“Hey. You.”
I turned around at the heavy voice. “Me?”
He pointed at me. “Yes, you. Get over here.”
I stood up and sauntered over to him while trying not to use my regular voice. I had it lilted a bit. It was much softer, you know, to suit my softer appearance. It was all breath and no robustness, as Astrid would have said. But the next words that flew out of his mouth stunned me in my tracks.
“You’re up next. You got a set ready with a song I can take up to the D.J.?”
I blinked. “You mean, I’m dancing tonight?”
The man bent forward and got in my face. “You got a problem with that? Because we only make money around here.”
Porter sounded in my ear. “Keep a cool head and simply answer ‘no.’ Don’t anger him in any way.”
I nodded. “No.”
He growled. “No, what?”
I swallowed hard. “No, I don’t have an issue with making money. Yes, I have a set ready. It’s a pretty popular song, too, so the D.J. should already have it.”
His head cocked to the side. “Then, tell me the fucking song, Butterfly.”
I winced at the stage name I would now be called. “It’s Raining Men.”
He raised back up. “Great. You’re up in ten. I’ll have the D.J. get it ready.”
And when he marched out of the dressing room, Brooks’ voice sounded in my ear.
“Tanner’s in place up in the balcony. He’ll not only be watching you, but also the other people around you. You got your gun in your thigh high that you can reach easily?”
I took one last look at myself in the mirror and cleared my throat. Which had become our go-to signal for ‘yes’.
“Good,” Brooks said, “and remember our code word.”
“Pineapple,” I whispered.
“Exactly. You say that at any point in time, and we’re all in there. Got it?”
I cleared my throat and fluffed my hair before I started for the stage doors. I didn’t think I’d be anywhere near the stage tonight, and I prayed my legs held up. They were still very sore from the beating I took a couple of weeks ago, and while I felt stronger on my feet that strength was almost ripped away from me with how high these fucking heels were.
Still, when that song came on, I made one hell of an entrance.
“And introducing our newest dancer, Butterfly! She’s innocent, she’s classy, and she’s ready to rock your dick. Who’s gonna show this girl some love!?”
Dry ice fog spewed across the stage as I made my grand entrance. Everyone cheered for the song, but when I reached for the pole I already had men tossing money my way. I swung around in a basic formation, taking stock of how many people were out in the audience. And after I quickly pinpointed Tanner up in the balcony with his thick-framed glasses and sweater vest, I shed my robe.
To reveal the outstanding sparkly two-piece I had beneath it.
The dancing came naturally to me, and by the time I was done I practically needed a broom to sweep the ones and fives off the fucking stage. I’d never seen this kind of money in my life, even in the higher end clubs I had worked in order to get a foothold into an establishment like this. One of the bodyguards had to help me pick up all of the money on stage. But the second we got off the stage, all of the guys in leather jackets rushed me.
And started taking some serious cuts of the money.
“Wait, how much am I going to be left with?” I asked softly.
The guys grinned as they stuffed my money into their pockets. “You get thirty percent of what you make. The rest goes to the bouncers, the owners, and a general fund to help upkeep this place.”
I almost swallowed my tongue. “Thirty percent? Most places nowadays allow the dancers to keep—”
One of the guys got in my face. “You got an issue with that, Butterfly?”
His breath smelled of booze. “I just—I’ll have to take a second job if I can’t—”
Then, one of the larger men in the back chuckled as he stepped to the forefront. “You want to earn fifty percent instead?”
I nodded. “That would be ideal, yes.”
He nodded his head. “Follow me, then.”
I looked around at all of the guys before I quickly scurried after the large man who had beckoned for me. I stuffed the money they had allotted me in the top of my boot that didn’t hold my gun, if anything to detract from the fact that I was carrying in that exact same spot. He led me through a series of back hallways I had only traveled a handful of times, but when we walked into a room full of black walls, plush red seats, and a pole in the middle of the room, I knew what was about to happen.
The massive bodyguard sat down and spread his legs before he tossed his wad of cash onto the floor. “You want that? Then, you work for it.”
“Josie? You okay?” Tanner asked in my ear.
I paused for a second before I cleared my throat, then I sauntered over to the man. I knew what he wanted, and the problem was that if I refused, I was likely to be killed. So, I picked up the money he threw onto the floor, stuffed it deeper into my left thigh-high, then started swaying my hips.
So I could give him a private show.
He didn’t just want a private show, though. He wanted a private lap dance. And when his hands groped me, I took a step back. I wiggled my finger at him playfully before biting onto my lower lip, but what I really wanted to do was vomit all over his smug fucking face.
I had half a mind to reach for the gun in my right thigh-high and take this fucker out.
But I knew I’d blow my entire cover if I did anything remotely close to that.
“We need an update. It’s been fifteen minutes. Tanner can’t see you,” Porter said gruffly.
I cleared my throat and did one last swivel of my hips in the man’s lap, trying not to vomit at the feeling of his dick pressed against my ass cheeks. But the second the door opened in front of me, the man seated beneath me stood up and knocked me clear off my feet.
“Get up, bitch, and keep dancing. The men have shit to talk about,” he said.
I should kill you simply for that.
But instead of pulling out my gun, yet again, I stood and did as he asked. I spun around the pole in the middle of the room and tried my best to dance the night away so it didn’t look like I was completely and totally eavesdropping on them. I ground against the pole and even climbed up to circle back down slowly. And with every circle I made, I trained my ears on their conversation.
“It’s happening. Three days. You ready?”
The massive man I had been forced to dance for nodded his head. “Yep. Everything in place?”
“Got the dock hands paid off. Got a way to turn off the security cam—”
“Shh! Are you fucking nuts? Shut the hell up.”
I continued dancing as I hoped and prayed they didn’t know I was listening. They both paused for a second and watched me, so I closed my eyes and really got into the dancing mood. I jiggled my asscheeks and shimmied my breasts. I lost myself in the rhythm of the music and the beating of the bass that reverberated through the walls.
Then, after a few moments, the men resumed talking.
“She’s not listening,” the random guy hissed.
The big, meaty one shrugged. “Can’t be too careful. Are the beds set up?”
Beds? What beds?
“Yep. They’re ready to go. Got everyone in ‘deck’ mode, too. The only thing standing in our way is time.”
The man who interrupted us cackled. “These girls will be ‘muy bueno.’ I might just keep one for myself. You know how I like a good Latina riding this dick.”
The two men high-fived and it almost made me sick.
Almost.
After the two men finished up, someone snapped their fingers at me. I stopped my twirling and grinding and looked at the beefy man standing in the doorway. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet before tossing a couple of hundreds onto the ground at his feet.
Then, he scooted them my way with the tip of his boot.
“What’s that for?” I asked softly.
The man chuckled. “To reserve my spot in your schedule every night. That’s what.”
I had to swallow down the bile creeping up the back of my throat. “I look forward to it, handsome.”
He chuckled. “Trust me, I know you do. Now, pick it up and get out. You’re done for the night. And tell the men you’ve earned your fifty percent. They won’t hassle you after that.”
He walked out of the room and I scrambled to pick up the money. I stuffed it into my left thigh-high and eased myself out of the room, making my way down the back hallways so I wouldn’t have to interact with anyone else. I wanted to cry. I wanted to sink to my knees and scream in horror at what had happened to this place in such a short amount of time.
“Josie?”
I jumped at the sound of my name being whispered. “What the fuck?”
Tanner emerged from the shadows. “We need to get you out of here, pronto.”
I furrowed my brow. “Why? What’s going on? How the hell did you—”
He grabbed my arm. “Sorry, but we can’t talk. Chops just arrived, and he didn’t come through the front entrance.”
My eyes widened. “Shit. I need my stuff.”
He held up my purse. “That Summer girl sure is a tough one to crack.”
I grinned. “She’s great though, right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome. Now, we have to go.”
I jogged to keep up with Tanner, but eventually he had to scoop me into his arms. The pain in my legs simply couldn’t keep up, so I clutched my purse while he rushed out the side entrance with me in his arms. The white van was there to receive up and we quickly tumbled inside before Porter closed the doors.
And as the van eased away from the club, my gut reaction was to call Archer.
Because for some reason, I just needed to hear his voice after what happened in that place.
