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She knew it was a tactic to refocus her inquisition. She moaned when one talented finger rubbed her clit. She was okay with the subject change.
* * *
“Don’t worry, honey. He’ll be okay. They all will,” Violet said as she poured them both a cup of tea.
Everyone was telling her not to worry. That only made her worry more. She’d spent another night in his arms she’d never forget and then in the light of day, reality set in. He was going to put his life in danger and she knew nothing. She assumed it had to do with the trafficking problem, the same one that cost James his life. Not James, she corrected, Jovani. She really needed to talk to Luc.
Helen and the other girls she’d danced with joined them at the table. “That was some kiss Dozer laid on you before they left,” Helen teased.
Janel grinned, remembering it. She’d been surprised when instead of walking out the door with the rest of the men, he’d turned and made a beeline for her. He grabbed her and kissed her until she was dizzy and needy. Once he’d accomplished that, he joined the men already on their bikes and left with only a final look and a wicked grin promising what was to come when he returned.
“It was…nice,” she said and all the girls giggled at her inept reply. That kiss hadn’t been nice. It had been earth-shattering.
Another woman pulled up a chair and Janel frowned when her least favorite person sat down.
“It won’t last, you know. Dozer’s fascination with someone like you won’t last,” Karma pointed out.
Violet was quick to defend. “You don’t know that, Karma. You’re just jealous because he chose Janel over you.”
She cackled like that observation was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Oh, please, there was no choice. He’s just playing with her like a new toy. He’ll get bored and come home to me. He always does.”
Janel wanted to throw up just thinking about Dozer with Karma. She knew Karma lashing out was because she felt threatened about her place in Dozer’s life. Not for one moment did Janel think that Karma loved Travis. Women like her didn’t know the meaning of love.
“Janel, the girls and I are going to work on a new number while the men are gone. Want to join us?” Helen offered.
Dancing instead of taking Karma’s barbs? “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
She’d still be keeping her promise since the men they left behind were in another room.
“I thought I’d fix tacos for dinner. I better get to it,” Violet said and pushed up from the table, leaving Karma alone with all her ugliness.
Janel spent the rest of the afternoon with Helen and the girls. She was actually getting pretty good at moving her body. She’d never be able to make money from dancing, not like these women, but she didn’t embarrass herself anymore with stiff or awkward movements.
She went up to Dozer’s room for a shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a soft teal sweater. Another thrift store find.
On her second day at the clubhouse, Dozer had made a call and a few hours later her things from the house had shown up. Well, everything but her phone. Which was still in his truck in her bag. By now, the battery was dead. She needed to get it and plug it in. She could only imagine how many times her family had called trying to get in touch with her.
Dozer said he’d been in contact with her father and her dad knew she was safe, but he would still worry. The truck was inside the gates. She didn’t see any reason she couldn’t go grab her bag. She’d just run out there and back in to meet the girls for dinner.
It was almost dark outside, and she didn’t have her coat on, so she hurried to the truck praying it wasn’t locked. She pulled on the door handle and it opened. Yay! Her bag was on the floor where she’d left it when Dozer had pulled her from the truck and carried her over his shoulder to his room. That seemed so long ago, but wasn’t. Less than a week, but it felt like a lifetime ago.
Her hand made contact with the bag and she grabbed it and shut the truck door. As she turned to go back inside, something collided with the back of her head. Without warning, she was falling forward. Her world went dark and then she felt nothing.
* * *
The sound of soft whimpering was the first thing Janel’s consciousness registered. The painful throbbing of her head was the second. Was she the one crying? She worked to open her eyes, but even the movement of her eyelids fluttering upward caused her to wince. Her struggle was for nothing when darkness surrounded her.
She reached up with one hand and touched her face. Her fingers encountered a sticky substance. Blood? Why was she bleeding? Where was she? If her head didn’t hurt so badly, she could think. She should know the answers.
A noise behind her had her turning her head. She gasped from the pain, her stomach rolled, and she threw up. Vomit erupted from her mouth and where it ended up, she couldn’t say. She was only thankful she wasn’t wearing it.
“Are you okay?” a small voice in the darkness asked.
Janel worked to sit up against the pain in her head and another roll of her stomach. She felt a cold wall to her left. Metal maybe. She was lying on something soft, but not thick enough to be a mattress. “Hello,” she managed a coarse whisper.
“I heard you throw up. Are you okay?”
Was she okay? No. She was anything but okay. “Sure. Who are you?”
