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Or something he doesn’t want to tellme.
“I… got news for you, guys,” he says.
God fucking dammit. I knew Alexei was going to get wind of this Charleigh shit. I can’t let him have her, no matter how much he pays. I won’t.
Rumor has it that the last virgin he ‘acquired’ ended up in the hospital from his rough treatment and later found out she’s no longer able to have children.
I’ve always wondered if that were true. I mean, while thePakhantries to stomp out gossip and shit, a story that outrageous will always make its way through the pipeline, regardless.
“What, Vadik? What do you mean,news?” I ask.
Stay cool. Stay cool.
“Seems Dominika told him all about her. Sent him photos and everything. And he’s made a preemptive bid.”
* * *
CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE
Charleigh
I serve a bottle of wine that probably cost more than my dad’s pawn shop makes in a year, and head back to the bar for something to lean on, just for a moment. The lounge isn’t too busy yet—it’s that in-between time where the day drinkers are leaving and the happy hour crowd has yet to arrive. When those folks are done, usually sometime in the early evening, probably to rush home to wives and children, they’re replaced by men who don’t leave until all hours of the morning.
These are the die-hards. When you waitress on this shift, you can count on running the entire time. No breaks, not even to go to the bathroom. But I’m not complaining. Although we’re not supposed to accept them, these guys tip, and very generously. So, I made a little hole in my mattress where I’m hiding my cash. I need to make sure it gets to Evie somehow.
Probably not the best idea to entrust a couple thousand dollars to a kid, but I can’t keep it with me and I’m sure as hell not giving it to my father. I’ll ask her to put it aside for the two of us. Who knows whether she’ll honor my request or totally blow it off. She’s been so volatile in the last year. Actually, she’s pretty much always been volatile, but in the last year it’s gotten worse. Fights and all that. Things I never did.
Which makes it difficult to understand why she does them.
I don’t give her a hard time. There are enough other people around her who take care of that. I just try to support her and keep reminding her I know she’ll do great things. When she’s ready.
Because the lounge is slow right now, I reach behind the bar for my water bottle and take a swig. Unfortunately, I’m not even finished before Dominika descends on me.
Most of the time she stays out of the lounge, dealing with other parts of the club, but the strippers don’t go on until later, so I guess she has nothing else to do but give me a hard time.
Such a godawful woman.
“Get off the bar. Now.”
I lift my elbow off the bar and stand at attention. I’m not exactly sure that’s what she wants, but I don’t know what else to do.
She takes a step closer, and the bartender in the background shakes his head like he’s seen this before. “Don’t let me catch you like that again.”
It would be so satisfying to pour a drink over her head and watch all that makeup slither off her face.
“No problem, Dominika,” I say, faking remorse by looking down at my feet. “Won’t happen again.”
Satisfied by my atonement, she surveys the room and her face lights up when she sees the expensive bottle of wine our only occupied table is enjoying.
“Say, Dominika, I haven’t seen Stacey in a while. Where has she been?” I ask.
Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen Stacey since the day she started to tell me something about the club, something that seemed confidential, when we were interrupted by Dominika. It’s odd she hasn’t been around. I thought she took a lot of shifts because the money was so good. Maybe she’s on vacation?
Do strippers take vacations?
Dominika crosses her arms and sneers at me. Of course. Would it kill her to give me a normal, respectable, straight answer? “Don’t worry about where Stacey is. People come and go here all the time. You may see them once or twice, and then they’re gone. Don’t bother making friends with anyone. They won’t do you any good, and will turn on you the first time they need something.”
She scoffs, satisfied with having shared her ugly perspective.
