Dirty Nails (2 page)

              Showtime.

              When Bad Intentions blared through the surround sound of the room, I was in my zone. All eyes were on me. This part of my job was the easiest. I dance, I lose my clothes, and no one touches me. Though every part of me was seen, it never bothered me. Being alone in the bedroom with Max made me a thousand times more nervous than these performances, or any of these vial men for that matter.

              I made my way up to the front of the room. I danced slow and easy. My stockings were the first things to go. The men sitting up front in their suits and ties whistled and made those annoying catcalls. I just kept dancing. One song, one dance, and I could go to my room for the night.

              One thing I never did was look into the eyes of the men that sat around the room. They weren’t important. I only ever looked at Max and he sat in the same place every time. His eyes fixated on me.

              When my shirt dropped to my feet, the noises grew louder. The men always acted the same, like a bunch of over eager horn dogs. I ran my hands along the outer edges of my breasts and pressed them tightly together making my average size boobs look much bigger.

              I pressed my back against the wall and spread my legs as I slid all the way to the floor and back up. My movements were slow and sensual. A dark shadow caught my eye in the back of the room.

              It was him, he scary beast.

              Only he wasn’t quite as scary as before.

              It was the first time that I had actually looked at the face of one of these watchers. I couldn’t help myself. Not taking my eyes off him I swayed back and forth and he watched as I moved my fingertips down my stomach and touched the warm, wet spot between my legs.

              I flipped my hair around and when I looked back at the spot where he stood against the wall, he was gone.

              Missing.

              I couldn’t find him anywhere.

              I removed my panties and danced around to the very last few seconds of the song, ending with my legs spread and my fingers against my lips. Everyone clapped. Always the same song and dance, but it obviously never got old to these guys.

              I blew a kiss at Max, and gathered my clothes.

              Sketch had appeared back at the door. He waited to escort me back to my room just like Max had asked. I didn’t bother getting dressed. There was no point. Everyone in the house had seen me naked, no sense in trying to hide it.

              He opened the door and followed me out. He walked a couple of steps behind me all the way to my room. I couldn’t deny the extra sway in my step. He was behind after all.

              I stepped inside the room and just as I was closing the door I said, “goodnight Sketch.”

              He never answered, just turned around to leave. I heard him speak quietly as he walked down the hall. I figured he was only talking to himself so I closed my bedroom door. There was no need to try and figure him out. I knew I didn’t want anyone trying to figure me out.

On the nights of my shows I was actually able to rest. Max wouldn’t bother me, so I could bathe and sleep with no interruptions. Monday’s were my favorite day of the week.

              After last nights bedroom work out, I knew that rest would find me quickly tonight.

              Besides, for once I may actually have a good dream. Those dark eyes and that strong masculine jaw, “mmm,” I sighed.

Two- Just a little bruise

              My bedside alarm went off at five a.m. just as I was getting to the good part of my dream. Those large hands weren’t haunting me. They were ravaging me. Not even Max affected me that way. There was something about Sketch though, something I couldn’t shake. Maybe it was his midnight blue eyes, or the unmistakable biceps that you could see coming for miles. I suppose I had a thing for dangerous men. What was most weird to me was that Sketch was a lot younger than Max, and so much closer to my age. Being here at this house ninety percent of the time didn’t leave me much to look at in the handsome men department. Max was nice looking for an older man, a much older man. As gross as it sounded, Max was around the same age as my father. They were best friends and my father worked for him for many years. The age difference never mattered much to me. Age was only a number. It was never about that. It was about the security and protection, and the fact that I owed everything to him.

              I dressed quickly, and as I was brushing my hair there was a loud knock on my door. Most likely it was my escort. To Max I have always been quite valuable. For the first several years the security was solely for my protection, but when the fear for my life was no longer in question the security still stayed. I never questioned him. I guess maybe he felt safer just knowing I was always watched. Whether they were outside my door or even posted in my room, they just sort of became normal. It was just how he ran his business, and I certainly didn’t get involved with business. Any information I knew was better left unsaid. It was safer that way.

              Another loud bang made me jump.

Sketch was waiting on the other side of the door when I opened it. He looked just the same as he had yesterday. The same black leather jacket, black tee shirt, and jeans.

Did this man even shower, or sleep?

He couldn’t be any worse than Trick. The man never showered and always looked like he slept in a dumpster. He was so disgusting. You could smell his stench coming before you even seen him. I cringed at the memory.

“Good morning Sketch.”

No response. His jaw tightened when he scanned over my face, and oh my word he was painfully beautiful. His stare made me feel more vulnerable than standing naked in front of a room full of men. There was no way that he was cut out to be someone’s right hand man, his demeanor screamed boss.

Just down the hall, I noticed people were moving quickly. I followed closely behind Sketch as we walked fast down the hall. This was nothing new to me. Without even asking I knew what was going on. It was going to be a busy day for me. Obviously they had pulled an all-nighter. 

Max met us as we turned the corner towards his office.

“I need you to clean up.” Max said, and I felt his fingers touch my lower back. He pulled me to him for a kiss. No -good morning sunshine. Just right down to business as usual.

“Okay.” I replied, but inside I was cringing. The holding room or the cage as I liked to call it made my stomach curl. They didn’t use it all the time, but when they did it was always a dirty, filthy mess. Just the stink alone would make you not want to enter. I didn’t have to clean it like I would the bathroom. Max liked the filth. It was the blood he couldn’t stand. That was my job.

“When you’re finished, you can get things prepared for a big meal tonight. I have a business meeting, and they’ll need to be fed. You know what needs to be done.” He ordered.

I shook my head yes. Max had a maid that did most of the cooking, but when it came to large business meals or holidays then that was my job. I suppose it looked better or presented better when I was the one handling it. I didn’t mind. After fourteen years I’d become a fairly decent cook.

“Go with her while she cleans Sketch. Then I’ll have someone else takeover when she’s in the kitchen. I want you present for tonight’s meetings. There will be a lot of exciting things for you to learn.”

“Yes sir.”

“See you later.” Max smacked my ass hard as he walked past.

“I better get some cleaning stuff from the kitchen,” I was speaking to Sketch. Of course there was no response. The only person he seemed to like talking to was himself.

His footsteps were heavy as he followed closely behind me. I didn’t try saying anything else except for the occasional “huh” but I realized quickly that he wasn’t talking to me. Occasionally his voice would grow louder, but after a couple of times I became used to it.

I grabbed the disinfectant, some rags, and a couple of pairs of rubber gloves from under the sink. Sketch followed me and I wondered if he’d seen the cage before. He wasn’t going to be pleased when he did, or maybe he was. He was still a big mystery to me. Maybe he was just as big of a monster as he portrayed and this kind of thing was what he was into. It wouldn’t surprise me. Max was a magnet for the insane.

I stopped several feet from the door to take a deep breath. The smell always gagged me. There was no way to describe it. Death had it’s own smell, and it would knock you down if someone had sat there dead for a long period of time.

I looked back at Sketch, but his face never faltered. He was a machine. The smell was so bad that I was coughing before I even opened the door, and he stood there like it was nothing. Big jerk.

The room was dark when I stepped over the threshold. It was always darker than the others, because the windows were covered over with dark window tinting. I took a couple of steps and reached for the light switch on the wall. It scared the hell out of me when I felt another hand had already beat me there.

“Shit,” I jumped back. The overhead light nearly blinded me, and I stood there feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. All of my surroundings seemed to sort of disappear as I stood there staring at Sketch. Those dark lonely eyes had some kind of crazy hold over me.

His eyebrows rose and he held his long arm out towards the rest of the room. He was telling me to get to work, but in not so many words. For someone as good looking as he was, you’d think that there would be an ounce of remorse inside. There had to be something that he cared about more than himself, or this job.

I let myself get transfixed inside of his stare so easily.

I had to quit doing that; otherwise Max would soon notice. Then he’d take it out on us both. Well, it would probably be just me. It wasn’t like he was reciprocating my bedroom eyes in any way.

I was unsure of why he had such an effect on me. Why now? Max and I had been together for so long. I was attracted to Max, but not like this. It was more of a loyalty thing, an exchange for looking out for me all those years. He saved my life so I owed it to him. I’d be dead if he hadn’t saved me when he did. So this new attraction was unfamiliar, and outrageous.

I dropped to my knees and got right to work before I got into any kind of serious trouble. There was blood everywhere. The holding chair was covered in it, and so was the wall behind. Blood wasn’t the only thing there. Whoever was being held there obviously got shot in the head? The remains were everywhere. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen something like that, and I learned not to ask any questions. The body must have belonged to someone evil.

Maxwell was in the business of… I’m not certain exactly, but I knew that he took care of a lot of bad people. He kept them out of his way and the way of others. I suppose killing people was part of that job requirement, but that was a part of him that I chose to ignore. I never actually saw the bad men, and I never saw them getting shot so that was my little piece of mind that I got to keep. Call me a hypocrite or whatever, but I saw my father murdered right in front of my eyes. I was just a little girl. Those memories still haunt me. The things that are locked tight in my closet of skeletons were going to stay there. The less I knew of this life, the better. The things I was let in on were the things that weren’t going to kill me, like the drugs. That was never a secret. Anything anyone could want was at his disposal. Very few things were kept inside the house, but he would have heaping amounts when the time was right.

The power that Max had over people was immense and frightening at times. Even some of the most prominent men in this society came to him for their drugs. He handled it. Maybe that’s why the man had never been caught. The police came in on us twice, but only once did he get taken in. One night was all he spent in jail, nothing more.

My hands were feeling raw from the bleach mix I was using in the spray bottle. It was killing my throat. I couldn’t stop the coughing. My lungs felt like they were on fire, not to mention that God-awful smell that kept making me gag.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath and I heard Sketch huff from behind me. For a moment there, I had forgotten that someone was in the room with me. He was being far too quiet. I hadn’t even heard him mumbling.

When I turned around, I saw him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was scrunched in anger, and that brooding stare told me I was obviously pissing him off. If I could’ve snapped my fingers and watched the room clean itself in speedy mode then I would have. His evil eyes were making me angrier by the minute. The entire time I have been working, not goofing off. I desperately wanted to roll my eyes at him.

“Am I not working fast enough for you?” I didn’t think about the words before they came shooting out.

“No.” He glared. “Can’t your arms move any faster? This place smells bad.”

Finally, the man wasn’t a machine.

I held up my arm and pointed to the skinny, boney part where the muscle should be. “This arm?” I wanted to laugh, but kept it together.

“Just hurry up, please.”

He didn’t find my arm display as funny as I did. All that seriousness was exhausting.

“If you’d quit staring and lend a helping hand, we would be done a lot faster.” My tone was clipped and rude.

“What did you say?” Max said as he walked through the door.

FUCK!

Perfect timing.

“I was just messing around Max, I’m almost done.” My skinny arms never moved faster.

“I hope that you don’t talk like this to everyone when I’m not around. That’s rather embarrassing to me.” He stepped farther into the room. I knew I was about to get it. “Sketch,” He called out, and Sketch turned to face him.

I felt my stomach tighten as he got closer to me.

“Stand up!” He yelled at me.

I dropped the bloodstained towel on the ground and stood up. Max had a couple of other men standing behind him. He was rarely alone, except in his bedroom. I looked only at him, because if I didn’t things would be worse.

“You don’t let her talk to you like that. This is one of those times that you hit her. Now do it.” He looked directly at Sketch.

My mouth was hung open slightly, and I snapped it closed quickly. Just great. Max’s punches hurt, but Sketch’s would be ten times worse. I turned and faced him. I swallowed the lump in my throat and waited for the blow. At that moment I wished that Max would be the one hitting me. All of those butterfly feelings that I’d been getting for Sketch were going to go away the moment he hit me. Maybe that’s what happened with Max and me. The punches made my feelings for him change. 

Sketch locked eyes with me for a moment, and I thought there was a tiny bit of remorse in them, but in a flash it was gone.

“Now!” Max yelled.

His fist came barreling toward me hard and fast. It hurt like hell. I yelped just before my body hit the floor. A tiny sob left my chest as I held my face tightly. I swore that my bones crunched under his knuckles.
              “Very good. Get back to work Shay.”

I shook my head yes, but kept my head in my hand as he walked out the door. I heard it latch closed and I cried a little harder. I couldn’t hold it back.

A hand gripped the top of my arm with force and when I opened my eyes Sketch’s face was just inches from mine. His eyes were so dark that they almost looked black. My lips trembled and my breaths were short. The look in his eyes scared me. Would he hit me again?

“Don’t ever make me do that again? Do you understand?” His voice was low and deep, and I felt it all the way to my bones.

A lonely tear slid down my face. “I understand.” My raspy voice was choked up.

I watched him stand up, and walk to the door. He opened it and stood directly under the frame facing out into the hallway.

I gathered myself and stood up. The throbbing beat of my headache was making me feel nauseous.  When I wiped my cheek it was painful. I felt horrible for stepping out of line and making him have to hit me. I really don’t think he would have if Max hadn’t made him. The pain I felt in my chest hurt worse than the pain on my face. I needed to pull myself together before the tears overflowed and I couldn’t control it.

“Sketch,” I flinched as he turned around quickly.

“Can I go to the restroom? I promise I will clean this up really fast as soon as I’m done.” I kept stepping back instead of in his direction.

He just nodded and inched over a little to let me out.

I was a little hesitant to walk past him. I held my breath and made sure that I didn’t brush up against him as I passed.

Hurriedly, I rushed down the hallway to the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror I could see that my cheek was already turning a blackish blue color. Nothing was broken, even though it felt like it was. I splashed some cool water on my face and patted it dry with the towel that hung on the rack. I didn’t have to pee; I just needed to get out of there. With my head over the sink I choked up a couple of times. I felt like such an idiot. His punch hurt, but if he wanted to he could have broken my cheek. He didn’t. He didn’t want to hit me at all, but why? He was a beast just like Max, but maybe there was a tiny inch of him that was soft. I’d seen that soft side of Max. His soul wasn’t completely dark, and I knew deep down that Sketch’s wasn’t either.