Mixed with Trouble: A CASH BAR NOVEL

by Faiman, Hayley

  “Let’s get on with why I’m here, with just you three,” I grunt.

  Crooner shakes his head but stays quiet, Free does too, it’s Snake who speaks.

  “Phillippe Martel has us by the balls, or at least he thinks that he does. As a senator, he thinks that he can pull strings beyond our comprehension. He thinks that he can make or break our weapons trade. He’s mistaken,” Snake informs.

  Clearing my throat, I sit forward a bit. “Doesn’t he though? Isn’t that why you pushed the agreement for marriage with Chardonnay?” I ask.

  Snake’s eyes meet mine and a slow smile spreads across his face. “He had me by the balls, for about a minute. I took that agreement to buy time. If I told you, then you would have acted differently. The only people that knew it wasn’t real was Free and me.”

  “Motherfucker,” I growl as I come to my feet.

  Leaning over his desk, I slam my palms down and bare my teeth to him. I’m fucking pissed, so goddamn pissed that I can feel my blood boiling beneath my skin. My body feels hot and I start to see red.

  “Stand down,” Free roars.

  My arms shake with building tension. I want to hit something, someone, anyone. I’m not fucking picky at this point.

  “Fuck you,” I spit, turning my head to look over to him.

  “Do you want to marry her?” he asks, a smirk tipping his lips.

  Pushing off of the desk, I take a couple of steps back and cross my arms over my chest. I wait for him to enlighten me on his almighty fucking plan.

  “Senator Martel has some notion that he is a supreme being, especially when it comes to us. His bitch of a daughter had her eyes set on you, on this club, and I’ll be damned if I let my club be led around like that,” Snake announces.

  “She wants power. She wants everyone to cower down to her, including you, me, and the whole fucking club. She wants me because she can’t have me, not really, she’s a spoiled assed little cunt is what she is.”

  “No fucking kidding,” Free snorts.

  “Martel and Chardonnay aren’t going to get what they want. I won’t allow it, not like this. Deals are made sometimes in the club, but that’s not what this is. What they’re trying to do isn’t broker a deal, they’re trying to control us and I won’t fucking stand for it, neither will MadDog or anyone in the states.”

  “What’ll we do?” I ask, curious as to this new plan of his and why it’s being kept such a fucking secret.

  Snake’s mouth turns up into an evil looking fucking smile. “He thinks he’s above everyone, but the thing is, we all answer to someone.”

  “Snake,” I warn.

  “The Governor General is above him, as is the Prime Minister. However, the Governor General happens to be a very close friend of the Devils.”

  “How?” I ask.

  Free chuckles. “Leverage,” he says, the one word and the way he says it sends a chill down my spine.

  “Give me a couple of weeks. Martel will be a distant memory, Chardonnay can be dealt with however you deem necessary and all will be right in Baby’s world again.” Snake chuckles.

  I don’t respond to his words. I have a feeling that nothing in my life will be the same ever again. Not after my year with Chardonnay and definitely not after seeing Lea again, her looking nothing like a girl and very much like a woman, a wild fucking woman that I have the desire to see come completely undone.

  LEA

  Fear.

  True fear.

  I thought with Règle I’d experienced real fear. I didn’t know shit, not back then. This, sleeping next to this man, that is terrifying. I’m stuck, with him and him with me, until I can figure out a way to break free.

  Carter’s hand slides down my bare back, his fingers finding purchase on my ass and squeezing tightly. His mouth slides across the base of my neck, and then I feel his warm breath against my skin before he speaks.

  “You work tonight,” he announces.

  “I do,” I confirm.

  My voice is barely above a whisper, the fear snaking through my belly and sliding up my throat like an uncurling snake. Swallowing the lump, I try not to sound completely terrified.

  Instead, I attempt to be strong, something that I’ve come to the conclusion in the past forty-eight hours that I am most definitely not. I’m weak, I’m stubborn, but I’m not strong, not like I thought that I was.

  Closing my eyes, I wish that I would have gone home when my mom and Skinner asked me to months ago. Or maybe I wish that I would have gone off to college, something that would have taken me anywhere at all away from here, away from Carter, away from this situation.

  Shaking my head once, I decide that running is what I’ve always done. I ran away at fourteen, I stayed away, and now it’s just all catching up to me.

  I am the daughter of the Notorious Devils.

  I will always be looked at as useful to men like Carter. I will never be loved for me, not when it comes to men outside of the club. There is no way that I can ever put my trust in anyone, not a single man.

  Not that I ever could. It’s a lesson I learned early on, though I have tried not to let my stepfather, Fish, and his betrayal mark me. I should have moved through life much more cautiously.

  My decision has been made, I will, from now on. I will worry about myself and only myself. To hell with anyone else. To hell with what they want from me, I’m going to focus on me. Fuck the male species. I’m going to use them the way that they’ve used me. Every single way.

  “I’ll take you to work. You need to do something for me after,” he says as his lips continue to travel down the length of my spine.

  “Yeah?” I breathe.

  My body is completely affected by his kiss and the way his lips touch me, no matter how badly I want to hate him, my traitorous body loves sex. His fingers slip between my ass cheeks and travel to my center. He moans when he feels the wetness gathered there. I hate it, I hate my reaction to his touch.

  “I’m renting a hotel room. I need you to come there with me. My boss will be waiting to instruct you further,” he murmurs as his fingers slide inside of me and he begins to pump in and out of my pussy.

  “Carter,” I exhale, hating the way I sound.

  He chuckles against my skin, removing his fingers and replacing their intrusion with the head of his cock.

  I start to spread my legs but freeze when his hand slaps the side of my hip. He straddles the outsides of my thighs and pushes deeper inside of me.

  “I’ll fuck you like this, Lea. You’re tighter this way.”

  His words sting, they shouldn’t, but they do. The insinuation that I’m not tight, that I’m lacking in some way hurts. It’s a game though, deep down I know that it’s all a game to crush my self-worth. It could easily work, too.

  Biting the inside of my cheek while he fucks me, I hate myself for climbing toward my release. When I topple over the edge, I hear his grunt of satisfaction just before he spills inside of me.

  Used.

  That’s how every moment with him the past few days makes me feel.

  I imagined that I was in control of my sexuality. I chose who I would take home, decided just how I would let them inside of me. Waiting until I could have the man of my dreams, that maybe one day I would be enough for him.

  Now, I’m not in control of anything and the idea of Baby seems like a distant memory. He was here, so close and yet I didn’t call out for help. Why? Because I’m terrified that he’ll reject me, that he’ll see what I’ve become and turn his back.

  No longer am I like the women he always had on his arm. Wild, free, uninhibited. I’m controlled, held by a leash and by the time Carter is finished with me, I know that I will be beaten down both mentally and physically.

  I will never be what Baby wants and sadness washes over me at the thought. Not that I really thought I would have him to myself, but just the idea that it’s no longer possible fills me with a sadness that I know without a doubt will linger for an eternity.

  CHAP
TER FIVE

  LEA

  The last thing that I want to do after working all day long is have Carter’s unforgiving grip around my bicep as he drags me to his car. I don’t fight him though. He wants me to meet his boss, and maybe, just maybe whatever this is, can end after I do just that.

  Once I’m seated in the car, I strap my seatbelt on and click it into place just as Carter slides into the driver’s seat. He starts the ignition, then turns to me. Holding my breath, I don’t look at him as I wait for whatever it is he’s about to say next.

  “Whatever he wants, you do it. Do you understand me?” he barks.

  Turning my head, I look over at him. That raging fire is burning bright in his eyes and I decide I’m done. Tonight, as soon as I’m free of him, I’m calling the clubhouse. I’m begging, pleading and crying for help.

  I just have to figure out what exactly he and his group want, and who they are. Then, I’m done. I’m running and I don’t really care what that says about me. Right now, it’s about self-preservation. I’m not going to be Carter’s fuck doll. I’m taking my control back.

  Carter parks the car, his demeanor changing slightly, instead of anger, he is uncharacteristically calm. Deciding not to wait for him to open my door, I pull the handle and slowly stand from my seat.

  He appears at my side, his hand sliding around my waist. I want to tug down my skirt and my shirt. He wouldn’t let me change out of my Goldie’s uniform and I hate wearing it outside of the club, in fact, I don’t think that I ever have.

  “You’ll behave when you meet him. Don’t try anything.”

  My steps falter and I glance over to his profile. “Have I ever?” I ask.

  The corner of his lips quirk and he stops, turning to face me. His fingers tighten on my waist as he turns me so that we’re facing one another, our chests only a few inches apart. His hand slowly slides up my side, his finger curling around my bare breast.

  “By behave, I mean you do what he wants. If this body is what he wants, you give it to him. I know you like to have your men, though I’ve forbidden it, I’ll make an exception for him.”

  A shiver of disgust rolls through me, sending goosebumps across my flesh. He misinterprets the reason, a slow smile playing on his lips.

  “You’re such a fucking slut, Lea,” he chuckles. “I should sell you off, you’d make me a mint. Not only are you a slut, you like pain too. Fuck me, you’d make me a rich man, babe.”

  “Carter,” I whimper, unable to say anything else.

  He’s talking about human trafficking, and that is something that I know for a fact the Devils will take no part in, especially since they destroyed a sex cult when I was younger.

  Carter dips his chin, his lips brushing mine as his fingers squeeze my breast even harder. I let out a small cry that he swallows as he breaks away from me, his hand falling at the same time.

  “That scares you, being sold into a life of sex. It shouldn’t, you whore it up on a regular basis. The place you were raised thrives on women spreading for them, it’s second nature for you. I would think you’d like the idea.” He shrugs.

  This man is evil. Pure fucking evil and I’ve allowed him into my life, into my body and for reasons beyond me, into my head.

  Without another word, he wraps his hand around my bicep again and drags me through the hotel. Not a single guest looks in my direction. They should, my tits are hanging out of the bottom of my shirt and my ass is hanging out the bottom of my skirt. I look like a cheap whore.

  Shoving me into the elevator, I watch as he presses the penthouse button and then the doors to the car close. We are silent as the elevator climbs.

  “I’d like to see just how far you’ll go to keep from being whored. I think that’s what we’ll do, see just how far you’re willing to go to keep from being sold off. I like that idea,” Carter murmurs to himself.

  Narrowing my gaze at my feet, I don’t look up as I imagine the million ways I’d like to kill him and kill him I will.

  I’m calling fucking dibs.

  The elevator pings and Carter’s grip tightens again as he drags me out of the car and toward a set of double doors. He doesn’t knock, simply reaches forward and pushes the lever down as he opens the door.

  The room is beautiful, if I weren’t here against my will and scared, I might admire all of the little details that surround me, but instead, my mind and eyes are focused on one detail and one detail only—the man sitting in front of me.

  Carter’s boss isn’t his boss at all. Carter’s boss is his father. I can tell immediately. He looks like a twenty-year older version of the man that grips my arm. His eyes carry the same evil inside of them, that same fire and anger.

  This is indeed the man who created Carter sitting right in front of me, wearing a three-piece suit, his salt and pepper hair slicked back and not a single part of himself is out of place.

  “Carter. Unhand the poor girl. Christ, boy,” he barks.

  Carter’s hand immediately falls from my arm, and I lift my other hand to rub the pain away.

  “Come over here, Lea,” he murmurs.

  It’s fake, I know that he’s trying to give me a false sense of security, but to play the game that I need to, I’ll do as he asks.

  Sinking down on the couch next to him, I hold his gaze, deciding to ignore Carter. It will probably piss him off, but right now his father is where my focus needs to be.

  “Tell me, girl, are you well?” he asks, his voice smooth.

  “I am.” I nod.

  His eyes shift from Carter to me, tilting his head to the side, his gaze scans my Goldie’s top, lingering a little longer than I’m comfortable with.

  “You allow your woman to work at a strip club?” he asks, focusing back on Carter.

  “She’s a waitress, nothing more,” he says as if it’s not any of his concern, which, it isn’t, not really.

  “A waitress dressed like a whore. I hope you don’t plan on keeping her.”

  Carter snorts. “Not for long. Her purpose is almost served, then I don’t care what happens to her.”

  My heart, unfortunately, cracks from his words. No, it’s not that I want Carter, because I truly do not. But to hear him talk about me as if I am nothing, that’s what hurts. The bastard is in my head, he’s taken up residence and I want him out.

  “Good,” he says as if I am not in the room and can’t hear them.

  The assholes.

  He flicks his gaze back to me, his smooth smile appearing again, as if he hasn’t just insulted me.

  “I need a meet with Snake.”

  “So Carter has mentioned,” I grumble. “Why?”

  His eyes narrow at my question, obviously not impressed with the fact that I have a brain inside of my head and the ability to ask such a question like, why.

  “It is a man thing, not any of your concern. I need him here though. You can make that happen, can you not?” he asks.

  I almost ask him why again, but I refrain. “He hasn’t ever been here. Not sure I could persuade him to ride ten hours for a meeting, especially with no explanation on what that meeting entails,” I smart off.

  Carter’s father inhales through his nose and lets it out, attempting to maintain his composure. I’m sure he’s on the edge and about to slap me, or something. I stand firm, my body trembling on the inside but on the outside, I put on my false bravado and send up a prayer or two for help.

  “Tell him that Phillippe Martel, Senior, would like to meet with him. He’ll understand what I’m referring to.”

  I open my mouth to ask him how, but I snap my lips closed when he raises his hand. “Carter,” he calls out as he stands to his feet.

  “Father,” Carter mumbles.

  “I want her after she’s set up the meeting. She’ll be residing with me until her club arrives.”

  “Father?” Carter asks, his question on the tip of his tongue, but the cut of his father’s eyes shuts him up at the same time it causes me to shiver in fear.

  With
out a response, he turns and walks away from us, leaving us alone in the living area. “Call him, now,” he growls.

  “I don’t want to stay here,” I whisper.

  Carter’s hand reaches out in a flash and lands against my cheek. The slap is hard, so hard that it sends me to the floor. The carpeting is soft against my knees as I land, and I immediately lift my hand to my cheek, my eyes welling with tears as I look up to him.

  “I’ll call him,” I whisper.

  “Now,” he demands.

  My phone is gripped in my hand as I search for the contacts. I don’t call Snake. Instead, I call my own house. I programmed Snake as my own phone number, last night, just in case he made me call him in front of him. I don’t know what made me do it, but I’m glad for it. I leave myself a message, watching Carter’s expression as I do.

  “He’ll call back, let’s go home,” he murmurs.

  I nod, slowly standing to my feet. He doesn’t help me, he doesn’t spare me a second glance as he walks out of the fancy suite. I hurry behind him, wishing to leave as soon as humanly possible.

  The ride home is silent and I’m grateful for it. I expect Carter to go to his place, but instead he pulls up in front of mine. He doesn’t turn the engine off when we’re in front of the building and I try to hold back my excitement.

  “I need to get laid and the sight of you makes me sick tonight. Go inside, lock yourself in and wait for Snake to call you back. Text me as soon as he does. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I try not to appear too eager. A whole evening to myself, just when I’ve figured out as much as I’m willing to about Carter and his father. He reaches out, his hand wrapping around my wrist before I can exit the car.

  “You fuck around, you fuck with me and I’ll kill you, Lea. I won’t just sell you to the highest bidder, I will fucking maim you,” he warns.

  Pulling my lips in, I nod once. “Why are you so angry with me?” I chance asking.

  He tugs me a little closer to him, pain radiates up my arm at his rough handling, but I hold back the yelp of pain. His nose slides alongside my own.