“Where do you want me to change?” I asked, worried about that bruise on my leg.
“Go out into the hallway and go in the first door on the right. Change and then go through the back door of that room into the hallway and look for the room with the light on.”
Still confused but sure I had nothing to lose, I followed his directions to the letter and when I had changed into the skirt, I walked toward the room with the light, noticing the glass on the left wall of the hallway. This was how the dancers appeared in the rooms behind the windows.
Stopping when I reached the light, I turned to see him sitting on a couch in the room, his long legs casually spread in front of him and his arms fully extended out to the sides. For the first time, Kane looked appealing, even sexy. He said nothing and made no movement to instruct me on what he wanted me to do. Unsure of what he expected, I simply stared out through the window at him. He stared back, locking his gaze on mine, and I thought I saw the hint of a smile.
Just as I opened my mouth to ask what I should do, soft music began playing. Still, he made no movement to let me know what he wanted me to do, so I closed my eyes and listened as the sensual rhythm washed over me. Then I did as Gemma had told me to and danced for him.
AS SOON as Abbi showed up in front of that window, I knew what I’d suspected was true. The reason she seemed so frightened became clear. Gemma had done a great job hiding the bruise on her face, but I’d seen enough girls in this job to know when makeup was being used to conceal instead of enhance. Then when I saw Abbi standing there in that skirt, the huge purple bruise on the inside of her knee told me all I needed to know.
I watched as she danced for me, easily better than any of the dancers I already had. As she moved, her body seduced me, and I knew she’d be a favorite of club members. Petite, she possessed a gracefulness that reminded me of a swan, delicate and soft. She was beautiful like an angel in the soft light of the room with her long blond hair gently flowing over the pale skin of her shoulders.
Just watching her behind that window made me want her.
But for all that, I saw things in her that signaled trouble. The bruises told me the ugly secrets of her private life, and I didn’t need a dancer who brought that to my work. Beneath the telltale signs of abuse were the more subtle signs, like the wince that marred her beautiful face when she moved the wrong way and likely hurt already painful ribs.
Somebody had beaten her and recently too.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen this before. My line of work involved more of this kind of behavior than I preferred to see. That someone much bigger than she had laid their hands on her body in anger sickened me. No matter what she’d said or done, she didn’t deserve that.
The music began to fade away, and even as I regretted that she’d stopped dancing for me, I knew it was for the best. I couldn’t help her, no matter how much I wanted to.
When she finished her audition, I forced myself to wave her away, and she left, her expression one of confusion and rejection. I saw her minutes later after she’d changed out of the loaner skirt into the pants meant to hide the evidence of what some boyfriend had done to her. Looking up at me, she waited for me to tell her she’d gotten the job.
“One of us will let you know,” I said flatly, unable to tell her I’d already made my decision as she stared at me with hope in her big blue eyes.
I watched her walk away as I tried to convince myself I’d done the right thing. If only the twinge in my chest didn’t make me feel like shit for doing it.
By the time I reached the first floor, I’d pushed aside whatever she’d brought out in me. Entering Cash’s office, I found him and Stefan still there.
“How’d the girl work out?” Stefan asked in his usual enthusiastic tone. “She seemed perfect to me.”
Eager to take the attention off myself and my decision, I said, “I thought you’d given up on molesting the help since you and Shay got together. Back to your old tricks?”
A look of hurt crossed his face. “No. I just thought she’d be a good dancer. She has a great body, and she’s cute. Nice eyes. The members who like the dancers would love her.”
Leave it to Stefan to hit the nail perfectly on the head. The members would love her. She’d probably make a killing every night she worked. Too bad she’d never get the chance.
Cassian looked at me and shrugged. “So? Can she dance or not?”
“Not really,” I lied. “I don’t think she’ll work out.”
“Are you fucking crazy? How bad was she?” Stefan asked, instantly pushing my buttons.
I sat down in the chair next to him and shook my head, trying to remain aloof. “She’s just not right for what I need up there. I’ll let her know tomorrow.”
“Forget that. I’ll take her. She may not be able to dance, but I bet she can serve drinks like a champ. My regulars will love her. Those big blue eyes will have them throwing money at her and us. Give me her number and I’ll call her. Better to hear good news from me instead of your bad news from you.”
Stefan’s interest in Abbi bothered me. It shouldn’t have, but it did. He’d seemed to have turned over a new leaf since Shay, but was it possible that was all an act? Was he back to fucking the women who worked under him? I knew almost nothing about Abbi, but she didn’t need someone like the old Stefan in her life.
I couldn’t let him or Cash see I cared one way or another, though. “Whatever. I’ll get you the number when I go back upstairs.”
“Great! Maybe she can start tomorrow.”
Cash seemed to not notice Stefan’s enthusiasm at the prospect of Abbi’s becoming a bartender or my apprehension over her working at the club at all. “Well, now that that’s settled, Mason called me for a meeting. I think I’m beginning to miss Shank.”
“He saved our asses, Cash. Mason can’t be that bad,” Stefan said quietly.
“What he is is demanding. I’m worried one of these days that councilman of ours is going to make a demand we can’t meet. Then we’ll have problems.”
The three of us sat silently as the thought of someone even worse than Shank made me worry about the future of our club. Every night it became harder and harder. Hopefully, the deal with Mason to secure Club X wouldn’t turn out to be a deal with the devil.
“You and Olivia going to Mom’s tomorrow?” Stefan asked in an effort to change the subject.
“Of course. You’ll be there? I’m sure she wants to hear all about what’s going on with you and Shay,” Cash said with a chuckle. “How is she?”