AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gia. And she’s a good one, so you girls better not scare her off.” She nodded and took a step toward the showroom, but I laid a palm on her shoulder. She spun around. “And she’s Mr. Aggio’s daughter, so I suggest you not give her hell at all.”
She scoffed sarcastically. “I’m one of the nice ones.”
Winking subtly, I lifted my chin toward the bar. She swanned back to her post, finishing her pre-shift prep while I approached Jade, slipping my arm around her, pulling her to my side. “I need to show Gia the new section. Do you want to join us?”
“I can’t.” Pursing her lips, she clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth a few times, scanning the room. “I need to go with Amber to get our lineup for the Blue Lounge tonight, but I wouldn’t mind meeting you upstairs in your office later.”
I moved my hand up to the back of her head, pulling her lips to mine. “You know that’s a nightly ritual, anyway.”
She turned to Giovanna, who was watching us intently with a wide grin.
“You guys are goals,” she tittered.
“Thanks,” Jade beamed while I remained silent. “I’ll have Amber come get you for training in just a bit, but we have to settle some management stuff first.” She rolled her eyes at Ian. “Plus, I guess your dad’s getting here soon.”
“Yeah,” I interjected, “we’re definitely not putting her near the Blue Lounge on nights he could be anywhere near the building, and it seems like he’s going to be here quite a bit for a little while.”
Ian furrowed his brow, snuffing his cigarette out in the ashtray and lighting another immediately afterward. It was weird, even for him on a normal night. Ian smoking more than three cigarettes in an hour was a sure sign of stress unless he was playing poker or billiards. He’d cut back tremendously since Jenna was pregnant with Dylan.
He was hiding something and based on my talk with Jade last night. She knew it too. The problem was, I didn’t know what was going on. And that worried me even more. Until now, he’d told me everything.
“Is your dad visiting my club going to cause a problem?” Ian asked Giovanna. “Because I don’t like surprises. So, if there’s anything you need to tell me before he shows up tonight,” he blew out a cloud of smoke, “for example if you and him have any bad blood between you and that’s why you were in California, I need to know.” Reaching over to the ashtray, he flicked the ash off the end before placing it between his lips again, inhaling. “Because if anything comes up tonight, the last thing I want to be is caught off guard. I know the family that you come from, but you don’t want to see me mad.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, then clasped her hands together in front of her. “I wanted to be an actress, but it didn’t quite work out for me for a few reasons, and dancing is my first love, anyway.” She rested a hand on her hip. “Well, that and sex.” Her expression became serious once again when she realized we were anything but amused. “There’s no bad blood, and he knew I was out in L.A. Like I said, he doesn’t know I’m a sex worker because that’s not really something you tell your dad. I mean, the fact he even knows I’m a stripper was weird for him and me both in the beginning.”
“Well, I don’t want to take any chances, yet.” Ian pulled in a deep drag of his cigarette, then lowered it to his side, the smooth smoke drifting out between his lips. “I don’t trust you, but I do trust him,” he pointed at me, “and you clearly have impeccable dancing skills. But I’m not chancing any extra drama that may happen when he finds out you work here.” He turned his attention to Amber and Jade. “I’ll let you guys know if Vito wants to come in here tonight and if he does, we’re going to have to hide her in one of the rooms. You can put her in mine if you need to.” He lifted the vice to his lips again, taking a drag. “If everything’s cool, I’ll let you guys know and she can roam freely.”
The girls nodded. Jade winked at me, slipping her fingers between mine, giving my hand a squeeze before she and Amber sashayed out of the room.
“Chance,” Ian continued, “do whatever you want tonight. I don’t really have any tasks that I need from you, so do what you do best. Drink and enjoy the titties.”
“That’s it,” Chance chuckled.
“I know I’m going to regret asking this,” Ian shook his head, “but what do you mean?”
“I have an idea for a total club name change since you’re about to have a daycare upstairs too, Titties and Toddlers.”
“Fuck off, Hollywood,” Ian scoffed as he marched out of the room, cigarette to his mouth.
Biting back a laugh, I shook my head. “Alright, I’m going to show Gia around. Are you coming?”
“Nah, I think I’m going to go upstairs and hang out with Jenna for a while and let my security know I’ll be down here in a bit.” He pivoted around, sauntering toward the side door.
“So, what’s first?” Giovanna asked.
“We can start here.” I swept my arm around the room in a slow circle, highlighting the main area of the club. “Obviously, this is our main room. Each of the smaller poles you see are ranked. Those over there,” I pointed to three lower platforms to the side of the room, “are our lowest ranking poles. Those are for our new girls, specifically those who’ve never worked in a club before, and it’s how they work their way up. Amber and Ian like to put the mean girls there too, just to humble them.”
“Okay.” She nodded, stifling a giggle.
“Over there,” I directed her attention to a pair of poles at the back of the room on a shared platform, “are for our intermediate dancers. They level up to those, but they also do more interacting with customers who may or may not be able to afford a lap dance. These girls are skilled at giving enticing previews for just a few bucks.” My eyes drifted over to six high-back half-round booths on a slightly elevated platform across from us.
“And let me guess,” she said with a playful smirk, tucking her lip between her teeth and pointing with her index fingers, “VIP.”
I nodded. “Those booths are for our highest paying customers. Mr. Knight’s table is the third one and in case you ever work VIP, no one except the people you just saw in this room or his wife, should ever sit in that booth or smoke in this room. If they’re not at his table, no smoking.”
“Got it.” She nodded at the six poles. “And the poles?”
“We rotate the girls out except for his. Amber usually handles scheduling for that one.” I shrugged, leading her toward the side exit. “But it doesn’t really matter, because our attention is usually on the stage when we’re over there.”
