“Honey, I’m so—”
But she clearly didn’t want to hear any apology from him as she cut his words off again.
“It’s probably easy for someone like you to judge someone else when you’ve probably never had to do something morally questionable in your life because you desperately needed to since you’re the son of a rich man. You’re a trust fund baby judging women like me who don’t even know what wealth is,” Honey said, shaking her head. “That’s why I don’t like you. You’re a rich, pretty boy who thinks this is a game. Playing around with the girls at the club like they are toys and causing trouble for them like this isn’t their livelihood, like they aren’t doing everything to survive.
“Just as that asshole’s comments weren’t necessary, yours aren’t either. Next time, I’ll be even more impressed when you stop pretending to be a good guy.”
With that, Honey walked away, and Nikos was left speechless, standing in the same spot like an idiot because he was one. A feeling of deja vu had taken over him as some of those words brought him back to the past when Raelyn had said similar things to him before. The things he had tried to forgetwhen he came here. Raelyn had called him out for judging her morals, and now Honey was doing the same. He kept making the same mistake.
He had throat-punched that guy for being disrespectful, but it seemed he needed to hit himself because he was probably worse. Knowing that he needed to make this right, Nikos caught up to the girls at the food court. Honey stood in line with her arms folded together, and if he had thought she didn’t like him before, it was clearer now. He could feel waves of cold air coming from her as she iced him out and refused to look at him.
“Honey, I apologize for what I said earlier. I didn’t mean…” But could he honestly say he hadn’t meant it? Because he had. Though he had hooked up with a lot of the girls at the club, in the back of his mind, he had been judging them for their actions, thinking they lacked the morals that other women had, just as he had judged Raelyn for being a part of his father’s lifestyle.
“Look, Honey. I—”
Honey ignored him as she went forward to place her order, and she continued to ignore him all throughout lunch and as everyone went their separate ways. She wouldn’t accept his apology, and Nikos couldn’t blame her for that. The only guy who deserved to get punched today was him.
C H A P T E R
10
AFTER FINISHING HER PERFORMANCE, HONEY HEADED STRAIGHT TO THE BACK, ready to go home. Because she only performed on the main stage, there was no point in her staying longer than necessary. She planned on getting changed and then picking up her check for the night, so she could return home and relieve her sister of babysitting.
As she walked down the hall, she heard excited chatter coming from the dressing room, and her eyebrows rose, wondering what could have all of the girls excited unless it was another one of those conversations about the guests inside of the private rooms, which Honey could admit was quite entertainingat times. Some of the men in those rooms were into strange things, and that was why they came here.
When Honey stepped into the room, to her surprise, the excitement had nothing to do with gossip but all to do with the new items in the room that hadn’t been there before she went to perform. The room was pink, filled with bouquets of light pink roses covering the vanities and the floor. A clothes rack was in the middle of the room, and Honey walked over and was surprised to see brand new exotic wear for their dancing, expensive clothes on top of that as she checked the tags that were still on. On the other side of the room, the table in the back corner was filled with shoe boxes, and some of the girls searched for their sizes to try them on.
“Look at this, Honey!” Allison exclaimed as she looped her arm with hers and tugged her over to another table. “It’s Chanel and Marc Jacobs and Prada!”
The table was stacked with bottles of fragrances, enough that many of the girls there could take more than one if they wanted. Honey picked up the Chanel fragrance she had seen at the mall a few days ago, a desire to smell it again taking over her. But then a frown settled on her face because, though it was nice to see the room filled up with so many nice things, it was also surprising. In all of her years working here, Antonis had never done anything like this before. They got paid based on the money given to them by the customers on the floor. Antonis made it clear that their pay at the end of the night was dependent on how well they danced and entertained the customers. It had been the same way at Uptown and, as far as she knew, the same way at every club. No one was this giving. It was hard to believe he would do something like this.
Through all of the chatter and excitement, they all heard a knock on the door, and everyone whipped their head aroundto see Nikos standing inside the doorway, and instantly, Honey realized Antonis hadn’t done this. It was Nikos.
“Nikos!” some of the girls shouted in unison, probably realizing the same.
“Hello, ladies,” Nikos said, greeting them with that same sly, seductive tone he usually had. Honey sat the fragrance back down and folded her arms on top of each other defensively. If she had known it was from him, she wouldn’t have even touched it. She was still peeved by his comments at the mall a few days ago. Honestly, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Most men shared the same opinions as Nikos, seeing them as nothing but women without morals and playing with them like they were dolls and toys. But it still annoyed her that he had hung around them that day, smiling in all of their faces, when he thought of them like that.
Nikos was just another man that didn’t see women’s worth and used them as he pleased, and this was probably some manipulative tactic. Maybe he thought she had told the other girls what he said. But she hadn’t. She knew how women were when it came down to the men they liked. On top of that, some of the girls did not have self-respect, so even if Nikos said something disrespectful like that to their faces, they would still be with him for the money and good sex.
“What’s all of this for?” Rachel asked curiously. The smile on Nikos’s face disappeared as he cleared his throat, and Honey blinked, surprised by how serious he looked right now. She had never seen him this way before. For once, he didn’t look like an asshole.
“I want to apologize for my behavior. I have said some comments about exotic dancers that I shouldn’t have, and I realize now that it was wrong of me to do so. So, I sincerely wantto apologize to you all and to let you all know that I’m grateful and I respect you all.”
All the girls glanced at each other, quiet settling into the room for a brief second as everyone processed his words. Even Honey found herself at a loss for words because she hadn’t been expecting this. The gifts were one thing, but he actually sounded sincere, and his blue eyes showed that especially when they landed on her. Her breath caught for a second, feeling like a good amount of those words were directly for her.
“And we appreciate you too,” Allison said. “Look at everything you got us. We can have it, right?”
“It’s yours,” Nikos said, nodding. “So, does that mean you all accept my apology?”
A series of yeses followed, and soon Nikos’s blue eyes found their way back to her again as if her forgiveness was the most important. But Honey only continued to stare at him with a frown because though he looked sincere, she wasn’t so certain that was the case, and honestly, she hadn’t expected any of this. She hadn’t even expected an apology, and stubbornness was clinging on her tongue, and she didn’t know how to give forgiveness. If her sister were here, she would tell her to stop being mean, but Honey didn’t know Nikos enough to know if he was being sincere or not.
“Thank you so much, Nikos,” Rita said as she came over and gave him a hug, and soon most of the girls crowded him. Nikos smiled at them all, taking in the praise with his flirtatious one-liners before James knocked on the door.
“Antonis is calling for you,” James said. Nikos nodded.
“I’ll be back, ladies,” Nikos said as he took his leave, and the girls flocked back to the rack of clothes and shoes. Once he was gone, Honey went back to her vanity and sat down.
“Aren’t you going to get anything?” Amber asked her in passing, and Honey shook her head. If she weren’t going to accept his apology, then she wouldn’t be shameless enough to take his gifts. She went to grab her makeup remover when she noticed a single rose on her desk, along with a card. It was the only white rose in the room. Honey opened the card, and there were only three words written inside.
