Deadly Seduction (24 page)

“Hey, it’s me. Did I call you at a bad time?” I recognized the voice as Brianna and grimaced slightly.

We weren’t the best of friends but I tried to be cordial to her because the kids needed their real mother despite Cillian’s demands she not come around too often. Now that I was pregnant, I thought it was essential we all learn to co-parent together. Neither Declan nor Caitlin needed the issues a new baby would cause.

“Well, at the moment, no time is a good time. What’s up?” I sat back in my chair and tried to stop the memories from fourteen years ago from dragging me back into their living hell.

Of course it would make sense; Conan’s birthday was coming up later this month and it held a certain significance. He’d been snatched from my arms all those years ago, and yet, it still felt like it’d happened yesterday. Now I was pregnant with his biological siblings—twins on top of that.

“I need you to come by Essential Assets after work. It’s really important, and you know how Cillian feels about me,” she said in a soft voice barely above a whisper.

“Why can’t I just meet you at your condo? I’m not sure I want to be caught in a strip club.”

Brianna laughed out loud. “Believe me, if you want to become an old lady and not just be a side bitch because this trial is guaranteed to drag on for the rest of the year then you’ll meet me at my job.”

Now all the sudden, she had my attention. “What does this concern exactly? I mean, why is it so urgent we speak tonight?”

“You know how technology is nowadays. I’m certainly not going to discuss this matter with you over the phone, sweetie. You’re a smart woman, and you know phones can be tapped. I can’t risk speaking about it to you right now.”

I chewed on my lower lip before I sighed out loud. “Fine. What time do you want to meet?”

“Fifteen minutes after seven. That is when I go on break.”

“Okay, see you then.”

The phone clicked on her end and I set my Samsung Galaxy down on my desk.

“Who was that?”

I glanced up and realized Kyra had been there the whole time therefore she’d heard the conversation.

“Brianna Cox. Apparently she has something to tell me but I have to watch her shake her naked ass before I can find out what the hell is so damn important.”

She laughed out loud. “Have fun watching all those naked tits. You’re just full of surprises today.”

“Don’t you have work to do or somethin’?” I looked back at my MacBook Pro and studied some notes for Monday’s court session. It was surprisingly dry, technical evidence that was slowly chipping away at the government’s weak case against Cillian.

“Or somethin’.” Kyra smiled before she sat down on my desk. “I’ve got a date tonight with Cricket. You know, Connor Shaughnessy?”

That aroused me from what I was studying on my laptop. “What? How old is he? Twenty-four? Are you that desperate you’re dating a Saint member that is so much younger than you?”

Kyra pursed her lips as her blue eyes sharpened. “He’s twenty-five and we’ve been goin’ out for the last couple of months. It’s not my fault you’ve had your head so far up Cillian’s ass to notice. He’s surprisingly sweet and I don’t want to date anyone from my dad’s Club. I grew up with those guys…to sleep with one of them would just seem—I don’t know…incestuous?”

I sighed again as I looked toward my notes. “Sorry. I’m a shit friend at the moment and to be honest, I have no room to judge you. As long as you’re happy and getting laid, it’s all good…even if you are a cougar.”

She slammed her hand down on my desk. “I am
not
a cougar! Damn, girl, we just made thirty! Jeez, you act like I’m sneakin’ around with a teenage boy! He knows how to work it and for the first time in God knows how long, I could see this actually going somewhere. He’s a cool guy and he treats me like a lady even if I act like a whore in the bedroom.”

“That’s a little too bit much information—more than I needed but I’m glad you’ve finally found someone who’s gonna stick around longer than a week.”

“I know, right? I thought for a minute there I would never find anyone who’d hold my interest.”

I shook my head. “Go home, Kyra, and get ready for your date. Don’t forget to call me tomorrow. I want to know all the juicy details.”

She smiled as stood and began to walk out of my office. “You know I will.”

The moment she shut the door, I saved my notes and powered down my laptop. I wasn’t looking forward to going to a strip club but it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice.

Essential Assets was the type of high class “Gentlemen’s Club” the wealthy and elite of Carson City frequented.
There was absolutely nothing trashy about the place what so ever, and it was obvious the women, like the clientele, were classy with perfect bodies and knew how to work the pole with artistic precision.

I walked in after I paid the high priced fee for non-members, and the bright, airy space was alive with the sizzle of excitement and the promise of sex.

Brianna was on stage doing an upside down split as she slid down the pole while wearing seven-inch, black Mary Jane platforms. She ground her body to Chris Brown’s “Love More” before the song ended and she began another set to Panic At The Disco’s “Miss Jackson.”

My face burned and I knew it was an unflattering shade of crimson as she threw a leg around the pole, her breasts free as the song kicked into high gear. I sat down next to the stage because I might as well enjoy my full humiliation in all its glory.

She wore a black thong and sweat gleamed off her alabaster skin. She turned my way and smiled in acknowledgment as she lip synced with the song before she bent down and slowly shimmied out of her thong.

Christ on a stick—I had no idea this was a full nudity strip club until I looked around and noticed the nude dancers in metal cages around the stage gyrating to the music.

Brianna slapped her ass for an older gentleman in the front row before she bent over and did a full on split. The men hooted and hollered as one hundred dollar bills rained on the stage.

I enjoyed my the club soda a waitress sat in front of me until the song came to an end and the DJ announced, “Give it up for Scarlet, one of our premiere and most requested dancers! Now, you know you can get an exclusive lap dance from this gorgeous filly from the Green Isle for only one thousand dollars. Up next, why don’t you fine gentlemen give it up for Raven!”

A gorgeous exotic looking woman approached the stage in barely-there, sheer white baby doll top, a matching thong, and a pair of clear six-inch heels. She stepped onto the stage as Brianna slipped her thong back on and walked down the stairs into the general audience. Her breasts jiggled as she flirted with patrons before she made her way over to me.

“Sorry about that. Let’s go.”

I stood quickly and followed her through a dimly lit hallway where she said “Hello” to what had to be her “regulars” and promised them lap dances before the night was through.

We finally made it to the dressing room, a brightly lit area where various dancers were getting ready and Brianna slid on a black sheer nightie that barely reached the top of her toned thighs. A young hostess walked in and handed her a white envelope full of cash, and she set it down at her station before she turned her full attention on me.

“A bit overdressed, aren’t you?” She looked me up and down with penetrating steel gray eyes before I looked down at my conservative beige suit.

“I was in court today and then I had to dash off to my office.” I sat down on a seat not far from hers and realized it was Raven’s station.

Korn’s “Love & Meth” could clearly be heard through the closed door though it was low enough we could talk without shouting.

“I don’t know how you do it,” I began before I faced her again. “Surely there is a better way than…
this
.”

“There is and you’re gonna do me a huge favor after I do something for you that can end this shit storm of a case. I’m goin’ to give you something that will
guarantee
you the happily ever after you want with my ex-old man,” she stated casually before she crossed her legs.

“What’s that?” I wondered out loud.

My heart beat fiercely in my chest, and all I could think about was this whole case and how it could finally be over. If that happened, I would be the happiest woman in the world. My whole life could return back to normal; Cillian and I would have a real chance to raise a family and he could ascend to Club President.

“Well, you know I’m hookin’ on the side, right? I mean, I gotta make a livin’ and I’m not gettin’ any younger. I got good genes and I don’t
look
twenty-eight but God knows I feel every minute of my age.” She sighed before she grabbed a Marlboro Silver from a pack on her dresser and lit it. “I got maybe two more years in this business and the money here is good but I need the kind of money that can set me up for life and we know there is only one man that can do that for me.”

I smiled though it lacked mirth. She wanted me to set up a meeting with my dad. Brianna wanted to work for Raymond Jackson because his girls made top dollar and everyone knew they could become millionaires by the time they retired.

“You
want
to work for my father, and become one of his call girls?” I laughed out loud before I shook my head. “This is just…too much irony to handle in one night.”

“Why not?” She shrugged her shoulders and dragged on her cigarette. “I like to fuck and as soon as Cillian dispatches of me, he’s not goin’ to give me one red cent because he’ll have custody of the kids. No judge would ever choose me over him—not with the drug charges and the stints at Rehab. I know what I am and that’s a whore, Gisela. I could never be you and I wasn’t gonna kid myself into thinkin’ even if I tried, he’d love me. It’s impossible to give love when you don’t have it in your heart.”

I crossed my arms against my chest and nodded. “Fine. You’re a bit…
older
…than my dad usually likes his girls to be but you
look
young so like you said, that’s a plus.”

Brianna smiled before she opened her oversized Coach purse and pulled out a USB adaptor and palmed it into my hand.

“What’s this?”