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The floor we're going to is for the dancers. Froggie houses a lot of workers, most of which are people off the streets or with bad rap sheets. He has a few strip clubs in the city, but this is his most prestigious. The girls here are all highly sought after and, because of that, are very well protected.
Nobody in Froggie’s circle works here by force; Froggie doesn’t take prisoners. The way I understand it, many of these girls used to be prostitutes or even come from sex trafficking. Hell, some of them are just girls who wanted this lifestyle. Some take this job because it gives them back control or because it’s all they know, but if they decide they want out, Froggie lets them go. I’ve even seen Froggie just up and relocate people before, no strings attached.
He’s honestly pretty straight-laced for someone who runs the underground. We may move drugs and weapons and have our darker dealings, but as far as the overall set of the city, it’s never been cleaner.
As we push through the back door to the dancer's floor, I hesitate for a moment. Worry creeps in about what Jade will think of this, what bringing her here could do to her mentally with being so fresh out of her situation. I push the thought aside and keep on walking. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I didn’t have to, and she knew we were meeting a friend. If she freaks out, we can hurry the meeting and head out, but we can't do shit until we meet with Kratos.
I realize my worry was misplaced the moment she walks through the door. Her eyes go huge as she takes in the layout of the room.
The stage wraps around damn near the whole room with six different walkways that come out towards the center of the room. High-top tables and chairs are scattered around the walkways and the stage giving people plenty of choices on where to sit with plenty to view from each angle. At the end of each walkway is a pole for the girls. Each is a different color, so you know which girl will be where even when the lights are low most nights.
“Wow.” Her voice is just above a whisper, but the pure wonder in it isn’t lost on any of us. She looks around like I would imagine a kid looking at Disney world when going for the first time. Zander smiles at her reaction, Spencer’s posture becomes less stiff, and I let out a relieved breath that I didn't even realize I was holding. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one concerned with how she might handle being here.
It’s early, but two poles are occupied, and a few people linger in the audience. The music isn’t overwhelming the way it can be some nights, and the house lights aren’t dim. The bulk of the shows happen later at night, but if people show up, the girls will dance. They don’t mind a little extra dancing for the money they rack in.
Zander comes up next to Jade and points out a few things around the room while she eats up every detail with stars in her eyes.
I pull my focus away from them and look back around the room, searching for Kratos. He’s hard to miss, and it only takes a moment before I find him leaning against the stage on the far right of the room. Both girls use poles on the left side, so it’s easy to see why nobody’s around him. But even if they were right next to him, I doubt anyone would have the balls to approach him. You don’t get to be the second in command for nothing.
Kratos is a huge fucking guy covered in ink. His hair is shaved real short on the sides, with tattoos littering his scalp. The top is in a neat braid down the center and hanging back down his neck. His eyes are so dark they almost look black. Only in the light can you tell they are brown, and his hair is nearly the same dark shade. He has two piercings in his left eyebrow, as well as his septum pierced, and a bunch of piercings in his ears. All of that alone makes him look intimidating, but it’s his scars that really scream don’t fuck with me.
His arms are a map of scars, but most of them can’t be seen unless the light hits them right. The tattoos do a pretty good job of covering them. The one that sticks out the most, though, is the one on his face. An angry-looking mark starts just above his right eyebrow, slashing down his face and ending just above his lip. It has to be years old, he’s had it since the day we met him a few years ago, but still, it looks red and angry. It’s a miracle that his eye seems utterly unaffected by it.
Kratos looks up as if he can feel my eyes on him but doesn’t make his way to us. Guess this conversation requires a hint of privacy. I turn back to Zander and Jade, who are still talking, seemingly lost in their own little world.
Jade’s head snaps up, and her eyes lock on my own. I get a strange sense of deja vu after having Kratos just do the same.
“Why don’t you go and find a seat? I‘ll send a waiter over to you so you can get a drink.” I nod towards the tables available by the girls who are dancing. Hopefully, a front-row seat to the show will help keep her distracted long enough for us to meet. “We’ll meet up with our friend, and then we can get out of here.”
Her gaze goes around the room instantly, looking for said friend. I know the moment she spots him over my shoulder, her eyebrows climbing up her forehead as she takes him in.
Women typically have one of two reactions to Kratos. They either find him to be attractive or terrifying, and it seems that Jade decided on attractive. Too bad for her and every other woman who has ever hit on him. He’s either not interested, or he’s damn good at hiding it. I’d put my money on the former.
“Who’s tall, dark, and daddy?” Jade asks, without breaking eye contact with him. This time, my eyebrows shoot up because what the fuck did she just say. Before I can stop myself, I look back at Kratos as if to see if he somehow heard her. He doesn’t appear as though he has.
“Listen, Doll. I'll gladly help you with whatever you need. You want to find a daddy. Cool, I’ll help you get the number of any guy you want. But please, for the love of all things delicious in this world, do not call him daddy again. Especially close enough that he could hear you.” Zander's words come out a little rushed and without his usual happy tone because as much as he is a force to be reckoned with, even he would rather not go toe to toe with Kratos.
Hell, I don’t want to, either.
“Awe, why not.” She pouts. Like actually pouts with her lip out and everything. It’s adorable, not that I would ever admit it out loud, but the effect is lost on me, given that I know Kratos. Meaning, I know he won't take that comment well.
“Because Kratos kills people he doesn’t like.” Spencer tells her point blank, and I shoot him a glare.
Great.
Now she’s going to be freaking out about that. Normal people don’t just kill people, and he knows that.
I’m wrong again, though. If anything, Jade only seems more interested after Spencer’s comment, and I find myself wondering who the hell this girl is again.
“Oh, tall, dark and dangerous. Definitely Daddy material.” She says, and I can see the mischief dancing in her eyes. Eyes that she still has locked on Kratos.
“Alright, enough. This isn’t up for debate. We have a meeting, and you're going to have a seat and watch the girls. We’ll come get you when we're done.” I tell her as I gesture toward the tables on the far left of the room.
“Fine. I’ll go watch the girls.” She tells me, and I can see it in her face, that she wants to argue, but she lets it go.
She stays where she is for a few seconds more, watching Kratos, and I get the urge to push her toward the tables. She doesn’t need to be on someone like Kratos’s radar. It’s honestly bad enough that she got saddled with us as it is.
Just before I go to move her myself, she raises her hand and gives what I can only describe as a flirty wave in his direction. I look back at him just in time to see his eyebrow rise at her in question before he turns to me, and I kick myself for not making her go faster.
