Chapter 13

It was barely after nine, and the club was in full swing.

Not unusual since we opened. Which was fantastic.

Usually.

Right then, so many people packing the place from wall to wall made my scalp tingle to the point I wanted to rake my nails over it. Turn my white-blond hair red.

Gruesome, but the violence running just skin deep couldn"t be ignored, and the easiest way to deal with it was to turn it on myself.

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I leaned my ass against the railing and crossed my arms. I should be in the office, scanning the cameras and flipping through different angles. But Guy was doing that.

I was better off showing my face. On the off-chance the Pescis sent underlings to cause a scene, they"d think twice if I was visible.

I set the other guys on touring the club rooms.

Joaquin was pissed. It had been too long since he sat a game in the Gold Room and instead of getting his fix, he was trolling the Black Room.

Atlas was in the Gold Room. Kim had Beasty with him as he walked the performance rooms.

We"d switch in a little while, but I was the most intimidating, so I"d prop up the front most of the night.

A man walked through the crowd, his spiked black and red hair covered one eye, giving him a sinister vibe. That and the millions of piercings he sported.

He was naturally blond, so the dark color against his skin gave him a ghostly appearance.

I sighed.

Calling in reinforcements sucked ass. Especially when Parker ordered Gio to participate.

What did Gio do? He sent his third man.

The one who was even more unhinged than Adrian.

Smiling, Storm used his tongue to twist the bar sticking through his lip. The ball in his mouth flashed when the lights landed on him before moving across the crowd.

"Lake." He turned and hopped up on the railing, letting his feet dangle.

Why the hell had Gio sent this goth reject? He was the complete opposite of Gio and Adrian"s refined taste. Well, Gio"s at least. I had theories that he forced Adrian to dress the same. Storm was probably just beyond his control.

"See anyone you recognize?" I stopped my perusal of him and turned back to the crowd. The bartender caught my eye, and I paused on him, but he was gazing at Storm, not me.

That proved it. Storm was too much of a distraction for the staff. That said something considering the place was co-owned by two models and celebrities frequently visited Snatched.

"Nope." He popped on the "p". Cutting me a sly glance, he rolled his hands over the railing. "Where"s the girl?"

"None of your fucking business."

He laughed, the sound scathing.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket.

Kim:

There was something I forgot to mention...

Me:

And that would be?

Atlas:

If it"s about Beasty, I already know. I watched the footage.

Atlas:

I"m on my way.

Joaquin:

What"s that supposed to mean?

At first, Kim didn"t say anything. Then the dots started to jump.

Kim:

We"re in Room Two.

Pocketing the phone, I pushed away from the railing and descended into the crowd.

People had their hands up, and they swayed to the thumping music and pushed into each other, yet never falling into my path.

One side of my mouth tipped up. I hated how white my hair was. After getting out of the club before the arrests, I had a serious moment about incorporating that damned root spray into my morning routine.

Coffee. pre-workout. Workout. Shower. Root spray.

But it was messier than I liked and I didn"t have time for all that.

Then there were times like this where people avoided me like the plague. They saw my glowing, white hair under the club lights and knew I owned the place. So, it had its perks.

"Where are we going?" Storm shouted as he fell in line next to me.

"I"m going to meet up with my friends. You"re staying your ass here." I picked up the pace, hoping to leave him behind.

He didn"t get the hint.

"Yeah, okay, but let"s talk about that girl."

"Nope." I dipped my head in acknowledgement to the attendant at the mouth of the hallway. The overpowering music dimmed, and soft, elegant piano notes trickled through the speakers. I sighed at the pleasant change.

"I"m sorry, sir. You don"t have the proper stamp."

I grinned, not glancing back.

"Stamp? Lake, tell her I"m with you," Storm grunted behind me.

"No can do! I"ll see you back in the front room in thirty. Keep watch for me."

If he really wanted back here, he"d do it. This wasn"t the exclusive hall. But, he"d lose sight of me to do that and then he"d have to hunt through every room to find me.

I glanced back to see the door shutting in Storm"s face. One angry eye visible through the shocks of midnight-black and blood-red hair. Then he was gone.

Perfect timing.

The attendant to Room Two opened the door.

A rap song with instrumentals played overhead, and all the platforms were taken by women dancing provocatively with their neon whips. They slithered like snakes around their body as they spun this way or that.

This was probably one of the most mesmerizing rooms that we had in the club. We kept the lights almost too dim for the standard, but the glow from the whips helped.

I stopped, searching the room.

At first, I didn"t see Kim. Then Atlas" tall frame appeared between two groups of people along the wall.

His stalker ass would know exactly where Beasty was.

Just like in the main club room, my hair seemed to glow, and a path straight to Atlas opened up.

There was Kim. And Joaquin.

But where the fuck was Beasty?

I hastened over to them, barking the question before I was even close enough for them to hear me.

Then I saw Andrea with a group of women off to the side. Beasty right in the center.

She was easy to see because she was a good two inches taller than the other girls. That wasn"t what made my blood boil.

It was the whip in her hands as she ducked her head to listen to something Andrea said before turning to study the closest woman on a platform.

I started to push away from the guys when Joaquin caught my arm. I twisted to break his hold, but he just caught me again.

Shaking his head, he mouthed no and motioned for me to come closer.

"Listen to what Kim has to say."

I shot Kim a glare. He didn"t seem the least bit repentant, so whatever he was about to say, I didn"t give a fuck.

"What?" I still asked.

"Beasty needs a job." His words were slow and measured, making it a little easier to hear him over the music.

"She can work–"

"Adrian and Gio have been texting her." Kim took a step forward, and we all leaned our heads together. "If we don"t give her an opportunity to work, she"s going to take them up on it."

Joaquin raked a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "That"s not why she"s going to take them up on their offer."

Kim pressed his lips together and glanced at Beasty.

I looked over my shoulder, and got caught. She wasn"t paying attention to Andrea anymore. She stood there with the whip between both hands watching us. The light reflection on her face wasn"t enough to give her expression away, but her posture said it all. She didn"t like that we were huddled together.

Well, too fucking bad.

If she didn"t want us watching, then she needed to stop whatever stunt she was about to pull.

"Let her."

Atlas was the supporter here? That didn"t make any sense.

"This is the hill you want to die on?" I asked, bending toward him.

"Atlas is right. I already ran through all the jobs she"d accept. She was a bartender before. She could bartend or run drinks, but I don"t want her that close to other people. I"d rather her be on the stage where the patrons can look but not touch." Kim smiled behind me.

Like a lovesick idiot who couldn"t not know what happened, I turned back to see Beasty relax her shoulders and join the group Andrea was now addressing.

"What"s going on?" I decided to focus on the immediate issue.

As much as I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and cart her away, Kim was right.

I wanted her untouchable, and if I couldn"t control everything, I could at least control where she worked in the club.

No one answered as the music quieted and someone tapped on a microphone.

"I hate this," I grumbled.

Joaquin nodded, his mouth set in a grim line.

Andrea walked the girls on the stage along the back of the room, lining them up with Beasty on the end. Three other girls next to her.

Once she had them in place, she hustled to the side, grabbed a mic from one of the staff, and rejoined the girls. The music cut down to almost nothing as a light appeared on Andrea.

It was bright and harsh and hurt my eyes after being in the dark room for a few minutes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. You"ve come to the right place at the right time." Cheers went up and I sneered. These idiots. They were too drunk to realize that wasn"t anything clever. "At Snatched, in the themed rooms, we do amateur night once a month, and you"ve made it to the very first one."

I turned back. "We do fucking amateur night?"

Kim nodded. "It was part of the initial plan."

Fucking hell.

"We"re going to have a bit of friendly competition, and lucky us, all four owners are here tonight. Boys, are you willing to judge?" Andrea smirked against the mic.

I was going to kill this woman. We didn"t have time for this. Not when the Pescis could fuck with us at any second.

"Two of you judge. One of you, come with me to keep an eye on the club." I swirled my finger around our circle, encompassing the group.

When I started to spin on my heel, Andrea tutted over the microphone. Grinding my jaw, I paused. This was so beyond disrespectful, I"d have words with Kim about her behavior. If I wasn"t satisfied with that outcome, I"d take matters into my own hands.

"Come on, boys. For our very first amateur night, you have to participate. The crowd demands it, don"t you?"

Women hooted while the men hollered. Drunk fools.

"I"ll judge," Kim called as he stepped forward. "We don"t need all four of us on stage." There was a dark threat under his light tone. One look at Andrea said that she heard it, but didn"t care.

Kim should have picked his staff a little more carefully.

"I"ll judge." The words rang out through the room, and I twisted. Like hell would anyone else get up on stage with Beasty. Kim"s whole point was to give her a chance on stage where she would be untouchable.

The man who"d spoken slipped through the crowd. I was just able to see the top of his head as he squeezed between people. I"d had point-two seconds to see his face before I locked up.

Donnie Pesci was in our fucking club.

Where the hell was Storm and why hadn"t I let him follow me around like a damned shadow? It also meant he got past the bouncers, and I'd sent each one of those dicks pictures of the brothers.

This guy was one-hundred percent recognizable from his fashion picks alone. He was some Peaky Blinders wannabe with his old-fashioned suit. It was ridiculous on him. Mostly because he was a dweebie-looking man. Nothing like Gio or his crew.

Except there was a maliciousness in his eyes that reminded me too much of Gates.

"Perfect!" Andrea beamed and someone next to me whistled.

Damn it. I couldn"t kick him out now without a scene.

"Joaquin, go grab Storm up front. The three of us will judge." I didn"t glance at any of them. My focus was lasered in on Donnie.

He smirked as he approached us, patting his stomach in a weird-ass way. "I"ve seen pictures of you sweethearts, but none of it prepared me for what you"d look like in person." He bobbed his head like he was confirming something for himself. "But man, you four are pretty."

Donnie was one word away from getting my fist in his face, consequences be damned, but he stopped there.

Atlas and Kim stepped up beside me as Joaquin started walking to the side exit. Donnie glanced over my shoulder and pouted. "Aw, he"s not going to stay for the fun? That"s a shame. I"m impressed with this place." He made a show of eyeing every nook and cranny. "And the ladies really know what they"re doing." The conniving smirk on his face as he bent forward might as well have been knives scraping down my chest and up the sides of my neck for how much it irritated me.

"Come on, judges. Get up here. We"ve arranged chairs for you." Sweeping her hand toward the stairs on the side of the stage, Andrea stepped back. Then she turned off her mic and huddled the girls.

I made eye contact with Beasty, doing my best to warn her not to do anything stupid. But what did that even mean? Even if it was bright enough for her to see the nuance of my expression, just being here on stage was already pretty fucking stupid.

We made plenty of money. Enough that the club was more of a pastime than a required revenue stream. A way to keep ourselves busy.

Beasty could do whatever the fuck she wanted. That shouldn"t involve dancing for horny men and women.

Especially when it put her in close contact with the Pescis.

"I"ll go up first." Donnie grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked toward the stairs.

I put a hand out to stop Atlas and Kim. They hadn"t seen all the pictures I had. They didn"t know who this man was. Why hadn't I shown them all the goddamned pictures? That was right, I was the dumbass who thought they'd send a lackey to cause trouble.

One look at Kim's and Atlas' faces, and they"d figured it out. Or at least that this man was a threat.

"That"s the youngest of the Pescis. Watch him. If he tries to make a move, I don"t give a fuck who"s here, he doesn"t touch her," I whispered.

Atlas nodded, but he was already moving swiftly to the stage. For once, his gaze was on Donnie and not on Beasty. Thank fuck. I knew it was a good call to have him here instead of Joaquin.

Joaquin was solid, but Atlas would go fucking crazy over Beasty.

Kim was less intense but just as crazy.

The four chairs Andrea mentioned lined up across the stage. To go with the theme of the room, they were white, high-end, faux-leather chairs with high backs. Artsy but also easy to clean up.

Pulling Andrea close to me, I glared, digging my fingers into her arm. She whimpered, but like a true performer, showed nothing in either her face or body language.

"The girls do not touch us. Which should be no problem for the type of dance they"re doing, correct?" The whips were used in artistic dance. Yes, it was provocative, but these rooms were open to the public, not sleazy back rooms where lap dances were tossed out like Skittles.

"Got it. That wasn"t the plan," she rushed out as she turned her head away.

Something about that motion said that was exactly what she had planned.

"Judges, take your seat," she called over the microphone.

Donnie took one of the center seats just to be an ass. I took the other middle, Kim grabbed the end chair next to me and Atlas placed himself on the other side of Donnie. We had him surrounded.

The heat from the spotlights warmed my skin almost uncomfortably as we waited for Andrea to get her shit together. She had one final huddle with the girls, then snapped her fingers toward the DJ box.

Darkness descended as the lights flipped off. A soft intake of breath rolled through the crowd. With heavy shades draped over the windows and the whips turned off, no one could see a thing.

Then slow, instrumental notes of a rap song spilled from the speakers, and as if choreographed, one whip turned on. The second followed a beat after, then the third, and finally the fourth.

Beasty was easy to spot.

She was also in front of me. Not touching, but damn close. Close enough that if I leaned forward, I could skim my fingers through the luminescent strings of the whip.

Whatever girl was in front of Donnie was even closer and he did reach out and touch her.

Asshole.

Since Beasty wasn"t in front of him, I leaned back, gripping the back of the chair by my head.

I might as well enjoy the show.

Beasty wasn"t a dancer. She wasn"t comfortable with the movements, and she was far from fluid. But she was fantastic with moving the whip around her body. The intense look of concentration on her face only added to the appeal.

She was in the zone. From all signs, she was loving it.

Then they swapped places and she moved in front of Donnie. I leaned forward and glared at the side of his head as he reached out a hand to touch her thigh.

"Don"t think about it." I caught his fingers and bent them backward. He cocked an eyebrow and pulled his hand back, shaking it out when I let go. The light from Beasty"s whip highlighted tiny scars and imperfections on his face. I memorized each one.

The girl in front of me made a noise like she was trying to get my attention, but I never once glanced at her. I kept my gaze locked between Donnie and Beasty.

They rotated again and Beasty was in front of Atlas. He loved it a little too much as he bit his lip, completely forgetting about the threat between us.

One final rotation of dancing, and the song notes trailed off. The lights came up and Andrea clapped, the noise thumping over the speakers since the mic was turned back on.

"What a great performance! What do you say, give a round of applause for our ladies!" She tossed one hand up in the air like she had been the one to perform.

The crowd obliged.

Donnie stood up, adjusting his tie as he nodded toward Beasty. "She"s got my vote. Could use a little work on the stiffness though. I hear that can be taught with the right partner." He winked and Beasty stiffened.

He walked toward her and the three of us stood up.

"Relax," he mocked. "I"m just taking the stairs off stage." But he stopped next to Beasty and I stepped forward.

Before I could get there, he jumped out of my reach. "You really were too good for Stevo. He should have brought you around. It would have saved all of us–including Stevo–a lot of trouble." He dropped his easy-going facade and with one deadly stare toward Beasty, he left.

The room was silent except for his footsteps. Once he was almost to the door, I jumped into action, grabbing the whip from Beasty's hands and tossing it at Andrea.

It smacked the other woman in the face and I wished I was in a better space to find the karma in it. Instead, I cupped Beasty"s elbow and started moving her toward the stairs.

"Beasty wins," I said to Andrea, then the four of us were off the stage.

I glanced at Beasty and wished I hadn"t.

Her face was pale, and she stared after Donnie with too much thinking happening in that brain of hers.

We were going to regret tonight. I could feel it.