I tilt my head to the side in confusion. “You think I’m punishing her?”
“Well … yeah,” he says sounding confused.
I shake my head. “There is no safer place for her to work,” I inform him.
“You don’t know Taylor like I do. She doesn’t like the bars or clubs. She doesn’t even like to drink alcohol. She won’t make it through one night here.”
I snort. “Give the girl some credit.”
He looks at me with hate in his eyes. “You know I can’t stop you. And she sure as hell isn’t gonna let me tell her no.” He sighs in defeat. But he looks down at me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it looks like tears are in his eyes. It hurts to see how much he loves her. To know that this may not turn out how I promised him. This game has a new player with Taylor. Can I get them both out of this alive? I sure hope so. “You have to keep her safe. She is all I have left. I’ve already failed her before.” He hangs his head in shame. “Please tell me that you’ll protect her.”
I nod my head. After all, that is why I made sure she took this job. I may have other things in mind for her as well, but her safety comes first. “You have my word.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TAYLOR
“Are you Taylor?” I recognize the waitress who was working last night the moment I walk into the club for my first night to train. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. Since college started, I’ve only worked at the coffee shop, and before that, I worked at the mall while in high school. I’m the type of woman who can get by with only a little bit of money. My focus was always on school. Not what pair of jeans I can spend the most amount of money on. But now that my car needs to be fixed and I was fired … I feel like I’m backed into the corner. This just looked like too good of a deal to pass up.
“Yes, I am,” I say with a smile trying to help mask my nervousness.
She doesn’t return it. She looks me up and down and sighs heavily as if she thinks I’m a lost cause. And she’s probably right. “Let’s get an outfit for you. Then we’ll get started with setting up.”
She walks past me and then starts to walk up the stairs back by the entrance. I look around quickly at the club with all the lights on. It looks like an open empty room with a stage at the very front. I find myself doing a circle to look for Case.
“Come on,” the girl snaps. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
I spin around and hurry to the stairs to catch up with her. As we approach Case’s office, my heart rate picks up. Something about him makes me curious. No matter how high his danger level is.
We left last night right after my brother and I got into it in Case’s office. My brother was so mad at me; he didn’t even speak to me as he drove Savannah and me home in her car. I still have no idea what he and Case talked about after he made me leave the room. And once we got to the house, he grabbed a hold of Savannah and they went to their room. It sucks when your brother is sleeping with your friend and you all live together because when your brother is being the baby, he gets all the attention. I could really use some girl talk.
The waitress, who has yet to introduce herself, pushes the office door open and walks in. I suck in a deep breath as I follow behind her, but I let it out when I realize it’s empty.
I sit down on the couch that sits against the far wall while she goes over to the end of the wall and opens a door. She bends down and throws out a few cuss words as she goes through a box. “What size are your tits?” she demands frustrated.
I blink a few times at her. Uh, that’s personal. But I find myself saying, “34D.”
“And your waist?”
“I wear a size three,” I answer softly.
“Motherfucker,” she hisses before she jumps to her feet. “He doesn’t have a D, so you get a C. But he has the shorts.”
I look down at my t-shirt to stare at my chest. “I don’t think they’ll fit in a C.” Their tops already look too tight if you ask me.
She holds up the black corset covered in sparkles. It has the illusion that it ties up the front, but it’s fake. It zips up the back. She admires the top as she holds it up to my chest. “It’ll be fine. Plus, it will just make your tips even better.”
Thirty minutes later, I look at myself in a full-length mirror back in the locker room. Just as I had suspected, the top is too small.
“It looks good.”
I turn around to face the redhead. I know that is not her natural color—it has to come from a bottle—because it is bright freaking red. It’s very pretty on her, though. “They are about to pop out,” I say trying to breathe. She shrugs. “I can barely breathe.” I place a hand on my stomach. “Loosen it,” I order her.
She just shakes her head. “It doesn’t loosen. Plus, if you did, then you would for sure fall out. It needs to be tight. If it’s too loose and you bend over at a table, you will be serving them your tits and not their drinks. Is that what you want?”
“No.” I sigh. “How long until I can get the right size?” I have never worn something this tight in all of my life.
“I left Case a note on his desk with your size and told him to order you one. It shouldn’t take him long,”
