Page 101 of Rough Hard Fierce (Chicago Underground 1-3)
“I own that club,” Philip said, then nodded at whatever he saw on my face. “One night we hear there’s a disturbance out in the alley.” He shrugged. “Some people having sex.”
My breath caught. Suddenly I wished I’d listened to Colin, who vibrated with anger but made no move to stop Philip. Why should he? I’d asked for it.
I didn’t want to hear my shame described in cool, clipped tones, but Philip continued inexorably. “Normally I don’t care what people do, but I discourage public displays of prostitution. I don’t need the cops breathing down my neck. My bouncer’s tied up, and Colin was visiting to talk about business, so I send him out. He comes back, says it’s not a problem, but next thing I know, he’s looking through receipts and spending every Saturday night at the club. It wasn’t hard to figure out he had a little crush.”
A small sob escaped me, cementing my humiliation.
“Your lover’s drama is fascinating,” Philip continued, “but if you didn’t tell the cop, then who did?”
Shelly staggered up like a baby doe, ready to take responsibility for giving information to the police about Philip. He would kill her.
I stepped in front of her. “Why did you pay Tony Yates to fuck me?”
“What?” Colin and Shelly asked at the same time.
Philip strolled forward. “So you admit to snooping in my study.”
Colin inched in front of me. We were like a line of dominoes: Philip, Colin, me, and Shelly. The only question was who’d fall first.
“What are you talking about?” Colin asked me without turning.
“Tell him,” I said to Philip.
“You’d protect her?” Philip asked Colin, his disdain clear. “Even knowing she betrayed you?”
“What is she talking about?” Colin asked him.
Philip’s face came into focus as my vision cleared, lined with fury. “She’s just some girl you picked up at the bar, nothing but a little slut, and you wanted to throw away thousands of dollars for her.”
“That was my call,” Colin said.
“Bullshit,” Philip said. “I’m the head of this family, and she was taking you for a ride. She wanted it. It’s not like he had to go to her house to do it. Just wait for her to come back around the club, slumming for another fuck—”
Colin slammed his fist into Philip’s gut. Philip bent over and then fell sideways to the ground, making gasping noises that rivaled our own when we’d emerged.
Colin picked Philip up off the ground and slammed him down onto his knee. Colin dragged him up again and waited while he caught his breath.
“Fight back,” Colin said, shaking him.
“Colin, no.” I reached out but didn’t touch.
“Let them,” Shelly said. “It’s long overdue.”
Philip threw a punch at his head. Colin blocked it, but Philip grabbed him around the neck and swung them both to the ground.
A blast from the warehouse sprayed light down on us like fireworks. Between my shock and the tremors on the ground, I wobbled on my feet.
That was enough to knock the brothers apart, thank God. Colin rolled to a stand, breathing hard. Philip, battered and disheveled, lounged on the ground like he’d just sat down for a picnic. Fucking Philip, with his clipped, almost accented words, even though I knew he was from here, and his fancy clothes and house. He thought he had power, but he was just a fucking poser. True power was Colin protecting me. Colin b
elieving in me, seeing me fuck a guy in an alley and thinking I was worth more than my dirty actions.
When my ears stopped ringing from the boom, I heard sirens.
“If they didn’t know where we were before,” Philip said, “they do now. Let’s wrap this up, shall we?”
“Fuck you,” Colin spat.
Philip affected a bored look, but I wasn’t fooled. His eyes shot daggers at me. Mine shot them right back. The man had just tried to kill me. I wasn’t inclined to be polite anymore.
