8. Liam

8

LIAM

I shrieked when someone grabbed me under the arms, lifting me up and off the red-haired man who’d paid for a lap dance.

I struggled until I realized my captor was Val.

“What the fuck?” the man yelled.

I grabbed Val’s arm when he set me on my feet. “What are you doing?”

“No lap dances. Not for you.”

“I paid for that,” my customer yelled. He was the same man I’d seen at my building and at Benny’s. I wasn’t really angry at Val for stopping things. The man gave me the creeps, and it couldn’t be a coincidence that he was here now.

Val snarled at him. “What you paid for is not for sale.”

The man stood, clearly ready to fight, but his friends pulled him back. One of them shook him saying, “Don’t you know who that is?”

Val pulled a hundred from his pocket and tossed it at the man. “There’s a refund.” He took my arm and began to drag me away.

“I’m supposed to go on stage again in a little while.”

“We have to talk first. There are some ground rules you clearly don’t understand.”

I wanted to argue with him, but we were in the middle of the crowd. We’d already made a scene and negative attention was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want any of the other customers thinking I wasn’t available. Whatever Val said, I would argue with it because I was here to earn money, and I needed to do that as fast as I possibly could. That meant giving lap dances and other private services.

Val took me to Trevor’s office and slammed the door behind us. I was shocked that Trevor wasn’t sitting at his desk, I’d yet to see him anywhere else in the club.

Val glared at me. “You’re not allowed to do anything but dance. I thought that was clear.”

“I was dancing.” I knew I shouldn’t argue with him, but he’d brought me here to earn money and I was going to do that as fast as I could.

“I told you, no one here touches you.” He took a step toward me, and I forced myself to stand my ground.

“He wasn’t touching me.”

Val narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want you touching them either.”

“How am I supposed to earn the money to pay you back if I can’t provide private services?”

He just growled. “I don’t want them that close to you. I don’t even want them….”

“Don’t want them…what? Looking at me?”

“Lap dances are out.”

I forgot to be afraid of him. What was the point in being compliant if I was never going to be able to pay off my loan. “Why did you agree to me working off my debt if you were just going to make it impossible for me?”

Val slammed his fist against the wall, making me jump. “You can earn your money by dancing.”

I held his gaze despite the way my heart was pounding. “Lap dancing is dancing.”

“No, it’s fucking not. You stay up on that stage, or we’re going to have to find another way for you to pay your debt.”

“I offered another way, and you turned me down.”

I barely processed him moving before he had me shoved up against the wall, arms pinned above my head, his hands gripping my wrists so hard I thought he might break them.

I sucked in a breath when the door opened, and Trevor stepped in. “Don’t damage the merchandise. He’s going to bring in lots of money.”

“Get out. Now,” Val roared.

“Piss off. It’s my office.”

“It’s my club.”

Trevor casually leaned against his desk. “What are you going to do? Run to daddy about it?”

Val shifted his grip, clasping both of my wrists in one hand as he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Trevor’s face.

Trevor didn’t look fazed. “Lock the door next time if you want privacy. Jesus.”

“I said get out.”

Trevor held up his hands in surrender. “Shit Val. What’s got you so on edge lately?” Clearly not expecting an answer, Trevor walked out, closing the door behind him.

Val stuck the gun back into his waistband and turned to face me, using his free hand to brace himself against the wall.

“You’re the one who owes me money you can’t repay. I don’t have to make this little trade. I could treat you the way I do most of our clients who miss their deadlines.”

Don’t let him see how scared you are . “Are you going to hit me? Or are you going to torture me? That’s not going to get you your money either. This is the best chance for both of us to get what we want.”

He leaned against me, pinning me with his body. “Do you want those assholes out there touching you? Do you want their hands on you? Do you want them using you?”

I just stared at him, knowing he felt me trembling. I wasn’t really hiding my fear at all.

A moment later, he let go of my wrists, pushed off the wall, and ran a hand through his hair as he began pacing the room.

“I’m not doing this because it’s what I want,” I said when I thought I could keep my voice steady. “I would have been happy to never see that man again, but he was a paying customer, and I knew you were here if he tried to break the rules.”

“See him again? Did you go out with that son of a bitch?”

“No, but he’s been around my apartment a lot and I’ve seen him at the bar where I work. I guess he lives near me or has a friend there or something.” I downplayed how worried I was. I didn’t need Val interrogating me. I could handle myself.

Val scowled. “I don’t want him near you again. No lap dances. If you agree to one, you’ll be punished.”

What did he mean by that? Would he add to my debt? Could he do that? I supposed he could do anything he wanted.

Would he hurt me?

Would he spank me?

Jesus. I did not need to turn this into a fantasy. There was something seriously wrong with me. “What about private clients?”

“You may have them in the designated rooms here, but nowhere else. And you stay behind the fucking glass. No one touches you.”

If he trapped me into these rules, I’d never get away from him or his family. “You want my money. You want the debt paid, right?”

He huffed. “Yes, that’s the point of all this.”

“Then let me earn the money the best way I can.”

“No.”

Did he have to be so fucking infuriating? “Why?”

“No one touches you except me.”

“But you didn’t want?—”

He stepped closer until he was almost touching me. “You think I didn’t want to accept your offer? I’d love to be the one who extracted every cent from your body, used you every way I could think of. But that would be a conflict of interest.”

His words sent heat racing through me. “I thought men like you got whatever they wanted.”

“I wish.” Val sighed. “But even I have rules to follow. In my family, you don’t defy your elders or you might disappear.”

“Really? You’d…they’d….”

“Softness and coddling don’t get you anywhere in this business.”

I was absolutely not going to feel sorry for him, no matter how much pain I saw in his eyes.

“Do you understand what I expect from you?”

When I nodded, he raised his brows.

“Yes, sir.”

“If you defy me, I’ll know.”

Would he? And did that mean he wouldn’t be shadowing me every time I came to work? No matter how much he turned me on, I knew I would be better off if I never saw him again.

Ava had messaged me several times demanding to know where I got the money to pay her fall tuition. She’d been negotiating a payment plan with the university, planning to attempt to work two jobs and still get her degree on time. Now her bill was paid in full.

She’d been skeptical enough when I paid for school last spring. I’d told her I’d gotten a loan and refused to say more. She had to suspect it wasn’t from a bank, but she’d finally let it go. Now that I’d used the rest of the money, there was no way she was going to accept vague answers. I was going to have to call her, but I still didn’t know what to say.

I sat down on the futon that served as my bed and tapped in her number, hoping something would come to me as we talked.

When she answered, I immediately asked how she was, hoping to delay her questions. “Stressed and worried about my brother.”

I wished she would stop worrying about me and enjoy her life. “I’m doing fine.”

“Where did you get the money? And this time I don’t want any bullshit. I want the truth.”

“I told you I got a loan.”

“From who?”

Was there any hope of avoiding this? “You really don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do.”

I lay back and put my arm over my eyes as if I could block out her reaction that way. “The Marchesis.”

“Liam Niall O’Shaughnessy, what the fuck were you thinking?”

That I needed money, and I was going to get it anyway I could .

“What’s next? Are you going to rob a bank?”

“Fuck, I don’t know.”

“Liam!”

I rolled to my side and pulled my legs up. “Ava, it’s my job to take care of you.”

“No, it’s not. We’re both adults.”

“I’m your big brother.”

“You’re my stupid brother right now. How the fuck are you going to pay back this loan and the interest, which I’m sure is making the amount grow every fucking day.”

I sighed. “I’m working that out. I’ve got a second job.” I’d told enough truths for now. I wasn’t going to let her know I was working as a dancer at a Marchesi-owned club.

“And you think that’s going to do it? They aren’t going to wait decades to get the money back. I’m going to have to quit and work to help you pay for this.”

“No!” I pulled the quilt tighter around me. “Tuition is already paid. You won’t get that money back. Go to school and let me deal with this.”

“Liam, I–”

“Please.”

“They will hurt you if you don’t pay. I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough.”

I thought of Val, of the way I knew he could crush me easily if he wanted to—or seduce me into doing whatever he said. “Trust me. I know what I’ve done, and I’m going to get us both back on our feet.”

“You don’t have to shoulder all of this.”

“Yes, I do. Now, I need to go so I can get ready for work.”

“Fine. But you better check in with me so I know you’re still alive and not at the bottom of the bay feeding the fish.”

“Goodbye Ava.”

“Bye. I love you.”

I curled into a tight fetal position as I said, “I love you too.”

The next week passed in a whirlwind. Between working at Benny’s—the bar where I waited tables—and dancing at Pound, I was so exhausted I fell into bed the moment I got home, only waking when I had nightmares about the accident, the Marchesis going after Ava, or the day when the rent was due, and once again, I couldn’t pay.

Where was I going to go? I didn’t think I could find anywhere significantly cheaper than the place I was in.

You could stay in Ava’s dorm .

How sad would that be? Even if it was actually an option, I couldn’t afford the gas to drive two hours into the city to work every day.

Maybe one of the other dancers would let me stay on their couch. Of course, for that to work I’d have to actually make friends with someone. So far I’d kept to myself, talking as little as possible to anyone at work other than Tyler who was very hard to ignore.

I hadn’t seen Val again. Every day I expected him to show up to scrutinize my performance and make sure I was following all his rules. I wasn’t. I’d given several lap dances in the private rooms. The men had tried to grope me, but I’d managed to use Val’s name to keep them under control.

How much longer could I keep that up before he found out? And what else could I get away with? I knew many of the other dancers went much further in those rooms and scheduled meetings with the men at hotels. Would I do that? Could I do that?

Once I was homeless I probably would, but if Val found out…Maybe he wouldn’t. He obviously didn’t care enough to check up on me.

And Trevor sure as hell didn’t seem to care. As long as the dancers didn’t cause trouble and showed up on time, he was content. It seemed to be his goal to drink alone in his office all night.

I needed to pay Val back as fast as I could so I could start earning money for myself, assuming he’d let me keep working here after the debt was paid.

Assuming he ever showed back up.

Why would he? Did I really believe he wanted me that much or did I secretly hope I would be caught? Did I want him to punish me? I’d fantasized about it plenty of times. I was tired of always being the one with responsibilities. I wanted to surrender, to give myself over to him completely.