Chapter 5
It took a few days to get things in place.
In the luckiest turn of events that meant bullshit would land on me later, one of the dancers at the strip club Steven frequented had applied at Heavenly Entertainment.
We had denied her because she didn’t have the talent needed and wasn’t involved in one of the takeovers.
But now… Now it was a different story.
And I actually felt bad when I learned of her situation. She didn’t put it all on her resume for obvious reasons, but it was clear she was in a bad place.
We just couldn’t help everyone. It wasn’t possible.
At least we could help her. I felt bad we were now that she was useful to us, and that was odd on its own. We weren’t currently expanding, but we would be circling back to this club and area because the reason we could use this dancer as an in was because of bullshit.
That was putting it mildly, because the owner did illegal bullshit of holding a deposit of pay to make sure no one skipped out on shifts. And they had to find their own coverage or he kept the five grand.
Yeah, no big, just some pocket change to most people.
Fucking asshole. So, they didn’t get their full pay until he had them locked in and then they were fucked. They had to get others to cover their shifts if there was an emergency, and if that person flaked, the owner deducted it from the “deposit.”
Basically, he shorted them five grand. There was no other way to say it. He was despicable.
So yeah, we would be circling back to handle him.
For now, it was how I could immediately get on the schedule without going through the normal hoops. It was beyond crazy and fucking ridiculous. The girl couldn’t even quit until a replacement was found, and after working there for years, she somehow had her full five grand “deposit.”
I snorted. There was no way she was ever seeing that money. I felt bad any of them probably believed there was still a chance for that. It wasn’t even that they were stupid or gullible.
They were just desperate. One more way people that desperate were fucked over, and it was when they gave up.
I knew that feeling well and fully understood how bad of a spot she was probably in.
I wasn’t going to go be the one to talk to her, but something itched in me, so I moved some things around and made sure to be there. Right as someone else raised their hand to knock, I heard the distinct sound of skin hitting skin.
And not in the fun kind of way.
No, this was someone being smacked.
I didn’t even make the decision to get involved. It didn’t even register that I was going to get involved until the door was kicked in and I was inside the apartment.
“Who the fuck are you, bitch?” the man demanded.
The one with his hand raised like he’d just finished smacking someone.
I slowly raised an eyebrow as I took in the scene. “I’m the bitch with diplomatic immunity, so use the two brain cells you have in the next few moments if you want to survive this.” I smirked when everyone in the apartment froze. “Good, you know what that is.”
“You’re lying,” he hissed.
“Oh, I’m not, which makes it so much more fun.” I turned to the woman holding her cheek. “Maya Grey? You applied for a job with us asking for a new life. Do you still want it?”
“She’s not going anywhere,” the woman in the other room snapped, her beady gaze landing on Maya. “You were applying for jobs without permission? Behind our backs?”
“Without your permission?” I drawled. “Do you own her?”
“She’s my daughter, so stay out of family business,” she sneered.
“No.” I snorted when that shocked her. “Do you need me to say it in other languages because I know them. I also know that having a daughter or granddaughter doesn’t mean you own them.
” I hurried on when I felt Kyria go tense, clearly understanding this had hit a nerve for me.
“And you’re not worthy of the title of mother with what you’ve let go on here. ”
“You know nothing,” she argued. “I watch her kid and—”
“Because you refused to sign the papers to allow your underage daughter to have an abortion when she was fucking raped!” I bellowed.
“You used the situation to punish her for trying to get a better life for herself and leave this bullshit! Instead of protecting her and—” The man drew my attention when he moved.
“I will break you with a fucking smile. Don’t. ”
“The offer is real,” Kyria told the woman we were there for.
“We couldn’t hire you before because you don’t have enough experience, but I’m putting together a new training team.
I could use help with the logistics. The management of the dancers.
Your grades were good before, and you could finish school now. ”
The man snorted. “There’s no way you’re offering that for a nobody like her. She’s not stupid enough to believe such bullshit.”
I met his gaze head-on and let him see his death in mine. “Maya’s not stupid. She’s trapped and has been abused. We’re here because we were the same and now thrive after someone helped us.” I focused back on the mother. “And that’s why you will fry in the hell you believe in.
“You rant that you did the Christian thing to not let her have an abortion. You go to your church to say it was her fault for putting herself in the position to be raped. That you’re doing god’s work taking care of your grandchild and it’s all fucking lies.”
“It’s not—”
“It is,” the four female demons in the room said together, Kyria continuing.
“None of them know you did it basically to use the government aid for yourselves. You and your fucking waste of a husband. You make her go out and earn money under the table you don’t claim—that she’ll be on the hook for when the government finds out about it!
“You lie to everyone that you’re still working part-time to help her and the baby and everything else, but you sit here in this filth and let her stepdad abuse her!
Why? Because you know the truth and he would rather her be in his bed than you?
That you hate your own daughter because she’s prettier than you ever were? ”
“What?” Maya gasped as she moved closer to Kyria. “How do you know that?”
“We do our homework before deciding to get involved,” I lied knowing it was what Kyria sensed.
“And the truth of it all is they know who raped you. That’s why they wouldn’t allow the abortion and you to be helped.
That’s why they keep you basically hostage and control you.
They’re waiting until the statute of limitations ends. ”
“You’re her mother, you disgusting filth,” another demon spat at the woman. “And you’re not—”
“One call to the police and they’ll take that baby from her and she’ll be behind bars,” the man cut in. “I know people and—”
And that was the threat he’d been using to keep control over the poor woman. Maya started shaking and cowered into herself. They used prison and what could happen to her there after she’d been raped as the threat to control her. What she suffered now didn’t seem as bad as that.
Except it was all lies.
The fourth demon moved across the room and shoved him away from the girl.
“You’re so full of shit it’s made your fucking eyes brown, asshole.
You know people at that church, but they wouldn’t cross the road to help you.
They know you lie because they go see her at the strip club!
They just can’t admit it because it would expose them! ”
“They would never risk their own asses to help you,” I drawled.
I turned to Maya. “Pack what you want to take with you and for the child.” My heart broke as her desires to not be around the thing that destroyed her so much hit me.
“Arrangements have been made. Trust us. This once, find the strength to trust for this help.”
“You’re not taking my grandbaby,” the woman snapped and stormed at me.
“It’s cute you think you have a fucking vote,” I snorted and shoved her away from me.
Maya hesitated and I decided to give her the motivation she needed.
“Your rapist is in custody. Someone did take a rape kit even against your stepfather’s objections while he was trying to pull you out of the hospital that day.
If the child’s DNA matches—we’ll handle it. ”
“Don’t you dare, and we’re going to talk about you trying to find other work and everything else you’ve been up to,” the man growled at Maya.
That was more motivating than anything. Knowing she was dead meat after they learned all of this was… She couldn’t move fast enough while we held off the “parents.”
It was extra hard to not kill the stepdad because his desires were full of not getting a chance to fuck her before we were taking her away. Seriously, some men were beyond filth.
Which was why when Maya was ready to go, the few things she wanted to take with her packed—and everything needed for the toddler—I punched him in the face. I had to pull the hit in a way that impressed me with my control given everything else going on and how much this triggered me.
“Report it,” I chuckled darkly when he opened his mouth… From the floor.
I squatted down and smirked at him, letting him see in my eyes what others had.
That I was the predator and they were the fucking prey.
“Oh, you do have a few working brain cells,” I purred when he swallowed down what he was going to say. “You get it now, don’t you?”
“I get it,” he bit out. “She’s gone and don’t make a fuss.”
Kyria snorted. “No, please, make a fuss. We plan to. You just won’t win and can’t touch us.” She sighed when the mother got riled up. “I have no problem hitting a woman. I would honestly fucking love to.”
“We need to get you diplomatic immunity first, love,” I chuckled. I stood and bitch-slapped the mother. “But I have it.” I smiled at Maya’s shock. “You deserve much more, but I bet that healed something deep inside of you, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” she whispered, letting out a shuddering breath.