But now… Now it was a different story.
And I actually felt bad when I learned of her situation. She didn’t put it all on her resume for obvious reasons, but it was clear she was in a bad place.
We just couldn’t help everyone. It wasn’t possible.
At least we could help her. I felt bad we were now that she was useful to us, and that was odd on its own. We weren’t currently expanding, but we would be circling back to this club and area because the reason we could use this dancer as an in was because of bullshit.
That was putting it mildly, because the owner did illegal bullshit of holding adeposit of payto make sure no one skipped out on shifts. And they had to find their own coverage or he kept the five grand.
Yeah, no big, just some pocket change to most people.
Fucking asshole. So, they didn’t get their full pay until he had them locked in and then they were fucked. They had to getothers to cover their shifts if there was an emergency, and if that person flaked, the owner deducted it from the “deposit.”
Basically, he shorted them five grand. There was no other way to say it. He was despicable.
So yeah, we would be circling back to handle him.
For now, it was how I could immediately get on the schedule without going through the normal hoops. It was beyond crazy and fucking ridiculous. The girl couldn’t even quit until a replacement was found, and after working there for years, she somehow had her full five grand “deposit.”
I snorted. There was no way she was ever seeing that money. I felt bad any of them probably believed there was still a chance for that. It wasn’t even that they were stupid or gullible.
They were just desperate. One more way people that desperate were fucked over, and it was when they gave up.
I knew that feeling well and fully understood how bad of a spot she was probably in.
I wasn’t going to go be the one to talk to her, but something itched in me, so I moved some things around and made sure to be there. Right as someone else raised their hand to knock, I heard the distinct sound of skin hitting skin.
And not in the fun kind of way.
No, this was someone being smacked.
I didn’t even make the decision to get involved. It didn’t evenregisterthat I was going to get involved until the door was kicked in and I was inside the apartment.
“Who the fuck are you, bitch?” the man demanded.
The one with his hand raised like he’d just finished smacking someone.
I slowly raised an eyebrow as I took in the scene. “I’m the bitch with diplomatic immunity, so use the two brain cells you have in the next few moments if you want to survive this.”I smirked when everyone in the apartment froze. “Good, you know what that is.”
“You’re lying,” he hissed.
“Oh, I’m not, which makes it so much more fun.” I turned to the woman holding her cheek. “Maya Grey? You applied for a job with us asking for a new life. Do you still want it?”
“She’s not going anywhere,” the woman in the other room snapped, her beady gaze landing on Maya. “You were applying for jobs without permission? Behind our backs?”
“Without your permission?” I drawled. “Do you own her?”
“She’s my daughter, so stay out of family business,” she sneered.
“No.” I snorted when that shocked her. “Do you need me to say it in other languages because I know them. I also know that having a daughter or granddaughter doesn’t mean youown them.” I hurried on when I felt Kyria go tense, clearly understanding this had hit a nerve for me. “And you’re not worthy of the title of mother with what you’ve let go on here.”
“You know nothing,” she argued. “I watch her kid and—”
“Because you refused to sign the papers to allow your underage daughter to have an abortion when she was fucking raped!” I bellowed. “You used the situation to punish her for trying to get a better life for herself and leave this bullshit! Instead of protecting her and—” The man drew my attention when he moved. “I will break you with a fucking smile. Don’t.”
“The offer is real,” Kyria told the woman we were there for. “We couldn’t hire you before because you don’t have enough experience, but I’m putting together a new training team. I could use help with the logistics. The management of the dancers. Your grades were good before, and you could finish school now.”
The man snorted. “There’s no way you’re offering that for a nobody like her. She’s not stupid enough to believe such bullshit.”
