PAYBACK (A Bad Boy Romance) (25 page)

I
didn’t know
whether to be relieved or distressed that Frankie had managed to smooth the way into a position at Chester’s. All I knew was that Chester’s was everything I’d ever heard it to be — which was pretty gross.

The floors were sticky with God-only-knew-what and the clientele were just as sketchy.

There was a reason I never considered working here before.

I’ll admit, in the beginning, all I was thinking of was saving Frankie but now, I was interested in taking down this Terano Rodrigo.

My parents weren’t the best of people. They lost custody of us very young. Frankie and I spent our lives bouncing from one foster home to the next.

I knew men like Terano. They were evil.

Politicians liked to talk a big game about cleaning up the streets, welfare reform, and making America safe again but that ship has long passed.

The reality was the poison coursing through the veins of America was too deep.

It would take an entire reboot of the system to make it work again and we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an activist.

I spent my life trying to survive and with Frankie’s help, I emerged relatively unscathed from my childhood, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t see what was happening all around me.

“There’s only one rule in Chester’s,” the manager said with an oily smile that gave me the willies. “And that’s the customer is always right. No matter what. Got it, sweet cheeks?”

Sweet cheeks
. Blech.

Coming from his mouth made me feel as if I needed to wash out my brain.

I nodded dutifully, earning an approving smile. “You’re gonna do real good here, sugar. I can feel it.”

The lascivious grin that followed was too suggestive for my tastes but I was here to play a part. I needed to appear vapid, completely incapable of rocking the boat so that Terano wasn’t spooked.

One glance around revealed girls who were on the ragged edge of desperation milling about, their behinds and breasts wiggling everywhere, nearly spilling out of the embarrassingly obscene Chester’s uniform.

I think a showgirl wore more on stage than what we were forced to wear.

I could feel the stale air on my butt cheeks as the impossibly tight shorts rode my crack.

My breasts were barely covered by a tight bustier that shoved everything I had practically up my nose.

I would never in a million years wear this get up anywhere, much less in public where I had to serve people.

No wonder Chester’s girls are accused of being whores.

In the murky gloom of the place, I saw one of the waitresses disappear into a back room with a man in tow.

I glanced away quickly. I could guess what was happening back there and I didn’t want anything to do with it.

I desperately wished Jameson were here.

I felt vulnerable without him.

But he couldn’t step foot in this place without being made.

So that meant it was up to me to find out where this drop was going to happen.

I was beyond scared but in my experience when people are terrified, one of two things happen: either they freeze or they move forward.

Freezing was never an option.

So it was move forward.

Which was why I was walking toward a table filled with rough characters with a frozen smile on my face.

“Can I get you guys anything?” I asked prettily, earning an apprising glance from the leader. He didn’t look like the picture Jameson had shown me of Terano but I wasn’t taking any chances.

“Are you on that menu?” the man asked with a coy grin.

I laughed. “Not tonight. What’s your poison?”

“Tequila,” he answered, gesturing. “For all my boys.”

“Should I bring the bottle?”

“Smart girl.”

That was debatable. If I were truly smart, I wouldn’t be in this mess.

I started to walk away but one of the men abruptly pulled me into his lap. I smothered a shriek and laughed nervously. “What are you doing? I can’t get your drinks if I’m sitting on your lap.”

“You’re new.”

“Just hired today.”

“I like you. You smell clean. Like fresh peaches.”

His hand traveled up my bare leg and I had to stop from leaping from his lap and swimming in a bleach bath. He smelled of dirty leather, stale smoke, and rotten teeth.

If he tried to kiss me, I’d gag.

“Stop mauling my sister, Miguel. Unless you don’t want that hand any longer.”

I’d never been so relieved to see Frankie.

I popped up with a crazy smile, so happy to be out of that man’s clutches. I kissed his cheek. “Thanks for the good word with the manager.”

“Anything for you, sis,” Frankie answered but the look in his eyes told me he hated that I was there. And he really hated what I was wearing. “Get the boys their drinks.”

That was my cue to split and I gratefully took it.

My heart was hammering and I struggled to remain calm when I wanted to freak out.

I wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing but I wasn’t going to bail.

The world didn’t need people like Terano Rodrigo running free.

Jameson wasn’t a saint but if he could put away a wretch like Rodrigo, I was all for it.

My soft spot was for kids.

Maybe because I saw so many fall through the cracks of the system only to be gobbled up by men like Rodrigo.

Broken kids were easy pickings.

I’d hazard a guess that every girl in this disgusting place had a sad story to tell.

And all it took was a seemingly kind person willing to listen to get them to walk right into the trap.

Only once the door shuts, there was no escape.

And Frankie was part of this world?

I hated that realization with a passion.

I’d always kept myself away from Frankie’s world for a reason. I didn’t want to see my brother in that light.

He was a good man to me.

But to Jameson, and probably the rest of the world, he was just another low-life dealer, getting kids hooked on drugs and trafficking in crime.

I know that was Frankie’s fault. He’d chosen this life but that didn’t stop me from loving him as my big brother.

And he was protecting me again by walking into the lion’s den, knowing full well that he might get eaten alive.

I returned with the tequila as requested and put down the bottle along with several shot glasses.

The leader nodded and said, “Put it on my tab” before dismissing me. I only caught bits and pieces of the intense conversation he and Frankie were having but what I did hear worried me.

“You better not be working for the cops, Frankie.”

“I ain’t working with no cops. My sister bailed me out. That’s why I got her a job here. She needs the money. I ain’t no snitch. You know me better than that, bro.”

“I used to think I knew you, but now? I don’t know.”

I hustled away from the conversation, too afraid my facial expressions might give me away. I was too jumpy. I needed something to steady my nerves if I was going to get through this night.

One of the girls sidled up to the bar, the one I saw disappear into the back room with a patron, and ordered a whiskey before turning to me with a jaundiced eye.

“And who the fuck are you?” she asked without preamble, flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder.

“New.”

“Yeah, that’s obvious. What’s your name smart-ass?”

“Ivy,” I answered. “What’s yours?”

“Starr.”

“Is that name your mother gave you?” I asked, unable to stop my brow from arching.

“Fuck no. That’s the name I gave myself because I am a
star
. Or I will be someday. What’s your deal? Girls like you don’t work at Chester’s. You a narc or something?”

I balked at being so obvious but tried to play it off. “No. I just need the money. I heard Chester’s is good for tips.”

“I make decent cash. But you gotta be willing to do a little extra and something tells me…you ain’t down with that.”

“What makes you think that?” I asked coolly.

“Because you all soft and sweet-like. Not many girls stay that way around here. You sure you’re in the right place?”

“We all have our reasons for doing what we do,” I said, signaling the bartender. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

The bartender served up a shot of Jack Daniels and I downed it, choking only a little as the liquor went straight to my head. I rarely drank. I didn’t like the way it robbed me of control of myself.

But tonight I needed a little liquid courage.

I gestured discretely toward Frankie’s group. “What’s the story with those guys?”

Starr smiled coyly. “Going straight for the play-makers. I respect that. But don’t get your hopes up. I’ve got that on lock-down so find your own sweet spot.”

So Starr had called dibs. She could have them as far as I was concerned but I needed information I could pass onto Jameson so this nightmare could end.

“Why do you call them play-makers?”

“Because they make all the plays, stupid girl,” Starr replied with an eyeroll. “Look, I’ll give you a crash course but you better pay attention because I don’t repeat myself.”

I nodded and Starr continued.

“Okay, so you know the Cobalt Vipers run this town, right?” Again I nodded. “Good. Remember that because forgetting who actually calls the shots could put you in the ground.”

“What do you mean?”

“Honey, why do you think there was a job opening?” Starr retorted and I tried not to blanche at her implication. “Someone didn’t like to play by the rules and now that someone…isn’t around no more.”

I stared. Was she saying…?

“Look, put your eyes back in your head, you’ll be fine if you just follow the rules. Terano’s boys is real nice if you’re nice to them. They tip real good, too. Not like the regulars who expect to stick it up your ass for the cost of a hand-job.”

Anal?
What the hell did I sign up for? “You…um…do that?”

Starr giggled. “Girl, you as skittish as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers. Hell yeah, I do it. Taking it up the ass is a money-maker. And if it’s done right…it feels damn good.”

I don’t think I’d ever let someone do that to me.

Not even Jameson.

I swallowed a cold lump of fear. “I’m just here to work…not sell myself.”

“Like I said…you’s soft, girl. You ain’t gonna last a day here with that lily-pure attitude.”

I wasn’t pure anymore — Jameson had seen to that — but in comparison to Starr?

I was practically a nun.

The group motioned to Starr and she left me behind. Starr landed in the grimy one’s lap and I turned away abruptly, but not before I caught an eyeful of the man filling his hands with Starr’s giant boobs.

And she was rubbing her behind suggestively against his groin.

That’s an image I would have to drink bleach to remove.

It’d only been hour but I was ready to go home.

Too bad my shift didn’t end for another four hours.

Heaven help me…

H
ank
and I waited in the parking lot of Chester’s, watching as low-life came and went. I hated that Ivy was in there with those wretches but we all had parts to play.

“You okay?” Hank asked, keying in on my tension. “You’re wound pretty tight. Maybe you need to get laid.”

“Maybe,” I agreed with a shrug. I couldn’t tell him the real reason I was jacked up. If I couldn’t explain my feelings to myself, how was I supposed to make heads or tails of it to my partner?

“You think Frankie is going to come through?” he asked.

“He doesn’t have a choice.”

“You think he cares about his sister that much?” Hank scoffed, revealing his opinion on the score. “I say we screw Frankie and just work on the girl. She’s our ticket.”

“You’ve seen her. She’s not cut out for this shit. I’d rather not have a civilian on my conscience if something goes south.”

“Gotta break some eggs to make an omelet,” Hank reminded me, which I didn’t appreciate in the least. He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t kill the messenger. I’m just saying what you already know. What’s gotten into you lately?”

“It’s this fucking case,” I growled, which was partly true. “Taking down Terano Rodrigo has become my white whale.”

“White whale?” Hank repeated, confused. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know, Moby Dick?”

Hank’s blank stare said I’d lost him. So much for the public school system. But who the hell was I to judge? I wasn’t much for classic literature either.

“Forget it.”

“I know you’re hot for Terano and we’re going to get the bastard,” Hank promised me. “But I’ve never seen you so…I don’t know…
off
before. It worries me.”

I glanced at Hank. “I’ll be fine as soon as Terano is behind bars.”

But I wasn’t sure that was the truth. Hank was right; something was off with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ivy.

If it were just sex, I could easily chalk that up to lust and be done with it but I wanted to protect her, make her laugh…hell, make her breakfast every damn day after I’d thoroughly plundered every opening in her body.

This felt like an obsession I couldn’t shake.

And it was affecting my thinking.

“How long we been chasing Terano?” I asked.

“Too long. I don’t know, two years?” Hank took a guess.

“And yet, he always slips through our fingers. Why is that?”

“Because the man is slippery as fuck,” Hank answered as if that should’ve been obvious.

“No…it’s more than that. He always seems a step ahead of us every time. Maybe we have a rat.”

Hank shrugged. “Maybe. Money talks. But I don’t see anyone driving around in a new Ferrari. And besides, unless you’re pointing fingers at me or the captain, who else would know about our operations?”

Was that what I was saying?

Of course not. Hell, I was just talking out of my ass right now. “I’m just talking out of frustration,” I said. “I don’t think we have a rat but I’d sure as hell give a kidney to find out how he’s always ahead of us.”

“That trend is about to change. He’ll slip up. He’s getting cocky.”

That he was. Terano used to meet in secret with layers of security but now he’s just taken up residence at Chester’s as if the club was his own personal office space.

That took balls and the security to know, no one was going to mess with you.

I was itching to walk into the bar but I knew I couldn’t. I had to trust that Ivy was okay.

But I was low on trust these days.

The fact that I had to just sit tight and wait was killing me.

Hank poured some hot coffee from his Thermos and sipped at it. “Want some?” he offered. “I made enough for two.”

“No thanks. My stomach is still recovering from the last batch of coffee you gave me.”

“Puts hair on your chest,” Hank boasted, enjoying the tar he liked to call coffee.

I grunted and returned my attention to the club.

Hours dragged by but Terano was a no-show.

I drove Hank to his car and then returned to the club in time for closing.

Ivy appeared at the side door with Frankie. I wanted to know what they were talking about but I couldn’t hear their conversation.

Frankie hugged Ivy and I scowled, hating that she trusted that shitbag more than she trusted me.

Of course she didn’t trust me. What had I done to earn her trust?

I didn’t deserve it.

So get over yourself.

When did I become such a moony pussy? Crying into my milk because some broad didn’t want to ride off into the sunset with me.

I straightened when Frankie walked Ivy to her car and waited until she drove off before he climbed into his own car.

Okay, so maybe Frankie wasn’t as big a shitbag as I’d thought.

At least not when it came to Ivy.

That counted for something.

I wanted to know how the night had gone and I couldn’t wait any longer.

Pulling up to Ivy’s place, I saw she wasn’t home yet.

I waited.

Great, now I was a stalker.

Ten minutes later, Ivy drove into the driveway but didn’t see me parked across the street.

My groin tightened at the sight of her in that Chester’s uniform. Her behind wiggled, revealing two sweet cheeks that I knew only too well how nicely they fit in my palm.

I couldn’t wait any longer.

“Jesus, that uniform is obscene,” I murmured against the shell of Ivy’s ear, startling her as she slipped the key in the lock.

“Jameson! You scared me,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”

“Debriefing,” I answered, spanning my hands along her waist, inhaling the scent of her skin. We walked into her place and I shut the door with my foot. “You look highly fuckable, baby girl.”

Ivy cast a coy smile my way as she preened with seeming innocence. “You think so?”

“Baby, I know so.” I pulled her into my arms, hungry for the feel of her around me. “The question is…business or pleasure first?”

“I’m tired,” Ivy answered as if that would dissuade me. “Can we talk about the night later?”

“Good call. Sex it is.”

And then I scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Because there was no way in hell I was ending this night without being inside her at least once.

This case was going to kill me.