I’m more surprised that she noticed him before half the damn place did. Danny draws a crowd, not only because of his muscular bulk, but his rare appearance.
Before anyone can do more than catch his eye, he’s next to us.
“We’ve got a problem. The Hounds reached out.”
“Is it Milly?” I ask, and both Bobby and I take a step to go fight whatever war we need to in order to save our sister.Nothing is off the table when it comes to her or her family’s protection.
“No,” Danny says with a shake of his head. “Ruby wastaken.”
Chapter 20—Payton
“Tommy should be here in a few hours,” Dante says as he opens the door to the club for me. “These events don’t usually run much longer.”
I nod as I walk just ahead of him into the club. It’s not particularly busy yet, but it’s still early for a Thursday.
“He asked that you wait in his office so no one thinks you’re performing tonight.”
Another nod from me. I already expected as much.
I was more surprised that he wanted me to come back to the club and not his place. And to be in his office, somewhere he made quite clear was off-limits to everyone else. But if there’s anything I’ve pieced together about tonight, it’s that our arrangement is just between him and me. And I’m more than willing to keep it that way.
I don’t care if people know I work at a strip club. Or even if they think I’m a stripper. Dancing is what I do. It’s who I am. Even if it’s different from what I thought I would become when I was younger.
But the debt? That I let it get that bad? That I needed to seek the dark spots of the city to get help? That’s the part I’m ashamed of. Especially if people ask why I don’t get a proper job, as I’ll have to admit I have no skills. Zero. I’m the fairy princess with nothing to show for it. Not even the crown. I have no abilities beyond dancing. I have determination, but that can only get you so far.
You think I went to the Kings first? That even after I went to them, I didn’t try to find employment on my own, somewhere besides a strip club? I searched. Tried everything.
The few who were willing to take me on with zero experience were quick to tell me to try something else. Each one said they didn’t have the time to train someone as old as me on something as mundane as what they had. Never thought being twenty-one would be considered old.
The jobs were for teenagers with life skills. I have none and am not a teen. Things I should know, I don’t. I tried, I really did, but it wasn’t enough for the places I was looking at. New York is a hard place to get a job as it is. Apply for a job a million people can do, and they’ll pick the one who needs the least help.
I move quickly enough behind the bar and to the back stairs that Dante unlocked for me before ascending them solo. He may have a key to get into the hallway, but not the stairs. The top door is unlocked. The club isn’t closed for the night, and Dante has other things to do. Babysitting me isn’t one of them. Nor is it necessary.
It’s not like I’m going to steal from Tommy. It would be pointless. If this is a test, I’ll pass it.
The office is already lit as I round the corner and find it empty. The lights from the stage pull my attention, like they did the first time I was here. There’s something about watching the people below without them seeing me. I know they can’t, because I had zero knowledge of it myself. And I, more than anyone, got close to the glass from the other side.
From the outside, it’s a mural. A painting of women in silhouette, posing in sexual positions, but nothing more than what’s happening on the stage. And with the stage, it’s moreappealing since they’re real and can move. They’re real. Women who offer the possibility of going home with one of them.
Or so the clients think. They hope. Not that I’ve seen it happen, though I have heard about it. Then again, when I leave this place, I usually keep my head down and don’t look around, though that’s more to make sure no one is following me or trying to hurt me. What other people do is on them, not me, nor is it my concern. Just as I hope that whoIgo home with is none of theirs.
Stepping back from the viewing window, I take in the rest of the room. Nothing’s changed since I was last here. Except that I’m alone.
I walk the room, overlooking the bar as I go. I was never one to find the thrill in a drink. Never was a focus for me. I came of age, but my focus was always on dance. After my parents died, I thought about alcohol. About drowning my sorrows as so many have done before me. But I never could. I had things to do. The thought was pulled from me before I gave it half a second.
There are a few pictures on the walls, more silhouettes, but nothing too scandalous to draw anyone’s attention other than just noting they’re there.
The couches are empty, and the coffee table is cluttered. Tommy’s desk is open, tidy, but still has things on top of it. As if no one would dare touch it. Or he simply doesn’t care if they try.
I walk to the front and run my fingers along the edge. Two stacks of cash lie beside the books he’d been looking at days ago. Closed, but there. Within touching distance. The urge to open them is too strong, and I slide my finger underone cover. Line after line of numbers. Abbreviations on one side and calculations on the other.
What did he call it? Net profit? Is this about the club or something else? I flip through a few pages, but I can’t understand it.
At the sound of steps on the stairs, I close the book quickly. Fear of being caught looking at something I’m not meant to see has sweat coating my skin as I take a step away from the desk and watch the doorway for Tommy to show.
But he doesn’t.
Carl does.
