by Raven Scott
“This is exciting. Theo, have a seat and watch this.”
“Like fuck I’m sitting on that couch.” Even so, my skin tightened as sharp eyes scanned me again from the back, and I set my heels under the table holding a half-empty bottle of tequila. Raising my arms over my head, I arched sharply and shook out my arms, flexing my thinly covered toes on the carpet.
Holding out my arms, I blinked once— twice— before memories flooded my mind and beat against my eye sockets. My mom made me take ballet, and I really liked it even though I wasn’t super talented. Clenching my jaw, I took a stabilizing breath and viciously forced down the images that played behind my lids.
All eyes were on me when I focused again, and I nodded more to myself than anyone else. It must’ve been a year or two, now, since I went en pointe, and I winced at the immediate sting in my toes and up my ankle. Shock sizzled in the air, creeping up my skin, but I ignored it to lift my leg in a smooth arabesque. Pursing my lips, I held my breath as a burning sensation shot up my supporting leg.
Straightening to lower myself to the balls of my feet, I let out a huff and rolled my ankle hard. Clapping surrounded me, and I smiled a little even as I reached to rub my foot through its sheer protection. My heart raced with exhilaration, and Mateo grabbed my arm to sit me on his lap again with a huge smile and impressed glimmer in his eye.
“Wonderful . . . beautiful . . . ” Flames licked my cheeks, and I mumbled a ‘thank you’ before Mateo turned to Theo, still standing by the door. “I told you coming here was a good idea, Theo. It’s always nice to find someone like her after dealing with nasty, slimy, lying, sneaky cunts constantly.”
“You’re the one that fucked her, Mateo.” A dark shiver lodged between my shoulder blades, and I glanced over my shoulder only to find Theo staring directly at me. Well, more like glaring. “What does it say about you that you got involved with her, huh?”
“She was the one that started shooting up again instead of coming to me, Theo.” The sudden sharpness in Mateo’s tone rose the hairs on the back of my neck, and I flexed my foot for good measure before taking my cue. Standing up to position myself between his spread knees, I raised my arms and swished my hips as I became part of the room. “That bitch should’ve known better, but she disappeared. And I get word today that she’s using again. That’s unacceptable. It’s also unacceptable that you haven’t found her yet.”
“We looked thoroughly. No one’s seen her since the deal went down at Keystone Foods.” Are they talking about Sylvie? Oh . . . Rolling my lips between my teeth as the guy under Marcella spoke up, I carefully masked my expression. “Mateo, I promise you we looked under every rock. She’s gone.”
“That’s not good enough!” The nasty snarl rolled up my back, and I gasped when Mateo shoved me unexpectedly. Tumbling to the floor, I flailed a little, and I tensed when unfamiliar, strong hands grappled my shoulders before I face-planted into the table. Surprise widened my eyes when I looked up to find Theo looming over me, but our eye contact was brief before Mateo drew all attention.
A high-pitched squeal cracked through the room like lightning, and my head whipped up as Marcella stumbled over the side of the sofa. Mateo flew into an absolute rage, rearing his arm back to punch the guy in the face several times with practiced, quick jabs. He grunted with the effort, earning a satisfying crunch from the guy’s face, and I tried to make myself as small as possible.
Sinking into Theo’s chest in the hopes that his broad shoulders and muscular arms would hide me, I tried to block out the sound of fist crushing cheek. Covering my ears, I silently wondered what the absolute fuck Sylvie had done getting mixed up with this guy. If she was who he was after, I would probably be top on the list of people he’d visit.
Oh-ho-ho . . . this was bad.
This was really, really bad.
“You’re fucking incompetent. You can’t even find one drugged up bitch in this city. It’s not that fucking difficult! If you turned over every stone, why the fuck haven’t you found her yet!” Punctuating each statement with a hard punch, Mateo’s voice boomed through my palms and rattled my brain. Calloused palms squeezed my shoulders, and I tore my eyes off him to find Theo, still, staring. Honestly, it was getting a little creepy at this point, and I held my breath as anxiety flooded my veins. As if sensing my rising apprehension, Theo sort of rubbed my shoulder with his thumb, and tension build to constrict my chest.
He only has three fingers on one of his hands.
“Oh.” Jumping when Theo stood up swiftly, I tore my eyes off him to watch Mateo drop heavily into the seat he’d just abandoned. He breathed fire through flared nostrils, his pretty face red and pinched in anger, and I scrambled to stand up. My shoulder and arm tingled wildly, and an eerie stillness descended on the room as uncertainty floated between my coworkers and I.
Mateo cleared his throat roughly, and my chest tightened when he flashed me a pensive, apologetic smile and gestured me to him. Snatching my wrist, he pulled me into his lap again, and my heart made a bid to jump out of my chest.
“I apologize for that. I shouldn’t take my frustration out on you. You’re just a random stripper, after all. It’s not like my problems are your fault.” Anxiety curdled my blood when he started petting me like I was a kid getting blamed for something I didn’t do, and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled wildly.
No, but I’m involved and that’s bad enough.
5
Theo
Leaning on the wall with my arms crossed tightly over my chest, I scowled as I watched Illya swish her hips with an ease that came with practice. Well, of course, she had practice. She was a stripper and this wasn’t some dumpy club accepting anything with an ass and tits. The smooth lines of her long, lean body glistened under the lights as they switched from blue to purple to pink to green and back again.
Taking a shallow breath through my mouth, my lips thinned at the pungent stench of alcohol even as my brain wafted through it. Illya dipped, balancing on her heels with her knees out, and I clenched my jaw as I watched her ass jiggle. My palms itched to grab her and see if those globes were as tight as they looked.
My guess was, yeah, they definitely were.
Under the intense sharpness of tequila, the smell that curled tantalizingly up from her hair fogged my mind. It must’ve been a strong scent, because the booze was so thick here that it dripped down the walls. Reaching to rub my jaw roughly with my left hand, I tapped my bicep with what was left of my right hand.
“Theo.” Grunting without tearing my eyes off Illya, I ran my hand through my hair— the hand with all five fingers, because what’s a comb without bristles? “What would you do in my situation, huh?”
“I’d kill her, honestly.” My eyes narrowed into slits when Illya paused, losing her composure, and I cocked my head absently at the slightly frozen part of her face, right around her mouth. “There’s no way this turns out good for you, Mateo.”
“Yeah, I just don’t want to jump the gun.” At that, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, and I shot Mateo a hard glare as he flopped his head back against that nasty-ass sofa. My chest tightened in sympathy at how hard this was for him, but . . . come the fuck on, man. This wasn’t rocket science. “Don’t you think it’d be worth it? To beat the odds?”
“I think it’s unnecessary. Beating the odds is one thing, Mateo, but you’re wishing for something that’s not going to happen. If you find her, she’ll have to detox and all that shit. Do you really wanna watch that?” At some point, my eyes drifted back to Illya. She was much better to look at than Mateo, anyway. Granted, Mateo had that pretty boy, Spanish features, silky accent thing going on. Shaking my head viciously, I exhaled a hot breath as fire licked up my spine and down my legs. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re as important to that drugged up slut than she is to you. You fucked twice, it was a mistake, all that bullshit.”
“Yeah, I’m still gonna try, though.” Mateo was in love, and I guffawed when he just ignored me. Only
, he wasn’t in love with that bitch Sylvie, who was desperate to lower her debt and starting to slide back into bad habits well over two months ago.
No, he was in love with the thing inside her that he’d so carelessly let happen. Truthfully, I felt kinda bad for Mateo because there was no way that this scenario would play out with a happy ending. Not that talking sense to him is going to do any good. He’s dead set on trying to have this baby.
“Since Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumbfuck can’t do their jobs, I want you to find her, Theo.” Grinding my teeth, I only jerked my head in a nod, and Mateo glanced over at Johnny with disgust on his face. “Get out. I’ll deal with you later.”
Johnny shuffled up with his busted face and dejected, slumping shoulders, and I frowned under furrowed brows. The guy was already on thin ice after fucking up with his last job, and I shuffled out of the way to let him out. My gaze swung past Illya to Cris, Johnny’s much younger, junior kinda partner, who was staring at the stripper’s ass so hard it was almost comical.
“Tell me exactly what you two did looking for her, Cris.” Obviously, no one had tried too hard to find this chick, and I wasn’t sure why. Mateo hadn’t been subtle about what would happen if she couldn’t be smoked out of her hole in the ground. Cris cleared his throat, sitting up a little straighter, and I tuned out the conversation to turn my attention back to Illya.
She was pretty, with her deep, dark blue hair and vivid, eyes so green they were probably fake. I scanned Illya’s muscular legs, outlined in tight stockings, and a throb rippled across my abdomen to stiffen my cock. Mateo dragged my ass out here because he “needed a change of scenery”, and I had to say I wasn’t as disgruntled about it now as I was on the way.
“You didn’t even talk to her roommate!” My body sprung into action before I even consciously registered Mateo screaming at this kid who was no older than nineteen. Jumping forward as he, once again, shoved Illya, I just grabbed her without thinking to push her behind me. My boss advanced on Cris, as if he wanted to beat face, but stopped himself when he realized that it wasn’t Cris’ fault.
Cris was a hardworking kid, and my gaze flickered between him and Mateo as the other stripper rushed to huddle behind me. Swiping his hand through his jet black hair, Mateo rolled his shoulders and huffed as Cris tried to get eaten by the sofa cushions.
“Did you even bother with going to her apartment?” Mateo tugged his button-down shirt and cleared his throat, but the tension only mounted in his back when Cris shook his head with uncertainty.
“Johnny thought she wouldn’t be there, so there was no point in going. I told him to check her job, then, but we started checking crack houses instead. He told me that she wouldn’t be stupid enough to go home or to work.” Long, thin fingers hugged my arm, and I glanced down as Illya peeked out from over my shoulder. So close, even behind green lenses, I could see how curious she was, and a frown dragged down my mouth. My muscles gorged on apprehension and adrenaline, and my cock ached as I fought the need to grab her hand and . . .
“Theo.” Swinging to Mateo, my gaze narrowed into tight points, and Illya tensed against me. Clenching my jaw hard when she pressed her body into my back, I exhaled hotly through flared nostrils as my boss shot me a nasty look. “You’re on top of this, now. Asking Johnny was a mistake. Do whatever you need to do to find this bitch.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I’d get the job done. I’d worked for Mateo for almost three years now, and had never failed him a single damn time. We were mutually beneficial to each other because I wasn’t in this for advancement or money or infamy, and he didn’t want to deal with the politics of someone trying to climb the ladder.
“I’ve scared them again.” Mateo rubbed the back of his neck almost sheepishly, and a headache sprung behind my eyeballs at how quick he flew between rage and normalcy. “I think it’s about time I left and gave you girls some peace.”
“It’s okay.” Illya wasn’t the one that spoke up, and I reached around with my mangled hand to keep her still. The other stripper stepped out from behind me with an understanding smile puffing out her cheeks, but I didn’t trust Mateo as far as I could throw him.
And that was pretty far, a good thirty feet, at least. Mateo was a fucking lanky shrimp, after all.
“It’s honestly, perfectly fine. We don’t get a lot of excitement, just a lot of creeps. I was meaning to ask you, do you box or anything? Those were really good punches.” My eyelid twitched as the brunette tried to keep the party going, and Illya groaned softly in annoyance. The soft noise rolled up my spine and dug violently between my shoulder blades, and I squeezed her arm weakly. Mateo grinned, his face practically lighting up like a Christmas tree, and the hairs on the back of my neck flattened.
“Yeah, I do, actually.” He sounded so damn happy that someone noticed his expert punches, and I snorted incredulously. The tightness in my chest eased, and I unhooked my pinky and pointer finger from around Illya’s arm. She sorta hung back, reading the atmosphere, and I tilted my head to watch her rub where I’d grabbed her gingerly.
Fake, green eyes flickered to mine, and my own narrowed into tight points as Illya flushed in the face. My cock ached fiercely, and I reached to adjust myself in my jeans. Her cheeks fired red, although my action did nothing to relieve the almost painful prickling in my thighs and abdomen. For a long moment, I watched her get redder and redder with a pleasant, burning satisfaction bubbling up in my chest until she rushed to sit on the sofa.
“So, do you have any special skills, darling?” Mateo broke my daze as he pulled the other stripper into his lap, and I inhaled sharply with a shake of my head. Repositioning myself by the door, I crossed my arms— an ever-vigilant statue ready to catch bullets— but . . .
I couldn’t keep my eyes or attention off Illya. Mateo could be getting shot at in this moment, and I wouldn’t care. Which is worrying, but there’s something about her.
6
Illya
“Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse. At least those guys tipped super nice.” Smiling as I stuffed a rubberband-held wad of cash into my fanny pack, I only nodded at Marcella’s musings. My fingers still tingled wildly where I’d touched Theo’s arm, and my own was damn near numb from his grip on my bicep. The strange sensation of being grabbed by a man with no middle or fourth finger rose the hairs on the back of my neck even now, hours after they’d left.
The club was quiet, the DJ working quietly on the floor, and I didn’t have anything more to distract me from the fact that Theo stared at me for almost two hours straight. A shiver of uncertainty slithered up my spine, and fire blazed just under my skin at the memories that played so fresh in my mind. Tightening the strap of my pack absently, I gnawed on my bottom lip as my thoughts wandered.
Theo was downright creepy with that stare, but I couldn’t help but think he just didn’t have much experience with women. Screwing a woman and finding her attractive were two different things, and the vision of him fixing himself flashed behind my lids when I blinked. Yeah, definitely not the kind of guy that dated.
Doing that was so damn gross, and a shiver rattled down my spine before I forced myself to focus for a second. Checking to make sure I had everything I needed, I glanced over as Marcella waited by the door, and a guilty smile stretched my lips.
“Sorry, tonight was really weird. I’m still trying to process it.” She nodded in understanding, and I took a stabilizing breath as we headed out of the back and onto the main floor. “That guy, Mateo, he just . . . he flew off the handle so fast. I wasn’t expecting that at all. He seemed pretty alright for the most part, but . . . ”
“I totally get it. I didn’t walk into that room thinking I’d get knocked over the sofa, for sure.” Marcella flipped her hair over her shoulder as she spoke, and I hummed softly in acknowledgment. “I bet that’s why I got such a huge tip. That guy seems like he has a lot of unresolved issues though to get angry like that and then get so . . . almost bashful?”
“Yeah.” Pushing open
one of the doors, I took a huge breath of the crisp, night air and sighed a gust. “I have to go wash this stuff out of my hair. I kinda just wanna go to bed, but then I’d get dye all over the place.”
“You probably spend more money on temporary dye than food, don’t you, Illya?” She smirked slippery, and I nodded with a little giggle as we approached my bike. “Anyway, do you want me to give you a ride? We can stick your bike in my back seat.”
“No, I like the ride home. It’s super late and no one’s out. Even the tweakers don’t come out at this time of night. They’re super paranoid when it gets so dark.” My wry reply earned me a chuff, and Marcella wandered off to her car wordlessly as I unlocked my bike. Hoisting my only mode of transportation off the rack, I wound the chain around the handlebars and swung my leg expertly. Within seconds, I was off, and I pumped the pedals a few times before starting to cruise.
Tonight was like every other night— the blinking traffic lights, the quiet streets, the darkness broke up only by tiny streetlamps. Sailing into a left turn, I glanced behind me absently, and a car pulled out of the tiny gas station across the street from the club. In the darkness, the lights from that one car were almost blinding my peripheral, and I blinked hard as I twisted forward.
Mateo might’ve been a wild ride, but Theo was really the one that disturbed me. His eyes only left me when they had to, and he fit into the category of ‘creeps that don’t seem like they’d hang out after closing but definitely would’. I had no doubt that, at some point, he’d show up at my apartment, too. It wasn’t a stretch to realize they were talking about Sylvie.