This is absolutely crazy. Do you want to get your partners called on you? Or maced? She might well be armed for all you know – if she’s going to come out of the place at all.
I glanced at the clock in my car. I had been sitting there for nearly an hour as it was. Someone was bound to notice the car just sitting out in the parking lot with someone inside. Yet another way for other cops to get called on me. That would figure.
The last thing I wanted was to explain to my comrades why I was sitting outside the strip club the day after we were hanging out there. Welsh would likely think it was funny, but I wasn’t so sure about the others.
I got along with most men on the force, but there were still those few who didn’t see eye to eye with me. I could tell them I was just patrolling the area, but I knew it was unlikely any of them would believe that. Hell, even I thought I was being suspicious.
What would anyone else think?
Alright, this was a bad idea. You need to get out of here before you get yourself in trouble in one way or another. You don’t need that shit, and it’s just going to blow up into a huge thing down at the station.
You don’t know that girl, maybe she’s just fine and that’s just her face. Fuck it. Go home.
I knew I should get out of there, but as soon as I put my car into drive, the back door of the club opened, and Sky came out. I immediately went on high alert, assessing how she was acting. It didn’t take long for me to see she was in trouble.
She strode out of the club with her hands shoved in the pockets of a hoodie. I almost didn’t recognize her with clothes on, her wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was also wearing a baseball cap pulled rather low. But that figure, I knew it was her.
And she wasn’t happy.
Almost immediately after she stepped out of the club, a man emerged behind her. He was walking aggressively. Her body language was full of attitude – defiance, I guessed. He, on the other hand, was full of dominance and aggression. I wasn’t about to sit in the car and let him do anything to her, so I immediately got out.
They weren’t paying any attention to me. She said something to him that I didn’t make out, and he responded by grabbing her throat and shoving her against the side of the club. She hit her head hard against the wall, her hat nearly falling off in the process.
“Hey!” I barked. He ignored me, but she turned her head slightly. I wasn’t as worried about talking to her as I was getting him off of her, so I repeated myself. “Hey!”
As soon as he turned his head, I recognized him as the owner of the joint. Rocco.
“Is there a problem?” I asked. I tried to keep my cool, but I already wanted to slam my fist right into his face.
“It’s none of your business,” he snapped.
“Get your hands off her,” I ordered. “You never touch a woman that way.”
“I touch my girls how I please,” he replied. “Now fuck off or there is going to be a problem between you and me.”
“Get your hands off her,” I repeated. “I’m not going to ask you again.”
“And I’m not going to tell you again. Unless you want your face smashed against the pavement until no one recognizes your pretty boy features anymore, you better get the hell out of here. No one asked you for your opinion,” Rocco snapped.
“Are you alright?” I turned my attention to Sky. She didn’t have the chance to answer. Rocco had reached the end of his patience, and he now released her, swinging his fist at me. I was ready for the blow, knowing that he wasn’t going to take much more of my interference without striking.
I dodged his fist and hit him with my own, right under the jaw. I knew how to put a violent man to the ground, and though I didn’t often resort to using punches, I was pissed off enough at seeing the way he was manhandling Sky. He was lucky all I did was punch him in the jaw.
He fell with a thud and I yanked out my badge. Showing my gun and flashing the badge at him, I started talking before he could launch into a tirade. “Chicago PD. If you swing on me that’s assault on an officer, and I’m sure you don’t want to deal with those charges. If you touch her or any other woman like that again, you’re going to deal with me. You keep your hands off them, or I will arrest you!”
Rocco sized me up as he rose from the ground. He could clearly see the gun I had concealed in my pants, and he glanced at the badge with disgust in his eyes. He debated whether it was worth the charges to take another swing at me, then changed his mind.
“You better be back tomorrow,” he said to Sky, then he headed back inside the club. I turned to her.
“Are you alright?” I asked in concern. “You can file a report against him for putting his hands on you.”
She seemed stunned for a moment, then she quickly shook her head. “No, I don’t want to do that. I’m fine.”
She started to walk away, and I sighed. I wanted to talk to her, but I was starting to piece together what might be wrong. If that’s how she was treated when she was outside that place, what did he do to her when she was behind closed doors? I felt the fury bubble up in my gut.
“Do you need a ride?” I called after her. Her hands were back in her pockets and she was walking quickly up the sidewalk, away from me. She turned for a brief moment, walking backwards as she declined my offer.
“No, thank you. I’m going to take the bus. Appreciate the help,” she said.
I nodded and she turned quickly back around, walking about as fast as she could without running. With a shake of my head, I turned to walk back to my car. I was glad that I’d come, I’d hate to think what would have happened to her if I hadn’t shown up when I did, but I was still pissed.
I hated to see men abusing women, and I knew it happened a lot in this industry. It wasn’t right, and I would fight until my dying breath to put an end to all of it. But I also couldn’t get Sky out of my mind. I had to find a way to talk to her.
But how?
4
Sky
I strode to the bus stop with my hands in my pockets. I wasn’t sure where I was going, just away from there. I had to hurry. There was something in me telling me to get out of there as quickly as I could.
My mind drifted to how the day had gone, and I wasn’t sure how I’d show up the next day without Rocco finishing what he’d just tried to start.
Things had been rather ordinary throughout most of the afternoon. I always showed up around two and stayed until eleven. I got an hour for lunch, though it was rare for me to take one. Rocco didn’t like it when we had what he called ‘a gut.’
We were allowed water on shift, and maybe something light from behind the bar. That was it. I hated it. I was always starving by the time I got off work, though the extra hour did enable me to make more tips.
The dinner rush had gone much like it always did. There were plenty of men coming in who’d just gotten off work. They came from all walks of life, that was evident by the clothes they wore. Some looked like they came right out of a construction zone, and others looked like businessmen from banks or law firms.
They all shared the same desire. Throw money at us and let us crawl all over them. Rocco was right. I was one of the favorites of the bunch, and most of my money came from the lap dances I gave when I should have been on lunch.
I thought it was just going to be a normal night. I hoped it would be, anyway. I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to get through the shift and get home. But, right after dinner Rocco cornered me in the hall leading from the dressing rooms to the stage.
“I need you to be more physical with the clients,” he announced.
“I already told you, that’s not going to happen,” I shot back.
“You need to be more handsy. Rub on them more, make them come in their pants if you must. Hell, I’d rather you took them to the back room and blew them!” He was in my face as he spoke, and I fought the urge to shove him out of my way. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, but I didn’t think that had anything to do with his proposition
.
“Never going to happen,” I replied. “A lap dance is done how we are comfortable doing them. You can’t ask more of us than that, and neither can the clients.”
“Candy and Ruby do it,” he snapped.
“Then why don’t you tell them you want them working more?” I said. “If they want to suck off strangers for extra cash, that’s on them.”
“So that’s it. You think you’re better than them,” he laughed.
“I might dance, but I’m not going to stoop to that level,” I said with a flip of my hair.
“Oh, you’re going to. I’m going to make sure of that. Also, we’re going to change the policy a bit about how much the customers can engage with you. I think it would be more fun if they were able to handle the merchandise,” he shrugged. “Effective immediately.”
“I don’t believe you. That’s direct violation of our protection in this club. You wouldn’t dare do something like that. What if a cop came in and saw what was going on?” I asked.
“You don’t believe me?” he pulled me forward. I could see through the curtain behind the stage Ruby on the lap of a man, and he was being far too handsy with her. “Then what do you make of that? They don’t have a problem with it, Sweetheart, just you. And you are part of a team, which means you’re going to be playing along.”
“Not anymore I’m not!” I shot back at him. I was so mad, I was seeing red. “I quit.”
He looked at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. “How many times are you going to try that on me? I don’t fucking think so. You’re my property, and that’s the end of that.”
“Watch me,” I said flippantly. “I don’t belong to you.” I didn’t wait for him to start yelling. I was sick of the threats, and the last thing I was going to do was let some complete stranger put his hands all over me. It was hard enough sitting on half the men I gave lap dances to. The fact that they couldn’t reach out and grab me was my only solace.
Now that he was changing those rules, there was no telling what the men would get away with. Hell, what would the bouncers do? Would they even step in and help if someone was out of line? Would there even be a way a guy could get out of line in there now?
Rocco stared at me for a moment, clearly calling my bluff. The only problem was, I wasn’t bluffing. If he really thought I was going to go along with that plan, he had another thing coming, that was for damn sure. I turned on my heel and walked right back to the dressing room, ignoring him as he followed me.
I didn’t care I was wearing one of my lingerie costumes. I was set to go on stage next. But I wasn’t going to do it. I didn’t give a fuck what he had to say. He had crossed the line for the last time, and it was high time I stood up for myself.
He gave Candy and Ruby a lot more respect because they were doing what he wanted, but that’s not how I worked. If he couldn’t respect my personal boundaries and only cared about lining his own pockets, then he could kiss my ass.
I walked straight back to my station and grabbed my tank top, hoodie, and jeans. I wasn’t going to take my bra off in front of Rocco, so I just put them on over the top. They were mine anyway. He had made me buy my own outfits when I first started at the place, telling me he would supply them when I proved I was good on stage and even better on a lap.
Of course, he’d only come through with a couple of things, and they were costumes I never wore. I wasn’t about to go on stage in something that was entirely mesh, though he wanted me to many times.
After I got dressed, I grabbed my purse and pushed past him.
“You don’t really think you’re going to get out of here, do you?” he asked. “I’m going to come for you, and you’ll wish you never crossed me. Shit, you’ve gotten so many chances in this place, how dare you think you can walk out on me now?”
“You aren’t in control of my life. You write my paychecks, and that’s it! And they aren’t anything to brag about at that!” I snapped. He tried to get in front of me on my way to the side door. I hadn’t even bothered to take off my makeup. The only thing I did before walking out was pull my hair back into the ponytail that I always wore on my way home.
I didn’t think he was really going to follow. He was plenty abusive to me when we were behind closed doors, but he’d always had some self-control when we were in front of the customers. It was the image he wanted to portray, and it made me sick to think that they fell for it.
If they knew the kind of man he really was, they wouldn’t want to have a thing to do with his club. I was sure of that. But then, I’d seen some sleazy things go down in the place, and I wasn’t sure how far anyone in there would let things go.
He said something else as he came out the door, and the only words that came to my mind came flying out of my mouth before I could even think.
“Fuck you!”
Still, I was shocked and surprised when he grabbed me by the throat, throwing me against the side of the building. We were in broad daylight. The sun was just starting to set, but he was still out in the open. Anyone who was passing by could see what he was doing.
His arrogance was beyond what I even thought, and for a brief moment, I was truly terrified of what he’d do to me. He had the money to cover up my disappearance. Hell, he was in the mob. He had the connections to get rid of me if he really wanted to, and I had a feeling he was going to right then behind the club.
Then, that stranger had come out of nowhere, taking him down like he was nothing. I was shocked someone would step in like that – clearly, he didn’t know who Rocco was. Then again, maybe he was a good man who was acting out of instinct.
No. It quickly became evident why he chose to step in despite Rocco’s reputation. He was a cop, and he knew what he was doing in a fight. I’d never seen Rocco so shaken before. The look in his eyes made it clear to me how pissed he was, and I was glad that stranger was there.
Until he turned to me. For the first time I got a good look at him, and I was shocked to see he was the same man I’d given the lap dance to the day before. I’d given a cop a lap dance, and I’d loved every second of it. There were few times in my career that I’d actually enjoyed the act, and he was one of them.
Instinct took over, and I did the only thing I could do. I ran. I got out of there as fast as I could. I didn’t want anything to do with a cop. Not even a ride home.
As I got on the bus, I avoided all eye contact. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to look at anyone. I just wanted to go home and forget about the entire thing. I couldn’t help but be a little rattled by the thought that that guy had been out there. Had he been waiting for me? Was he just another creeper? But worse; a creeper with a badge? The anxiety was building faster than I could keep up with, and I nearly had a panic attack right there on the bus seat.
Breathe. Just breathe. If he wanted to talk to you, he would have stopped you when you walked away. Don’t think about him anymore.
I had enough shit on my plate I had to deal with, I couldn’t think about the hot cop. It was a bad idea to fantasize about any of the people who walked through the doors of the club. If he found out what Rocco was doing, I could be dragged into the middle of a mess I wanted nothing to do with.
No, no matter his reasoning for being there, no matter how instantly my body had responded to his presence, hot cop was off limits.
5
Jack
“What are you even staring at?” Welsh asked me as the two of us sat in our cruiser.
“Sorry. I was just thinking,” I said.
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately,” he replied. “Like, a lot.”
“Don’t you?” I asked. “Or is that brain of yours just an endless loop of tits and ass?”
“Fuck you. I think a lot, and not just about tits and ass,” he shot back. “What’s on your mind?”
I shook my head. “A lot, but really nothing I can talk about.”
“You keeping secrets now?” he asked. “I’m hurt. I’m your partner, you should tell me wha
t’s on your mind.”
“It’s not that I can’t tell you, it’s just that I don’t have anything to tell just yet. I’m trying to put together a plan, and it’s not really working for me,” I admitted.
He gave me a look with raised eyebrows, and I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“You could give me an idea of what this plan is about,” he said. “You going rogue?”
I laughed. I was straight laced and hated the idea of corrupt cops. Hell, the mere thought of a corrupt cop was enough to make me want to go rogue and hunt them all down. We were the people the public was supposed to be able to trust, we weren’t the people who should take advantage of that.
“No, I’m not going rogue. I might go undercover though,” I said. “You’re being too cryptic for me, man. You need to tell me plainly what’s going on or I’m going to go insane with curiosity,” he shook his head. “I hate it when you do shit like this and leave me wondering what the hell is going on in that brain of yours.”
I laughed again. “If what’s going on in my head is going to make you that nuts, you might need a hobby dude.”
“Listen, we sit in this damn car all day long, I gotta entertain myself somehow. It’s not like you’re a great conversationalist,” he pointed out.
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my short hair. “It was that girl at the club,” I finally said.
“I knew it!” he clapped his hands a single time in triumph. “I knew as soon as I saw you staring at her like she was something out of a movie you were going to be pining for her. But then, you’re always the one telling me strippers just want your money.”
His face changed as he spoke, and I sighed. “It’s not that. I mean, that was one hell of a lap dance, and I wouldn’t mind another, but I think there’s something wrong with her.”
“Like she’s also crazy?” Welsh asked.
I shook my head again. “Like she’s in danger. I went back to the club yesterday –”
Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 61