“It’s a little different since today was your first day back full-time with Rita. You can’t run yourself ragged. Are you helping the other dancers or are you dancing?”
I took a deep breath. She loved me, and I reminded myself her protectiveness stemmed from that love. “Sweetie, I know you’re concerned, but we still need money.”
She widened her hazel eyes at me. “You wereattackedthere. They kept you in the hospital for days! Besides, you were there during the day this past month, now it’s already after six o’clock!”
I pulled my cell from the charger and tucked it into my wristlet. “I made five grand the night of the attack. The bastard who did it is behind bars.”
She shook her head. “No, he isn’t. He’s out awaiting his trial. You don’t have a restraining order against him, for all you know he could be in the audience.”
I couldn’t and wouldn’t tell her that Punc had avenged me. He’d taken care of that problem, even if he hadn’t said it outright. “That isn’t happening. The Riot brothers were pissed. You didn’t see how angry Yak and Volt were when they found out it was one of their members. He isn’t going to get past the front door.”
After a long blink, she sighed. “That other motorcycle club could show up instead. Really, sissy, I’ve kept this to myself, trying not to judge, especially since Punc has helped us so much, but you should steer clear of Platinum’s and probably bikers in general. What happened to you was horrendous.”
In theory, steering clear of bikers shouldn’t be a problem (other than being around them at Platinum’s). Once Prime had been handled, Punc stopped staying the night. This worked for me because I was losing my willpower not to jump into bed with him. This might have been reciprocal, seeing as over the past five weeks, Punc had moved us back to the friend-zone. We still talked on the phone nearly every day, and my every instinct said he was attracted to me. I was definitely attracted to him, but there were no more lunches or pizza dinners. I supposed thatwas just as well, or it would have been difficult not to tell him about the debt to Frank.
I aimed a pointed look at Catalina. “I survived. There’s no way to make this amount of money anywhere else.”
She frowned. “You made money because you went viral on TikTok. You aren’t guaranteed to make that tonight. Spending a week in the hospital again would bankrupt you… us, really.”
I might have argued with anyone else, but Catalina had recently turned seventeen. She had a youthful, almost naïve take on the world - though Mom’s unexpected death marred that in a big way. Still, I wanted to protect my sister’s optimism because Mom left us with more than broken hearts.
I took a quick sip of my water. “I only have enough money to pay Frank for four more months. We need the money, sis.”
Her brows shot toward her hairline. “Not at the expense of your safety.”
“The bills—”
“Are being covered by the Riot MC,” she said, her eyes gleaming with smug satisfaction.
“Yeah, I meant ours,” I whispered.
She didn’t hear me and continued. “It’s the least Ted could do.”
“Leave him out of it,” I said, failing to hide my irritation.
“Please, Savannah… The bills can’t be that bad. Find a different job.”
I leveled a patient smile at her. “Sweetie, you know the billsarethat bad. I get Frank squared away, and I’ll be done at Platinum’s. But, it’s gonna take time.”
“Fine,” she relented, and stepped away from the door.
I hugged her. “I’ll try not to wake you when I get in. Lock up after me.”
After I stepped outside, I waited until I heard the lock catch before I moved to my car. I had just hit the key fob to unlock it, when Frank’s black BMW stopped in the driveway cock-eyed.
The window rolled down, the interior light turned on inside the sedan, and Frank sneered at me. “Time’s a-wasting, Savannah. You better have my money by the end of the month.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the window slid up, the car reversed, and he tore out of the driveway.
Shit.
I glanced back at the house. No movement by the front windows. With any luck, Catalina hadn’t seen him roll up. I didn’t know how long I could protect her from Frank, especially now that she was on summer break, but I’d do everything I could to keep her safe.
I sat in front of the vanity mirror inside the cramped dressing room at Platinum’s. No matter how much I needed to refresh my makeup, I couldn’t tear my eyes from my cell phone.
“Did you get another message?” Desiree asked.
This was the third message I’d received in the past two days. There were some customers avidly counting down the time before I hit the stage again. And since some people lived to yuck other people’s yum, I’d gotten messages full of insults and discouraging me from taking the stage again.
