Page 29 of Paco
Chapter Eight
From the secondfloor, in an empty room with dirty windows, Misty watched Paco walk out of the club. She wanted to call out to him but she didn’t dare. Bobby was furious. When he’d come back inside, he’d stumbled into the dressing room she shared with Crystal and Amber Jade, hopping mad. For almost an hour, he grilled her on who the “asshole” was who’d broken his nose, and she kept repeating over and over like a mantra, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him. He was out there smoking a joint just like I was.” She hadn’t changed her story once, hadn’t flinched when Bobby raised his hand and struck her, and hadn’t acted like her insides were a melting mess of anxiety and excitement. As Bobby ranted, she’d thought of the handsome biker, unable to believe he was at the club. She never thought she’d see him again.
Then Bobby had stopped, and silence pressed down on her. She’d looked up into his glowering face. “What the fuck are you thinking about? That fuckin’ asshole who broke my nose?”
“No. I was thinking how awful it is that you’re in a lot of pain.” Even to her, she’d sounded insincere.
Bobby had held her gaze as tension crackled around them. Not moving a muscle, she’d willed herself not to show any weakness.Bobby can’t read my mind.Then the door flew open and she jumped as her hands flew to her throat. The pig from the night before came into the room.
He’d smiled widely, his straight white teeth gleaming. “You looked good out there.” His eyes ran up and down her body, and she felt like scrubbing her skin off. He’d turned to Bobby. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Nothing. I didn’t see a door, that’s all. So you like my women?”
Victor had taken a few steps closer to her. “I like this one.”
“Get out. Victor and I need to talk.”
She’d walked away, cringing when Victor squeezed her butt as she passed him. And now, watching Paco leave, a heaviness settled in her limbs. “Don’t go,” she whispered. Her shoulders curled forward and she swallowed several times, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat.
He was so close. It felt like she could reach out and touch him.I could open the window and yell out to him, but Bobby would hear… and Victor.She didn’t want him to get hurt, although he’d held his own with Bobby. When she’d seen blood on his face, her insides had a party, and she liked Paco even more for doing what she’d wanted to do for a very long time.And he asked me if I was being forced to be here. I almost told him.And she may have if Bobby hadn’t come out. There was something about Paco that made her believe that maybe she could trust him. Since her kidnapping, trust in people, especially men, had eroded until it no longer existed.
A car door slamming brought her out of her thoughts and she saw him in the front seat, staring straight ahead. That was the way she’d remember him. She pressed her fingers to her throat, trying to stop the lump from getting bigger. The SUV drove away, and she stood watching long after it’d disappeared from her sight.
“What’re you doing up here?” Pixie, one of the dancers, asked her. “You don’t want one of the guys to come up here and find you. A cute, new girl like you would have a bad time. Come on back to the club.”
Misty nodded and followed her downstairs. Bobby was still talking to Victor, and when she passed by, Victor reached out for her, but Bobby stepped over and yanked her to him. “She’s not available for tonight.”
Nodding, he laughed. “You gave me a taste of her last night and teased me tonight when she danced. I can see why. She’s prime real estate.”
You fuckin’ pig. I’m a person. I’m me.“Chelsea Sullivan,” she said under her breath. A soft cry escaped through her lips.Oh shit. I haven’t said my name in years.She dug her fingernails into her palms.Focus. You need to know what the hell’s going down. Something doesn’t feel right.
Victor came over and stroked her cheek; she cringed under his touch. “That’s okay. I can wait. You know, waiting can be a powerful aphrodisiac. It makes me imagine all sorts of things I want to do to a fucktoy.”
She stepped away from him, and his thin smile turned into a sneer.
“Be a good girl and wait in the bar. Victor and me are finishing up some business.” Bobby pushed her in the direction of the bar. Darting her eyes between them, her shoulders tightened and she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “Go on now.” Harshness seeped into his voice, and she walked away.
Inside the club area, she saw Crystal, Amber Jade, and a few other women laughing and drinking with a group of guys wearing green bandanas. The letters “WAB” were tattooed on their arms. She’d learned earlier that evening that the place was run by a gang called the West Avenue Bandits, and Victor owned it. The night before, she’d seen the roman numeral “XXV” tattooed on his upper arm and back. When she’d asked Bobby about it, he’d told her it referenced the letters in the alphabet, so “L” and “M” added up to twenty-five. She’d learned that one question was about all she could ask without Bobby flipping out on her, so she didn’t ask what the “L” and “M” stood for.
“Chica, you want a drink?” one of the men asked her. She shook her head. “I loved the way you danced. Next time we have to make sure the lights are brighter so we can see more.”
You have your fuckin’ boss to thank for giving me all the marks.Concealer and makeup could only hide so much, so she’d asked the sound and light man to crank up the smoke and turn down the lights.
“Let’s party, chica.” He hung his arm around her.
In one fluid move, she slid from under it. “Thanks for asking, but I can’t party with anyone.”
Two other men came over with their arms snaked around girls who looked to be fifteen. Emptiness reflected from their eyes. Misty saw the same thing in hers when she looked in the mirror—it was the look of resignation, enslavement, and despair.
“Let’s go back to the clubhouse,” one of the men said to the guy who kept bugging her.
Gripping her arm tightly, he jerked her to him. “I’m ready.”
Misty tried to push away, but his hold was like iron. “No. I can’t. Let go of me.”
“Shut the fuck up,puta. You do what I tell you to do.”
“Leave her alone,cabrón,” Victor said.
