12. Ghost

12

Ghost

Half of Sapphire Rise is under renovation, but luckily, it hasn’t affected our profits. Chaos is picky when it comes to the strip club—from the location to the girls who dance here. He’s selective, and right now, it’s paying off. Because even if half the club is being renovated, our doors are open, and we’re as busy as we’ve ever been.

The song changes as I make a final adjustment to one of the camera angles, giving a clear view of the VIP hallway.

Once it’s installed and in focus, I start recording, setting a sensor so I know if it goes offline.

Unlike Chaos, who is currently auditioning a new stripper by having her ride him topless, I’d rather finish up what I’m doing here as fast as possible so I can get back to the clubhouse. I prefer where it’s quiet so I can focus. In my office, I’m in my domain, and I’m in control.

Music throbs through the club. It’s packed, making the room feel ten degrees hotter than it is from the bodies alone. Seats around the main stage are starting to fill the later it gets, and the walls start closing in around me.

Twelve years ago, when I patched in at eighteen, I would have been right there with them. Celebrating the start of a new life, trying to convince a stripper to come back to the club with me when her shift ended.

Back then, it all seemed so fucking simple.

I was proving my father wrong and making something of my life, and that was all that mattered. I thought I had shit figured out. I was wrong.

A brunette takes the stage at the start of the new song. Her cherry pumps add seven inches to her already long legs. Her black bikini consists of three triangular scraps, and with the flashing lights and backlight, for a second, I swear she’s Paulina, back from the dead.

An apparition of everything that went wrong when I let myself believe the life I chose wasn’t bad for everyone around me.

The girl spins, and her hair fans around her shoulders. Her bangs fall to her eyebrows, and she smiles as the vision fades. She’s older than Paulina was. Curvier. Happier.

My heart races as panic surges through me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose while clenching my fists.

Then, I let it out.

I count to ten while the girl in my memories runs down the street with her dark hair in pigtails. I watch her grow up—change. Until she’s no longer my best friend. She’s the mangled corpse they left outside the gate to the Twisted Kings property .

Then, I let her go.

Again.

Opening my eyes, I scan the room, not able to shake the tingling on the back of my neck. And when my gaze lands on a figure walking into the club, it’s like I’m manifesting all the reasons I’m so on edge today.

Luna walks into Sapphire Rise with Venom at her side, and I swear the girl bleeds innocence. While all the strippers in the club are dressed up with fake eyelashes and layers of lipstick, Luna’s face is clean. Her hair is still fuzzy from being freshly washed, and she practically floats like an angel toward me.

Her jeans and baggy T-shirt are understated. Yet that sliver of stomach where she’s knotted her shirt is sexier than anything going on around us.

No one in my life has stolen my attention like Luna Cassidy. Still, when her pretty, blue gaze meets mine across the club, I know I should have left her where I found her because if I’m not careful, she’ll share Paulina’s fate.

Venom reaches me first, with Luna trailing a few steps behind him.

“Why the fuck did you bring her here?” I snap at Venom.

I try to remind myself he’s damn good at hiding a body because I really want to kick him out of the club for putting her in danger right now. His flirtations with Luna are one thing, but taking her out of the compound when the man who hired her is trying to get her back has me itching to reach for my gun .

“Prez said you needed a disc with a software update. She asked me for a ride to bring it to you.”

“I need the disc, not her. Are you trying to get her fucking killed?”

I take a step toward Venom, but Luna slips between us, planting her hand on my chest. The heat of her palm and her delicate fingers ground my feet to the earth.

“He didn’t know.” She looks up at me. “I offered to come, and I’m fine.”

Under the club lights, her hair is a deeper purple, and it turns her blue eyes the faintest shade of violet.

Luna presses her lips together. “You promised to show me the new system in action, remember? I figured now was as good of a time as ever.”

“That was before all this shit happened.”

She hitches an eyebrow. “I’m not living my life in fear, Ghost. And I’m sure as hell not hiding at the clubhouse. So here I am, either show me or don’t, but I’m not leaving.”

Luna crosses her arms over her chest, acting so strong when she’s all skin and bone. Fragile, whether she likes it or not.

“What do you need from me?” Venom asks. “Want me to take her back?”

“Just put the disc in the office.” I resist the urge to shove a screwdriver through his temple. “Then go see if Chaos needs help with anything. I’ll let you know when she’s ready to head home.”

Luna’s eyes narrow as Venom stalks off, but she doesn’t break my stare. “You could be nicer to him for bringing me here. ”

“He only brought you here because he wants to fuck you, and it’s an easy way to get you alone.”

“Is it a crime for a man to want to fuck me now?”

She’s testing me again. Thinking if she pushes hard enough, I’ll snap. This time, I don’t take the bait. I step back.

“I’ll show you what we’re doing in the VIP rooms, but then you’re leaving.”

“Yes, sir.” She rolls her shoulders back, and even if she’s trying to be sarcastic to piss me off, all her words do is make me want to put her on her knees.

We’re standing in the middle of a strip club, with tits and ass all around us, but I can’t tear my eyes off this girl. She tugs her lower lip between her teeth, and I mentally make note of exactly how long it’s been since I’ve let myself touch someone the way I want to touch her.

I think about how long it’s been since I’ve let anyone touch me .

It aches knowing I don’t deserve whatever heaven exists between her legs, but I sure as shit wish I did.

Turning, I don’t wait for her to follow me as I head toward the back of the strip club to the VIP hallway.

I could have turned her away with Venom the second she walked in the door, but fuck if I’m letting him have any more time with her before I get a sense of where her head is at. She can’t be mine, but she is. And if he so much as looks at her again, I’m going to take a razorblade to his eyelids so he’s forced to watch me pull his intestines out of his stomach .

Stopping at the end of the hall, I hold the door open for Luna and watch as she walks into the private VIP room ahead of me. The lights are low in here, and the music is quieter. A couch sits against one wall, and there’s a private stage directly across from it.

When the door clicks shut, all I smell is Luna’s honeysuckle shampoo.

“I thought we were checking out the new security system.” Luna’s eyebrows pinch when she looks at me. “What are we doing in here?”

“I can’t run the software update until tomorrow.” I pull out my phone, stepping to the far wall. “The updates will take a while, and Steel doesn’t want the cameras down while the club is open.”

She nods, watching me move around the room. I walk slowly along the wall, making note of any blind spots as I monitor the feed on my phone.

“What are you doing?” Luna paces, stopping at the stripper pole and running her fingers down it.

“These are new cameras. I’m just confirming we have full coverage and no blind spots.” From the corner of my eye, I watch her skim her hand down the silver pole. “People like to fuck with the cameras in these rooms, so I set tampering sensors that will alert us if that happens.”

“Wouldn’t want anyone getting away with something under your watch, huh?” Luna turns her back to the pole, slowly starting to sway to the music. “Is that camera recording already?”

“Yeah.” I glance down at the feed, where I can see Luna on my phone, gripping the pole behind her .

“So, you can see this?” She lifts her arms slowly, grazing them over the sides of her breasts and into her hair until she’s gripping the pole overhead.

“What are you doing, Luna?”

“Helping you work.” She bites her lower lip.

The girl who is trying to break me is coming out to play again. She’s inching under my skin, and my defenses are weakening.

“How is what you’re doing going to help?” I ask, trying to ignore her as I start walking the length of the room again to make sure nothing mirrors.

Luna grips the pole, spinning her body around so she can slowly walk around it. She’s teasing the line between playing and dancing. Her weight is in her hand as she spins, but she doesn’t do much more than that.

“I’m making sure you don’t have any blind spots. You said that’s what you were looking for, right?”

“The stage is clear,” I tell her, seeing the full view of her on my screen.

“All of it?” Luna spins again, flipping her hair this time. “Wouldn’t want you to miss anything.”

She pauses to toe off one of her sneakers, kicking one across the room so it lands in the corner. On my screen, I see her shoe lying sideways on the floor.

“How about that spot?”

“It’s good.” I swallow hard.

Luna kicks off her other shoe. “What about over there?”

“You already saw me check both those spots.” I try to hold firm, but she’s making it damn impossible .

“It doesn’t hurt to double-check, right? You’re the one who taught me to be thorough, Ghost.”

“Luna—”

“What about the couch?” she cuts me off, spinning around the pole again.

I can’t fucking think.

Luna is still fully dressed, but blood pumps to all the wrong places with what she’s doing.

She tempts me into wondering why the fuck I’ve been abstinent for so long. Some people assume it’s because I don’t like to fuck, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Especially considering what I’d like to do to Luna right now.

It was just safer to keep my distance. After what happened with Paulina, I didn’t want to risk letting anyone close again.

“The couch is fine.” I grind my teeth.

“How do you know? You didn’t check the couch yet, and from what I can tell, you’re walking every inch of the room, aren’t you?” She eyes the couch. “People do all sorts of things on those couches. You should double-check.”

I should unlock the door and call for Venom right now. He could take Luna back to the clubhouse, and I could work in peace. Instead, I humor her by walking over to the couch and sinking down onto the cushions.

“So?” she asks, pausing with her back to the pole again, gripping it behind her.

I glance down at my phone, switching the camera angle to the couch, and see myself sitting on it. “All good. ”

“Good.” She hums, her body swaying to the music. “Because now that you’re sitting, I think we should talk.”

“About what?”

“You went against your club for me, Ghost.” Her hands move from the pole to her hips; she trails her fingers under the line of her shirt, teasing the smooth skin of her stomach. “You went against your president for me. That’s something big. But you pretend you still don’t care. Why?”

I stretch my arms across the back of the couch, watching her. “I care.”

“Then why not do anything about it?”

“I already told you we can’t.”

“Because you don’t fuck patch bunnies?” She slowly undoes the knot in her T-shirt, playing with the fabric.

“You’re not a patch bunny.”

She shrugs. “Fine. Then because you don’t fuck anyone . Why is that?”

“It’s just better that way.”

“Hmm.” She twists her hips as the music kicks up, tipping her head back. “Are you worried you’re going to hurt me, Ghost? Because trust me, you can’t.”

“You’d like to think that.” My shoulders tense. “But you’re wrong.”

“Then why get me into this mess in the first place?”

Because you’re everything to me, and the idea of leaving you behind made me want to finish what I started on the cliff in Arizona.

I manage to swallow that sentence. She doesn’t need to hear it. It will only make her realize how fucked up I am. Or worse, she’ll start believing in things that aren’t possible.

When I’m silent for a moment, she frowns. “The least you can do is stop lying to me.”

“I’ve never lied to you.”

“Omitting the truth is a form of lying.”

I shrug, not arguing because she’s technically right.

“Tell me something. No lies.” She starts teasing her fingers at the hem of her T-shirt again, and the movement of her fingers has me hypnotized.

“What do you want to know?” I’m stepping on a land mine, but I can’t help it.

Luna smirks, slowly peeling her T-shirt up and overhead. Her silky skin is unmarked perfection, unlike the inked mess of memories I’ve made of mine. Her nipples peek through her blue lace bra. It’s bright and matches her eyes. And when she pulls the shirt fully overhead, and her lavender hair brushes her skin, it takes everything in me to stay put.

A devious little grin curls in the corner of her mouth, and she tosses her shirt to another corner of the room. It puddles against the wall.

“How about that spot? Is it good?” She smiles at me with pure wickedness in her eyes. “Wouldn’t want you to miss anything.”