Chapter 45
C H A P T E R
BEHIND THE CURTAINS, HONEY STOOD GRIEF-STRICKEN. She could barely hold back her tears, and though she was about to step out on stage to perform next, she couldn’t do anything but think about Nikos, and every mere thought of him made her eyes water.
She couldn’t believe he was dead. But no matter how many times she called his phone last night after Antonis had left, she couldn’t get a response until eventually his phone just went straight to voicemail.
“Welcome to the stage, the one and only, Honey!” the DJ called from the other side of the curtain, and hearing her cue, Honey quickly fanned her eyes, blinking back her tears so they wouldn’t fall on her makeup, and once she was sure that most of them were gone, she stepped out from behind the curtain.
Immediately, she put on a mask, trying her best to listen to the music and treat this like any other night. If she just paid attention to the music, swayed to the beat enough, and took off a few garments, she could finish her job and leave.
The last place she wanted to be was here. She wouldn’t have been here at all if it weren’t for Antonis’s clear threat, and that she suspected he would come and drag her out of her home and put her on the stage if he had to. She had to perform right now. She had to pretend it hadn’t happened.
She had to pretend that she hadn’t lost him.
So she danced, rolling her hips seductively in the way the audience liked, feeling their beady eyes greedily follow her every movement as she tried to let the music guide her through the performance and tried to keep the more tragic thoughts in the back of her mind.
She was nearly doing a good job of it until she saw him. Antonis boldly walked across the floor and took a seat directly in front of the stage. It felt so much like a taunt that she paused in her movements, and the music no longer guided her, but her anger did.
Usually, he watched her from his office, which Honey had assumed was his way of not showing outright favoritism, even though everyone who worked here knew how he felt about her.
Now, it was clear that he didn’t give a fuck about putting a show on anymore, and that he was going to let his obsession show, even to her.
She wanted to continue to perform. She wanted to be strong enough to ignore him, but she couldn’t.
Honey found herself on the stage staring at him with pure hatred, and the bills no longer fell as the audience watched her with confusion, probably wondering why she had stopped and why there was such a deep frown on the face of the woman they had all fantasized about.
Her hips couldn’t roll, and her ass couldn’t shake, and she didn’t even have the strength to put her mask back on again, because all she could feel was hatred as she looked at the man who murdered someone that she had deeply cared about.
Finally, she moved again, but not to the pole. Instead, she headed back through the curtains she came in from, ignoring the boos that followed her, and not caring that she left halfway through.
Her eyes felt heavy, and she had to apply more makeup than usual to cover up the bags that had formed from all the crying she had done last night, in the morning, and in the car before she arrived.
She was barely hanging on to a thread right now, and the last thing she wanted to do was perform here.
She headed down the stairs and then went to the dressing room so she could change and leave, but stepping into the dressing room was like stepping into a funeral home instead.
Before the Gentlemen’s Club opened, Antonis had made an announcement, telling everyone of Nikos’s passing, and the news had broken them down, and though it was hours later, everyone in the dressing room was still crying.
It was the most depressing sight she had ever seen in the room and a testament to how much all the girls here had liked Nikos.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Sweetie said as she sobbed. Her face was splotched red and matched her eyes. Allison sat next to her, sobbing too as she rubbed Sweetie’s back. And it seemed that in their grief, the girls had finally decided to get along again.
Honey couldn’t take the depressing sight that made her eyes prickle and instead, she fled away from the room.
She felt like she was drowning in sadness, and if she stepped inside there with the rest of the girls, it would only swallow her up.
She pressed her back against the wall as she tried to regain control of her emotions, and then she heard the sound of heels until they came to a stop in front of her.
“Honey,” Amber called tenderly. “Are you okay?”
Honey didn’t respond. She couldn’t, and Amber sighed.
“I’m sad about it too,” Amber said, and though her face was not streaked with tears like the other girls, they were in her throat, choking her words.
“I can’t believe he’s gone. It felt like he was just here yesterday, telling me I should leave Theo for him.
It felt like he was just here, teasing you.
Maybe we both should have taken the rodeo just to see what it would have been like with him. ”
And that was enough to make Honey break down as tears fell from her eyes harder. No, she shouldn’t have taken that rodeo with Nikos. If she hadn’t, then he would still be here. He would still be alive, and that was something she wanted now more than anything.
“I knew that you and Nikos worked more closely together than he did with the other girls. But I must admit I didn’t think you would be this distraught about it.
You’re crying more than Sweetie and Allison,” Amber said, looking at her sadly, but when Honey did not respond and only continued to cry, Amber’s eyes widened with shock before she came over and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back through her sobs.
“No wonder Nikos hasn’t done anything else with the girls lately,” Amber said with tears thick in her throat. “He was with you.”
Honey sobbed as she clutched Amber tighter. “He killed him, Amber. That psycho killed him because of me.”
Amber froze mid-rub and pulled back, looking at her with shock.
Honey knew it wasn’t something she should have told anyone.
Antonis hadn’t told her not to, but with men like Antonis, these things could just be left unspoken.
If you saw a man like him kill someone in cold blood, unless you wanted the same to happen to you, you wouldn’t say a word.
But Honey felt like if she didn’t tell anyone, it would eat her alive.
Amber didn’t even bother with asking who the psycho was because they both knew there was only one person she would refer to as that. Amber’s tears fell harder before she pulled her back into a hug again.
Amber’s hot tears fell against her neck, and Honey’s tears fell against hers as they cried until they heard a clack against the ground.
Usually, Honey would never be caught in this place looking so vulnerable, knowing how much of vultures the other girls could be, but right now she didn’t care.
But when she turned to the left to see where the noise had come from, she realized the sound had come from Antonis’s cane.
He stood near them in the hall with a heavy frown on his face, and Honey wanted to slap him.
He wouldn’t even allow her to grieve in peace.
Amber and Honey stepped apart as they wiped their tears.
“You can go. I need to speak to Honey alone,” Antonis said, and Amber looked hesitant to leave, like she feared that Antonis would kill her too. But Honey knew now that Antonis would only kill those around her who wanted her. She would be fine physically, even if she wouldn’t be mentally.
“I’ll meet up with you later,” Honey said, and Amber nodded. Once she was out of hearing distance, Antonis spoke.
“Your performance was unacceptable.”
“Usually when someone is mourning the loss of a loved one, their bosses give them leave,” Honey retorted, not quite giving a fuck about what was acceptable or not.
What was unacceptable was forcing her to come out on stage after he told her that he had murdered Nikos last night.
He was cruel, and yet he wanted to preach to her about what was acceptable.
If he had remotely any heart, then she wouldn’t be here right now.
“A loved one?” Antonis repeated with disgust.
“Yes, a loved one,” Honey repeated, defiantly. She and Nikos had never put any titles to their relationship, but right now, she knew she could use those words to describe what she felt for him. She wouldn’t be feeling this sad if Nikos were anything less.
Antonis took a step closer, but this time, Honey didn’t cower in fear because she was that angry. She was ready to face him toe to toe. She was ready to take Antonis on at this moment.
“If you have a problem with my performance, fire me,” Honey taunted. She wanted him to. She wanted him to break this hellish connection between them once and for all, so she could be free from him.
“I won’t fire you, ever,” he promised to her disgust. “Go home and mourn your loss because he’s gone, and he’ll never touch you again.”
Ready to storm off, Honey tried to move past him, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Honey tried to tug herself away, but Antonis only gripped her arm tighter. “Take a break, and two days from now, we’re going to dinner together.”
“I don’t want to go to dinner—”
“I already told you. It doesn’t matter what you want anymore. You will be going out to dinner with me,” he told her before loosening his grip, and Honey snatched her arm away and left.