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“And you approved this shit?”
“Just wait.” The other man chuckles.
I grind my teeth together and watch with mixed feelings. I don’t know the woman, but she’s got moves, and part of me feels like I should know who she is. The music starts to slow and she maneuvers herself to the floor.
“What’s her name?” I ask, watching, waiting for her to finish her set.
“Athena,” Striker remarks as the woman releases her top, dropping it just before the lights darken on the stage.
The crowd goes nuts at only a small glimpse, but for some reason I’m grateful and turn my attention to Striker. “You said her name’s Athena?”
“Yeah, why?”
“What’s her last name?”
“I’d have to check her file. I don’t know it right off the top of my head. Why? You know her or something?” Striker gives me an assessing look he’s known for and leans back in his chair as the next dancer comes on stage.
“I think I do.” But that can’t be the Athena I knew. The girl I used to know would never work in a strip club. We might have been in foster care together, but she wasn’t the type to be so brazen. She’d been meek and shy, most of the time scared out of her mind. There’s no way this Athena could be her.
Could it?
CHAPTER4
ATHENA
Never in my life have I been more exhausted. Lucifer keeps telling me I’m burning the candle at both ends, and it feels like I am. Guess now I’m starting to get what he meant.
A couple of days of go, I learned a couple of men I was looking into were coming to Devil’s Nirvana. I made sure to put one hell of a show on to gain their attention. What I didn’t count on was that Brass was in the audience. Just my luck he’d be there tonight.
I knew he’d been at the club, but he’d never been in the crowd.
Damnit.
After the dance, I’d been requested for a lap dance alongside DeeDee. It was repulsive, but I did it anyway, knowing who it was for the men who I needed to get close to.
During the dance, I found out their names, Angelo Delgado and Alvin Boyer.Angelo ended up giving me his number and telling me to give him a call. He wanted me to go home with him and even made lulled comments about what he’d do to my body like it would turn me on. It, in fact, repulsed me to the point I had to keep from puking on him. I hid this fact by flirting and grinding on him, keeping him distracted.
I need to get it together.
Seeing Brass again has my brain all mixed up, and I need to stay focused. Maybe Reap was right, and I should have quit, but I couldn’t. I was too close to finishing this. At least, I hope I was close. I could be far off, regardless, I intend to take this group down.
At the end of the night, I don’t bother cleaning my face. I throw my hair up in a messy bun, change clothes, and prepare to get the hell out of Dodge. I’d already risked enough tonight, I don’t need Brass to realize who I am. It’s bad enough having to meet Striker in person and knowing he is close to Brass, the two of them running the club together.
With a quick peek out of the dressing room, I release a sigh of relief not seeing either of them in the hall. I grab my bag and make a dash for the back doors where we park. Normally, we’re supposed to wait for one of the bouncers to walk us out, but there’s no way I’m waiting around for an escort. I can take care of myself.
I make it as far as the back door before my arm is caught and I find myself whirled around, my back planted against the door. I level a glare on the man who dared to put his hands on me, already knowing who it is before meeting his gaze.
“What’re you doing here, Thea?” he asks, using a name I haven’t heard anyone use in a very long time.
Long ago and in a faraway time, he shortened my name from Athena to Thea. It was the name he called me whenever he teased or made me laugh. Then he was gone, and I was left . . . nope don’t go there.
I refuse to give that part of my past the time of day. I’ve learned to keep it locked away, and I’ve never had to deal with it.
“Good to see you too, Jesse. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leaving. It’s been a long day,” I say curtly and go to yank my arm from his grip, but he doesn’t let me go.
“Thea, I asked you a damn question,” he snarls, getting in my face. “You disappeared, all but vanished, and now you’re dancing a pole, flashing your tits.”
“I didn’t disappear.” Lies. I did disappear, and we both know it. But the question is how does he.
