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We walk quickly and purposefully toward the windowless club. The name is scrawled in purple neon, beckoning patrons like a flame beckons moths. Nightshift. Sex workers whistle at us from their respective spots on the corner, but they’re easy to ignore. I’m in the zone. I know Theo is too. I’m sure he’s spent hours over the past two days digging up anything and everything he could find about Derek. He’s a man known to sample the products he sells, and that extends to both the women and the drugs that pass freely through his family’s establishments. Not exactly a pillar of the community, in other words.

Everyone thinks Theo is dead, and I stayed away from this neck of the woods long enough that no one would expect me here either. As predicted, Castillo’s boys don’t recognize us, letting us into the club without anybody batting an eye. “It’s like Disney World for sleaze,” I murmur close to my brother’s ear, so he’ll be able to hear over the bone-jarring bass flooding the room.

He doesn’t hear me anyway. He’s too busy searching for the man who always comes by on Tuesday nights. He is distracted by the presence of so many men, all the same type, too, guys in cheap suits, wearing fake watches. We wander to an empty table close to the stage, where a girl who might be a few days over the age of eighteen flashes her bald pussy when she bends at the waist and jiggles her ass.

It’s important to blend in for now, so I order whiskeys for both of us and pretend to enjoy the show. It reeks of cheap cologne in here, not to mention whatever perfume these girls bathe in.

“Hi, boys.” A blonde with massive tits leans over my shoulder, practically shoving them against my head. If I’m not careful, she’ll smother me. “How about a dance? One or both, it’s up to you.”

“Maybe later,” I reply. I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who came to the strip club but wasn’t interested in anything, but it’ll be more obvious that we’re scanning the room if we’re ignoring a lap dance. We can’t attract attention, and we can’t be memorable.

After a few minutes pass, I know Theo has spotted Derek without him having to say a word. His chin lifts, his eyes narrow, and I follow the direction of his gaze over the rim of my glass.

What I see doesn’t surprise me. “She said he fucks around,” I muse, watching from the corner of my eye as Derek Castillo entertains not one, but two nearly naked women, one perched on each leg. He doesn’t bother keeping his hands to himself, one disappearing under the scrap of fabric covering the redhead’s tits to give her a squeeze as we watch. She squeals and laughs, but as soon as his attention drifts elsewhere, her smile vanishes.

“Cocky bastard. Motherfucker.” Theo downs the entire contents of his glass in one shot before slamming it on the table between us.

“Keep it impersonal,” I remind him, though I know I’m speaking to a brick wall right now. “At least stop staring daggers at him. Can we not be so obvious?”

“I’m going to enjoy what happens next.” He should stop staring, but I know better than to tell him so.

“There’s a reason for all of this, remember?” I’m talking to myself, but I have to try before he gives us away. “This isn’t the final boss we’re dealing with now. This is not the man responsible for driving you away from everything that mattered. This is only a step in the bigger plan. Remember what really matters.”

Another girl takes the stage and immediately jumps on the pole, spinning slowly around it, holding on by her thighs. This isn’t an appropriate time to think about June, but she pops into my thoughts anyway. She would break her neck if she ever tried to do something like that, not to mention the bruises she would be covered in. Still, it might be kind of fun to watch her try, especially if she was wearing something as skimpy as this girl.

A burst of raucous laughter from Derek’s direction grabs my attention back. The king in his castle, his black hair gleaming like the gold chain around his neck, surrounded by drunken friends who don’t dare deny his ego. “Come on!” he shouts, laughing when one of the girls in his lap twists her head away from his mouth. “You wanna keep getting the good shifts? You need to show a little gratitude!” His slimeball friends laugh, nudging each other like he’s a comedic genius.

He spreads his legs wider, slouching in the chair. “Come on. Who’s going to get on this first?”

Please, girls. Don’t fight too hard over the honor.

“I’ve seen enough.” Theo stands, straightening his tie before buttoning his suit jacket. “Meet you outside.” He weaves his way through the crowd, heading toward the men’s room. There’s a glowing exit sign not ten feet away. He’ll leave through that and I’ll follow with Derek, if he feels like abandoning his fun for a minute.

Derek’s friends notice me before he does when I approach their little group. “Mr. Castillo?” I ask, glancing at the girls, who look grateful for the distraction.

“That’s what they call me.” He looks me up and down with beady, bloodshot eyes. “Who are you? I feel like I know you from someplace.”

“I’m here with an old friend of yours.” It isn’t easy to sound friendly and warm when this guy makes me want to get straight into a hot shower and scrub off the top layer of skin. And to think, I haven’t even bounced on his knee or had him feel me up. “He wants to talk to you outside about business. An opportunity,” I add.

“I’m kind of busy right now.” He gives both the girls a squeeze, and one of them winces like it hurts.

“I think you’ll be glad you took the time. Unless you don’t want to make more money . . .” I lift my shoulders in a shrug, watching as interest sparks behind his dark eyes.

“Give me a minute, girls.” He stands without warning, leaving them scrambling to get off his lap or else land on their asses. “You better not be wasting my time,” he says with a glare.

“You don’t have to worry.” You won’t have to worry about anything ever again.

He follows me to the exit, waiting for me to push the door open and hold it for him like he’s some fucking prince. I doubt any of his friends will remember my face after this. The empty champagne bottles littering the area they were hanging out in tells me so. And the girls? They should consider themselves lucky.

The alley is narrow, stinking of garbage, stale cigarettes, and piss. “This better be quick,” Derek mutters, sniffing the air before wrinkling his nose. “I’ve got shit to attend to in there.”

“Don’t worry. This won’t take long at all.” From the shadows on the other side of a dumpster emerges Theo, approaching slowly. “Hi, Derek. Long time, no see.”

The man’s jaw drops so sharply and suddenly, I almost laugh. “No fucking way. You’re not here.”

“I don’t know. It sure looks like I am.” Theo glances down at himself. “It smells like half the population of Los Angeles has taken a piss against these walls. If I didn’t have to smell it, trust me, I would opt out.”

“Where have you been all this time? Does Matteo know?”