Authors: B.L. Wilde,Jo Matthews
Owned
OWNED
B.L. Wilde
Jo Matthews
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and events are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © B.L. Wilde 2014 and © Jo Matthews 2014
The right of these individuals to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, nor stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the authors.
Cover Design © Jo Matthews, Written Elegance 2014
Cover images © Peshcova shutterstock.com
© chaoss shutterstock.com
© Maya Kruchankova shutterstock.com
Interior Formatting by Jo Matthews, Written Elegance 2014
Interior image © JungleOutThere shutterstock.com
ISBN-13: 978-1503181502
ISBN-10: 1503181502
There are so many people we’d like to acknowledge, but no way to name them all. Instead, a special thanks goes out to a select few.
To Andrea and Jeanne for being amazing pre-readers and catching any mistakes we may have missed. The book wouldn’t be the same without you ladies! Thank you!
To our friends in the Fandom. You know who you are. Thank you for your encouragement and support! It means the world to us!
To our blogger friends who went out of their way to help with promoting us and this book. Thank you for everything you to do help make it successful!
Last, but certainly not least, to our readers and fans. Thank you so much for giving us a chance. Knowing that we can make people happy with our stories and characters is what makes being indie authors worthwhile!
A roll of the dice will decide their fate...
Siena
I was nervous; there was no doubt about that. It was my first day at a new job, but that wasn’t anything new. I’d been changing jobs every few months for the last three years. No…I was nervous because I would be doing something I had never even considered doing when I was growing up.
After taking a deep breath, I looked up at the building in front of me.
Come on, Siena! You can do this! This is exactly the break you’ve needed, so grab it by the balls and run with it. Own it! You’ve got this!
With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I grabbed the handle and opened the door to Cherries, one of Chicago’s most well known Gentlemen’s clubs. Despite still being slightly on edge, I managed to walk in with my head held high. As I took a look around, I realized that the place wasn’t at all like I had expected. When I thought of strip clubs, I thought of dark, dingy places filled with crack whores who would do anything for their next fix. Cherries was dark, but the place was pristine and well taken care of. The few women I noticed around the establishment were well groomed and extremely gorgeous, making me pause for a moment to wonder why I was even offered the job in the first place. I was a plain Jane compared to the beauties here.
Still, I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. After straightening my posture, I approached the bar with a smile on my face. A petite but beautiful young redhead approached me when she noticed me standing there.
“What can I get ya, Hun?”
I glanced around before bringing my eyes back to her and speaking. “Actually, I’m supposed to be meeting with Mr. Valenti. Do you know where I can find him?”
Her bright blue eyes travelled up and down my body as if she was sizing me up. I was about to clear my throat when she cracked a smile and answered. “He’s in the back room with the boys. Go down that hallway and it’ll be the last door on your left.”
“Thank you.” With a quick smile, I turned around and headed in the direction she pointed. I had one more chance to back out—to leave and never look back—but I had only ever run from one thing in my entire life, and to this day, it continued to chase me. There was no way I was running again. Cherries may have been a strip club, but I was very clear with Mr. Valenti when he made the offer. I would not, under
any
circumstances, take my clothes off for anyone. I would happily dance for him, and wear skimpy clothing while doing it, but I wasn’t a whore. I wouldn’t strip for money, and I definitely didn’t plan on fucking people for it, either.
When I got to the back room, I stood in the doorway and took in my surroundings. Mr. Valenti was sitting at a poker table with five other men. There were also several guys standing around the room, all with very serious looks on their faces. I realized in that moment that Mr. Valenti, whomever he was, must have been a very important man…
not
someone to be messed with.
With a few sets of eyes on me, I slowly stepped through the doorway and cleared my throat, gathering the attention of the rest of the room. Mr. Valenti quickly rose to his feet and walked up to me.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Valenti. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
He laughed, slicing right through the thick tension in the room. “Nonsense, my dear, sweet girl. And please, call me Carlo. I reserve Mr. Valenti for individuals I
don’t
like.”
I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but I couldn’t keep myself from laughing. He was a very intimidating person, but also had a way of making me feel at ease. It was one of the reasons I even considered the position in the first place.
“Carlo, thank you again for this opportunity. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I trust you were able to use the money I gave you to procure appropriate attire for your debut?” he asked, eying me up and down with a questioning look.
I patted the oversized purse I was carrying. “Yes, of course. I just figured it would be okay to change here. Was I wrong?” I had chosen to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a tight fitting, red top. It was sleeveless and low cut, accentuating my cleavage perfectly. I had chosen not to dress in the outfit I bought for my first dance because I didn’t want to look like a tramp before I had to.
“No, dear girl, you may change here, but before you do, I’d like to introduce you to a few people.” With a smile on his face, he put his hand on the small of my back and led me toward the table.
All the eyes in the room were on us as we stood in front of several men, who all rose the moment we approached. “Trixie, I’d like you to meet my son, Antonio, and the manager of this club, Ryan Lawson. Boys, this is Trixie, our newest dancer.”
I smiled at the two men, who both looked to be in their early twenties. Antonio was what most would consider tall dark and handsome, but he wasn’t at all my type. Ryan, however, was gorgeous—sex on legs with his light brown hair, crooked smile, and a body to die for. He didn’t look like someone you wanted to piss off, though…that was for sure.
Reaching forward, I shook Antonio’s hand politely, a chill running down my spine as I did. The way he was leering at me with his nearly black, beady eyes, creeped me out, so I quickly pulled my hand away. When my eyes met with Ryan’s, however, I couldn’t look away. His dark green orbs gazed directly into my soul, and I felt myself get weak in the knees.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Trixie,” he greeted with the silky smooth voice of a god. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning at the pure sex that dripped from his tone. “Welcome to Cherries.”
“Uh…th…thank you,” I replied, completely flustered from his penetrating gaze. Finally breaking eye contact, I turned toward Mr. Valenti and smiled. “What time will I be dancing tonight, Mr. Val…uh, Carlo?” I asked. I needed to put some distance between Ryan and me. If I didn’t, I was afraid I would end up jumping on him right then and there.
“Let me show you around the club first, and then you can change in the locker room. Are you okay with that?”
“Sounds great.” As we walked toward the door, I felt eyes following me. Chancing one last peek at the table, my eyes met with Ryan’s again and my breath caught in my throat. He was staring at me intently, as if memorizing every inch of my body. The look of lust on his face had me unconsciously clenching my legs together. Until today, I had never had a man make me squirm with just a look. Damn, what I wouldn’t give for a night with him.
Carlo glanced back to see what I was looking at, then placed his hand in the small of my back and led me through the door.
After Carlo showed me around, he introduced me to Libby, one of the other dancers. She was a real sweetheart, and for the first time in years, I could see myself actually becoming friends with someone. Libby was tall and slender, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. Her personality was what drew me in, though. She was from a small town like I was, so she was easy to relate to.
Libby introduced me to several of the other ladies, most of whom had no qualms about taking off all their clothes for extra tips. They had gorgeous bodies, and they weren’t afraid to show it. A few of them were pretty friendly, but most were standoffish and obviously thought I was beneath them. That didn’t bother me in the slightest, though. I was here to make some money, and once I had enough, I was going to disappear—for good.
Libby and I talked for a few minutes at the back of the club before she led me to the locker room so I could change. Not wanting to leave mid-conversation, she stayed with me so we could finish chatting. As much as I liked her, I was leery to share anything about myself or the past I was running from. Maybe I would be more comfortable in time, but for now, I had to keep those secrets locked away.
I set my bag down on one of the benches and removed the new outfit I had chosen specifically for today. Never having been to a club like Cherries before, I had to guess as to what I thought the patrons would like. I ended up choosing a pair of silver hot pants and matching bikini top, finishing off the outfit with some sexy, strappy silver stilettos.
While I didn’t plan on taking my clothes off for money, I wasn’t ashamed of my body. I stripped down in front of Libby and put on the new outfit, grateful that she seemed to be trying to give me a little privacy by not staring at me while I changed, at least. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my makeup bag and walked to a mirror on the wall.
As I listened to Libby tell me a little more about herself, I applied my makeup, putting it on heavier than I normally would. When I was done, I stood back and stared at my reflection, hardly recognizing the woman in front of me. My mousy brown hair hung in ringlets down my back, and my mocha colored eyes stood out strikingly against the smoky grey eye shadow I wore. My lips were coated in a deep burgundy lipstick, and my cheeks were slightly pink from the rouge I had brushed on. Satisfied that I looked pretty hot, I turned around to face Libby.
“Damn, Girl! You are fucking
sexy!
If you look like that every night, you’ll have all the guys here eating out of the palm of your hand in no time,” she giggled. “Do you have a song selected for your first dance? We have a kickass DJ named Jesse working tonight, and he has almost every song you can think of. I think you’ll like him. Come on, let me introduce you.”
I had to laugh because she hadn’t even given me time to answer her question before she was dragging me out of the locker room and up to the DJ’s booth. She was right, though. Jesse was a cool guy and did have practically every record imaginable. As we talked music, I couldn’t help but smile. I may have been there to dance and show off my body, but the fact that Jesse didn’t once leer at me like most of the other men in the club had, made me instantly like him. Maybe he was gay.
When I told him that I wanted to dance to Madonna’s
Like a Virgin,
he grinned at Libby and shook his head. “I think she’s trying to make a statement. What do you think, Libs?”
Libby just laughed and grabbed my hand, then proceeded to drag me backstage.
By the time the current song was drawing to a close, my palms were sweaty and my heart was pounding in my chest. I had taken ballet in high school, and to warm up, we would do some exercises with a pole. To actually pole-dance, though—seductively in front of a room of drunk, horny men—was a completely different story. Needless to say, I was nervous as fuck.
Libby must have been able to tell, because as Carlo’s deep, melodic voice came over the sound system to introduce me, she pulled me into a suffocating hug. “Relax, Trixie. You’ll do perfectly fine out there. Just remember that you’re in control, and stay confident and sassy. The men will eat that up.” She pulled away like nothing weird had just happened, then slapped me on my ass and shooed me out onstage just as Carlo announced my name. “Good luck!” she whispered before making her way back out front to watch my performance.
I took my place right by the pole, and even though the room was nearly pitch black, I could feel several people watching me. When the music started and the lights came on over the stage, I placed one hand on the pole and circled it, making eye contact with as many of the men in the front as I could. I made it all the way around and then bucked my hips into the cold metal, sliding up and down a few times before spinning around it again.
I had a few tricks in my arsenal, but I wanted to save those for a little later on in the song. Still gripping the pole, I walked halfway around so my back was to the crowd. There were loud catcalls and wolf whistles when I started shaking my hips to the beat of the music. They got even louder as I hooked my left leg around the pole and spun in quick circles until my ass was on the ground and the pole was between my legs. Using my hands as leverage, I planted my feet and lifted my hips, thrusting against the shiny object seductively.