Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
MILLIE
Gripping my steering wheel, I twist my hands back and forth slightly as I drive toward work. I flick my gaze to the rearview mirror to check if that black pickup truck is following me again.
The traffic is heavy, so I don’t know if I would even notice him, but that doesn’t stop me from looking.
When I pull into the club’s parking lot, I shift my car into Park and stay there for a long moment in silence, just breathing.
Closing my eyes, I take cleansing, calming breaths.
The sun is warm against my skin through the windows and as much as I want to stay here for hours, I force myself to open my eyes.
My gaze darts around the parking lot, taking in every parked vehicle. No pickups. I wonder if he’s going to come later tonight, or maybe not at all. I can’t deny that I hope it was Axton and that he’ll be coming back. That would be a lot more convenient than me driving to him.
A lot less embarrassing, too. And I am all about self-preservation. And all about not looking like a fucking fool. That’s seriously important to me. I’ve looked like a fool enough in my life. No more and never again.
Pushing open the car door, I swing my legs over the side, place my feet flat on the ground, then stand and straighten. I take a step forward before I slam the car door closed and move around toward my trunk. I have a duffel with my costumes, shoes, and makeup inside.
After closing the trunk, I move toward the club. The bouncer isn’t set up yet, although it wouldn’t matter if he were. He’s a fucking idiot. I’m pretty sure he takes cash to turn his attention away, pretending he doesn’t see a fucking thing.
Asshole.
He wouldn’t work a day in Vegas, not a fucking day. What he would do was be fired and then probably disappear somewhere in the desert, never to be seen again. I would probably cheer if that actually happened. They are all so inept at their damn jobs.
Tugging the door open, I slip inside the club. The lights are on, the whole room bathed in the bright glow of fluorescence. It makes the place seem seedy. You can see how worn the furniture is, every little scrape and scar that mars the wood of the tables and chairs.
The thing is, this is a nice club, not a shithole, so even though it’s a little beat up in the daylight, at night, with the lights dimmed, it’s nothing short of fabulous. I move toward the back of the club and only stop when I hear Anna call out my name.
I stop and turn to look toward her voice. She’s standing in the hallway that leads to the owner’s office. The expression she wears is nothing short of what I would consider worrisome.
“Anna?” I ask as I make my way toward her. “Is everything okay?”
Her lips twitch into a smirk, then she presses them together in a thin line. “Boss wants a meeting.”
She spins around and walks down the long, dark hallway. I follow behind her, albeit reluctantly. I’m not sure what she wants with me, what anyone would want with me here. I’m only a dancer, and a new one at that.
Anna stops at a door, wrapping her fingers around the doorknob, then she pushes it open and stands to the side. I walk past her into the office, stopping when I’m a few feet inside the room. The owner is sitting behind his desk.
I don’t know anything about anything.
And less about something.
I wait for him to speak.
The owner. The boss.
He lifts his focus from his desk, his eyes finding mine instantly. “Miss Monroe,” he says.
“Mr. Bennet,” I reply.
He clears his throat and gestures to the empty chair that sits across the desk. Setting my duffel bag down on the floor beside my feet, I sink down into the chair, my gaze never leaving his.
“I have a meeting tomorrow morning with a new security company. I wanted to know how you felt about the current security team. You’re the only dancer I have who has worked in a larger venue.”
I almost laugh.
“You don’t want my opinion,” I state.
He chuckles, his gaze searching mine for a moment before he speaks. “I do want your opinion, Millie. I want it badly, actually.”
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I inhale a long breath through my nose before I exhale slowly. I flick my gaze to his, holding it for a long moment in silence before I speak.
“The men you have here look great. They’re in nice clothes and seem somewhat professional.”
“But?” he prompts.
“They are not professional,” I blurt out. “I think they’re taking money to turn a blind eye to things. The safety of the dancers worries me.”
He dips his chin once, then clears his throat, his eyes never leaving mine. “And none of this would fly in Vegas,” he states.
He’s not really asking me, but I respond to him anyway. “None of it would fly in Vegas. They would be dead.”
“That’s all I needed to know,” he says, his eyes still on mine. “Thank you, Millie. I’m going to bring in a new crew. They’re a little scarier to the eye, but they will be better for the club, I think.”
“Scarier?” I ask.
He hums. “Scarier. Bikers.”
I’m not sure if he can see the blood drain from my face, but I feel it anyway. “Bikers?” I ask in a whisper.
He hums as he leans back in his chair. I’m not sure if he can sense my trepidation, but I feel it full force. I am nervous about bikers being here.
I know it won’t be the Vicious Reapers.
There is probably another group, but still.
It doesn’t change the fact that I worry about it, but not for the same reasons someone else would.
More because I know what they’re capable of and how every woman in this place will probably fall madly in love with them, which will create a whole new host of problems. Because I know exactly how it feels to fall for one of those.
It’s perfect and brutal, pleasure mixed with pain. You would go to the ends of the earth just for a moment with them even though you know it’s going to end in heartache. For those moments, those slices of heaven, it’s worth it all.
“The Vicious Reapers,” Mr. Bennet announces.
My stomach doesn’t just sink, it flips, then flops.
“The Vicious Reapers,” I whisper.
Repeating the words doesn’t make it less true. It just cements it all inside my head even more.
The Vicious Reapers… here.
How could this possibly be? I don’t ask him because if I do, he’ll know I know them. And he might ask questions. I don’t want anyone to know about my life. About my past. Although it wasn’t too seedy. I was just a young girl in love. I still don’t want anyone to know… or dig.
“They’re an MC in the mountains. They know what they’re doing. They have security backgrounds. I have a feeling it will be better than Vegas security by the time they’re done with us.”
He is so fucking proud of himself. And if I didn’t know better, I would probably think the same thing.
But I know who they are, and while I’m sure they’ll be great at security, their being here day in and day out, the chance that one of them will recognize me and tell Axton, is too high for my liking.
PIGGY
Shuffling into the house, I strip off my uniform because I don’t have a choice. There is no fucking way I could crawl into bed after a whole day of work. Forcing myself to take a hot shower, I close my eyes, and my thoughts instantly shift to Millie.
To Millie on that stage, drenched in gold. Soaping my body, I try to shift my focus to something else, anything else, but Millie is the only thing I can think about.
Her up on that stage, her body moving gracefully, sensually, like she was created for that purpose alone—to seduce me. At least that’s how it feels, which means every fucking man in that club feels that way.
My cock twitches a few times before it hardens. And the urge is too strong. Wrapping my fingers around my cock, I gently stroke myself to the memories of her on that stage. Thinking about her body, the way it moved.
The way she twirled around that pole and the strength and grace she showed in every single movement she made. My hand glides back and forth over my wet skin, the soap helping it ease along, helping it bring me closer to my release.
My cock is hard, my lower back tingling, and I can feel my orgasm approaching. I’m on the fucking edge. And then it happens. My balls draw up, and my cum shoots out in ribbons onto the wet shower floor. I groan, pinching my eyes closed tighter before I open them.
I watch as my cum slides down the drain.
The release is great, but also, a hollow feeling consumes me.
She’s not going to be in that bed waiting for me. She hasn’t been waiting for me for ten years. I let her go. I watched her walk away, and I didn’t give a fuck. I just let her go. My biggest regret in life is losing this woman because of my immature, selfish, stupid pride.
Turning the water off, I reach for a towel and dry myself off before I wrap it around my waist. I make my way to the bedroom, drop the towel next to my dresser, and grab a pair of boxer briefs.
After tugging them on, I crawl into bed, my eyes closing instantly, and then I fall asleep. I’m exhausted from work and the orgasm, although that left me wanting more—wanting her.
Millie.