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“Don’t insult me by finishing that sentence,” I growl. A little too quickly.
Eve leans back in her chair and eyes me for a moment before adding, “You need to let her have this, Massimo.”
“Why?”
“Because I like her. And I think she needs this.”
“She’s paying off her debt to me by working for you.”
“It goes deeper than the money. I think it feels good for her to shed her skin and be someone else while she’s in that room. She’s been through a lot because of who she is. Let her be someone else for a while.”
What Bianca doesn’t know is that I will not be taking any payment for finding Harrison. But I don’t tell her because I know she needs to feel like she is in control. And when you’re paying, you’re in control.
“Fine, but you don’t book her for anyone but me.”
“You’re denying her the chance to earn more money.”
“Only. Me.”
“But—”
“Twice a week. Two songs. Five hundred dollars.”
Eve’s mouth drops open; she’s speechless. Which is saying something.
I walk out of the room before she can come up with something to say.
I’m walking a thin line.
But if I can’t have Bianca in reality, at least twice a week, I can have her in my fantasies.
22
BIANCA
Ecstatic and buzzing after my audition, I catch up with Eve in her office.
“Oh my God, that was just as amazing as I thought it would be,” I say, my enthusiasm bubbling out of me as I lean against her desk.
But Eve looks uncomfortable.
“What?” I ask.
“I was hoping you’d decided your first dance would be your last, you know, get it out of your system and move on.”
“Not a chance. It felt incredible dropping my inhibitions and being someone other than poor little broke Bianca for the duration of the song.” I sit down opposite her. “What did Massimo say? Did he like it? Am I going on the roster?”
She doesn’t look me in the eye, but she nods. “Yes, you’re on the roster.”
“Yes!” I’m so excited I jump up. Finally, something I am good at. “When do I start?”
“Our IT girl is updating our website and client list as we speak.”
“So I might get a client soon?”
“Yes.”
“And Massimo didn’t realize it was me?”
Again, she doesn’t meet my eye. She focuses on whatever is in front of her on the computer screen. It’s then I realize she’s preoccupied because I probably interrupted her doing something.
“Sorry to burst in here like that; it’s just that it was a real rush auditioning for something I really enjoyed. And now that Massimo has approved Miss Hellfire to perform… I don’t know, it just feels good to know I’m helping dig myself out of this hole I’m in.”
Eve looks up and smiles, and it’s genuine and warm. “That’s great, Bianca. You deserve to feel happy about this.” She thinks for a moment and then adds, “In fact, we have a client requesting someone just like you. I’ll send them your file and see if they’re interested in booking you.”
“Really?”
“He’s a good payer too.”
It’s hard to contain my excitement, and I leave Lair on cloud nine.
It looks like things are starting to look up for me.
Even the grime and seediness of the Last Stop Motel can’t dampen the buzz I feel after dancing my first peep show. But the real buzz was knowing Massimo was watching me. I try not to overthink it, but who am I kidding, I’m going to overthink this because it is what I do. I got off on Massimo watching me, and it’s probably because I’m either falling for my boss slash enemy slash kiss thief, or I’m crazy. Or both. Probably both. But I also feel grateful knowing I am one step closer to paying Massimo what I owe him for finding Harrison.
When I let myself in to my room, I feel the prickly unease settle over me, but I force it to the back of my mind. I do my usual search for cameras, now a habit because I don’t trust Snake, and thankfully, I still don’t find any. Except, while I’m searching, it suddenly occurs to me that it’s not just cameras I should be looking for, and that Snake might not be the only person who might put video and audio surveillance on me.
My father used to have an associate called Lawrence who used to plant bugs in homes or vehicles when my father asked him to. I met him once, and he showed me what they looked like. Said if ever I came across one, I should either get rid of it or use it to my advantage and feed whoever had put me under surveillance a lot of false information.
George, my father’s head of security, also gave me the speech about bugs and RG transmitters, and at the time, I thought it was all a bit over the top, and I didn’t pay a lot of attention because I wanted to go shopping with Jules.
