“When does she go on tonight?”
“Eleven.”
I gave her a nod, and she turned and walked out of my office. Hunter was like an annoying little sister. I took her under my wing, taught her how to deal with her trauma, and let her be my right-hand woman. But right now, I was ready to slit her throat. Everything she was doing was irking my ever-living last nerve, and I was tired of it. She needed to deal with her own demons.
No one intrigued me this much since Olivia. I didn’t know why I was fascinated with women with shitty upbringings. I didn’t know Kadence’s story, but I was sure it was not the greatest. Olivia kept her pain bottled up until the first night she stayed with me, and it led to the murder of her stepfather for touching her. She was my sunshine, and I did anything to ensure the storm clouds stayed away from her.
Kadence screamed innocence, but I knew she wasn’t. She was a timid little kitten in a big dog-eat-dog world. I wanted to know why she chose my fucking town, and why the moment she stepped foot here, the demons from my past decided to rear their big, ugly fucking heads.
I made my way downstairs, keeping to the shadows. Why did I decide to come down here to see Kadence strip for my clients? I didn’t know, but I did, anyway. I nodded at Jax, and he filled a glass to the brim with whiskey. At the club, the girls and guys had the option to use a stripper pole or not for their sets. Hades might be qualified as a strip club, but I gave creative freedom,and by the looks of it, Kadence was opting out with the stripper pole.
Where Have you Beenby Rhianna played through the speakers as the lights dimmed, and I heard Kadence’s heels hit the stage floor. The lights flashed, and Kadence was on her knees. They flashed again, and Kadence’s pose changed with her legs open. The music picked up, and so did she. She had me entranced with her entire set. Every move, every hair flip, and every arch in her back sent the men and women wild with money flying.
My hand gripped my glass, bringing it to my lips, and before I knew it, I downed the entire glass in under five seconds. The end of her set involved her on her knees, her back arched as she slid down the stage, arching her back and opening her legs. She brushed her hair out of her face while looking at the crowd. Her eyes instantly found mine in a crowd, and she smirked.
She pulled herself back up on her knees, her chest heaving and a light sheen of sweat on her skin. Kadence blushed as the crowd watching her went wild and threw more money. Princess had some moves, and it was taking every ounce of willpower that I had not to ban her from dancing ever again because of how hot she looked. The crowd was salivating.
I tapped the glass on the bar, and Jax filled it again. It was like clockwork. I needed to get a grip before Hunter had to drag my ass to bed again. I couldn’t let Kadence have this death grip on me. Not now. Not ever. I was going to take my control back.
CHAPTER 44
KADENCE
Blaize’s rejection stung a lot more than I thought it would. I spent the last few days avoiding contact with her because I thought it would help relieve the constant ache, but it didn’t work. My emotions are screaming that I was attached to her, but I knew those feelings weren’t reciprocated.
I wanted to gain some control, so I decided to dance after some guidance from Dr. Williams. Stripping wasn’t something I was fully comfortable with yet, but I’ve been obsessed with heel dancing for years. It was hot; I’d feel sexy and empowered, and it'd drive the crowd wild. I just hoped they wouldn’t be upset from not seeing my tits. My nerves were skyrocketing simply because Dominic’s voice taunted me in the back of my mind, calling me worthless and demeaning me and my body.
I knew Blaize would be out there. Hunter’s eyes practically lit up like the Fourth of July when I told her I wanted to dance. I don’t know why I cared, but I knew Blaize would be watching me intently. Hopefully, after this dance, I’d have enough confidence to confront Blaize and ask her for what I wanted. One way or another, she would fuck me.
The dancing was intense.
Everyone in that room wanted to touch me, but knowing they couldn’t made it even better. The money flying my way also made it worth it. But what made it even better was seeing the desire swimming in Blaize’s eyes. She probably thought I didn’t see her, but I caught her the second I came out on stage, trying to hide. She came out here for me. I was sure she’d never admit it.
For the first time in years, I felt amazing. Confident. Sexy.
One of the guys collected the money as I ran off stage, and Annika stopped me, grabbing my arms. She would always be my favorite hype woman. “Kadence, that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, and I have three boyfriends!”
I laughed, pulling her to the back. “I danced a little in high school before rebelling. I always liked it.”
“Well, you and me, we’ll definitely need to do a dance together.”
‘Yes, ma’am, as long as those stud muffins don’t try to kill me for touching you.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll have to be worried about mybossfiring me and kicking my ass afterward for touching you.”
I rolled my eyes so hard that they threatened to pop out of my skull.
“Blaize doesn’t want me.” I didn’t tell her what I had planned because I wanted to ensure she agreed before I told Annika. “Watching your show was intense, and I needed to get off. That’s as far as our relationship is going to go. She’s my boss. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Please, I don’t believe that.”
“Believe what you want, babe,” I told her, pushing my hair off my shoulder. “Anyways, I need to pee.” I walked away and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Tonight had been a rollercoaster of emotions, but at least I was healing slowly from my trauma, finally being away from a toxic home life and an even more toxic boyfriend. Eventually, mytruth would come out, but right now, I wanted to enjoy life again. It’d been so long since I was able to just live. Up until now, I was only surviving until the universe decided to take me out.
I washed my hands before splashing water over my face. I’d rock the smudge grunge makeup look for the last hour before going back to the house. Looking up, I saw Blaize behind me, and I gasped before she was up against me and pinning me to the wall.
“Why the fuck did you have to come to my town and mess with my fucking head?” Her hand gripped tightly around my throat, and her body crushed mine. I tried to move, but her thigh grinded into my pussy, and I moaned instead. Her eyes flashed, but she didn’t move.
