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ChapterOne
MIA
“Ellie, talk to me. Tell me who it is, and I won’t have to fire your ass.”
The girl chews gum, crosses her arms over her generous breasts, and gives me the kind of look that would hold more power if she wasn’t half off those tits on coke.
I know it’s cocaine. I know she’s fucked up, and I know who gave it to her. But there’s nothing I can do to prove it until she admits to it.
Drugs and booze on the job? They inhibit judgment and get the girls into trouble. My policy since I took over Hellfire Dancers for Reaper and Angel has always been zero on that front. Now, after everything that’s happened, it’s forty below that and falling.
Ellie’s here for practice. It’s eleven in the morning, and she’s already flying in the clouds. This is something I can’t have. They’ll become a liability, and I don’t want to see them hurt in any way.
“Ellie?”
The girl doesn’t say anything. Mind you, she was talking. A mile a minute chatter and about nothing at all. But now I’m asking specific questions, she’s apparently lost the power of speech, and is chewing her gum to hide the grind coke brings.
“Ellie?”
“What, Mia?” She snaps her gum.
I sigh. “Ellie, we have a problem, and I need you to talk to me, okay?” I pause. “I need you to tell me who gave you the drugs.”
“What drugs? Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do, and you know the rules here. You’ve been here long enough. We have zero tolerance for drugs at Hellfire Dancers,” I say, tapping my fingers on the wooden desk between us. “I’m offering you a deal. Tell me, or I’ll fire you.”
“I can get a job anywhere. “Look at me,” Ellie says, gesturing to her slender body and ample chest.
Nodding, I don’t doubt it. “True, but you’ll probably have to spread those legs and service your clientele. Or put up with groping.”
Her eyes narrow as her foot bounces.
“Who was it?” I ask.
“Not saying a thing. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re fucked up,” I say. “You have a kid.”
“So?” She rolls her eyes. “And I’m not. Just took some antihistamine.”
I don’t even bother to hide my disbelief. “Consider this your one and final warning. Come in drunk or high again, and you’ll be out on your ass quicker than you can blink. And don’t think I’ll give you any references.”
She gets up in a huff, rolls her eyes, and flounces to the door. I wait until her hand is on the knob.
“And Ellie?”
Her back stiffens but she doesn’t turn. Just a crack of gum in the air.
“Take the day off. That’s an order. I don’t want you in here on anything, not even aspirin. Got it? Or you will be fired.”
“Yup. Fine.” She flicks her hair, opens the door, and slams it behind her.
Honestly, firing her would be the smart move, just for the purposes of business. I don’t want or need sloppy, and I definitely don’t need trouble. But she’s young, a single mom, and firing her won’t get the culprit. It won’t even take a client away from the dealer.
And I can’t help but feel it’s more than just selling drugs to my strippers to make extra bank.
I slump down in my seat, rubbing a hand over the scar on my face, a reminder of my fucked-up life, of the cost of being a De Luca.
