watched for a moment.

The jealously or possessiveness that came over me at that moment was like nothing I had ever felt before.

“Fucking hell” shaking my head I managed to pull myself away from the window to my desk where there was a pile of paperwork that I needed to go through.

“She will be off in an hour” I grunted grabbing a document. There was a notice about renewing my hours. This place was fifty-fifty according to the council, so they did like to check if I was pushing towards a strip club than an actual club.

Closing at one in the morning would kill my business so that’s why I brought in the girls and the poles so I could stay open till at least four. My other business stayed open till six then reopened at five in the afternoon for the after-work crowd.

“Fuckers are trying to get more money out of me” I tossed the form where I needed to update my business, I did it a few moths ago but now they are threatening me again.

Grabbing my phone I dialled the Prez.

“Do you know how late it is. I need to sleep?” the man never slept so I knew that was a lie.

“I need to get that new computer guy in to help me. The council is on my back again to pay the fee for the business. I paid it a few months ago and that was good for a year. Something isn’t right”

“Fucking council. Why do they always seem to butt into anything we do. This business is a good clean business with girls dancing with their clothes on. I will get Alex to have a look. There is bound to be something going on” dropping back in my chair I snuck a look through the window again.

I couldn’t see her from this point, but I knew she was there.

“Ok. I will figure out some other things then get back to the club. Tonight, it’s a full house with more people in the line” prez whistled on the other end.

“That place is a money maker. It was a good idea from you to start that. The strip joints make money but not as much as this place. Ok now piss off so I can try and get some sleep” I hung up after that.

Giving into temptation I stood up to walk to the window once more. Looking at my phone I saw that she had only an hour left on her shift. The girls always danced till one then then left. It was safer just in case we got a rowdier crowd before closing.

“Fucking hell” I mumbled again as I watched her hips sway, her face showed a huge smile as she closed her eyes to the beat of the music.

She was truly a stunner. I’m afraid that I was hooked already.

“Iron. We have a problem” I looked over my shoulder to see Hawk walk in. Back to work.