Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (2 page)

“
Watch yourself, Colton. I’m giving
you a certain amount of leeway because I want you to do this favor
for me, but as you said yourself, I do have other
options.”

Colton bit back his retort. “What is she
shaking her titties for then? I would think that even you wouldn’t
want Goldie’s daughter on that stage. She would turn over in her
grave if she knew her kid was working for you.”

“
I agree. That’s where you come in. I
can only offer a certain amount of protection when she’s not at the
club. When she is here, I can’t show favoritism among the women.
She is expected to perform the same jobs as the other women. If you
take her, then she will be safe without having to use me as
protection and as you said, stop shaking her titties.”

Fuck, Colton looked back toward the stage at
the young woman dancing. She looked like her mother except for the
hair. The natural sultriness that she had seemed to inherit in
spades was driving the men nuts. Goldie had been one of King’s
strippers when he had first started in the business. Colton had
been a randy twenty-year-old when he had seen her on the stage.
There hadn’t been a man breathing who could look at Goldie and not
want her, she had been that gorgeous. She had earned her stage name
because she had a heart of gold. Anyone who said that strippers
were cold-hearted had never met Goldie. It was a fucking shame her
daughter was on that stage.

King and Goldie had grown up together.
Colton, who had also grown up in the same poor neighborhood, had at
first thought that King was in love with Goldie, but quickly
realized his assumption was wrong when Goldie started stripping.
King was just beginning his rise to power, but he was a possessive
bastard. If Goldie had been his, she would never have been
stripping for money.

“
Who are you protecting her from?”
Colton asked curiously.

King took another drink of his whiskey
before replying, “Digger.”

“
Fuck.” Digger ran the biggest
prostitution ring in the country. His girls serviced the higher-end
clients
—
everyone from movie
stars to rocks stars
—
but when
they were done, the girls disappeared for good. Colton was sure
they were sold off to some pervert.

King ran a clean house, while Digger didn’t
care; often keeping the women addicted to drugs to keep them in
line. The police couldn’t catch the slimy bastard, yet they had
managed to lock him away for a relatively minor score. Fucking
justice.

“
Yeah, he managed to get his hands on
a friend of hers and he plans to keep her. I need to find something
he wants more than her. Until I do, he isn’t too happy with Vida
for going to the cops. He will either try to snatch her or shut her
up. Either way, Vida is going to be in a world of pain.”

Colton agreed. Dammit, if it had been anyone
else, Colton would have done it without hesitation and enjoyed
himself in the process. Taking another look at Vida and her fucking
long legs tore at his conscience. No way could he bring himself to
touch her. Having just got out of prison, he was about to explode
he wanted a woman underneath him so badly, but now he was going to
have this young girl in close proximity until King could find a way
to help her friend.

“
Who’s the friend?” Sick to his gut,
he already knew before the name passed King’s tight
lips.

“
Sawyer.”

Everyone in the neighborhood would often see
the girls playing together when they were younger, growing closer
as they grew older. His mother had lived in the same neighborhood
as the girls so, when he visited his mother, he would often see
them outside.

The building his mother had lived in had
been marginally better than some of the others, but the one the
girls had lived in had been the worst. He had hardly ever been
there between work and play, yet no one could miss the little girls
playing on the playground, their giggles always drawing attention.
Sawyer, Vida and Callie drove everyone crazy with their escapades,
getting away with their antics many times without their mothers’
knowledge. Even now, Colton smiled, remembering a few of the
stories his mother had told him.

“
You going to help me out?”

“
Do I have a choice?” Colton asked,
his voice tight.

“
Not if you want to consider your debt
paid,” King answered with a raised brow.

“
Then it seems I have a new roommate,”
Colton said, watching Vida approach their table.

* * *

The lights are bright
tonight
, Vida thought. King must have had one of his
men change the bulbs. She went down in a squat with the pole
between her legs and the men’s yells increased. Blanking their
voices from her mind, she wished she had taken one of the pills
that Sherri had promised would relax her, but Vida was determined
not to fall down that road. She had enough problems without adding
drugs to the mix.

Coming to her feet and dancing to the edge
of the stage, she came close enough for the men to begin putting
cash in the string that went around her waist. At least he allowed
her to cover her front, leaving her ass and breasts exposed.

The fingers that shoved a twenty into her
string tried to grab her ass, but Vida shimmied over to the next
man who was waiting with a twenty. In the bright lights, she tried
to make out the ones holding the larger denomination bills, going
to them and bending down in a squat for them to put the bills on
her. She had learned within the first two days to not look at the
faces, to just stare at the money. It gave her enough strength to
make it to the next man waiting his turn.

Thankfully, Vida heard her music come to an
end. Standing up and hating what she was about to do, she gave her
breasts an extra jiggle before turning and exiting the stage.

Sherri was up next, waiting behind the
curtain in a silky pink robe. Her music started the second Vida
disappeared behind the curtain.

“
King wants to see you before you get
changed.”

“
Thanks.” Vida swallowed hard. She had
hoped to get done on time today. She needed to get some lab time in
before the grades were due otherwise, unless she had twenty hours
logged lab time, she wouldn’t get a grade.

Vida went outside to the bar area, making
her way to the booth at the back of the room. She had noticed when
she had come out to dance that he was sitting in his private booth.
King sat there every night during the first few shows, judging the
women’s routines, surveying the crowds and removing customers who
didn’t obey the rules of his club.

She was sick to her stomach to have to talk
to him.

He controlled everything within the city,
moving between the spoiled world of the rich and entitled to the
dregs of human society who had long ago lost their morals. He
earned money legally through his clubs and illegally through
gambling and prostitution.

She had met him a couple of times when her
mother was unable to find a sitter. He would hide her in a back
room during her mother’s show. Even as a child she had recognized
the fear everyone had in their eyes when he was near. However, he
had been her only recourse when her friend, Sawyer, disappeared a
month ago.

Sawyer had been working as a waitress in a
restaurant downtown when she met Rick Redman and began dating him.
Vida still remembered her getting ready to go out for the evening
in a new dress and freshly done nails. Vida, sharing an apartment
with Sawyer, had been skeptical of the over-groomed businessman’s
interest in Sawyer when he had picked her up that night. When she
didn’t return, her skepticism turned to downright fear.

Worried sick, Vida had gone to the
police. They put out a missing persons report, but it had been of
little help
—
Sawyer had no
family or friends other than Vida. Vida, not receiving encouraging
answers from the police, had turned to King for help. Within
twenty-four hours, King discovered information that had terrified
Vida.

Rick Redman was not the concert promoter he
had told Sawyer he was. The bastard was a pimp for high-class call
girls. Vida had sunk to the floor when King had told her,
envisioning Sawyer drugged, raped and held captive against her
will.

She had begged King for help and he had
agreed to help, but for a price. Vida would move into his club
where he could keep an eye on her while he would try to get Sawyer
back. He had warned her it would take some time since he needed to
find out who Redman worked for.

Vida had wanted to refuse, yet she had known
King was her only chance after she had gone to the police and they
couldn’t find a trace of Redman. Vida’s options were few; either go
to work for King or lose her childhood friend forever. Vida began
stripping three nights later after King’s women had given her a
crash course in seductively taking her clothes off under the black
lights.

Her knees were trembling as she crossed the
large dim room. As she came closer, she noticed King wasn’t alone.
Vida hadn’t seen the man in the club before. His disconcerting gaze
made her want to run back to the dressing room, however King’s
frown pulled her forward.

“
Sherri said you wanted to talk to
me?” She trained her gaze on King.

“
I want you to get your bags packed;
you’re going with Colton. He’s a friend of mine that I trust will
keep you safe. After your current two-week schedule is up, I’ll
take you off permanently. Staying with Colton will provide a
reasonable excuse of why you’re no longer stripping.

“
But how am I going to pay you back?”
Vida protested.

King shrugged. “You have already made me a
nice chunk of change. Two more weeks of your dancing and six
scheduled lap dances should cover my costs.”

Vida swallowed. The dancing made her sick to
her stomach, but the lap dances were the worst; she had to become
physically close to the men. King charged the men twice the usual
cost of his other girls, but they still chose Vida if she was
there.

“
I’ll pack my bag.” Vida cast a look
at the stone-faced man before turning away, happy to be leaving the
club, yet reluctant to stay with King’s friend. She was unhappily
aware she had no choice in the matter, though.

* * *

“
Make sure you have her here for her
shifts.” King took a drink of his whiskey. “You sure you don’t want
one of the girls to give you some relief before you
leave?”

Colton shook his head, almost instantly
regretting his decision. He was going to be living with a beautiful
woman that was off limits and he hadn’t had one in three years.

It was a mindfuck that he didn’t need or
want.

Chapter 2

Vida watched as Colton unlocked the door to
his apartment. She was still trembling from the ride from King’s
club. She had never ridden on a motorcycle before and his snapped,
“Hold on tight”, had startled her when she had gingerly put her
arms around his waist.

Colton put her bag down by the door. He then
moved through the apartment, opening and shutting doors before
coming back and picking up her bag.

“
There’s only one bedroom and since
I’ve only slept on a twin bed for the last three years, you can
take the couch.”

“
I can sleep on the couch.” Vida would
sleep on the floor as long as it was outside of the Purple
Pussycat. The club had four bedrooms and each one was shared by
three women. If one of the women she was sharing a room with
decided to have company and there were no private rooms available,
she would bring her guest back to the shared bedroom. Vida had
walked into several situations that had been too embarrassing for
words before she could tactfully leave the room.

Colton threw her a thoughtful look before
putting her bag on the chair. “There is a hall closet; you can
stash your stuff there. You hungry?”

“
No, I already ate.”

“
I have to go out. If you get hungry,
there’s supposed to be food in the cabinets and fridge.”

“
Okay.” Vida went to the chair, picked
up her backpack and began pulling out her schoolbook and laptop.
Going to the small kitchen table, she organized everything she
would need before sitting down.

Vida felt Colton’s sharp gaze touch on her
briefly before leaving the room. She took a deep breath once he’d
left.

His presence was overwhelming. His height
alone was intimidating without his fierce expression. He didn’t
come out and say she was an inconvenience to him, but from his
abrupt voice and mannerisms, she could tell he was pissed. Vida had
little doubt that he was as much under King’s thumb as she was
herself.

He was uptight about something and Vida
could tell by his vibes he was anxious to be away from her. The
sound of the shower running put Vida’s mind to imagining him
without his clothes. She could picture his hard body with water
sliding over his flesh.

Determined to change the direction of her
thoughts, Vida opened her book and then powered up her laptop,
focusing on doing her homework. If she wasn’t careful, she could
easily get behind. She didn’t have much longer; only another month
and she would have the diploma she had worked so hard for.

Vida looked up from her book when Colton
emerged from the bedroom. His hair was still wet and he was wearing
a faded pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He moved quietly, even
while wearing heavy motorcycle boots. She swallowed nervously, her
eyes dropping back to her book.