I'm in Love With a Stripper (4 page)

Royce
shut the passenger door and then got into the driver’s seat. Thoughts raced through his head,
what was Alena doing here? Why was she working at Aaron’s club?
Then his thoughts immediately went back to Blake and how much he wanted to murder him.

He focused on driving before
glancing over to check on Alena.
Great, the one time I get to see Alena practically naked this shit has to happen
, he thought to himself.

Royce
continued driving back to his apartment. It took all his strength to keep from staring at Alena and her attire.

Fear and anxiety welled in
Alena’s stomach.

“
Royce, I’m so sorry.” She sobbed. Her words were soft.

“
Please just take me home. I understand if you never want to speak to me again but please just let me say bye to Gavin. I don’t want him to think he did anything wrong or that I don’t love him,” Alena sobbed through muffled words.

Royce
growled, “Alena! First of all I’m taking you back to my place where you will be safe from that bastard. I know Blake and he’s slime. He’s been pestering me nonstop about you since he first met you. You’ll be safest with me.”

“
Are you sure?” Alena stammered. She looked into his hazel eyes with disbelief.

Royce
only grumbled in response.

There was a long period of s
ilence and only the hum of the motor could be heard.

“
Alena, I can’t take this shit any more why the fuck where you working there— especially for a sleazy pervert like Aaron,” Royce questioned.

Alena sniffled.
“I needed extra money to send home to family.”

She
began to tell Royce the long painful story about her family and their financial problems, “My grandfather is very ill and he had to have multiple surgeries that left him with $50,000 worth of medical bills and debt. My mom isn’t able to work because she has to take care of him.”

She paused
to wipe tears from her eyes.

“
My younger brother can’t bear the financial burden of it all and he deserves the chance to go school too. I am almost done with nursing school—I can’t drop out now but I am still another six months from graduating and making decent money. My roommate, Jessica started dancing awhile ago and she talked me into it. Just a few nights a week and I am able to send money home to help pay my grandfather’s debt and provide for them,” she confessed.

Instead of understanding
Royce just became even angrier. His facial expressions gave it all away.

“
Alena! Why the fuck didn’t you tell me all this! You could have just asked me for the damn money! Is it not obvious that I’m loaded!” Royce yelled.

“
I’m sorry Royce. I could never ask that of you,” Alena replied softly.

“
So you would rather get yourself almost killed instead?” Royce retorted angrily.

“
I’m sorry,” Alena answered.

Royce
parked his car as they arrived at his apartment. He opened the door for Alena and she stepped out he lifted her small body into his muscular arms and started to carry her to his apartment.

“
Royce, I can walk,” Alena said a little shocked at how protective he was being.

“
No you can’t. You’re hurt remember? With all you’ve been through tonight just let me take care of everything,” Royce replied sternly.

“
But what if Gavin sees me like this?” Alena asked as a pink tint covered her cheeks.

“
Don’t worry I sent the little runt to a babysitter tonight. I’ll pick him up tomorrow,” Royce replied.

Alena
nodded, “OK.”

She relaxed in his arms. She had never felt so safe and secure before.

Royce carried her inside his apartment and set her down on the couch. Alena pulled the jacket around her tighter. She was used to men seeing her naked but with Royce it was different.

“
Do you have any extra clothes here?” Royce asked.

Alena
shook her head, “No, Gavin and I painted so I had to take them home to be washed.”

Royce
went to his room and brought her one of his shirts, “Can you wear this for tonight?”

Alena
nodded and took the shirt, “Is it OK if I take a shower?”

“
Yeah, go ahead. I’m going to call Aaron and let him know what happened,” Royce replied.

“
So that’s why you were there?” Alena asked.

“
Yeah, do I look like a creep or something? Me and Aaron go way back,” Royce replied.

Alena
nodded, “Oh, OK.”

Royce
got his cell phone out and began to dial Aaron’s number while Alena went through Royce’s room into his bathroom.

His room as well as
his whole apartment was lavish and immaculate. He had a huge king-sized bed with a black comforter and pillows. In the living room there was leather furniture, a big screen TV, a DVD player, multiple video game systems with games, and a beautiful white rug. Gavin’s room was decorated with dinosaurs. Royce spoiled him as he had all the latest games and toys.

Alena
turned on the shower and took off her skimpy lingerie and stepped in. She cried as the water poured over her. She had never been that incredibly scared before. Deep down she knew that she could have asked Royce for the money but she cared for him too much to do that. Alena was stubborn although the recent events in her life had made her special spark dim. She wasn’t as strong as she once was. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks as she crept down on the shower floor and let the water run over her. She sobbed almost uncontrollably. She knew that she loved Royce but they could never be together; to him she was just some stupid girl.

I wonder what he thinks of me now? He probably thinks I’m a train wreck—not done with school, crazy family problems, stripper
on the side… He’s rich and good looking. At times, he has a shining personality. He could have any woman he wanted,
she sighed as she pushed the thoughts out of her head.

She took a deep breath, stood up, washed her face
, and turned the water off. She grabbed a fluffy towel, dried off and put on the clothes Royce gave her. She looked in the mirror the shirt was barely long enough to do any good and she could already see a lot of bruises starting to show.

Great, now what do I do?
she thought to herself as she examined her fresh bruises and black eye.

Royce held his cell phone up to his ear waiting for an answer.

“Hello?” Aaron said answering his phone.

“
Hey Aaron,” Royce said calmly.

“
Hey Royce! Where are you at bro? Are you still coming?” Aaron replied.

“
Are you missing someone at the club?” Royce replied.

“
Huh? What are you talking about?” Aaron replied somewhat confused.

“
Does the name Alena ring any bells?” Royce said sharply.

“
Oh! Yeah! Alena is one of our hottest girls but Blake already requested her,” Aaron replied.

“
Aaron, look I’m going to be honest with you I was already at your club tonight and when I pulled up in the garage Blake had gone psycho on her. I took her home because she’s also my NANNY,” Royce tried to remain calm but he had been so frustrated and enraged by the entire situation.

“
What the fuck are you talking about? She’s in the VIP room!” Aaron said.

“
If you don’t believe me then go check,” Royce replied calmly.

Aaron
stepped out of his office and made his way to the VIP room. To his dismay the room was completely empty and the exit door was wide open.

“
Shit man—I can’t believe this happened,” Aaron said in disbelief.

Royce
heard the water in the shower being turned off.

“
Look I have to go now. You should really be more fucking careful. You know how fucking crazy Blake can be,” he said quickly before hanging up the phone.

Alena
stepped into the living room and sat down on the couch. Royce sat down next to her.

“
Are you going to be OK?” Royce asked.

Alena
nodded.

Royce
looked down at the bruises that were tarnishing her porcelain skin.

“
That fucker. He’s not going to get away with this,” Royce said angrily.

“
Royce, don’t worry about it,” Alena replied softly.

“
Don’t worry about it? Like Hell! Of course I’m going to worry about it! How can I not worry about it?” Royce exclaimed.

Tears began to roll down
Alena’s cheeks.

“
Shit! I’m sorry Alena… wrong thing to say,” he said quickly.

He pulled her close and held her. He let her cry until she fell asleep then placed her in his bed
since the extra bedroom was still empty. He tucked the covers around her. He then went to shut the door but before he could Alena sat up.

“
Royce?” Alena asked sleepily.

“
Yeah?” Royce replied.

“
Will you stay with me?” she asked meekly.

Royce
slipped under the covers with her and pulled her close to him. He couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t gone to sleep alone. His heart had been hardened by a hard childhood and the death of his brother. Instead of focusing on his misfortunes, he focused his businesses and then later on Gavin. All the bad things had made him into the successful businessman he now was. After achieving all of his goals he realized it was useless without special people in his life. Yet, he was too distrustful of people to do this and he pushed them away. He did this with Alena. If he would have been more open with her maybe she would have trusted him enough to ask for the money she needed. Royce breathed in through his nose inhaling her scent. She smelled amazing and her skin felt like silk. As she slept, he stayed awake thinking about everything that had transpired and what he was going to do to Blake.

The next morning,
Royce awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon. He sleepily made his way to the kitchen.

“
Hey you,” Alena said warmly.

Royce swallowed
as he laid eyes on her. He had always imagined her wearing one of his shirts making breakfast after staying the night. Although, he was a bit disappointed in the manner it had occurred.

“
Are you feeling OK today?” Royce asked as he sat down at the table.

Alena
nodded, “Yeah, thanks to you.”

Royce
blushed a little, “Feh, I didn’t do much.”

Royce
watched as Alena cooked. He examined her body with his eyes to see if any new bruises had appeared since he last checked. He wondered how one person could be that incredibly beautiful. Despite having no makeup on, wearing one of his shirts, and bruises peppering her body she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Alena
brought Royce a plate of food and a cup of coffee and sat down beside him.

“
I was thinking that Gavin could stay at Hubert’s for another day or two. We could go get your things today if that’s OK?” Royce said.

“
Are you sure?” Alena questioned.

“
Yeah, of course,” he answered.

Alena
nodded, “Alright. Let me call Jessica and tell her I’m coming since I don’t have my keys.”

Royce
and Alena headed over to her house. Alena knocked on the door. Jessica quickly answered it and immediately welcomed Alena with a massive hug.

“
Alena, I was sooo worried about you last night!” she exclaimed.

“
Aww Jes, I’m sorry— I should have called you,” Alena replied.

“
It’s OK Aaron told me what happened,” Jessica said quietly.

“
Oh! Jessica, this is Royce,” Alena said.

“
Hi Royce, it’s nice to finally meet you!” Jessica said as Royce reached out to shake her hand.

Royce
took Jessica’s hand, “Yeah. Nice to meet you too, Jessica.”

“
Well, I’d really like to change and get my things because I’m going to stay with Royce,” Alena said.

Jessica
nodded, “Of course.”

“
Royce, do you want to come and help me?” Alena questioned.

Alena
lead Royce to her room and began to rummage through her dresser grabbing some clothes and other necessary items.