“Oh?” He leans forward once more, ready for this tidbit of information. “What kind of money is she going to roll in?”
“I have no idea.” I haven’t looked for many reasons.
He squints at me. “If she gets the job, you’re not going to ‘participate’ with this woman, are you?”
I know what he means. He’s asking if I’m going to be part of the videos again. Before my cousin, it was common for us to share girls, so he knows I’m more of a watcher than I am a participant. Rarely did I get ‘involved’, so when I was a participant in the videos, he knew I didn’t like it.
I wet my bottom lip, and he whistles low because he knows that’s my tell when I haven’t decided something yet. “She must be some woman.”
I shrug, but even I know that she’s more than that. “She’s just another employee.”
He laughs. “I know you too well, Feenix. The few girls we had together, who you actually involved yourself with, you liked for more than just for their beauty. If you’re considering this, she must have really gotten your attention.”
I don’t answer him. Instead, I flag the waiter for another whiskey. As soon as he brings it, I have half a mind to drain it all because Charlie is not something I want to talk about. In fact, I’ve spent my day actively trying not to think about the way she cums.
He leans a little more forward into the table, and I know there is advice coming by the look in his dark eyes. “A word you should heed: Don’t get involved. You have a job to do if you want to keep it. A woman will make it messy.”
I hum in agreement, and, satisfied, he rights himself to more of a proper sitting position. “Did you get that envelope I had delivered to your place?”
“I did.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Did you look at it?”
I shake my head. What he had delivered was part of a life I no longer keep, even though he thinks I do.
“You need to look at it.”
“I will,” I lie. The large yellow envelope is under my bed, and I have no intention of opening it.
The waiter comes with our tray of food and quietly sets our plates down before us. My steak steams as if it has just come off of the heat, and the smell makes my stomach growl.
My phone pings again, and I reach for it, but Noll places his hand over mine, causing me to look up at him. “It could be your way to the top, Nix. Don’t lose sight of what you want most. Not now, not ever.”
I clench my jaw as his hand retreats, and I pick up myphone to check the notifications. It’s an email from our tech guy, and I open it quickly, having been waiting for this news all day.
Last night, after I dropped off Charlie, I called our tech. With some extra cash thrown her way, she looked into Charlie for me, and hopefully, if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll keep what she found to herself.
I quickly scan through the email and find the background check to be generic, which is a red flag. No arrests, no family, not even a speeding ticket. So what the hell is a girl like this doing in my neck of the woods, trying to get a job that’ll ruin herself?
Another email quickly follows on the stats of Charlie’s videos, CC’d to my boss. My eyes widen a fraction at the views she’s gathered in half a day. I expected her to do well, but I hadn’t expected her to be the top viewed.
I grip my phone a little tighter.Shit.
She’ll make a shit-ton of money, and I’d hoped it’d be the opposite and I could send her on her way, save her from this life, and never think about her again.
But with that kind of money . . . even if I tried to turn her away, Andre has to know what she’d bring in. Without a doubt in my mind, I know he’d take her. Not only Andre, but there’s not a chance in hell the boss will let her go.
There isn’t a way to get her out of this, and that’s confirmed when the big man himself replies with, “Sign her on,” almost immediately.
My stomach coils as the realization hits me that my hands are tied and there’s not a damn thing I can do for Charlie now. She’s either in this with me, or she’ll become Andre’s ticket for another expensive suit.
I clench my jaw and glance up at Noll, who is watching me as he chews thoughtfully. He sighs when he sees thelook on my face. “You have to go, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. He knows that expression well.
I nod and start to stand up. As I pull enough cash from my pocket to pay for us both and drop it on the table, I say, “We’ll talk soon.”
Turning, I stiffen a little when he adds quietly to my back, “Look at the envelope, Nix. I mean it.”
And with that, I make my way to the hostess for my coat.
