“Surprise me. But make sure you bring something back for yourself, sweetheart.” I cringe at his words and turn, looking for the bar. I’m nudged and see her walking ahead of me. I follow her and realize I really need to learn her name. “What’s your name?”
She stops, leaning her body on the bar. Another set of girls work behind the bar in nothing but a black sports bra and black booty shorts.
“Cecilia. Now order your man one whiskey straight up and use this juice to add to your glass. Don’t let him touch it, or know you aren’t taking supply of the drinks he’s offering you.” I nod my head and grab an empty glass when the apple juice is placed next to it.
“You do this a lot?” I ask, pouring the juice.
“We can’t be drunk. But we want them to think we’re having a good time like they are. So we lie. It’s also a bonus if we don’t drink the expensive alcohol the customers are paying for.”
“How often do you do this? Work here, I mean?”
Cecilia looks down to the floor, her eyes look dark when she looks back up to me. “I’m one of Antonio’s girls, so every night we’re open.”
“And Amy?” I ask carefully so as to not look back to where she’s seated.
“Don’t even look her way or speak to her. You got it?” I nod my head at her words. “Because she’s pure evil, and trust me you don’t want to be around that.” Cecilia walks off with a tray of drinks. She goes back to the group we were just with, and I follow her with my two drinks in hand. The guy smiles at me when I reach him, and I offer him his drink then shoot mine the same time he does.
He pulls out a one-hundred dollar bill and slides it into the strap of my dress and kisses my cheek. “Buy yourself another and keep the change.”
My smile is fake, and inside I’m screaming at him, so much so that I want to punch his face in for touching me. Instead, I smile and walk away.
What the fuck am I meant to do with change? It’s not like I can spend it while locked away in my fucking room.
“Hey, girl,” Cecilia says, moving to the next. “Take this.” She offers me a tray full of drinks and smiles, overly bubbly.
Why’s she so happy?
Is she one of them as well?
She couldn’t be with a smile like that. I want to thank her, but I don’t, just take my tray and start walking around again.
THE FIGHT STARTED AND finished all within twenty minutes. Guys yelled, girls stayed back near the bar, apart from Amy who was glued to her position near Antonio. She occasionally eyed me.
Cecilia doesn’t live here. She said she had to get back to her cat at her apartment. It makes me wonder why she’s even here then.
The same guy that likes to pull me around is waiting at the door for me when I finish. I’m guessing he’s here to escort me back to my room.
“Saskia.”
I remember the voice attached to that dark sound. Turning slowly, I manage to offer a small smile as I face Antonio. He steps up to me, and his hand picks up a strand of hair then he drops it, looking up to me. He isn’t an attractive man. At least to me, he isn’t. He’s a dominant man, though. Someone who could kill me without batting an eyelash. That’s how I see him, and that’s probably the best way to always see him.
“Yes, sir.”
His lip quirks up. Then drops. I notice a small scar he has on the side of his lip. “You did well tonight. What reward would you like?”
“Sorry?” I ask, confused. I did well? It felt like I was being pulled and dragged everywhere I went. Men’s hands touched me all night, and I drank so much apple juice that I had to pee so many times I felt like a baby.
“You get one reward, my dear. Choose wisely.”
My eyes drop while I think. “My pills.”
“Done! Scott, get her her pills.” He’s speaking to the man that bruises me. At least he now has a name—Scott.
“Of course, sir.”
Antonio looks me over, his head dropping to the side as he assesses me. “Does he know you’re broken?” My eyes open slightly in surprise. “I mean, his Livia isn’t broken. You are. Does Ryken know you are?”
“He doesn’t.”
Antonio’s lip lifts up in a curl. “It’s a pity you love him, isn’t it? Think of where you’d be if you didn’t love him. If you actually loved the person you were meant to be with.”
My eyes stay down as he speaks. “I don’t love him.”
Slap!
My cheek burns. Actually, it’s on fire. He hit me, and he did it damn hard. Silence falls around me while my ears ring and I blink a few times as I endure the pain.