“The manager, please.”
Her smile falls. “Everything okay?”
Nodding, I pull my wallet out. With a fifty held between us, I say, “Just get me the manager. Everything is fine.”
She slips the money into her bra and smiles again. “Will do.”
I search for Cora, on high alert. Fuck. How is it that the two most important women in my life are in a dark room filled with horny men?
When I find my sister seated at the bar like she said she’d be, with a soda in front of her, watching the show, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Heard you were asking for me.” The man approaching me is dressed in a suit and has slicked-back hair. Stereotypical seedy club manager.
“I’m looking for Savannah.”
The man’s eyes flash in recognition, but he covers it up quickly with a cough. “We don’t give out dancer’s real names.”
“I don’t need you to give me her real name, I know it. I just need you to find her for me.”
He chuckles. “Listen, man, if you’re her boyfriend and you just found out about this, I understand it can be a shock, but the girls are safe here. You can talk to her when her shift is over.”
My anger flares to life, my vision darkening. “She’s not doing a shift,” I growl. I yank out my wallet again and count out ten one-hundred-dollar bills. “This is yours if you go back to that little room and tell her that she can go home.”
He scoffs, his slicked hair reflecting the colored lights from the stage. “She’s not going to just leave. She needs the money.”
I close my eyes and breathe, ignoring the way the place smells.
Fuck.Get it together, man.
When my anger has dissipated a little, I pin him with a look and flash him my wallet. “Fine. There’s another ten in it for you if you make sure she’s not on stage and send her to a private room.”
“Private rooms are fifteen hundred.”
“Tengrand. You and Savannah can split it. I’m sure she’ll agree tothat. Tell her she’s got a private client and then disappear. Understood?”
He swallows thickly, surveying me. “You’re not gonna hurt her, right?”
I reel back. “What? No. I just want to talk to her.”
“You’re going to pay ten grand to talk to her?”
“Yeah.” I’d pay a hell of a lot more than that, but I know this ass is gonna want to keep at least half of it for himself, and I’m not feeling that generous. This way, at least Savannah will have enough to pay her rent and then some. More than anything, I want her to come home with me tonight and never leave again, but knowing my girl, this isn’t gonna be that easy.
“Damn, you must really love her.”
I run a hand through my hair. “You have no idea.”
FORTY-NINE
SAVANNAH
“Savannah,”Max barks from the back of the dressing room.
“I’m about to go on,” I tell him as he stalks toward me.
“Carrie, you’re up. Sav, you’re coming with me.”
The blond next to me scurries to the door leading to the stage. The rest of the girls watch me, brows lifted in curiosity.
