Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
As usual, he enters from the back of the VIP section. Frankie and a couple of the girls lock eyes on him, but Ivan keeps his gaze forward. At least he looks relaxed tonight. Some nights, he comes in wired, almost looking for a fight.
Frankie moves from the corner of my eye, shoving one of the new girls after Ivan.
Oh, hell no. This one is mine. At least for tonight.
I race up the short steps and cut her off. “You don’t want to do that, honey.”
I grab her arms like I just steadied her from a fall. “Seriously. Let me take this one. Go back to Frankie. Let him start you on someone a little less…brutal.”
Her eyes widen, and then she spins and practically races back to Frankie and the other clustered girls.
I don’t wait and give Frankie a chance to stop me. I spin and rush after Ivan as quickly as possible in six-inch heels. He throws his long frame into a booth, and I drop myself dead center on his lap. “Hey, gorgeous, looking for a date?”
He drops his dark gaze to mine. There’s a hardness there. A steel that threatens to bend me to his will with just a look. My blond hair has tumbled over my shoulders and pools between us, keeping me from getting a better look at him up close. “Who are you?”
His voice is deep, dredged in darkness, and dare I say it…desire. Shit. I hadn’t expected to actually react to him. It’s been a long time since my body awoke for a John.
I swallow and smile. Not my fake megawatt smile with teeth. Just a wry twist of my lips, barely a smile. “Priscilla.”
“Why are you sitting on me, Priscilla?” His tone is sharp enough to draw blood.
Luckily for me, I grew up with men like him. Crazy bastards who will do anything to get ahead. I don’t even flinch.
“You looked a little lonely. Thought I’d come offer you my company. Would you like a drink? I’d be happy to get us both one.”
I teeter on his legs, and he spreads his solid thighs to give me more real estate. His fingers dig into my spine, holding me so I don’t fall. One of his hands comes up to catch my chin so he can look at me, and I spot black fingernail polish on his pinky. Strange. “Fine. Make it quick. I’ve got shit to do tonight.”
I give him a wink, hop off his lap, and head toward the bar. The girl I’d cut off is waiting there with a pout. “Frankie says you just screwed me over by taking that guy. That he’s a big tipper.”
I signal the bartender, and he spots Ivan over my shoulder. While he makes the drinks, I turn to face the new girl. “What’s your name?”
“Amanda.” She crosses her arms under her breasts to give her waif-thin frame some bulk.
It takes a lot more than a hundred-pound kid to rattle me. “Look. He is a big tipper, but he likes to do things that would take your pretty fair skin a lot longer to recover from.”
Her eyes go wide, and she drops her gaze to the tiny, faded pucker scars up and down my right bicep. I don’t say a word and let her draw her own conclusions.
“What made those marks?”
The bartender sets our drinks in front of me, and I pull them close. “Cigarettes, honey. Those are burns from cigarettes.”
She leans in and whispers, “Did he do that to you? What else did he do? Why didn’t you call the police?”
I sigh and give her a look she hopefully takes as me calling her stupid without calling her stupid. “You don’t call the cops around here. That’s just not how it works.”
“But they said everyone here works for themselves. That everyone is happy to be here.”
I shrug. “We are all here of our own free will, but see if you can get a cop out here, especially for one of Doubeck’s crew.”
This time I’ve finally gotten to her. She recognizes the name. As anyone from around here would. The color drains from her face, and she races around me, down the hallway back to the dressing room. I chuckle. She wouldn’t have made it in this life anyway.
Now that the coast is clear, I maneuver the drinks and slip the tiny packet of drugs Essex gave me into the double shot of vodka.
Then I give it a bit of a swirl and clutch the glasses close to my chest so he has a reason to look. I need him on the line before I reel him in.
I head back to the VIP area and slide into the empty spot he left at the edge of the booth for me.
He stares down at my cleavage or the drinks; either way, he’s looking. “What are you drinking?”