Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (25 page)

Colton smiled, answering her question
without words. Vida wanted to strangle him.

“
Go on in. Ice is waiting for you.
Your bitch can wait out here with the others and me.

“
But I want…” Vida
interrupted.

“
Doesn’t matter what you want. No
women are allowed in church. Go on, Colton, I got this.”

“
I won’t be long,” he said before
disappearing behind a door to the side of them.

“
Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Gert’s no nonsense attitude left Vida without a choice.

Gert led her into a large room with several
chairs, two pool tables and a large bar with several bar stools. A
large group of women were sitting in the oversized chairs, talking.
They were all of various ages; several seemed to be her own age or
younger, but there were many who were older.

They stopped talking when Gert entered the
room with her.

“
This is Colton’s old lady, so you
bitches better behave,” she threatened the women. “You want a
beer?” she asked Vida.

“
Thanks.” Right now Vida needed all
the alcohol she could get with the women all staring at
her.

Gert went behind the bar before coming back
with a cold beer, handing it to her. “Thank you.”

“
Well, isn’t she polite,” a blond said
snidely.

“
Better watch your mouth,” a pretty
brunette said, getting up and coming forward.

“
Why do we have to kiss her ass?
Colton’s not a member anymore. Dumb fuck got caught…” A loud smack
across her face had her falling backward into the chair she was
sitting on. Gert was standing over her.

“
I told you to be nice, bitch.” The
blond shut up, holding her cheek.

“
That’s Rita, and I’m Crush.” Vida
smiled at the pretty brunette. “Have a seat, and I’ll introduce
everyone else. Vida took an empty seat next to a young looking
girl, wondering if she was even eighteen.

“
Hi, I’m Rave.”

As the other women introduced themselves,
Vida wasn’t sure she would remember their names, she was so
nervous.

“
How did you meet Colton?” Rave asked.
Vida told them about her meeting Colton at the strip club and even
the women that had given her a cool reception seemed to
defrost.

Rita came to sit next to her. “I didn’t
realize you were a sister. From the way you were dressed, I thought
you were a stuck up cow. I stripped, too, before I met Lizard. He
didn’t like a bunch of strangers staring at my tits.”

“
He doesn’t mind if every man in the
club sees them,” Gert taunted.

“
That’s different.” Rita shrugged her
shoulders.

“
Yeah, he knows you’re a slut,” Gert
interrupted again.

“
Old woman, I’ll pull that grey hair
out of your head for free if you don’t shut the fuck
up.”

Gert leaned back in her chair laughing.
“Come and get me.”

Rita ignored her, turning back to Vida. They
were still talking when the men came into the room. Colton came
under attack from several of the women, each trying to get his
attention. Several even kissed him on the mouth, taking turns.
Vida’s blood was beginning to boil.

“
Calm down, they’re just saying hi,”
Gert said by her side.

“
They don’t have to use their tongue
to do it,” Vida replied sharply.

Colton, seeing her, broke free from the
women and came to her side. He curled his arm around her waist and
pulled her close as Ice and Max managed to edge through the
crowd.

“
Vida, you remember Ice and Max?”
Another man came to stand by Ice. “That’s Buzzard. He’s Ice’s
vice-president.

Vida acknowledged each man, her eyes on the
one behind the group with the scar.

Colton’s arm tightened on her when he saw
who she was staring at.

“
That’s Jackal. He’s Ice’s
sergeant-at-arms.”

“
Why did Ice need to see you?” Vida
dragged her attention from the club members, concerned for Sawyer’s
safety.

“
Ice wanted to tell me what went down
last night. Seems the FBI hit the recording studio, the basement
had about ten women held there, and they were in bad shape. A
couple of Digger’s men were arrested. Digger was there, but he
managed to escape.”

“
No.” Vida couldn’t believe the slimy
bastard managed to get away.

“
Yes, stupid fucks let him slip
through their fucking fingers. Now he’s blaming King for ratting
him out and he’s determined to get back at him then kill him, in
that order,” Ice confirmed her worst fear.

“
How do you know?”

No one answered.

Vida remembered what Seth had told her about
Digger having some friends left in the Predators. Vida was willing
to bet that one or two were merely pretending to maintain an eye on
what Digger was up to. Then another thought occurred to her.

“
Digger will go after Sawyer,” Vida
whispered. If there was a connection to King, he would kill Sawyer.
“We have to find her.”

“
We already have the word out. It’s
going to take time.” From his voice, Ice didn’t hold out much
hope.

Vida turned toward Colton, burying her face
in his chest, not wanting anyone to see her crying.

“
We’ll find her, baby.” Colton tried
to give her hope, but Vida knew from losing Callie that sometime
help came too late.

They stayed until it grew dark. Colton stood
at the bar with his friends, laughing and joking around. He had
lost a lot when he had gone to prison for Tessa. He had a life,
friends and a business he had sacrificed so the woman he had
married and who had carried his child wouldn’t suffer.

“
He’s a nice guy,” Gert said next to
her.

“
Yes, I’m finding that out,” agreed
Vida.

“
One woman has already fucked him
over. I understand your friend is in trouble, but I don’t want
Colton to get himself in trouble again trying to protect another
woman.”

Vida stared at Colton. Gert was right, he
had no stake in this. He was only involved because of her. “I won’t
let him get hurt,” Vida promised.

“
If you do, I’m going to kick your
ass,” Gert promised with a hard glare.

“
Okay.” Vida was going to make sure
that Colton wasn’t hurt, whatever it took, although it had very
little to do with Gert’s promise.

“
What are you both looking so serious
about?” Colton asked, handing Vida another beer.

“
I’m telling her she needs to get some
sexier clothes if she’s going to be your bitch,” Gert
lied.

“
I like her just the way she is. Leave
her alone, Gert.”

“
I will. If she takes my advice,” she
said with a meaningful look.

“
You ready?”

“
Yes,” Vida answered.

Colton went to tell Ice they were leaving
while Vida said goodbye to Rita, Crush and the other women. As they
left, she caught Ice and Jackal’s eyes on her. She had a feeling
that they had the same idea as Gert, that she was leading Colton
down the same path Tessa had. Vida was going to prove them
wrong.

Chapter 19

When they returned to the apartment, Vida
dried the clothes she had washed earlier and started another load.
Colton didn’t volunteer to fold the clothes when she dried the
second load, but he did rub lotion onto her tattoo. Vida figured it
was an even trade.

“
Do you think Tessa will show up for
work tomorrow?” Vida asked, watching for his reaction.

“
Not if she’s smart,” he said
grimly.

“
It doesn’t matter, Colton. If she
wants to come back, let her. I feel sorry for her.”

Colton looked at her as if she was
crazy.

“
I do. I don’t know that I would act
much better if I saw you with another woman,” she
confessed.

“
You wouldn’t lie. You would get mad
and probably throw something, but you wouldn’t lie. Roni would have
told her the truth, that I never touched Goldie. Tessa always lies,
either to cause trouble or get out of trouble. She never tells the
truth.”

Vida couldn’t understand why the woman had
destroyed her marriage for drugs. Instead of owning up to it to try
to save her marriage, she had lied. Even more, selling herself to
keep the lie going.

Tired, Vida showered and dressed in her
pajamas. She came out to find Colton waiting for her on the bed
with a wicked grin.

“
Oh no, you don’t. I’m tired and
sore,” Vida said adamantly.

Colton held out his arms for her and Vida
sank down into them. “I like this.”

“
I do, too,” Colton replied. “Of
course, I like the other, too.”

Vida’s eyes closed. “Did you try to call
King again?”

“
Yes, he’s still not answering and no
one has seen him at the club.”

“
Could Digger have him?” Vida was
worried. Even though King was ruthless, he had tried to help when
no one else would.

“
I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait
for now,” Colton replied.

Wait. That was all she had been doing the
last few weeks. She was getting sick of it.

Vida’s mind went back over that day that
Callie was almost hit by the car, trying to figure out what she’d
missed. It was impossible; it had been too long ago for her to
remember the details of that day perfectly enough. The only way to
find out was to find Sawyer. She was the only possibility of
figuring out how King was involved in this mess. They had to find
Sawyer, she was the answer.

***

Vida volunteered to get coffee across the
street while Colton opened the shop.

“
Don’t be long.”

“
I won’t.” Vida crossed the
street.

The coffee shop was busy with the line out
the door. She was about to turn away, not wanting to worry Colton,
when she heard the sound of a car slamming on their brakes. A car
double-parked, not noticing the other cars =blowing horns behind it
because of being cut off. The drivers behind the parked car began
driving around the double-parked one.

Wondering what the hurry was for a cup of
coffee, Vida recognized the woman getting out of the car and waving
at her.

“
Vida, come here!” Ashley yelled when
Vida didn’t move toward her.

“
What are you doing? That car almost
hit you,” Vida said, noticing the woman wasn’t wearing make-up and
looked scared to death.

“
Get in. I need to talk to you,”
Ashley said, getting back inside her car. Vida hesitated, but got
inside the car. The woman looked too frightened for Vida to
ignore.

“
What’s wrong?” Vida asked as soon as
she was in the car.

“
King’s disappeared.”

“
I know. I’ve been trying to get in
touch with him.”

“
He disappeared after that stunt we
pulled with Briggs.”

“
That same night?”

“
He was furious when I came downstairs
and told him what Briggs told me. He took off, and no one’s seen
him since. I heard about Briggs getting arrested and Digger getting
away. I may not be the smartest cookie in the pack, but I’m smart
enough to get my ass out of town, and you should, too. I don’t plan
on ending up like those poor women in that basement. I can’t be a
sex slave. I don’t even like sex with men. I like women more than
men.” The woman was giving more information than Vida wanted or
needed.

“
Slow down, Ashley. Tell me what
Briggs told you.”

“
After you left, he drank some more. I
couldn’t understand half of what he was talking about, but then he
started talking about a chick named Sawyer. Sherri told me the only
reason you were stripping was to help your friend Sawyer. I didn’t
figure there were two women named Sawyer, so I knew he was talking
about your friend.”

“
What did he say?” Vida tried to keep
her on track.

“
He just said a name over and over.
Said King would never find her.”

“
What was the name?”

Ashley reached into her pocket and held out
a piece of paper. “I don’t know what it means and I don’t want to.
I’m moving back in with my parents. If you want my advice, Vida,
it’s to get out of town at least until King shows back up at the
club. If he does.”

Ashley put the car in gear. Vida took the
hint, getting out of the car, and watched as Ashley pulled out,
cutting off another furious driver.

Vida opened the piece of paper,
reading the name on it. She drew a blank, not knowing what it
meant.
Mouth2Mouth
. However
she did know where she could find the answer.

Vida rushed into the tattoo shop, ignoring
Colton, Reverend and Carlito who all stared at her empty hands.

“
Where’s the coffee? Colton said you
were getting it,” Carlito asked.

“
I forgot it,” Vida said, powering up
her computer.

“
What’s happened?” Colton asked,
frowning.

“
Ashley was outside. She told me
Briggs told her something, but she didn’t know what it meant. I’m
going to look it up on the internet.” She handed him the piece of
paper.

Colton opened the paper with both Carlito
and Reverend looking over his shoulder.