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Chapter Nineteen
Helen
Hakim gave me a wave.I nodded as I set down drinks at my table, giving my ass a little sway and dodging grabby hands faux playfully, then made my way across the floor to see what was up with the big man.
“Hey.” Hakim was nearly seven feet tall of pure muscle and very little brain. He was also sweet as sugar and took his job as bouncer at Savage Beauties seriously. No one touched his girls without their permission, and when they did, all his sweetness was left at the door. Hakim did not play when it came to his girls.
He jerked his big, bald head to the side. “Group in the Blue Room requested you.”
“I’m not stripping tonight.”
He glared at me with his deep black eyes, looking offended. “Who do you think I am, baby girl? I know all. I see all. They want you to serve them.”
I laid my hand on his sinewy forearm. “Sorry, dude. I’m cranky tonight.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I got you, boo. The boys in there are throwing green around like candy. Carina’s bag is filled. Get in there and take them for all they’re worth.”
I tossed my hair behind my shoulders and gave Hakim a bright smile. “Okay. I can be perky for cash.”
His laughter was a roll of thunder in my ears. “That’s my girl.”
The Blue Room was for private VIP parties. I’d never worked it as a stripper, but I had served drinks in there before and always came out with twice as much cash as a regular night. As soon as I stepped inside tonight, I wished I hadn’t. Seven or eight men were scattered around on chairs and benches, five girls mingling between them. I knew most of these men, if not by name, then by sight, and all of them filled me with dread.
Reno spotted me before I could back out and run for the hills. He beckoned me with a wave of his hand. My footsteps were leaden, and I kept my tray in front of me like a shield. Amir raised a brow at me as I passed him, Carina perched on his lap. He had a handful of her ass in his palm, but he was watching me walk to his brother, paying her no attention.
“Careful,” Amir murmured.
I stopped in front of Reno, who was flanked by two guys I knew to be his muscle. Reno had inherited blood money and corrupt power from his uncle, and he’d taken to the gangster life like a fish to water. He was all fine tailoring, sleek lines, diamonds in his ears, manspreading like he owned the world.
“Helen, baby,” he cooed.
“Hey. Can I get you something to drink?”
He turned to his goon and laughed. “I told you how cute she is, right?”
The goon appeared to have less brains than Hakim, but he laughed along with Reno as if there was something funny about a cocktail waitress asking for his drink order.
Reno tipped his head back to scan me long and slow. He bit his bottom lip, his eyelids growing heavy. Reno was hot, and in his nice clothes, he was sexy. He made my stomach turn.
“Vodka soda, baby. But first, we need to talk.” He patted his thigh, and I went, because I understood I didn’t have a choice. When I perched on his knee, he laughed again, but he let me stay there instead of plopping me on his dick, which was what I had expected.
“What’s up?” I peered at him from under my fake lashes, aiming for demure instead of flirty. God, I hoped I pulled it off.
“Your moms, baby. She came around, asking for another loan.” He didn’t pull me closer, but hedidcup my ass and give it a squeeze. “Because I care about you, I told her I’d have to think about it.”
“She can’t pay you back,” I blurted out fast.
“This I know.” His fingers dug into my flesh hard enough to bruise. “What I wonder is, I give her the cash, canyoupay me back?”
I shook my head hard. “I’m strapped. I can barely make the payments she owes now. I can’t take on more.”
“You could work just three nights a week, make double what you do now. You know that, Helen.”
“I’m not stripping, Reno. It’s not my thing.”
He stroked the flesh he’d just been pinching. “You’ve done it before, baby. Too bad I wasn’t here those nights. I would’ve enjoyed getting an up close and personal look at those pretty tits.”
I kept my lips pressed tight. There was no right answer to that.
