by Lia Ellison
“What?” Aiden asked, eyeing me suspiciously. “What have you come up with now?”
“You know how I used to be an exotic dancer?”
He nodded. “Why?”
“I know it’ll be hard to get people to show up, but if I put on a special show that would interest them, like, say, if I brought exotic dancers and joined them on stage, I think that would work. And I think I know how we can make sure that I stay safe.”
“How?” His face was expressionless, and I had a feeling he disliked my latest idea even more.
“Bulletproof glass. Me and the rest of the dancers could be behind it, so if anyone wanted to get to me, they’d have to be very creative and very skilled. Or they’d just have to wait for me to get off the stage and see where I went. Your men could intercept anyone who tried.”
He gaped at me like a fish. “No.”
“Why not?” I gave him a questioning look. “Is it because you think someone will try to hurt me in those few seconds when I’m getting on and off the stage, which will have to be completely enclosed in glass, or because I’ll have to dance in front of people in sexy clothes? Oh, and the Ritos will want me alive, so killing me wouldn’t be in their best interest if they can’t get to my body to gouge my eyes out or cut off my fingers.” I grimaced.
He blinked. “Both, I think. I know they’ll try to kidnap you, but one moment of distraction and someone could hurt you. And they could take what they need from you in a flash, especially if there’s chaos and people are rushing for the exit. I really appreciate your attempt to help, but I don’t want you to do this.”
“Okay, then how about this? If you find nothing in two weeks, we’re doing it. If you find something, well, then you’ll do your own thing. Deal?” I extended my hand to him with a wide smile on my face.
“You don’t think my men can do it, do you?” His eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say that.” I was all innocence as I said it.
Aiden’s jaw clenched, and then he took my hand. “Deal.”
“Great!” I pressed my lips to his, and he instantly relaxed against me.
But really, I still thought that me being bait was the best chance we had at catching at least one of those bastards or someone who might lead us to them. Surely, they wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see if they could get their hands on me when no one was watching.
I’d just have to make sure they knew I’d be at club, but the dancing part would have to be a surprise, or they might realize they wouldn’t be able to get to me quickly enough. No, we had to play this smart, and deep down, I was looking forward to being back at my club.
I missed it. Now more than ever.
Sophia was going to be thrilled that I was going to reopen it. I’d just have to make sure everyone was safe and that the Ritos wouldn’t get any ideas to kidnap anyone else to force me to come to them.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but the club was my territory and I knew just how to navigate it.
Chapter 27
HIS EYES WERE STINGING, and he had no idea how long he’d been staring at the computer screen. But almost two weeks had passed since he’d made that deal with Veronica and his men still hadn’t had any luck tracking down the Ritos.
He’d tried it himself, but no matter how much traffic camera footage he went through, or how many potential leads he followed, there was still nothing.
That’s what you get for making a deal with Veronica.
She always gets what she wants, doesn’t she?
He sighed. Why hadn’t the Ritos made their move? Why hadn’t they revealed themselves? How could they stand to be so patient and wait?
You can just tell Veronica no and lock her in the house anyway.
But he’d be no better than his brother if he did that to her, and besides, he wasn’t going to go back on their deal.
You can try convincing her to see things your way.
Yeah, right. Veronica was determined that her plan would work, and maybe she was right. It wasn’t a bad plan at all, and if it were him who the Ritos wanted to kidnap, he would’ve made the same decision she had, so why did it bother him so much?
Maybe because you love her so much that the thought of losing her is driving you crazy?
And now, he was wasting precious time that he could be spending with her just so he could look for a needle in a haystack, as if it were so easy to do in such a short time.
He thought about going out there himself and letting the Ritos come for him, but they would never do that unless they were sure it wasn’t a trap, and since they didn’t need him like they did Veronica, if he had no guards with him, they’d attack or send someone else to do it for them so he wouldn’t even see them coming.
Veronica’s plan will work.
Just accept it already. She’s going to be all sexy on that stage and dance for all the men to see.
Won’t you like that too?
Or is that what’s really bothering you?
He gritted his teeth.
Veronica shouldn’t have to do this. She’d never liked being a stripper, had she?
And just how many clothes was she planning to take off? Her club wasn’t some kind of brothel for desperate men.
She said she’d put on a show.
Who knows?
He tried to ignore the voice in his head, but it was impossible not to think about all the assholes who were going to drool over her.
A knock sounded on the door, and for a moment, he wondered if he’d imagined it. It was pretty late already, and he doubted his men had any news for him either.
Veronica was supposed to be asleep, or at least that was where he’d left her—in their bed.
The knock came again.
“Come in,” he finally said, and Jo stepped inside.
“Hey, boss, I thought you fell asleep in here.”
“Surprisingly, I didn’t.” He clicked on another video and played it, but he was already sure there wasn’t going to be anything interesting in it. “Do you need something?”
“How’s your search going? You know you don’t have to do this.”
He leaned back in his chair and met her gaze. “So you agree with Veronica? You want to try her idea.”
“Why not? It is a good way to lure the Ritos out. Those guys think they’re smart, but there’s always something that gives them away. And I know what some of them look like, so they’ll have to avoid the club. That means they might send someone who’s not as good as them.”
“And what if something happens to Veronica? What if they get to her?”
“They won’t. We’ll be careful. I can be with her all the time if you want me to.”
“You want to dance with her? On stage?”
“Don’t look so surprised. I can dance.”
“Okay.” He hadn’t expected Jo would want to do something like that, but if she did, then she should definitely be with Veronica. “But the Ritos might not want to come inside because of all the security. They might wait outside so they can grab Veronica on her way to the club or on her way home.”
“We can figure that out. The cars need to have tinted windows, and we can send more of them in different directions. They won’t know who to follow, and since there won’t be a set schedule, they can’t exactly guess when Veronica will show up. We need to keep things quiet, though. We don’t want someone to accidentally ruin our plan.”
He eyed her carefully. “Do you think there’s someone I should be worried about here?”
“I don’t think so, but it’s better to be cautious, especially with something so important, and Veronica... I know how special she is to you.”
A smile quirked his lips. “She is.”
“Then you know she can do this. She did great last time.”
“Yeah, but everything almost went wrong because she didn’t stick to the plan. She wasn’t supposed to get out of that car. In the end, it turned out to be just what we needed, but what if things don’t work out so well next time?”
“You worry about all the wrong things.” Jo shook her head. “I’m going to Veronica’s club tomorrow to survey the place. We need a good plan to cover everything.”
“I’ll come with you.” He wasn’t about to let Veronica’s safety depend on someone else. His men might do their best, but he wanted to make sure that everything was ready because there was no room for mistakes. Everything had to be double-checked.
Veronica wasn’t going anywhere until he was completely sure that they had a plan for every possible situation.
“All right.”
“You can go. Get some rest,” he said.
She offered him a small smile and then she slipped outside.
Aiden tipped his head back. He should go back to bed too.
Veronica’s warm embrace was waiting for him, and he didn’t want to spend a second more without her.
Chapter 28
“ARE YOU READY?” I HEARD Aiden’s voice through the door.
“Yeah!” I shouted as I pulled my black lace skirt up a bit.
When the time for Aiden’s men to find the Ritos had run out, he’d agreed to try out my plan and I’d almost squealed in delight.
Now that I was back at my club, I was feeling almost like the old me again. It was impossible not to feel safe here, even though I hadn’t thought that I would, especially after everything that had happened.
And yet, somehow, the familiarity of my old office was enough to give me strength for what I was about to do. There were so many guards in the hallway, though, as if I were an actual queen or president. Hell, maybe I even had more security than them, but Aiden had insisted, and I hadn’t protested, because yeah, I wanted to be safe.
When I’d announced that I was reopening the club, I’d thought that people would be wary, but they must’ve liked what I had in mind for the party because the club had already been filling when I arrived.
Aiden and Jo had come up with a whole protocol on how to get me here and avoid any attacks, and so far, everything was working just as we’d planned.
As the door opened, I turned around.
Aiden stared at me, his lips parted as his gaze lingered on me. I adjusted my top, but it was too tight to fully cover my breasts. Well, it wasn’t supposed to, really, so it was all fine.
Aiden’s eyes filled with hunger as he stalked toward me, and before I could ask him what he thought of my outfit, I was in his arms and his lips were on mine. His hands roamed up and down my body as he kissed me, and then he lowered his mouth to my neck.
“Um, Aiden,” I whispered as heat surged through me. His erection was poking at me, and I was sure that if we didn’t stop now, I was going to be late for the show.
“Aiden!” I said, louder this time, and he finally pulled away from me, his lips red from my lipstick.
“Did you just smear my lipstick?” I groaned as I turned toward the mirror.
Of course, I wasn’t mad at him at all, but I needed to put some distance between us and stop looking at him, or I was going to change my mind and just stay in here with him. His hair was just the right amount of messy, and his black suit looked as great on him as ever, especially with the first two buttons of his dress shirt open.
Oh hell, he was tempting me, wasn’t he?
He wanted me to stay here.
“Do you have to go out there?” He wound his arms around me from behind, his breath tickling my ear, a mischievous look in his eyes as he stared at our reflection in the mirror.
“Yeah, I do, if you want to catch those guys.”
“Maybe they won’t show.” He nuzzled my earlobe, sucking on it gently.
I craned my neck, trying to catch my breath. “Aiden.”
“I love when you say my name like that.”
“Okay, enough.” I extracted myself from his embrace, my knees weak. “I need to get out there. Are your men ready?”
“Yeah, they are.” He ran his tongue over his lower lip.
Stay. Stay. Stay.
Nope, I couldn’t do that. Not now. I could have Aiden all for myself later, but now I had work to do.
“You’re not going to take your clothes off, are you?” he asked.
“I’m just going to take this skirt and my top off. It’s part of my choreography.” I made my way toward him and pressed my lips against his. “Don’t worry. No one’s going to see me naked. Only you.” I traced my finger down his chest. “Later. If you behave.”
His breath hitched as I flashed him a smile, my hand brushing him through his pants.
“Come on. Unless you want to miss the show.” I winked at him.
As soon as I stepped into the hallway, a dozen heads turned toward me. The guards were all ready, and Jo was there too.
The rest of the dancers, who’d had to be carefully vetted before being allowed anywhere near me, were waiting at the end of the hallway. My guards formed a wall around me, and Aiden followed.
I glanced over my shoulder at him, giving him a reassuring smile.
Excitement filled me as soon as I heard the music. In the distance, I could see people already dancing and drinking, as they’d done so many times before. I lifted myself up on my toes so I could see better over the guards’ shoulders.
The dancers climbed the few stairs that led to the stage, which was enclosed in bulletproof glass. Colorful lights were everywhere, and clapping, cheering, and shouts of approval erupted from the crowd.
Jo was right behind me, and I knew she was scanning our surroundings, but all I could look at was the crowd in front of us.
Once I started dancing, everything seemed to disappear around me. We all moved like one, and Jo didn’t seem to have any trouble following us, as if she’d been born a dancer too. We’d been practicing for the past few days while Aiden had been busy securing the club, but I hadn’t expected her to be so good at it.
But when it was time for me to grab the pole and do my solo act, I almost froze on the spot. Even though the crowd in front of me was nothing like the one in that filthy, dark shithole where I used to dance, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
Suddenly, I was really glad for the glass and the guards, because that meant that no one could reach out for me or try to put their hands on me. My moves were automatic, and people only cheered louder.
My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for something.
Someone.
And then I spotted him.
The guy in a black jacket with dark hair and eyes. There wasn’t anything overly suspicious about him, and he seemed like a regular guy, but my gut was telling me that he wasn’t just that.
Maybe I’d had too many men watching me while I’d been a dancer, so that was why I could tell the way he was looking me wasn’t lustful, or curious, or uninterested.
No, he was looking at me and then glancing around at the guards, as if trying to figure out where I was going to go once I was off the stage.
Since no one moved toward him, I realized Aiden’s men hadn’t figured out the guy yet. After all, he looked just like anyone else in the crowd. And while Aiden’s men were somewhere in here too, trying to blend in and make sure they weren’t spotted, I was sure he wasn’t one of them because then he wouldn’t be looking at me like that.
I swayed my hips, inching closer to Jo. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I pulled her closer to me. The crowd went wild as Jo played along, pretending we were dirty dancing.
“That guy, to the right,” I said when I turned my head away from the crowd. “Black jacket, dark hair. He’s next to two girls, one in a pink top, and the other in a jacket. Guy with a beer in front of him. I think he’s the one. Do you see him?”
Jo stepped forward, still dancing, and then she spun around. “Cover me,” she said. Since she had an earpiece, she could alert Aiden about the suspicious guy, but we couldn’t risk the guy realizing something was off and running away.
As Jo crouched, I moved in front of her, making sure no one could see her behind me. I put on my widest smile and shook my hips.
When I glanced at the guy, he was still there, his eyes glued to me, just like almost everyone else’s.
I hoped he didn’t have a weapon and that Aiden’s guys at the entrance hadn’t let him slip through unchecked.
I kept on dancing as Jo joined me again, a smile on her face, but I couldn’t ask her what was going on. A few moments later, I could see three men pushing their way through the crowd toward the guy. They stopped a few times, pretending to look at the stage, and then they kept going. They were wearing regular clothes, and one of them even held a beer bottle.
Just as they were about to reach the guy, I extended my hand and splayed my fingers over the glass, hoping to catch his attention and hold it long enough so he wouldn’t noticed Aiden’s men moving in on him.
The light flashed across his face just as he seemed to frown, and then Aiden’s men were on him. They cornered him, and my heart skipped a beat as I waited to see what was going to happen.
For a few seconds, nobody moved, and then I saw Aiden’s men holding the guy by his shoulders and taking him deeper into the crowd with them as if he were drunk. Since he wasn’t fighting them, his head bowed, I assumed they’d sedated him with something.
No one had even noticed.
I just hoped we’d gotten the right guy.
Once the show was over, I bowed and waved to the crowd, and then I was rushing off the stage because I had to know what was going on.
Aiden was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with a small smile on his face. I was about to close the distance between us when a shadow caught my eye.
My shoulders went rigid.
Someone had broken through the row of guards and was running toward me. It was a guy, and he looked almost too young to even be in here.
Just before he could reach me, Aiden moved so fast that I barely saw it. He caught the guy’s shirt, pushing him away from me, a look of pure murder in his eyes. The guards were there in a second, shoving the guy to the floor.
“I love you!” the guy shouted.
“Come on! Let’s get you out of here,” Jo said, and then I strode out of there.
“Who’s that guy?” I asked.