“Oh, no. I don’t want to put you out. I just left my bag in the passenger seat. I’ll be back in a minute.” Cedric narrows his eyes, and I get the idea he’d really like to walk me back to my car, but he doesn’t argue, so I cross the parking lot and make my way to my car.
Once I’m within a few feet, I press the unlock button and open the door. I sit down in the driver’s seat and reach over to grab my bag, and as I do, I glance up in the rear-view mirror for a split second. All I see is a shadow behind my car. It looks like a man, and with widened eyes, a chill runs down my spine. I turn around and look behind the car, but nothing is there. Not a damn thing.
My chest tightens and I’m breathing a little bit heavier. My heart pounds in my chest and I look around like a crazy person. I know what I just saw, but there isn’t anything around me. The only person I see is Cedric, and he’s standing outside of the door greeting the girls who’re coming on shift. He or one of the other security guys does this every night.
I don’t know what comes over me, but I feel the sudden urge to get out of the car as fast as I can and back to the club. So, it’s what I do. I keep an iron grip on the handles of my duffel bag, slide out of the driver’s seat and once I’m standing, I slam the door and walk as quickly as I can back to where Cedric is. I click the lock button on my car and push the door open to the club. Cedric tries to ask me if I’m okay, but I don’t answer. All I care about right now is getting back into the safety of Night’s Bliss.
I go back over to where Chastity was, and we both walk alongside each other into the dressing room area. It’s where all of us girls change into our sexy little things. Finley remodeled it a few months back. She had the second floor of the club closed down for a week to make the improvements. She didn’t change too much, but she did give not only the floor but our private area a face-lift too. Our dressing room area is directly below the entrance to the second floor. Along the walls, we feel the pumping of the bass to the club on the other side, and above the second floor is where some of the girls here live, as well as Finley’s office.
I head over to my locker and input my pin code. The door pops open, and I unzip my duffel bag, proceeding to hang up the dresses I brought. I usually bring a couple options in case the mood shifts in the night and some of the men or women don’t like what I’m wearing. Tonight I’m a free agent since I don’t have any other appointments. For the most part, I’m booked up during the week, but not today. It’s okay, though. I’m sure someone will keep me busy and hopefully tip me very well.
Looking at the two dresses I brought, I decide to wear the corset mesh dress I bought from Heiress. They have some of the sexiest cocktail dresses. So much, in fact, I’ve gotten a lot of the ladies to buy outfits from there. Hell, Chastity and I practically share a wardrobe.
I strip down until I don’t have one article of clothing on my body and shimmy into my dress. It has a built-in strapless bra and thong, so everything is covered, but the mesh lets everyone get a grand look at my body.
Staring into the mirror of my locker, I pull my hair up into a high ponytail and grab a comb to tease around the base. Once I have my desired volume, I tie it up and put on a pair of gold hoops. I do have a little bit of makeup on already, but I’m going to make my smokey eye a bit darker and dramatic.
I grab my palette from the shelf in my locker and open it. Taking a makeup brush, I tap it on the color ‘midnight’ and rub it against my eyelid. Over the course of the next few minutes, I perfect this dramatic look by adding thick liquid eyeliner on my top lid. Lastly, I finish the look off with some colorless lip shimmer.
“Damn, you look like you could clean up well and meet the parents, or be the psychotic bitch who buries the body.” Chastity giggles from a few feet to my right.
Cocking a brow, I smirk. “Don’t ever forget it. You coming up soon?”
“Yep. Just need to finish getting ready, but go ahead. I’m waiting to find out if Jerome is making it tonight. If not, I’m changing my outfit.” Jerome is one of Chastity’s best clients. He comes to visit her a couple times a week if he’s in the city, but when he’s out of town, she fills up with other clients. He tips her the best, so she makes herself available to him first and foremost. I don’t blame her in the least bit.
“Cool. See you up there.” I put my phone inside my locker, shut it, and walk through the rest of the dressing room until I reach the stairwell. I take every step slowly. Even after all this time here I’m terrified one day I’ll fall flat on my face.
Once I’m at the top of the stairs, I walk to the door and push it open, finally walking out on the floor. The music is pumping through the speakers, and I take my time surveying the area. I see men and women who’ve been here numerous times, and even sense some newcomers. You can usually spot them right away because they’re nervously looking around, almost like the new kid at school who doesn’t know what table to sit at. I don’t have the patience for the new clientele, so I continue walking across the floor.
As I move on, the same unsettling feeling from twenty minutes ago comes over me again. Feeling eyes on me, I glance around and see him. He’s in a dark suit and his eyes are studying me like I’m a foreign species. I don’t think he’s a client, but he would’ve only been able to get up here if he passed the security measures Finley put in place. His eyes are locked on mine, and a sadistic smile pulls at his lips.
I swallow and inhale deeply through my nose, silently reminding myself I’m safe here. Every entrance and exit is manned by guards, and there are even guards undercover throughout the floor. I’m in the safest place I can be, yet the unsettling feeling washing over me only terrifies me with every passing second.
I break eye contact and approach the bar, spotting a blond man with a hefty-sized Rolex on his wrist. He’s the type who looks like he tips well, and I can do whatever the clients want. Whether it’s dark and they want me in the dungeon, otherwise known as room number seventeen, or if they want a sweet and seductive whore. I’ll be whatever they pay for.
“Hey there, darlin’.” Rolex man’s voice is thick with southern twang. I’ll put my money on the fact he’s from Texas, and he’s some sort of investor in oil or works in the oil industry.
“Evening. I’m Gemini.” I extend my hand, and he takes it. Rolex man licks his lips and rakes his eyes slowly over my body.
“You’re a bit edgy, but I bet you’re the type I’m lookin’ for. What’re your hard limits?”
With the utmost seriousness, I tell him exactly what they are. “I don’t have any.”
His smile grows even bigger than before. “Perfect. My name’s Tex, and what’s yours, darlin’?”
Tex. Figures, and obviously, he’s a typical man. Doesn’t listen in the least bit. “Gemini,”
Tex slides an arm around my waist and presses his lips to my ear. “Take me to the place where I can whip you until you come. And I promise, I’ll make this worth your while.”
Relief swarms over me, but I know I need to prepare for the worst. It’s been years since my father’s people have come anywhere close to me. Though, I sense my good luck is starting to run out.
Chapter Four
Omen
“We’re headin’ out, yeah?” Reno asks, and I give him a curt nod.
“We got some tips about cult-like people in Lynchburg. Tracker gave me some intel on a few people to talk to, plus where to go. The bastard pulled out an old map from the early 2000s and was markin’ shit off.” I cackle, and both Reno and Abyss look at me like I’m insane.
“You’re shittin’ me right now,” Reno mutters. “Dude can’t be older than fifty. How would he have maps like that?”
“Reno, fuck,” Abyss grunts and shakes her head. “Tracker might be forty, and not everyone has used GPS systems their entire lives. Hell, they might not even have GPS systems that have all the private roads and whatnot down in these parts. This is Virginia, it’s not like New York. There are old private roads where country folk will shoot you with their .2
2 before even asking you a question.”
“Abyss is right, we’re outsiders and anyone who takes one look at us will know it. We need to be careful while we’re down here. It’s just the three of us, so we can’t get into a load of shit. We don’t have the manpower to back us up if push came to shove,” I tell Reno.
“Come on. We’re allies with the DRMC. They’d help if push came to shove, right?” Reno asks.
“Uh, yeah, but I highly doubt Boss wants us getting our asses in hot water. It would just give Stoney something else to hold over her head. I can imagine the way she’d light our asses on fire.” Abyss again is right.
“She’s fuckin’ with me, yeah?” Reno asks.
I shake my head and don’t answer him in the least bit. Abyss can handle her own.
“The fuck you asking him for? I’m not fuckin’ with you, prospect. Learn your fuckin’ place before you don’t have a club to ride with. Fuckin’ idiot,” Abyss grumbles and heads over to her bike.
“Boy, you done fucked up.” I cringe at him. It’s bad when you piss Boss off ‘cause she’s the Prez, but pissing any of the women off in the Iron Vex MC is stupid. Super stupid at that.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just—”
“It’s probably better if you just shut up and we get on the road. We have a lot of ground to cover today,” I tell Reno as I wave my hand for him to follow me. We both go to our bikes, all of us get our helmets on and turn our bikes on. Within a matter of a minute, we’re rolling down Stoney’s gravel lane that leads back to his clubhouse, on the way to Lynchburg.
By the time we get there, my balls feel frozen to my seat. Sure, the bike is warm, but I hate riding in the winter. Luckily, it’s never too bad up in New York, and on the days it’s freezing, we just drive the grocery getters.
Tracker gave us some leads, so we go deal with those. Much to my dismay, they don’t lead us anywhere. The people Tracker got us in touch with didn’t seem reliable in the least bit, but surprisingly the redneck who smelt of hooch at ten in the morning was the one who gave us the best lead. He told us to go up a mile on a trail, how he’d seen some RVs and campers, even some tents when he and his grandson were hunting a few days back. Said the people seemed a bit weird. I think Reno, Abyss, and I were thinking the same thing when he said they seemed weird. Almost like, what the hell is weird to people out here.
Hell, when we were at the gas station in Lynchburg getting some hot coffee, some lady came up to Abyss and told her the devil would be taking her. All because she has dark green hair and some tattoos. People just need to learn not to pass judgment. It’s not their place.
I fish my phone out of my pocket and call up Tracker. “Hey, got a lead and wanted to see if any of your members are nearby.”
“Yeah, Stoney had a couple of guys head up that way a bit after you did, just in case you needed backup,” Tracker tells me.
“Cool. Talked with one of the people you told us about. He was the one who had the most solid lead, so I want to follow up with it. From what he told us, they’re on some backroad, so I’m thinkin’ taking bikes up won’t be the best way to go.”
“Nah, probably not. Where’re you at, Lou’s place?”
“If Lou’s an old man who reeks of hooch, then yep,” I say lowly into the phone. Abyss is over talking to the old man right now. The dude has to be about eighty and has been flirting with her for the last fifteen minutes.
“All right, ask him if you can borrow one of his trucks. You should be able to get back to wherever he’s tellin’ ya if you do, and my boys are in a truck. They’re probably ten minutes behind you, but text me over where you’re going, and I’ll have them meet you,” Tracker says, so I agree, and we end the call. I text him the coordinates, and he texts me back within a minute, saying his guys will be there around the same time we are.
“Lou, can we borrow a truck of yours to get on that campground where these people are at?” I question the old geezer, and he hiccups loudly.
“As long as you can drive stick,” Lou comments.
I don’t know how to drive a stick, so I look at Reno and Abyss. Reno shakes his head, and Abyss grunts. “Hand me the keys, oldie. Looks like your girl is drivin’ these idiots to their destination.”
“Well, dag nabbit! We’ve got us a real winner here, boys. Say, sweet thing, you bring my car back without a dent, and I’ll give you some of my hooch. It’s the best in the whole state of Virginia,” Lou tells Abyss, and she laughs.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” she agrees, and Lou hands her the keys.
We’re off, and luckily for us, the campground is a five-minute drive away from Lou’s place. Just as we make the turn onto the dirt path, Stoney and Tracker’s boys in their truck come up behind us. Abyss steps on the gas, and we make our way to the top of a hill where the campground is.
Sure enough, the place looks desolate. There’s laundry hanging on clotheslines, somewhat new shoes and supplies, but not a soul here. There aren’t any cars either. “What in the fuck?” I say as Abyss parks the truck.
Stoney and Tracker’s guys get out too as we do, and we all walk around, finding not even one soul here. “They must’ve known we were coming and split,” Abyss states, and as much as I want to disagree with her, I can’t.
I take my phone out of my jeans and call up Boss. She answers by the third ring. “Omen, what’s going on down in Virginia?” Straight to business, just as I suspected.
“Nothing good. We got to the place we thought they had their base at. Looks like they left in a hurry.” I fill her in on what we know, or rather what we suspect.
“You’re kidding me.”
“I wish I was. How do you want us to handle the situation?”
“The only thing I can think of is if you make yourself scarce for a couple weeks. They might come back if they think you’ve left.”
“Okay, then that’ll be our plan. We’ll jump ship for two or three weeks and see what happens,” I tell Boss.
She grunts in annoyance on the other end of the phone, but I know she understands this is what needs to be done. She just wants to nab these guys as quickly as we can, as do the rest of us.
Chapter Five
Gemini
The weekends are always better than mid-week around here, but I never thought this week would be as slow as it has been. It’s Wednesday night, and man, it’s agonizingly dead. I might’ve pulled in around twenty-thousand this week when I’d typically be at thirty-five. Hell, if we were in the dead of summer, I’d be around sixty easy.
I lean back in the circular booth in the center of the VIP area and survey my surroundings. It’s something I’ve noticed I’m doing over the past few days now, ever since the night I saw the man in my rear-view mirror and saw one in the club. As much as I’d like to think they were the same person, the reality is I don’t know. I don’t have the slightest idea if they’re the same or different. So, I’m being cautious, and I’m going to assume they were two people. The best-case scenario is it’s one person, but being extra cautious never hurt anybody.
I crane my neck to the right and the left, trying to wake me up a bit more. Sitting around and doing nothing isn’t my speed, but I can’t miss the opportunity of a potential client coming in. At the regular bar on the second floor, I’ve seen nothing but my co-workers’ appointments. I figured if I was lucky, some of our VIP clientele would come in the back door and straight to their room. Our VIP clients are political figures, high-profile celebrities, multi-billion-dollar CEOs, and that’s just when I name a few.
Even so, there’s only one guy in the room here, and Chastity is putting on a show for him. She’s wearing a light pink minidress, slowly slipping out of it until she’s standing in nothing but her heels and lingerie.
I take a sip of my whiskey on the rocks and rise from my seat. The last thing I want to do is be some sort of competition for Chastity, which I doubt I am in the first place, but I won’t pose the risk. So, I head for the door into the rest of the s
econd floor, but as I make my way over, the secret entrance to the VIP opens, and I’m hit with the scent of oil and burned rubber.
I know it more than anything else. “I hope you’re not runnin’ off.” Omen’s deep voice causes my entire body to fire up. I swallow hard and turn on my heel to face him as he approaches.
“No, I was just going back for a refill. I’m a bit low,” I lie, pleasantly surprised he’s here.
He glances down for a second at my drink and smirks. I don’t know why, so I look and realize he’s caught me in my lie. My drink is practically full. Shit. Heat swarms over my cheeks, and I silently thank Finley for the low lighting across this part of the club.
“I mean, I’m getting a bit low,” I correct myself and take a couple gulps of the amber liquid.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re gettin’ a bit nervous,” Omen takes a step into my personal space and cocks a brow. “Do I make you nervous, Gemini?”
I want to tell him no. I want to tell him the truth about how he makes me feel, but I can’t. It would probably come out wrong, and the only thing it’ll do is make shit weird. Omen, in a way, reminds me of the male version of myself. Seductive, yet daring . . . but there’s a huge difference between him and me. He exudes his danger, isn’t afraid for anyone to know what he’s capable of. I, on the other hand, hide who I am, and I hide it well. It’s my best-kept secret, and I don’t plan for it to come out anytime soon.
“No, you don’t,” I tell him. I leave out about how he makes me excited because I’m not supposed to have feelings like this. I’m a sex worker. I’m supposed to be into my paying clients, but I know I shouldn’t have butterflies when I see one of them. It’s like an unwritten rule in the book.
“Then finish your drink. I’ve imagined doing so much to you since the last time I was here, Gemini.” His words are filled with promise, and my center feels like it’s being set on actual fire.
Omen's Sign (Iron Vex MC Book 5) Page 3