Web of Lies

by Elizabeth Knox

  “While I appreciate that Cherry, I don’t play games and if she put you up to calling . . .”

  “She didn’t. The girl has so much pride she can’t even tell you she’s miserable without you. That’s why I’m calling you. I have no shame and to be honest, she’s the one girl in here who is better than this place. She deserves a second chance even if she’s not the one asking you to give it to her.”

  “Cherry, I . . .”

  “I have to go because she’s going to throw up. Boss is going to make her dance on the stage in a half hour. The radio broke and its been the same song on repeat for hours, so the boss says since there’s no new music there needs to be new flesh on the stage. Whatever you decide to do is up to you.”

  The line went silent, my screen went back to the home screen as I stared at it. There were a million choices I could have made, a million things that could have been thought about beforehand, but instead I dropped money on the table and stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Harris questioned me as I started to leave. “You can’t believe some stranger. Hallie would call you if she wanted to see you.”

  “She was a stranger,” I murmured as I remembered that once I had been a stranger to Hallie as well. Hallie could have called security or clubbed me over the head for carrying her bag, but instead she trusted me, a stranger.

  “I’m gonna ride out there. I need to see her for myself to see if there is any truth to what this woman is saying.”

  “I’m going back to the hotel. I’m exhausted,” Harris gave me the car and said he would take a cab. I knew he was tired and I should have been, but I was still riding the high I get every time I walk on stage.

  I left Harris there and got into the town car. I told the driver to go to Straddle Me just as he tried to talk me out of it. Sharon had left orders behind that I wasn’t to be seen anywhere that she thought the tabloids might photograph me.

  I climbed back out of the town car and hailed down a cab. If the driver we were given wasn’t going to take me then I would just take myself. We arrived at the run-down club about twenty minutes later. Cars filled the parking lot as flashing bulbs spelled “girls, girls, girls.” I had driven by the place many times but had never had any reason to step in its doorways until now.

  I walked into a cloud of smoke, the smell of alcohol, and men demanding lap dances. I paid my fee to enter and stepped into the darkened dining room. I looked over to my left to see a skinny bartender whose eyes said she had already figured out who I was. Then I looked to the left where a heavy-set older man in a suit was yelling about fixing the music.

  I would have never imagined that the sweet innocent girl who got off that plane would ever wind up in a place like this.

  “Can I get you something?” The bartender had walked past everyone to take my order. I shook my head no as she took my hand. “Come sit over here next to the bar, it’s the best view in the house.”

  I went with her as the music stopped and static filled the room. A spotlight popped onto the stage and a familiar song started to play. It was my song, and it was my girl stepping out in a sheer dress looking like she needed someone to save her.

  “Hello,” a familiar voice spoke as Hallie swayed on the stage. “I’m Cherry,” she introduced herself.

  “I’m . . .” she cut me off.

  “I know who you are,” she smiled. “I know why you’re here.”

  “Are you a mind reader?” I tried to make light of what I was feeling watching as Hallie walked up to the pole and put her back to the men as they stopped the song and prepared to start again.

  “I’m an angel with a message from cupid,” she sarcastically spoke. “Your girl will never be the same after she takes her clothes off in front of all these men.”

  “What am I supposed to do? I offered to take care of her . . .”

  “She doesn’t need Prince Charming; she needs someone who loves and supports her. She needs to know that no matter what you want her, that you need her, and you need to stand up and let her dance for you. Girls, they don’t survive when they stare into a den of hungry lions, but if they are a lioness and find their mate in the den they can get through anything.”

  I nodded as I stood up and walked across the dirty floor. I got up close enough that I hoped she would see me. Then I held my breath and I waited.

  When the music came back on she began to sway, she allowed her hands to roam her body as her hips moved to the beat. She wrapped her hands around the pole and spun herself around. I stared at my girl, the most amazing girl I had ever met, and watched as she kept her eyes closed and tried to put up a shield. Seemed like she was okay, until the music went out again. My beautiful liar froze, her truth catching up with her, her promises to never stand on the stage were ever-present as her brown eyes stared right at me and told me the truth. They told me I wasn’t a mistake at all.

  Chapter Nine

  Hallie

  I had warned Denny that if he couldn’t keep the music on then I couldn’t stay on stage. Every time he stopped and started playing Dean’s song I felt guiltier about everything.

  I put my back to the pole and told myself that if I could just get through this then I could call him and apologize. I could be honest with him, but could I? I had made such a mess, said things I didn’t mean, and then when he was leaving, I just let him go.

  The music came on once more and I kept my eyes closed this time thinking about Dean. Wishing he was here watching me. As my hands drifted down my body I imagined they were his hands, as my hips swayed to the beat of the drums I envisioned dancing for him in the living room where he had hidden my sunshine.

  I spun around thinking if he were here now he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off me. I danced into my fantasy until the music cut off again. Then I opened my eyes to see all the drunken men who couldn’t wait to paw at me, force me to dry hump them, or be rough and leave bruises as they did most nights when I didn’t bring their drink fast enough.

  “I almost got it,” Denny bellowed as my eyes shifted to find him and instead, I found Dean staring at me. I suddenly felt very naked. I tried to cover myself, but it was no use I was exposed. “Get yourself ready doll,” Denny demanded with a promise of an amazing show from his newest dancer to the men who were there.

  “He came here for you,” Cherry told me when I walked back to the curtain as she stood off to the side. “You have two choices, love, you can either dance for him, or get off the stage and go with him. What are you going to do?”

  If I climbed off the stage, I would lose my job, the house, and would have to run home to daddy and admit I was a failure once more. If I stayed and danced Dean would never see me the same way again. I would be the stripper in his eyes.

  “I’m going to . . .” I didn’t get to finish the statement when I heard the gunshot.

  Chapter Ten

  Dean

  “Where’s the fucking money, Denny?” Some men asked as they pointed guns at the man fixing the radio and the girls. They were the same men on the news that had robbed the bodega and killed the store owner.

  “I don’t have it,” The man in the suit cried out as they hit him with a gun. I kept my back to Hallie and slowly walked back toward the stage.

  “Don’t move,” one of the men took his gun off Hallie and pointed it at me. “Aren’t you some men's underwear model?” The man in charge asked when his eyes moved toward mine.

  “I only did that once,” I sarcastically replied as I turned to the side and gave her a wink. I was trying to relay I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but I couldn’t really promise that either.

  “Since Denny here doesn’t have our money, this club and these girls are ours,” he sneered.

  “I can’t let you hurt these women,” I wouldn’t back down, but then one of the men jumped up on stage and put a knife to Hallie’s throat. “Whatever you want . . .” I conceded. “I’ll give you whatever you want.”

  “There isn’t anything I want from you. I w
ant the money that was promised and the feel of a wet pussy to force my cock into. You don’t have either.” The man in charge spoke up.

  “Let the women go and hold me. You will get more with me as your hostage,” I offered as I heard the sirens coming closer.

  “Who triggered the alarm?” The man in charge demanded to know. He walked over to Denny, who I assumed was the manager and demanded an answer with the barrel of the gun under his chin. He pointed over at the bartender.

  I looked to Hallie who shook her head, but I couldn’t walk away. I couldn’t let her go, and if she had to die tonight, she would do it by my side.

  “Get the bitch,” he ordered his men to grab her and they took her into an office.

  “Why don’t you want to release all the hostages?” the man questioned me and I shrugged. “You want all the women out, but you would let Denny die?”

  “I’m only here to get the ladies to safety,” I held my ground as the man narrowed his eyes at me. His knife left Hallie’s throat and took aim with his gun at me.

  “You are not here to save the women, you are here because someone in here means something to you,” he growled his accusation.

  “Human life means something to me no matter who it is,” I blasted back. I saw his finger tighten on the trigger, and knew my time was up. I was prepared for the bullet that was about to come my way when Hallie gave me a wink and I lightly shook my head. I wasn’t worth her life, but she was worth mine.

  In slow motion, I watched as Hallie elbowed him, and the man went to retaliate, so I rushed the man on my right while he was distracted. I pushed him against the wall as he punched me. I started swinging and couldn’t stop myself. Even when he hit the ground I kicked him until the SWAT team breached the door and flooded the room.

  No one had taken the time to negotiate with them. There was no rulebook being used by the NYPD. The adrenaline was still flowing, and I wanted to kill someone when I turned my head and saw Hallie standing on the stage with blood flowing from a cut in her cheek.

  I walked to the edge of the stage and held out my hand, hopeful she would take it.

  “I’m so sorry about what I said to you,” she cried.

  “I know,” I told her as she took my hand.

  “I love you and my regret is not chasing after you,” she continued. I picked her up like a bride and carried her out toward the door.

  “I know Hallie,” I responded as her body shook in my arms. “You know I can’t live without my sunshine,” I flirted, and it was enough to get a half-smile across her face, but then the fear kicked back in and stole my sunlight from her.

  “We need her statement,” an officer spoke up when I tried to leave. “She needs to be checked out.”

  “I’m Dean Thomas,” I spoke as my newfound fame was used for something good. “This is my girl and the press is going to swarm soon if they aren’t already out there. We need to leave and you can come get your statement from my hotel room.”

  The officer talked to his boss who gave me an understanding nod.

  “An officer shall escort you out the side door and to your hotel, but do not leave your room until you both are checked out and statements are given.”

  I thanked him as Hallie continued to shake in my arms.

  “Mr. Thomas, who is that? Is she okay? What happened in there? We heard shots were fired, is anyone dead?” The questions flowed from every direction from the press that I had feared would be outside and would recognize me, but I ignored them all and walked over to the waiting police car.

  “I thought I would never see you again,” she admitted as she cried when the officer began taking us to the hotel. “When you walked in, I thought I was dreaming, and then when the guns went off, I thought I was dead.”

  “No one is going to ever hurt you again,” the rage in me built up as I realized I couldn’t promise that. I could assure her now, but in reality, there were always going to be people out there who would one day do stupid things. “As long as I am with you I will always take the bullet for you,” I promised. This one I could give her.

  “I was so scared,” she sobbed as she climbed into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “Me too,” I confessed.

  “How are you here?” She finally asked as we pulled up to the hotel.

  “I came back for you,” I smiled for her, but she was guarded.

  “Hallie,” I started, and she stopped me. I held her for the rest of the night. I never took a moment away from her. Even when they stitched her up and she had to call her dad I was right there with her. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that she finally spoke about something other than the trauma.

  “Dean, I love you. I don’t know that we will ever work. I don’t know if we will last. I don’t know if you will even forgive me for what I said and how I acted, but I do love you, and I am eternally grateful for what you did last night.”

  “Hallie,” I whispered her name as I pulled her into my arms. “I love you. I do know that we will work, and it will last. I forgave you the second you said it because that’s what you do when you are in love with your best friend. I am devoted to you, and I will always be there when you need me. That day when I met you when you got off the plane, I knew that wasn’t the end of us. Just don’t ever lie to me again.”

  “I won’t. I promise,” she hugged me, and just like that we were crawling back to each other at the time when we needed it the most.

  Six months later, we were finally settled into a house in California. Hallie had found this sad little fixer-upper in a great neighborhood. We put a bid in on it and it was ours. We even painted a sunshine in the nursery that we intended to use one day when we had kids. She wanted two girls and a boy. I just wanted her to be happy, and the babies to be healthy.

  While she still maintained that obsessive need to keep the house in perfect condition, we had found ways to keep it dirty as well. There were times when I would come home from recording and find her blushing as she stared at the kitchen table or rubbing her hands across her body remembering the hot tub. We were leaving our mark on the house and each other.

  “You all packed?” Hallie asked as she walked in my studio that we built out of a small room and a closet. I gave her a nod, and watched as my wife grabbed the suitcase. I took off after her and took the bag from her.

  “You should never let a stranger touch your bag,” I smirked as she climbed up on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on my lips.

  “I marry the strangers who touch my bag,” she snarkily replied. “Hurry up, we don’t want to miss our flight,” she rushed me. She was eager to go because she had started her own company and built the sets and created the designs for the concerts we put on. It wasn’t a television show or theater, but when I asked her once if she was happy with her choice, she told me “I am happy as long as I am with you and the sun still shines on us.”

  Kiss & Lies

  Sonya Jesus

  Prologue

  I rarely drink, but tonight I drank enough for the three of us. My tolerance is shit. Dax and Ace kept trying to get me to slow down. A sober me hates taking orders; a drunk me takes a no as a challenge. So, I showed them the opposite of slowing down. I downed shot after shot until I lost count of the number and the bartenders duplicated, then blurred back into one.

  I forget why I started drinking, but I remember why I continued— Daxton and Aysen getting mauled by a set of blonde twins in the back room of The Den. I couldn’t get the image of the two blonde heads bobbing up and down as they mouth fucked their favorite Dragon, unashamed and driven by the voyeuristic moment. Part of the pleasure came from the ménage . . . or orgy . . . or whatever the hell was going on. Not only were the blondes pleasuring their respective Dragon, but the girls took pleasure in being watched. There was something sexy in the way Ace and Dax, felt comfortable sharing it with each other, imposing on one another’s intimate moments.

  The blondes were meaningless to the guys, that I had no doubt. Unfortunately, doub
t isn’t what burrowed the images into the fissures of my mind and planted the seed. The more my mind replayed those images, the faster jealousy blossomed. And no, it wasn’t a pretty flower. It was a mind fucking cactus that poked and pricked every nerve ending, until I was stiffer than the cocks they were sucking.

  When they caught me looking, not only did they not budge, but they seemed happy to have me in the room. I, however, hauled ass out of there and drank for hours that night, hoping the alcohol would numb my aching heart and null the desire to be the only blonde they needed.

  Spewing nonsense out of my mouth, got me cut off at the bar. With no reason to remain and bring in the joyous new year, I fled to the top floor and crashed in one of the lush bedrooms, not caring if it was the Blackwell suite or not.

  My priorities were simple— sleep to forget and shut down the neurons that keep firing up my lady parts.

  At some point, I stir in my sleep, feeling lips on my stomach, warming the areas already revved up to go. My eyes hazily flutter open to find Daxton at the door, watching me. I gaze down at the lips traveling lower down my abdomen.

  I gasp.

  Instead of being warded off by my surprise, Ace chuckles, breathing on my skin and jolting my body upward. My skirt rides up. My fingers lower to the hem, half of me begging to pull it down, the other half inviting me to pull it up. The alcohol makes the wrong choice.

  The moment the skirt bunches at my waist, Daxton is at my side. He easily pulls me into a sitting position and seats himself behind me. Placing one leg on either side of me, he slides on the bed until I’m flush against his chest. As his hand slides under my loose shirt, my head rolls back and rests on his shoulder. He softly glides his lips over the tender skin on the crook of my neck, just as Aysen finds a stimulating place to massage.