Chapter 12
The next morning, I check my phone for any messages or calls requesting my services at Cloud Nine or here at the house. When they pull up empty, I fling the covers back over my head and snooze for another thirty minutes.
When that alarm goes off, I repeat the process.
It’s eight now…
Shit.
Groaning, I fling the covers off and twist my hair into a top knot. I drag my sleepy ass to the shower and roast in it for five short minutes before getting out and dressing in the same pencil skirt I arrived in and a deep plum-colored blouse with pearlescent buttons.
I run a brush through my hair, strap my blades to my thighs, slip on my heels, and swipe a smear of red over my lips.
As I’m putting my glasses on, Nova knocks on my door, and I answer it with a smile that hopefully says ‘Please forgive me for being a judgmental bitch.’
Ironically, she’s wearing a smile that says ‘Please forgive me for being an emotional bitch.’
“Good morning, Doctor Sinclair.”
I examine the fresh shiner to her left eye. “Nova…”
Her head dips and she fiddles with the hem of her white sundress. “Please don’t ask me about it. Just treat me and…”
“Okay,” I say, giving in. I realized sometime between having my privacy invaded by Enzo and having my life threatened by Rafael that maybe I could use a girlfriend around here. A temporary friend.
“Really?” Her brow dips in disbelief.
Stepping out the door, I lock it behind me, and she follows my lead as I start down the hall. “Really. But we should stop in the kitchen and get some ice first.”
“Okay.”
“I was a little surprised Rafael sent you to give me a tour.”
She shrugs. “I’m just getting off from my night with Dante and was headed back anyway.”
Making our way down the stairs, the house feels eerily quiet this morning. The men must all be satiated from the women and my gut twists. Not only from that thought but also from the thought of what Enzo was doing…or who he was doing last night.
The bastard called me, talked to me, was all sweet and spouting off bullshit about lists and dreams and all the while he had finished fucking or was about to fuck someone else.
Should I be surprised? No.
Am I? Unfortunately…a little.
Remind me to Google how to find the little, disappointed piece of my heart and extract it, so I can stab it repeatedly until it’s unrecognizable and I never have to feel this awful sinking in my gut again…
Google knows all.
Also, remind me to press ignore when he calls me again.
“Do you have scheduled nights with Dante?” I ask, trying to gain more information about how the system works here while also attempting to avoid what could set myself or Nova off.
She bounces forward into the kitchen, pulling an ice pack from the freezer and wrapping it in a paper towel. “Usually I’m with him Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Then I work the VIP section at the Club the other nights but whenever Dante calls for me, I go.”
“Is he always that…rough?” I nod toward her bruise, crossing my arms and leaning back against the counter.
“Not always. Dante’s a strange man, sometimes he can be sweet, in a twisted sort of way.
” Nova winces as she places the cold compress on her cheek.
“He likes when I wear a blonde wig and he’ll call me Victoria, who was his wife, Rafael and Enzo’s mom.
There had to be some kind of love there, right?
I mean, not the kind of love I want.” Nova grabs a set of keys from a cupboard and motions for me to follow her.
“Other nights he’s…different. Usually, if something has upset him, which lately seems to be often, he can get a little rough, but I can take it. ”
We take the elevator down to the garage and I admire the lineup of luxury cars. Typical men. I shake my head, scoffing.
There’s also an orgasm-inducing Ducati I’d love to take for a spin…if only I had ever learned how to drive a motorcycle. Ilya drives one and he promised to teach me one day, but life always has a way of interrupting the simple pleasures I try to take.
Nova unlocks a black SUV and climbs into the driver’s seat as I slide into the passenger seat.
The leather smells brand new but I can tell it doesn’t belong to Nova.
I can’t explain why, but I know she wouldn’t pick something so…
dark. No, I imagine Nova putting around in a bright yellow VW beetle, one of those old ones, a little daisy sticking out of the flower holder on the dash.
She flicks her long red hair over her shoulder before starting the engine and pressing a fob, opening the garage door. The light streams in, momentarily blinding me as I hold my hand up to block the rays. “Nova, don’t get mad but you shouldn’t have to ‘take it.’”
She rolls her eyes as she pulls out of the garage. “I couldn’t make the money I do anywhere else.”
I scoff. “I’m surprised Dante pays you, he doesn’t seem like the type.”
Turning the radio up a little, metal music streams through the speakers. “Ew,” she huffs, changing it to a pop station. “Dante isn’t the type. Rafael and Enzo pay me.” She pauses at the gate, waiting for it to open and tapping her fingers along the steering wheel to the fast rhythm.
“They pay you?” I couldn’t hide my shock if I tried. Rafael’s words from last night come to mind.
I have a feeling, Doctor Sinclair, you have many incorrect assumptions about my brother and me.
“Yup,” she says, popping the ‘P’ and pulling through the gate. “Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say they let me keep what I earn.” A silent moment fills the cabin before she glances at me. “Do you know anything about Cloud Nine?”
“Not really,” I confess. Which isn’t exactly a lie. I know slightly more than the public but I’m naive to the inner workings.
“We have tiered memberships at Cloud Nine. The higher their ranking, the more money they pay. It’s a bit different than other clubs where, usually, they pay hourly or for different services or even by the girl.
We run it based on the man, not the woman.
So, if a lower-level member requests a girl, he pays a flat fee. The fee goes up based on the tier.”
We pull onto a main road, the gravel smoothing out below us and I process what she’s saying. “So, how do you decide what services you provide if it’s a flat fee?”
“It’s up to us. Rafael and Enzo have made it so we have all the power. The men are so whipped, they don’t care what they get, as long as it’s from an Angel.”
“And what if a client isn’t happy with what the girl he’s purchased is comfortable doing?”
Nova chews on her lower lip, glancing at me quickly before watching the road again.
“Being a member of Cloud Nine comes with rules, specific rules, and if you break one of them… Well, the twins handle it. It’s not a perfect system, but I will say few men have broken the rules, and those that do never return. ”
“So how do the men move up a level? They pay more money, but what do they get?”
Nova flips the windshield wipers on as rain patters against the glass, and I’m mesmerized as individual drops join with others, falling as one.
The buildings interlace with the tall evergreen trees and the fog creeps through like fingers as we drive.
Seattle is one of the most stunning cities I think I’ve ever been to.
The sleek buildings are surrounded by the most gorgeous evergreens and blue waters.
She’s a city of contradictions who speaks to me.
“It’s the Angel’s decision which men or women are moved up.
Sure, they pay more, but because we decide, we are more willing, and sometimes even more eager, to provide more services.
We only move up members who have proven they can follow the rules and we feel safe with.
Top tier members are more like friends than they are clients. ”
“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so awful.”
Nova chuckles. “Lucy, don’t get it twisted, we’re still whores. We still get paid for people to use and abuse our bodies but…Rafael and Enzo do make it easier. Before they took over Cloud Nine, well…” She hesitates, her tone darkening. “Let’s just say it wasn’t a good place.”
“How do they get away with this? It doesn’t seem like Dante would approve.”
“Dante handed over the keys to the twins about a year ago. Dante’s focused more on imports and exports than he is on how the club runs.
If he sees profits, he doesn’t ask questions.
I’m not privy to all the details. But he hasn’t come snooping yet, so we keep working.
Dante is a busy man, although he loves his Angels, he’s often traveling overseas for meetings and all that boring shit. ”
Nova pulls up to a row of warehouses lingering outside the city, three lined up along the street.
The first has clearly been re-vamped, a large neon pink sign hanging above the front doors reads ‘Cloud Nine.’ The middle also has newer features but isn’t labeled as anything and the third’s built similar to the middle one.
Forests of evergreens creep around the perimeter of the buildings and I kick myself for not tracking turns and street signs.
I was so enraptured in Nova’s explanation I completely forgot.
“So, what is your guys’ cut? Fifty-fifty?”
Nova bites at her bottom lip, glancing at me suspiciously before deciding she can trust me for some stupid reason. “Right now, it’s sixty-forty to the Alessis. But Rafael’s working on getting us more. He has other endeavors and as they grow, we see more of what we earn.”
This has to be a joke…right? “How is that possible? The Don would surely know how much was missing from his profits.”
“Like I said, I don’t really know all the details of how they do it, but they do. I know some of their secrets but there is a reason they have the reputation they do. Either way, trust me when I say, the Angels are well cared for.”