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“Ahh.” A proud smile spreads over her face. “You’re going to do just fine, Emily.”
Tears fill my eyes. The exhaustion, worry, fatigue—everything in the world slams into me at once. “No I won’t. We broke up. I told Dex I can’t…” My voice cracks, reminding me to snap my mouth shut. I shouldn’t be talking about this with her. I shouldn’t be talking about it now. Not with my sister lying battered and bruised in a hospital bed.
As if she understands my reluctance, Trinity reaches over and pats my hand. “You’ll work it out. I have faith in you guys.”
I doubt that.
After a few seconds, she says, “I wasn’t mad at you for telling Lilly about the meeting.” She snorts. “I’ll admit I kind of wanted to remind you not to talk about that stuff with non-club people. But I didn’t want to do it in front of everyone else.”
So public floggings aren’t her thing. Good to know. I side-eye her. “I wouldn’t do that.”
She side-eyes me right back. “You’re new to MC life, yes?”
I nod quickly. “Gee, what gave me away?”
“Nothing in particular. The MC world is just…different. If you’re not used to it or don’t understand…it can cause problems. For everyone.”
Is this why Dex sent Trinity here? Does he think his club is why I can’t be in a relationship right now? “The club isn’t why we broke up.”
Why does it feel like I’m taking a cheese grater to my heart every time I say our relationship is over?
“Well, that’s good to know.” She slants a look at me. “I doubt you’re really ‘broken up.’ Maybe ‘on a break.’”
As much as I wish that were true, it’s not. Even though he sent Trinity to check on me, Dex won’t be able to forgive me for the way I acted. Besides, as much as it hurts, I did the right thing. For both of us.
I don’t have the time or space in my life for a relationship when I need to focus on taking care of my sister.
But I don’t have the heart to argue with Trinity.
CHAPTER THREE
Dex
“Dex, can I ask you a question?” Swan’s gentle voice pulls me away from the papers on my desk. I’m working so hard to not think about Emily and force myself to focus on work, I hadn’t even heard her open the door.
“Yeah, of course.” I wave my hand at her. “Come in.”
Between her leotard and the pink, floaty skirt swirling around her legs, she looks more like a ballet instructor than a pole-dancing coach. She glides across the room and delicately perches on the edge of one of the chairs in front of my desk. A few years ago, Swan and I almost had something more than friendship. That didn’t work out, but she’s remained a big help around Crystal Ball.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask.
“I know the club just spent a lot of money on renovations…” Her voice trails off as if she’s losing her nerve.
“Yeah, but if there’s an upgrade you think we need, I’m all ears.” Club’s always looking for ways to wash cash, so upgrades to Crystal Ball are encouraged. Not that I’d ever explain it to her in quite those terms.
Her face brightens. “Well, the two new girls I want to hire kind of come as a package deal. They like to perform their routines together.” A faint trace of an accent colors her voice like it always does whenever she gets excited about something. “They’re…amazing, really. I think they’ll be a huge draw for the club once word spreads.”
Novelty always helps. Feels like customers get bored quicker than ever these days. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“Well, they danced in a club down south that had this ring and bar set in the ceiling.” She waves her hand toward the hallway. “In addition to the poles.”
“A ring? Like the lyra Stella uses?”
“No, no. This way.” She holds her hands in a horizontal circle. “They hang and do tricks from it.” She coughs. “It’s, um, a bit raunchier of an act than what Stella does.”
“Well,” I snort and sit back in my chair, “you know that’s not a problem here.”
A flicker of a smile crosses her expression. “I can show you some of their videos if you want.”
“Yeah, just so I can get an idea of what you’re talking about.” I wave my hand for her to come to my side of the desk and push my laptop to the side.
She hesitates for a second, then scurries around the desk. Leaning over, she pecks at the keyboard until she navigates to a YouTube video. It’s a practice performance. Tame to appease the YouTube censors, but enough to get the general idea. I’m not really paying attention to what the two women are doing on the screen, I’m trying to study the rigging and figure out how to make that work with our current stage setup. I take a screenshot and send it to my phone.
