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John nodded.
As the brunette's blue eyes narrowed and her red lips pursed, John imagined her mouth on him and his c**k liked the picture, popping up an instant, cheering erection. Yeah, she had a very nice mou-
"No," she said. "You can't have me."
Qhuinn spoke up before John's hands could go flying. "Why? Our money's as good as anyone else's."
"I get to pick who I do business with. Some of the other girls, they might feel differently. You can ask them."
John was willing to bet the shutdown had something to do with Xhex. God knew there had been a lot of eye contact between him and the club's head of security and Marie-Terese didn't want to get in the middle of that, no doubt.
At least, he told himself it was that, as opposed to the fact that even a prostitute couldn't stand the idea of being with him.
Okay, cool, John signed. Who would you suggest?
After Qhuinn spoke, she said, "I would suggest you go back to your Jack and leave the girls alone."
Not going to happen, and I want a professional.
Qhuinn translated, and Marie-Terese's frown got even deeper. "I'll be honest with you. This feels like a f**k-you. Like you're sending a message. You want to get laid, go find some chippie on the dance floor or in one of these booths. Don't do it with someone who works with her, okay?"
Right. Totally was about Xhex.
The old John would have done what she suggested. Fuck that; the old John wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. But things had changed.
Thanks, but I think we'll ask one of your colleagues. Take care.
John turned away as Qhuinn spoke, but Marie-Terese grabbed his arm. "Fine. You want to be an ass**le, go talk to Gina over there in the red."
John bowed a little, then took the suggestion, going up to a black-haired woman who was dressed in red vinyl so bright, the shit nearly qualified as a strobe light.
Unlike Marie-Terese, she was on board with the plan before Qhuinn even got to the ask. "Five hundred," she said with a wide smile. "Each. I'm assuming this is together?"
John nodded, a little astonished that it was so easy. Then again, that was what they were paying for. Easy.
"Shall we go into the back?" Gina positioned herself between him and Qhuinn, took each of them by an arm, and led them past Blay, who was fixated on his beer.
As they went down the hallway that led to the private bathrooms, John felt like he had a fever: Hot and disassociated from what was around him, he was bobbing along, tethered only to the thin arm of the prostitute he was about to pay to f**k.
If she were to let go, he was quite sure he would simply float away.
Chapter FORTY-FIVE
As Xhex came up the steps and into the VIP section, at first she wasn't sure what the hell she was seeing. It looked like John and Qhuinn were going into the back with Gina. Unless, of course, there happened to be another two guys just like them, one of whom had a tat in the Old Language on the back of his neck and another who had shoulders as big as Rehv's.
But that absolutely was Gina in her red-don't-mean-stop dress.
Trez's voice came through Xhex's earpiece. "Rehv is here and we're waiting for you."
Yeah, well, they were going to wait a little longer.
Xhex turned around and headed back for the velvet rope-at least until her path got blocked by a guy wearing wannabe Prada.
"Hey, baby, where you going so fast."
Dumb move on his part. The coked-up piece of Euro-irrelevance picked the wrong female to step in front of.
"Get out of my way before I move you."
"What's the matter?" He reached out for her hip. "Can't handle a real man-Ow."
Xhex turned the guy's grope into a knuckle-crusher, twisting his hand in her fist until his arm flamingoed on him. "Right," she said. "About one hour and twenty minutes ago you bought seven hundred dollars' worth of coke. In spite of the amount you've been doing in the bathrooms, I'm wagering you have enough left on you to get popped for possession. So get the f**k out of my way, and if you try to touch me again, I will break all these fingers, then go to work on your other hand."
She let him loose with a shove, sending him skipping into his buddies.
Xhex kept going, leaving the VIP area and striding past the dance floor. Under the stairs to the mezzanine floor, she went up to a door marked SECURITY STAFF ONLY and entered a code. The hallway on the other side led her by her staff's locker room and to her destination, the security office. After she entered another code, she walked into the twenty-by-twenty room where all the monitoring equipment dumped data into computers.
Everything on the property, except for Rehv's office and Rally's scale den, which were on a separate system, was digitally recorded here, and gray-blue screens showed pictures from all around the club.
"Hey, Chuck," she said to the guy behind the desk. "You mind if I have a minute alone?"
"No problem. Have to have a bathroom break anyway."
She traded places, sinking down into the Kirk chair, as the boys called it. "I don't need long."
"Neither do I, boss. You want something to drink?"
"I'm good, thanks."
As Chuck nodded and hulked out, she focused on the monitors that showed the bathrooms off the VIP section-
Oh...God.
The trio from hell were crowded in together, with Gina in the middle, John kissing his way down to her br**sts, and Qhuinn, who was standing behind the woman, slipping his hands around to the front of her hips.
Pinned between the males, Gina did not look like she was working. She looked like she was a woman getting off in a big way.
Damn it.
Although at least it was Gina. Xhex had no particular relationship with her, as the woman had just come on staff, so it wasn't much different than if John had banged some chick from the dance floor.
Xhex eased back in the chair and forced herself to review the other monitors. People were all over the wall, flickering images of them drinking, doing lines, having sex, dancing, talking, staring off into the distance, filling her sight.
This was good, she thought. This was...good. John had lost his romantic delusions and was going elsewhere. This was good-
"Xhex, where are you?" came Trez's voice in her earpiece.
She yanked up her arm and spoke into her watch. "Give me a f**king minute!"
The Moor's response was typically calm. "You okay?"
"I...Look, I'm sorry. I'm coming now."
Yeah, and so was Gina. Christ.
Xhex stood up from the Kirk chair, her eyes going back to the screen she had pointedly not stared at.
Things had progressed. Fast.
John was moving his hips.
Just as Xhex winced and went to leave, he looked up into the security camera. Whether he knew it was there or whether that was just where his eyes ended up, it was hard to know.
Shit. His face was grim, his jaw set hard, his stare soulless in a way that saddened her.
Xhex tried not to see the change in him for what it was and failed. She had done this to him. Maybe she wasn't the only reason he'd turned to stone, but she was a big part of it.
He looked away.
She turned away.
Chuck put his head through the door. "You need more time?"
"No, thanks. I've seen enough."
She clapped her man on the shoulder and left, going out and to the right. At the end of the hall there was a reinforced black door. Entering yet another code, she took the passageway to Rehv's office, and when she came through his door, the three males around the desk all looked at her warily.
She took up res against the black wall across from them. "What."
Rehv leaned back in his chair, crossing his fur-clad arms over his chest. "Are you getting ready to go into your needing."
As he spoke, Trez and iAm both made the Shadow hand motion for warding off disaster.
"God, no. Why do you ask?"
"Because, no offense, you're cranky as f**k."
"I am not." As the males looked at one another, she barked, "Stop that."
Oh, great, now they all just pointedly didn't look at each other.
"Can we get this meeting over with," she said, trying to moderate her tone.
Rehv unfurled his arms and sat forward. "Yeah. I'm about outtie to go meet with the council."
"You want us to come with you?" Trez asked.
"As long as we don't have any big deals scheduled after midnight."
Xhex shook her head. "The last one on the books for this week happened at nine and went off without a problem. Although I will say our buyer was extremely nervous, and that was before it came over the police scanner that another drug dealer's been found dead."
