Page 23 of Foxx
“The doors don’t lock, so keep watch for me, bitch.” She winks playfully. “Stay close.”
I reach out and grab her arm, which is covered in glittery cream. “Does Roz know this?”
“Listen,wehave a code,” she says, not really answering my question. “We don’t break it.” The other guy heads out onto the floor, and Cara nods toward the door.
I huff out of the room. Gentlemen’s club, my ass. It’s a fucking brothel?
Nope. Uh-uh. Not a fucking chance I’ll be a part of this every night.I stand outside the room and set a timer on my phone before I move over to the bar to grab the guys at the stage another round. Even though they aren’t in the VIP rooms anymore, they’re still my customers. My hands shake as I load shots onto a tray and weigh my options. I’m either going to be the girl everyone hates, or if Cara gets caught and Roz finds out I knew and went along with it, I’m gonna get fired on my first day. Unless Roz’s “we don’t touch” was bullshit too.
I keep myself busy serving and talking to the guys from the rooms as they watch a girl I haven’t met yet dance on stage in front of them. Seven minutes later, I decide to make my way back to the room. This place obviously isn’t what I was told, and now I have to shift and work on another way to figure out the truth about my sister, because brothel worker is not happening.
“Ow… Slow down… You’re hurting me.”
I freeze outside the door of the VIP room when I hearCara’s voice, not knowing what to do, straining to hear over the music pumping through the sound system.
“You’re hurting me!” The words are choked and garbled.
I don’t think, I just react, swinging the door open as old trauma takes over, my sister’s face flashing through my mind. I move in a blind rage toward the asshole who’s fucking Cara from behind, his tie wrapped around her throat while she gasps for air. I’m on autopilot as my training takes over. I reach him in a few short strides, first breaking his hold on the tie with the strength of my forearm, then sliding my hand down to secure his wrist so he can’t strike me as I pull him off her. In his drunken stupor, he tries to twist out of my hold, so I strike him with the weight of the right side of my body. My elbow hits him in the jaw.
“Mia!” Cara calls my name, distracting me. That’s all it takes for him to get free, turn, and push me into the wall. A mirror shatters onto the floor beside me. My high heel flies off, sailing out the open door as I land.
“You fucking cunt, I was just about to come!” He still has the condom on his tiny, hardened dick.
Cara is telling him to calm down as she rushes to stand over me. “What the hell are you doing? I said ten fucking minutes!” she shrieks over the thumping beat of the music.
“You were crying out that he was hurting you!” I yell up at her.
“We were fucking role-playing. I told himanythinggoes. He wanted to choke me. We had a safe word.”
Fuck.
The guy is pulling at Cara. “Come on, baby. We can finish,” he slurs. “I still have time…”
But the words die on his lips, and before I know what’shappening, a shadow is looming over us. When I look up, I see Aiden’s face as he stands in the center of the room, holding my high heel. It seems so small in his large hand, and he looks like he’s about to kill someone.
Chapter 15
Mia
“The fuck is going on in here?” His deep voice booms as he extends a hand to help me up. In the glint of the neon lights, I notice scars along the top of his right hand. Many small ones, maybe six or eight, surrounding one longer, clean split. I hadn’t noticed them before amid all the ink.
“She said eight hundred for ten minutes!” the groom slurs as I take Aiden’s hand. His eyes meet mine for a moment, and I see his jaw tic. It’s obvious he’s trying not to lose his temper. His broad, calloused palm swallows mine, the electricity when we connect an undeniable force as he holds me steady so I can stand. I suck in a breath before quickly pulling my hand away. He slowly looks from the shattered mirror on the floor, to the guy with his cock still out, and Cara, who’s completely naked.
“You push her down, Ricky?” he asks the guy, hiking his inked thumb at me.
“She attacked me. I just wanted to get the bitch off me.”
Aiden’s jaw tics again as he looks down at the glass, then back up. He’s the picture of calm.
“The party’s over. Let’s get you dressed and get these girls outta here. I’ll walk you out,” he orders to Ricky. “Put your clothes back on,” he adds to Cara. She nods, though she looks absolutely terrified.
My mouth falls slack.
That’s it?I’ll walk you out?I shake my head.What a piece of shit.
I turn to leave the room, tears stinging my eyes, just wanting to get out of here.
“No. You stay.” Aiden grabs my arm, stopping me just as I cross the threshold. I turn to face him. If looks could kill, this motherfucker would be six feet under. I hate everything he represents.
