I’D BEENback in Miami a week and the Wave was bumping. We were packed, just like we were every Saturday night. Rap alternated with heavy metal, pulsing through the rooms, and alcohol flowed freely at the bars. Our girls bared themselves freely, gyrating on the stage and on laps, making men and women alike very happy campers.
I’d just stepped out onto the floor after hiding in my office most of the night, but not from Marta. She was doing her thing, hanging upside down from a pole, her ankles twisted around the top, her tits mushed into the sleek silver metal, drawing the eyes of many men.
Thank Jesus she didn’t bring our personal baggage into work.
I was hiding from my own shadow and what I might or might not do. My nerves were as frayed as the bottom of my running shoes. Although, I’d told Asher I could handle it all, the truth was I couldn’t.
Not if I didn’t find Lynx.
I was back to staying at Asher’s old mansion where I could get lost in one of the cavernous rooms while I drank and cried myself into a stupor. The only one who would look for me there was Lynx. She knew the place from when Natalie was living in Miami with Quinn, and Asher came to stake his claim. He’d originally rented the joint, thinking he needed to set up camp permanently in Florida to be near his son. But after he made a life in Vegas with his family, he bought the property as a vacation rental.
A while later, he gave it to me to use, and now I wouldn’t let him rent it. It remained a vacant beacon of hope, hopefully guiding Lynx back to me, just like my place in Vegas.
I’d just turned away from Marta’s section and was heading to look in on the back of the bar when Sampson, my head bouncer, called me over the radio. He asked me to check on something at the main door for him.
“Be right there.” I headed toward the front, passing turquoise leather banquettes set against lilac walls and rows of white snakeskin club chairs. Lila had picked out the decor, softening the signature navy and deep purple of the Electric brand with a more tropical vibe.
Hard to imagine she’d been a dancer once. Best there ever was after reinventing herself, narrowly escaping a brutal and violent marriage to some religious freak. Now she ran the most successful franchise of strip clubs with her best friend, Asher, and me.
And she was a mom.
Lila had been pregnant when decorating the Wave, and none of us were going to argue with a knocked-up ex-stripper. Turned out she knew what she was doing. This club had taken Miami by storm, and its popularity didn’t seem to be letting up.
Good, because I needed the money to compensate Carson’s guys when they came up with more information about Lynx.
“What the fuck?” I yelled when I finally reached the main entrance and took in the scene unfolding in front of me.
“We didn’t know what to do, boss,” Jovi said. In a lower voice, he added, “You always say no hookers.”
“Get the hell out of my way, Jovi, can’t you see this woman’s hurt? Use your fucking brain instead of your ass!” Shoving him out of the way, I wrapped my arm around the high-priced call girl and walked her into the club. “Baby, what happened?”
Chantilly leaned her skinny frame into me. I could feel her shaking, tremors running through her entire body.
“Mikey, baby, they got me good,” she said as I settled her on the couch in my office.
I took in her messy hair and torn skirt.What the fuck?
“Who?” I roared. “Who did this?”
Trying to force myself to calm down, I grabbed some ice from my bar and wrapped it in a soft towel. “Put it on your eye.”
God, she’s going to have one hell of a shiner.
“I don’t want you doing anything stupid.” She held the cold pack to her left eye as she shimmied out of her leather coat, revealing a huge bruise on her arm.
“Jesus Christ, Chantilly, just tell me who the hell did this!” I paced the small room, my Air Jordans pounding into the area rug, marking my path.
The hand holding the ice pack trembled. “I don’t really know.”
Taking a seat next to her, I took over holding the ice on her eye while taking one of her hands in mine. Running my thumb over hers, I said, “Shhh, I’m sorry. I’m trying to calm down. You need to take a deep breath and try to tell me as much as you remember.”
Her chest rose and fell through a few deep breaths before she spoke. “Earlier today, I got a call from Bruno. He said there was a bigwig client rolling into town who was looking for a few new girls to entertain him and his friends. He told me they like kink, and a lot of it. Said they wanted two or three girls, a no-questions-asked kinda thing, but big money. Triple the usual rate.” A shudder ran through her whole body.
I removed the ice and wrapped one arm tightly around her. “Shhh, you’re doing good. Keep going.”
Once she’d calmed herself somewhat, her words came again. “I got a daughter, Mike. I keep her dressed and fed. We go to the doctor and the dentist. Her dad’s a deadbeat nobody and gives me shit. So, you gotta understand, I do what I do for her.”
“Honey, I know. You don’t have to justify anything to me,” I said, smoothing my hand down her back and up again.
