“But,” he sighed, “I don’t have time to do that.”
I turned to face him as he pulled out of me. “Lay with me until you need to leave?”
Vinny kissed me quickly and grinned. “Be right back.”
After he discarded the condom, we laid under the covers and kissed until he had to leave to go on a date with someone else.
Hopefully for the last time.
I wasn’t sure what to wear to Sebastian’s gathering. Melony told me she had never attended one of his get-togethers before, but some of the other girls had and said it was more or less a cocktail party, so I pulled a little black dress out of the closet that I had for moments like this. I also wore my red heels and curled my long, brown hair.
After saying our goodbyes to Colton and Sophia, Melony and I walked down to get into the Uber Melony had ordered.
“Will there be food?” I asked Melony as we headed toward the address Sebastian had given me.
“I have no idea,” she replied.
“I thought you knew about these parties?”
“I just heard that they’re fun.”
“Well, I hope there’s food.” I looked out the window as we made our way out of the city.
“We’ll just raid Sebastian’s fridge if not,” she joked.
“I still hope there’s food, or we’re stopping at Raising Cane’s on the way home.”
“Why are you so hungry?”
I shrugged.
Melony gasped. “Oh my God. You got laid.”
My gaze flicked to the rearview mirror to see the driver make eye contact with me. I broke the stare and turned to face Melony. “Why do you think that?”
“Because you dance for a living, and I can see you go all shift without eating. But now it’s like you’re starving. They don’t call it ‘working up an appetite’ for nothing.”
I rolled my eyes and grinned. “And so what if I did?”
“Shut up!” She slapped my arm. “Tell me everything.”
“I’m not telling you shit.”
“Come on. I wouldn’t care if he didn’t fuck for a living.”
My gaze met the driver’s again, and I sighed. “Can we not talk about this now?”
“Please.” She waved me off then hooked her thumb toward the driver. “We’ll never see this guy again.”
I huffed. “Fine. We had sex, he spent the night, cooked me breakfast, and had sex again. I had to take four aspirins because I could barely walk afterward.”
“Holy shit. I want to screw a male escort now.”
I snorted. “I don’t think I fucked Duane though.”
“You think they bang differently?”
I chuckled, thinking about how we were talking about one person as though he were two. Maybe he was. He did ask if I thought Duane and Scarlett would have hotter sex than Vinny and Tessa. Maybe it was like role playing? I knew when I was Scarlett, I was acting. “Maybe.” I shrugged.
“You better tell me when you find out.”
“Maybe I will, or maybe I will keep that shit to myself.”
“You better not. I’m your best friend, and I need to know how the men of S&R are.”
“I’m only sleeping with one of them,” I reminded her.
“But if they are all still employed, they must all know what they’re doing.”
“Maybe you should hire one and find out for yourself,” I suggested.
Melony grinned. “Maybe I will. Who’s left?”
“Well, assuming I’ve met them all, Bradley and Nick.”
She thought for a moment, tapping her finger against her lips as the driver gave our name at the gate that led into a subdivision. “Maybe I’ll test drive both.”
We both started to laugh, and a few minutes later, the driver stopped. “We’re here.”
I looked out the window at the house we pulled up to. It was a three-story, stone mansion with a fountain in the center of the walkway that led to the front door. “Is this really his house?” I asked, looking back at Melony.
“I guess so.”
“Holy crap,” I breathed and opened the door, stepping out. Melony followed, and the car drove off. “I assumed he had money, but I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Let’s go check out the inside.” Melony started to walk up the stone walkway, past the lush landscape, and I followed.
The closer we got, the louder the bass of the music grew. Two men guarded the door, and when we approached, they opened the brown, French double doors. If I’d never gone to the fight with Sebastian and known he had a bodyguard, I’d think having security at the door would be weird. I still didn’t understand why he had security.
Melony and I walked into something out of a magazine when we entered the house. Marble floors spanned a massive space to a stone fireplace in the open living room that sat adjacent to an enormous kitchen with all the bells and whistles. Everything was brown and beige and the complete opposite of what I assumed Sebastian would live in. In my head, I’d pictured his house to be red like the club. Brown and beige weren’t anywhere close to red, but it was stunning.
There were a ton of people mingling, dancing, and—eating? I didn’t see anyone actually eating, but servers walked around, carrying trays of something. I couldn’t tell what, but I assumed it was appetizers.
“There’s food,” I stated to Melony.
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Let’s get a drink and then grab some food.”
We found the bar that was located outside by the pool. In the distance, you could see the Strip as it glowed against the setting sun. The pool wasn’t an infinity pool like Mark had, but it still looked inviting. Thoughts of what Vinny had said the night before floated to my head, and while he said he hoped to have a house like Mark’s one day—the bathroom especially—I wanted to have a backyard like Sebastian’s.
“Let’s sit by the fire pit and wait for a server to come to us,” Melony suggested.
We took the drinks we’d ordered and made our way to the cushioned seats that circled the fire. I hadn’t recognized anyone who worked at Red Diamond, and I was glad that Melony came with me. I hadn’t even seen Sebastian yet.
As we sipped our cocktails, a server finally came toward us. Melony and I stood, ready to grab whatever they had on their tray, but I stopped when saw nothing except lines of white powder and rolls of bills. I snapped my head toward Melony, my mouth hanging open. She waved the server off and then turned to me.
“Did you know drugs would be here?” I whispered.
She shrugged and sat back down. I followed. “I assumed so, given that Sebastian’s a drug dealer.”
“Wait, what?”
“You didn’t know?”
“How would I know that?”
Melony took a sip of her vodka cranberry. “How do you not know that?”
“Again, how would I know?”
“Tessa,” she turned and faced me. “Most of the girls sell for him.”
“Really?”
“How do you not know this?”
“Because I go in, do my shit, and leave. I don’t have time to know what shit goes on at the club.”
“You’ve never seen any of them selling on the floor?”
I thought for a moment. “When I’m on the floor, I pay attention to the clients. I need to make money, not gossip.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “I can’t believe you’ve never known.”
“Why do you still work there if you’ve known about the shady shit?” I asked. “You don’t sell for him, do you?”
“Of course not.”
I lowered my voice. “Then why not turn him in?”
“Because it’s none of my business, Tessa. I need the money for school and rent. I don’t care what other people do with their time or money, and as long as they pay me to dance and give them lap dances, I’m cool.”
I took a sip of the rum and Coke I’d ordered, and like always—and the reason I got it—it reminded me of Vinny. It reminded me that we were dating, and his f
riend was now married to an FBI agent, and Vinny was also friends with a cop. What would happen if they found out I danced in a club that was some sort of front for cocaine dealing? I felt stupid for not knowing, but honestly, what I’d said to Melony was true. I went in, did my shit, and went home. It was better that way—clearly. But then, if Vinny could be friends with an FBI agent and a cop, did that mean they didn’t care about him sleeping with his clients? Did they not know? Joss had to know since she was undercover for S&R. Maybe they only cared about the cases they worked? Should I tell Vinny? So many thoughts ran through my head as I sipped my drink, letting everything sink in.
I looked around at the vast backyard that was covered in pavers and lush greenery. Then I really looked. People were dancing and laughing and snorting from the trays that were being walked around. Was this what Sebastian meant the night of the fight about me talking about what went on at Red Diamond? Who were the guys who sat with us at the fight? Who were the women? Knowing what I just learned made me wish I would have helped the girls. I didn’t know what, but something wasn’t right. I should have listened to my instincts.
My clutch buzzed on my lap, and I opened it, pulling out my cell phone.
Vinny: I’m on my way home. Meet at your place in an hour?
I typed back right away: Let me check with Mel. The party blows.
I rolled my eyes, realizing what I’d typed. “Hey, do you want to stay?” I asked her.
“You want to leave already? We just got here.”
“I know, but—”
Melony looked down at the phone in my lap. “But Vinny’s texting you, and you want to go to your man.”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
“Shouldn’t we at least let Sebastian know we’re here?”
“Shit,” I sighed. He’d given me money to come, and now I was going to leave without letting him know I was here. No matter how I felt about the way he made money, he’d still shown me compassion on a few occasions. Like when he told me to come to him if I ever needed anything, or when he helped me try to figure out who was stalking me. I needed to tell him about the regular who stalked me now that I knew his name.
“You’re right.”
I texted Vinny back: Make it two hours. I’ll text you when we’re leaving.
“Let’s go see if we can find Sebastian and then we can leave.”
“Okay.” Melony took a big sip of her drink, finishing it. “Let’s get another drink too since it’s free alcohol.”
I nodded and stood, sticking my phone back into my purse. As we walked toward the bar, I finished my rum and Coke. Once we were at the bar, we ordered our drinks and then turned to walk away.
“Maybe he’s in the house?” I suggested, walking toward the open entry that was more like a garage door opening than your standard sliding glass door. Just then, Sebastian walked out, Mateo behind him and the two guys from the fight next to him. Sebastian’s gaze met mine, and he smiled.
“Scarlett, Crystal.” He nodded a greeting.
Okay, so I was Scarlett tonight, and Melony was her stripper alias too. “Thanks for having us,” I stated.
He grinned. “Please, make yourself at home. The other girls are upstairs.”
Doing what? “They are?”
“I have a game room, and I’ve been told there’s a high stakes pool tournament happening.”
“Oh.” I blinked. “Want to go check it out?” I turned to Melony.
“Sure,” she replied.
I turned back to Sebastian. “Thanks again for having us.”
“Before you go, let me introduce you to my friends.” Sebastian turned slightly to the men next to him. “Tony, Xavier, this is Scarlett and Crystal. They work for me.”
Tony, the man with gray hair, stepped forward with an outreached hand. I extended my hand and he took it, and kissed the back. “Scarlett, my apologies for not meeting you properly the other night. It’s good to see you again.”
Xavier stepped forward. “Yes, our apologies.”
I eyed Sebastian, wondering what he’d said to his friends to make them apologize.
Tony looked at Sebastian and then back to me. “If you two ever want to make real money, give me a call.”
“That’s enough.” Sebastian chuckled. “You know my girls are off-limits.”
I looked at Melony, and she shrugged.
“That’s a shame,” Tony went on. “We could get a lot—”
“Have fun, ladies. Everything’s on me tonight,” Sebastian cut Tony off, stepping between Tony and me.
“Thanks but—” I started.
“Thanks. We’ll go find the pool table.” Melony grabbed my arm, tugging me away from Sebastian and his friends and into the house.
“Why’d you do that?”
“Because you were about to tell him we don’t snort coke.”
“So?”
“He might think you’re a narc or something.”
“What?” I rolled my eyes. “He won’t think that. He took me to a fight because I keep my mouth shut.” Though keeping my mouth shut about something I had no clue about was easy.
“Well, whatever. Just pretend you don’t know or something. His friends give me creepy vibes.”
“Me too, but I don’t think I can just forget he’s a drug dealer now,” I stated as a server passed me with a tray.
“I don’t want you to get mixed up in anything because you have Colt.”
We started up a curved staircase. “I don’t want to get mixed up in anything either.”
“Good. Turn a blind eye like I do.”
The stairs led to a loft type area that overlooked the downstairs on one side and a hallway that led to what I assumed were bedrooms and bathrooms on the other side. Sure enough, there was a group of people hanging around a pool table, laughing and drinking and probably high. I was totally out of my element. The Vegas skyline shined behind a foosball table that sat in front of a large window, a bar was next to the pool table, and there was a large TV hanging on the wall. It was larger and more well-equipped than my living room.
“Crystal! Scarlett!” I turned to see Sommer standing next to Ginger, waving us over. I grinned, and Melony and I started for them, each of us greeting the other with a hug. “I’m so glad you both came.”
“Does Sommer sell too?” I whispered into Melony’s ear.
“Of course.”
“Of course what?” Ginger asked.
Melony leaned in and spoke low. “Scar just found out about the other—dealings.”
“Oh.” Her green eyes flicked to me. “It’s about time.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not my thing.”
“The money’s great,” Ginger stated.
“Then why still dance?” I asked.
“Because doing both will make it so I can quit both sooner than I’d planned,” Ginger replied.
There was no way I could sell cocaine, even if the money was good. I already wanted to quit Red Diamond, and getting mixed up in the extras wasn’t in the cards. I wanted to do everything legit, make a good living the legal way. Now that Vinny and I were together, it made me want to start school for hospitality management sooner rather than later. The shitty part though, was that classes didn’t start until the fall and it was just now the middle of May.
“Are you two playing?” I asked, changing the subject.
“No, we’re just watching.”
The girls and I watched the people play a few games. At one point, Melony went to get us another round of drinks at the bar was next to the pool table. I wanted to leave, but since she seemed to be having a good time—laughing and chatting with Sommer and Ginger—I made myself do the same. Though the later it got, I knew that Vinny had school in the morning, and I really wanted to fall asleep in his arms again.
After I finished my third drink, I leaned close to Melony and spoke into her ear over the loud music. “I’m going to go find a bathroom. Are you okay if we leave?”
“Sure. I’ll get us an Uber.”
As I walked down the hall in search of a bathroom, a thought popped into my head. I wanted to see what Sebastian’s bathroom looked like in comparison to Mark’s. If it was better, I could tell Vinny, and we could make a list of what we’d want in a bathroom. I couldn’t believe I was thinking about us having a list of wants for a house. We’d barely started dating, but it was fun to think about all the possibilities because I really liked Vinny, maybe even loved him. I knew that not only did I want to fall asleep in his arms each night, but I also wanted the dinners, the TV time, the alone time.
Opening doors, none of them were what I’d consider the master bedroom or bath. So, I kept walking until I got to the end of the hall. There was no way one of the bedrooms I’d seen was the master. They were on the smaller side, and this house wasn’t small by any means. There was one more door to try, so I did. It opened, and just down a short hall were more stairs. That was when I remembered this was a three-story house, so it made sense that the master would be on the top floor.
I hurried up the stairs so I could get a quick look at the bathroom before I was caught, except when I got to the top, I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes widening in instant fear. Sebastian had a gun pointed at a guy who was sitting bound to a chair in front of a dark wood desk. Sebastian’s friends stood behind him, Mateo behind them, and a few other guys I didn’t recognize.
“Please just give me one more chance,” the guy in the chair begged.
“No,” Sebastian simply stated and then I heard a loud pop.
I screamed.
Sebastian’s gaze met mine, and I turned around, running back down the stairs as fast as I could go in my heels.
“Get her!” I heard from behind me.
Before I could get to the door that led to the second floor hall, a hand wrapped around my arm and yanked me back against a hard body. I screamed, only for it to be muffled as a hand went over my mouth. Tears pricked my eye as I struggled and struggled and struggled to break free, my clutch falling to the floor.
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