Help Me (8 page)

She waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s get on with this. As you can imagine, we’re not big on paperwork here. But there are a few documents I’ll need you to fill out. They’re in my office. We’ll head there after I give you a brief tour of the building.

“Typically new ladies get a few days of orientation, but since you’ve been brought in just to spend time with Trey, we can skip most of that. But please pay attention to everything I say. Every rule and security measure is designed to protect Eden itself, and you, as an employee.”

It was a nice speech. And I suppose if I’d been in the market for a real job as a prostitute, I’d have been glad to hear it. Even so, I did appreciate that she treated the girls like people who worked for her, instead of products to be used by the clients.

Veronica and Peter took turns pointing things out to me as we made our way through the club. The corridors that had so recently seemed impossible to navigate were explained and mapped out by them. Peter in particular made a point of explaining the different levels of security in every area of the building.

When we were on the second floor, Veronica explained the rules about using the rooms that ran along the length of the floor. Since I didn’t plan to put a single foot inside any of those rooms, considering the hardcore porno I’d glimpsed in one, I somewhat tuned out. But when the conversation moved on to recordings, I perked up.

“Can you give me an example of what kind of recordings there are?”

Veronica smiled. “Of course. Every public area within the building is monitored twenty-four hours a day. Video and audio. The digital files are stored on a secure server that backs up to an offsite location. We keep one week of recordings at all times. Files older than that are deleted and cannot be retrieved.”

“Why one week?”

“In the nearly unheard of situation where there’s problem in the club, we need to be able to review the footage. But, since the privacy of our members is of paramount importance, we don’t keep anything longer than we need to.”

“Okay. Also, you said public areas. What qualifies?”

She nodded. “Good question. Peter, will you explain?”

The security chief frowned. “Everything on the first floor is considered a public area. The hallways and stairwells on every floor, as well. A few rooms here and in the basement, but those are selected because they are frequent gathering places. We also reassess frequently. Right now we’re considering adding surveillance to the game room we just left.”

“But not the bedrooms?”

“No.”

Veronica put her hand on his arm, her long, elegant fingers seeming to relax the tensed muscles. “Of course, since all corridors are monitored, we know who is in every room at all times. All of the door locks can be overridden by any member of the security team or myself.

“These measures are just for inside the club. Cameras monitor the perimeter of the property as well, and all entrances and exits logged. No one gets in or out of here unnoticed. That ensures that we know who is in the club at all times. In fact, the only place outside that isn’t covered by a camera is a small corner of one of the hot tubs, and that’s only because we’ve had technical issues with the heat effecting the lenses.”

“It sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” I said, honestly impressed.

In the back of my mind I was counting days and wondering what the chances were that I could get my hand on some of that footage. If I spotted Kat on a camera, I might be able to get an idea of who she was close to in the club, and know who I should be questioning.

I exchanged a glance with Trey, and he nodded slightly, suggesting he was thinking the same thing.

“Now,” Veronica said, “There’s more to the building, of course, but you’ve got the most important parts. Feel free to explore on your own time. For now, let’s head to my office so we can get everything squared away and the two of you can set a time for your first official date.”

I blinked a few times before I realized what she meant. Right. She thought I was there to screw Trey. I guess the club didn’t make money on giving tours.

We all went back downstairs, but Peter left us to go do something. Probably stare at someone in an intimidating manner, I guessed.

There was a folder on Veronica’s desk. She gestured for me to open it, and walked me through the few sheets of paper I needed to fill out. It was kind of funny. The first was a normal form for my address and emergency contact information, but I froze in the middle of writing my name. I couldn’t list Kat as my emergency person, and I didn’t know anyone else in the city.

I looked over at Trey.

“Use my number,” he said before reciting it.

I sighed with relief and then wondered if I should have filled out fake information for myself. Probably, but it was too late now. I couldn’t exactly tell Veronica I’d written down the wrong name.

The next document was longer and as I scanned it, I realized it was a confidentiality agreement. “I’m not sure I understand some of these terms,” I said.

Veronica smiled. “Don’t worry about that. It’s all standard stuff.”

I had no idea what the standard was, but figured arguing would look strange. So I signed it and said a silent prayer that I hadn’t agreed to hand over any internal organs or first-born children.

“Is that it?”

“One more. I’ll need routing information for your bank.”

“Oh. Um, I don’t have one here yet.”

“That’s all right. Just put down that you’d like a paper check for now and we can update it later.”

“Okay.” I did as she asked and almost giggled when I saw the listing for job position read “actress.” They had no idea.

After that was finished, Veronica sent us away. Something about signing my name freaked me out. I wondered how Kat had felt when she signed her paperwork. Was she excited? Scared? Did she think about our parents and what they would have thought of her decision? But hidden, underneath those thoughts was my real fear. That she’d hated doing this. Felt sickened. But done it anyway. For me. To make sure I could finish school and buy books and not need a full-time job.

I swayed on my feet in the hallway, and Trey caught me, wrapping his strong arms around my shaking body.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just not steady on these heels. They’re a little too big for me.”

He looked at me intently. “You’re a terrible liar, Amanda.”

“I know.”

We walked into a sitting room and Trey shut the door behind us. “Do you want to leave? We can come back tomorrow night.”

“No.” I blinked away the tears in the corners of my eyes. “Let’s do this thing.”

Once it became clear to Trey that I wasn’t going to explain what had happened, he gave up. “I’m supposed to have dinner tonight with a business associate. I’d forgotten all about it but I just got a text message reminder. I’ll cancel and we can start talking to people right away.”

I thought for a moment. “Is it an important dinner?”

He shrugged. “Hell if I know. I just show up and look handsome. Then a few days later I sit in a board room for a meeting where someone sells or buys something that costs millions.”

I laughed honestly, even if it sounded a little hollow. “That sounds like a really hard job you’ve got there.”

“Yup.”

“Well, I don’t mind if you go to your dinner. I can start without you.”

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone here.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Not going to happen. End of discussion.”

I frowned.

“But,” he continued, “If you’re hungry, you could go to the dinner with me. We come back here after. There will be more girls around and it’s how I usually do things.”

A tiny, petty part of me bristled at the way he casually mentioned his other ‘dates’ with the women who worked at the club. Stupid to be feeling jealous when this was all fake. And he was doing it to help me. But knowing I was being stupid didn’t make the feeling go away.

“I did get all dressed up.”

He smiled. “You sure did.”

“Okay, then. Dinner it is.”

“Great. Come along, Amanda. Get ready to be bored out of your skull.”

We left the club and were walking to Trey’s car when I saw a familiar face that chilled me to the bone. I tugged Trey back into a shadow as the man passed us.

“What? What happened now?”

“Shh,” I hissed at him. “Wait a second.” Once the coast was clear, I continued. “Did you see that guy?”

“Alexei? Yeah.”

“You know him?” I took a step away from him.

“Of course. He works here. He’s security.”

“Oh no.” I felt like I might faint.

“What is it?”

“He’s the one. The man I saw at the airport. The one who was staring at me.”

“Are you sure? It’s dark out here.”

“I’m sure. He walked right through the light. And I’ll never forget that face.”

“Shit.” Trey crossed his arms. “That’s bad.”

“Damn right. If he was following me, he knows who I am. Which means he knows why I’m here.”

“No way. Can’t be. Veronica and Peter wouldn’t let you walk down this block if they had even the vaguest idea that you weren’t who you said. They certainly wouldn’t give you a tour and hire you.”

“Then you explain it.”

“I can’t.” He put his hand on my back and led me down the driveway. “But we need to get out of here. Let’s go to dinner and think about this, okay? I’m sure we can figure this out.”

I sighed. “Fine. I’m trusting that you know these people well enough to be right about this.”

“I do. I swear.” His face was resolute and ferocious in the dim light. “I will keep you safe.”

+

Fortunately, Trey was right about dinner. The conversation was so dull I had no problem tuning it out to think things through. I only paid attention to the food and drink that were placed in front of me. Even in my anxious state I couldn’t help but devour everything. The food didn’t look like anything I’d ever eaten, but the flavors were incredible. Meat so tender I barely had to chew it, vegetables swimming in a light, citrus sauce I wanted to slurp up with a spoon. And the wine wasn’t bad either. Which is why I had almost a whole bottle myself.

It was interesting, as I grew more and more tipsy, to watch Trey. So far I’d seen a few different facets of his personality, but this was something new. He charmed the couple we shared a table with as easily as he had me, but in a rather different way.

From what little I listened to, the couple – in their late forties – were hoping to sell a portion of their company. They were rich compared to me, but pretty much paupers next to Trey’s family, and they wanted to find a parent company with deep pockets to help grow their business.

Snore-fest.

But, contrary to what he’d told me, Trey dove right in to the business talk. He rattled of numbers and jargon I didn’t even try to keep up with, and dazzled them. This was probably fun for him. I’d seen how he liked defying expectations and wanted to do things his own way. Most people who met him for the first time expected him to be not much more than a pretty face, probably. And when he showed them to be wrong, it would knock them off balance in a wonderful way.

The man, Patrice something or other, flagged down the waiter to order another bottle of wine and I smiled. He grinned back playfully. “If you must sit through endless business talk, it’s easier with a bit of wine, right?”

I nodded.

“It is a shame, Trey, don’t you think, to have such a beautiful young woman on your arm and be stuck looking at my ugly face.”

We all laughed. Patrice was anything but ugly. His hair was beginning to gray at the temples but otherwise he was fairly youthful, and quite handsome in a refined, soft-living kind of way. So different from Trey, even though they lived in the same world. Where Patrice gave off an air of a life full of comfort, there was a hint of something primal behind Trey’s eyes. Something that confused and intrigued me.

Patrice’s wife, Claudia, patted him on the hand. “Please pardon my husband. He gets so talkative when he has too much wine. You two should go up there and dance. Leave us, what is the term – ‘old farts’ here.” She gestured with her chin to the front of the restaurant where a few couples had begun to slow dance to the music of a quartet. I’d never been in a restaurant that had a live band before. Maybe it was because the place was part of a hotel? I couldn’t ask if it was weird without making it obvious that I was completely out of my depth.

“Oh, I’m not much of a dancer,” I said.

Trey snorted and chugged the rest of his wine. “Nonsense. I think it’s a fantastic idea.”

I glared at him and he cocked his head to the side, clearly trying to tell me something without speaking. I had no idea what, so I just played along. “All right. I’ll dance. But you two have to join us.”

Patrice clapped his hands together. “Excellent idea. Come.”

We strolled arm in arm to the dance floor and Trey placed his arms around me as we found an empty spot.

“I don’t think I’ve slow danced since my prom,” I whispered as he pulled me closer.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

I closed my eyes as my face pressed against his chest, inhaling the scent of his aftershave or cologne, and underneath, the indescribably enthralling smell of his skin.

“I thought of a way to figure out what Alexei knows,” Trey murmured after a few seconds. “We can do it as soon as we get back to the club.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Not for you,” he said before reaching up to run his hand through my hair.

I moaned softly at his touch, and gripped him tighter. I was a little drunk and a lot vulnerable and it felt so amazing to just let go. To follow his lead. Safe in one sense, but delightfully dangerous in another. I knew Trey was on my side, but I wondered if I wasn’t starting to feel things I shouldn’t. We’d only just met, but with everything going wrong in my life I couldn’t help but feel like he was the one right thing.

When the song ended we went back to the table, but on the way there Trey held my hand, and I let him. The rest of the dinner was mostly a blur for me. My thoughts kept drifting to the way it felt when he held me as we swayed together on the dance floor, and wondering what it might feel like if he kissed me. How was it possible that something so wonderful could happen in the middle of something so horrible?