He rolled his eyes at me, knowing I was full of shit. “Sure you were. What time are you on tonight?”
“In an hour. I’ve got a special routine for tonight.”
“Good luck. I hear we’re going to have a special audience tonight.”
“Really?” I said curiously. Maybe this was my chance. “Any idea who’s coming?”
He shrugged his large shoulders. “Some friend of the boss.”
The first thing I thought was that Sniper had returned. He wasn’t going to be of any use to me. My shoulders sagged in disappointment. I was never going to get a break.
“You sure you’re alright? You know I’ll help you out if you need it.”
I knew he would, but I also knew that his job would be on the line and I couldn’t risk that. He was my one ally at the club. Everyone else was friendly, but they’d sell out their children if they thought it would get them ahead.
“Yeah, I’m good. I gotta get back there and get ready. I’ll catch you later.”
I smiled my most flirtatious smile and shook my ass as I walked away. I wasn’t interested in doing anything with Storm. He was hot and a great guy, from what I could tell, but there was nothing more important at the moment than getting my daughter back.
✯✯✯✯✯
I knew I wasn’t as sexy as the other girls when I danced, but I had to be at my best tonight. I needed to draw the attention of whoever this special guest was. I figured that anyone that wasn’t a regular was another opportunity for me to gain information.
When I took the stage, my eyes immediately looked for him. He was there, right in the front row. I could tell by his expensive suit and the cigar hanging out of his mouth that this was not a man that normally went to a strip club. I sauntered onstage, making sure to keep eye contact with him. I did my whole routine right in front of him, making sure to put extra sway in my hips and a good shot at what my thong was covering. I even grabbed my breasts and played with my nipples. And he watched the whole time.
When I finished my routine, he stood and walked over to the stage, tossing a few hundreds at me. The way he stared at my breasts gave me the creeps. It wasn’t a look of desire, but something more sinister. He motioned me forward with his hand and I didn’t feel like I could tell him no. I got to my knees, spreading them wide so my breasts were right in his face.
“Did you dance for me?” His voice sent chills down my spine, but I held it together, giving him a nod. His hand brushed across my breast and over my nipple. He pinched it and twisted until I almost screamed, but I kept my face as clear as possible. When his hand skimmed down my body and slipped inside my thong, I thought I might actually throw up. My body shook with fear, and the way he looked at me, I was pretty sure he got off on that. I couldn’t stand his hands on me, but I needed information and he was my ticket. At least, I hoped so.
When he shoved his fingers inside me, my body reacted. I didn’t want his fingers there, but my body flooded with desire anyway. He took that as a sign that I liked it. To my embarrassment, he started finger fucking me right on the stage. My eyes darted around to see if anyone was watching, and there were a few men that were staring at me.
“Don’t look at them, sweetheart. When my fingers are in your pussy, you’re all mine.” I locked eyes with him as he continued thrusting his fingers in me. My heart was beating so fast I was sure it would burst out of my chest and my breathing was so ragged that he actually thought I was excited by this. I jerked my hips and tightened myself around him, hoping that he took it as a real orgasm and this could stop.
Those evil, black orbs mocked me as I kneeled on the stage before him. He made a show of pulling his fingers out and showing my cream all over them. When he stuck them in his mouth, I smirked, hoping it came off as sexy and not disgusted. He grabbed onto my arm suddenly and jerked me forward so he could whisper in my ear.
“I wish I could take you home and fuck you right now, but I’m going out of town for work. When I come back, you’ll be in my bed while I fuck you hard.” He licked my ear and then pulled back. “Be ready.” He turned and walked away without a second glance.
“Wait!”
He turned back around, his face pinched in anger. I guess I wasn’t supposed to talk, but I had to know his name before he left.
“What’s your name?”
“Steven.”
When he walked away, I stood on shaky legs and made my way off the stage. It seemed like that had lasted for hours, when in fact it was only about five minutes. The girl that was waiting to go on after me shot me an evil look, probably pissed that I had not only delayed her set, but also got so much money. But I didn’t want it. I shoved the hundreds into her hands. Her face morphed in shock, but she seemed satisfied. I didn’t care. I didn’t want that creep’s money.
I stepped into the hallway and almost collapsed against the wall, but strong arms caught me. I knew it was Storm by his scent. He held me up in his arms and started dragging me away from the stage. By the time we got to the dressing room, I had tears running down my face.
“Why did you let him do that to you?” he asked angrily.
“I had to.”
“No, you didn’t. All you had to do was move away and give me the signal. I would have been there and I would have beat his ass.”
“He’s a special friend of Jeremy’s.”
He shoved me gently onto a bench and then knelt in front of me, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. “I don’t give a fuck who he is. Nobody has the right to touch you when you don’t want it.”
“I need to know who he is,” I said quietly. “I can’t tell you why, but it’s important.”
He stared at me for a moment and then stood, pacing the dressing room. I knew he was angry and he wanted to help, but I just didn’t know if I could fully trust him not to spill my secrets.
“What are you looking for from him?”
“Information.”
“About what?” he bit out.
“I can’t tell you. Just leave it alone.”
“Sweet pea, I can help you. I’m not just some big muscled baboon. I was a Ranger in the Army. I know how to deal with men like him.”
“I don’t want you to,” I said quickly. “Please, I think he has information I need and I won’t stop until I get it.”
“What makes you think this guy has the information you need?”
“I…I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head in defeat. I felt battered down from the months of searching with no results. Something had to give soon. “He looks powerful and powerful men have information.”
“So, you allow men to touch you on the off chance that they might be able to help you?” he asked incredulously.
I cringed at his spot-on assessment of my behavior. Most women would never trade their bodies for what a man could give them. At least, not the women I knew. But I hadn’t been around those people in months. My new life was in a world that would disgust most women.
“I’m desperate,” I whimpered. “I’ll do anything, give anything to find out what I need to. Even to a man like that. If there’s even the slightest chance he can help, I’m going to take it.”
He was pissed at me. I could tell by the way his jaw worked in anger and he ran his hand repeatedly over the back of his head. He was trying not to hit something, but I knew he would never hit me.
“I’m going to be watching you, and if I think for one minute you’re in trouble, I won’t hesitate to break his fucking neck.”
“I swear, I’ll tell you if I need help.”
He nodded and walked out of the room. I cleaned myself up quickly, washing my ruined makeup from my face, and then headed to work the floor for the rest of the night. By the time I headed home, I was exhausted, but all I could think about was who Steven was and how I could find out more about him. He wouldn’t be back for a month. Somehow, I had to find another way to get information. A month would be way too long to wait.
Turning the corner to my building, I
was grabbed and shoved up against the wall. My head smacked lightly against the cold wall. Staring down at me were the most intense eyes I had ever seen. He was back, the man that had so callously fucked me and tossed money on the bed for me. I shouldn’t want him, but something inside me yearned for his touch. Maybe it was that it had been too long since any man outside the club had touched me in any way other than to slip money in my thong. His strong, hard hands held me tightly in place and his knee shoved my legs apart, forcing his way closer to my body.
He looked at me like he didn’t understand what he was doing here, like he didn’t understand the attraction. He would be right. In no way should we be attracted to each other. I was posing as a stripper and he was some badass warrior. He deserved someone that would get down on her knees and praise the ground he walked on. That wasn’t me. I might enjoy an hour with him, but I had more important things to worry about than some guy that would never think of me as more than an easy lay.
And he proved my point when he pulled my skirt up and ran his hand across my wetness. Without any hesitation, he had his pants down, his cock sheathed, and shoved himself inside me. I gripped his shoulders as he thrust up into me, shoving my back against the hard wall. I didn’t care about anything else right now but forgetting about what had happened to my life. He was the perfect distraction, one that would make me come, but would leave in time for me to focus on what I needed to do.
It wasn’t long before he was finished, thrusting himself inside me one last time as he breathed heavily against my neck. I felt his heart racing against mine as we both slowly came down from our high. When he pulled out, I could feel my own juices slickening the insides of my thighs. Thank God I was so close to home. I corrected my skirt and picked up my bag that I had dropped on the ground, throwing it over my shoulder as I headed for the mouth of the alley.
I was just a few steps down the sidewalk when I felt him come up behind me. He didn’t say anything, but walked next to me all the way back to my apartment. He walked inside with me and up the stairs. I kept glancing back at him, wondering what he was doing. Was he thinking he was going to stay the night? I wasn’t really okay with that.
My question was answered when I unlocked the door and he nodded to me, turned around, and headed back down the stairs. I shook my head, completely confused by the man. If I wasn’t good enough for a bed, why bother walking me home? I shook off those thoughts, not really needing an answer. I needed sleep and I needed to do some searching online like I did every night in hopes that I would find something that would lead me to my daughter.
As usual, there was nothing new. I sank down on my uncomfortable bed and stared at the ceiling like I usually did, thinking about Payton and praying that she was okay.
CHAPTER THREE
Sniper
“COME ON,” CAP grinned. “Time to pay up.”
We were all in the conference room, waiting on our instructions for upcoming assignments. Last night had been poker night. We didn’t actually play poker, but we continued to call it that. I had lost big time. I slapped down two fifty dollar bills and shoved them over to Cap. He had been the big winner last night, but luckily, I wasn’t the one that lost the most money. That had been Cazzo, coming in at a loss of two hundred dollars.
“One of these days, I’m gonna win and take all of your money.”
Cap laughed at me, like the thought of me winning was completely ridiculous. “Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it. The day you walk away with even two dollars will be the day I let you make the assignments for the week.”
“You have so little faith in me.”
“Chance, you don’t need someone to have faith in you,” Gabe jabbed. “You need the hand of God on your side, and last I remember, you don’t believe in God.”
“Hey, I wasn’t the biggest loser last night. Cazzo lost two hundred dollars.”
“You what? Samuel Galmacci, please tell me that I just misheard what Chance said.” We all spun around in surprise at the feminine shriek that emanated from the doorway. Vanessa, Cazzo’s wife, was holding a long box and her face was beat red. “You blew two hundred dollars on poker last night?”
“Samuel? Somebody’s in trouble,” Sinner laughed. Cazzo punched him in the shoulder and took a tentative step toward Vanessa.
“I didn’t blow it,” Cazzo said placatingly. “I just had a run of bad luck.”
“Yeah, and it wasn’t poker,” Sinner chimed in. “It was Go Fish.”
Cazzo slapped him across the back of the head. “Thanks a lot, asshole.”
“How the hell does someone lose that much money playing Go Fish?”
“I was barely down and every time I told myself I had to stop betting, someone was in my head telling me to keep playing, that I could win it all back. It’s a sickness, sweetheart.”
“Was that someone that was in your head the same someone that told you to buy this rifle?”
Cazzo’s eyes went wide and he visibly swallowed. “Uh, that’s not what it looks like.”
“Really? Because it looks like it’s a rifle that’s so old it was used in World War I.”
“It was actually the Civil War. It was the first sniper rifle ever made.”
“Fuck, man. You got a Whitworth Rifle?” I stood up so fast, my chair flew backwards. I stalked over to Vanessa and tore the box from her hands. I laid the box on the table and took a deep breath before I opened the lid. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Holding the Holy Grail would have been nothing compared to this.
“Give me some gloves,” I snapped. No one did anything for a minute, but when I glared around the room, Craig took off and was back just a minute later with a pair of gloves for me. I pulled them on and then ever so gently picked up the rifle.
“Vanessa, you don’t know what you have here. This magnificent weapon was designed by Joseph Whitworth in 1854. There were only thirteen thousand four hundred built between 1857 and 1865. Do you know how many of these still exist? There probably aren’t any left. This could be the very last original rifle in existence.”
I ran my hand over the gun lovingly, murmuring to myself. “49 inches in length with a 33-inch barrel. Fires two to three rounds per minute with an effective firing range up to a thousand yards, with a classic iron sights scope. Fucking beautiful.”
“Should we leave you two alone?” Jackson asked.
“You don’t know how amazing this is.”
“I do,” Cazzo cut in. “That’s why I bought it.”
“Yet, somehow you forgot to mention it to your wife,” Vanessa scolded.
“Now, sweetheart, this is a collectible. For how old it is and how rare, I got a great price.”
“Really? How much was it?”
“Just a few thousand dollars.”
“Oh,” Vanessa sighed in relief. “That really had me worried for a minute.”
“Baby, I would never go out and spend a ton of money without talking to you first.”
Vanessa smiled at him. “I know, Sam.” She walked forward, pulling out a piece of paper. “I was just really worried when I saw this bill for a Whitworth Rifle that was sold at auction for $161,000!” She slammed the paper against his chest and stormed out of the room. Cazzo gripped the paper before it fell to the floor and then turned to us all with an oops shrug.
“You seriously spent $161,000 on a gun?” Burg asked.
“Hey,” I cut in, coming to Cazzo’s defense. “It’s totally worth it. If I had seen it up for auction, I would have bought it.”
“You may have to buy it from me now. I have a feeling Vanessa’s gonna bitch about this until I get the money back.”
“And she’s going to withhold sex,” Sinner pointed out. “Been there, done that. Do yourself a favor and sell it.”
“She won’t withhold sex. She’ll do something worse.”
“What’s worse?” Gabe asked.
“She’s gonna call my mother.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Amy Shultz. Age t
wenty-six.” I was reading from the file Cap sent me. We would normally meet in the conference room, but she was insistent that we get to her as soon as possible. Jackson was driving so I could go over the file on the way. Gabe sat in the back and prepared weapons for us, making sure everything was loaded so we could get to work right away.
“She called us because her duplex was broken into two nights ago and she was raped. They didn’t catch the perpetrator and she’s scared to be alone now. From what she told police, her attacker threatened to slit her throat if she told anyone what happened. There’s a police cruiser parked outside her house, but there are two entrances and she doesn’t feel safe.”
“Does the department know we’re on our way?” Jackson asked. “I don’t really want to get shot today. I’ve got a date Friday.”
“Really? What happened with what’s her face?” I asked curiously.
“Raegan? She’s just staying with me until we can be sure that no one’s looking for her.”
Raegan Cartwright was the woman that we rescued from her abusive boyfriend when her parents called and begged us to get her out. Jackson had taken to her right away, so it was highly suspicious that he was dating.
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Gabe leaned forward over the seat to join in the conversation. “I saw your face when you rescued her. She means something to you and I can fucking guarantee you would do anything to be with her. You were so protective of her that you invited her and her parents to stay with you.”
“She needed a place to go,” Jackson said defensively.
I grinned, knowing Gabe and I were thinking the same thing. “You could have stashed her in a safe house, but you invited her to stay with you. I would imagine that a woman that’s been beat on like that wouldn’t want to be around any men right now, but she went willingly with you.”
“She didn’t have a choice,” he shot back. “Remember? She was unconscious when we took her to my house.”
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