“You okay, Princess?”
She shook her head no.
He pulled her into his arms. “C’mere.”
Her shaking arms went around him. “Will they come back?”
“No, baby. They’re gone,” he said against her hair.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Your world is not normal.”
Crash pulled back and looked down at her. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth for just a moment, and then it was gone. “Maybe not, but it’s my world. Till the day I die, baby.”
“Your world is violent and male-dominated and-”
“I won’t deny it. And I make no excuses. I know exactly who I am, Shannon. I don’t regret this life. It’s who I am. I was born for this life.”
“You don’t care about the rest of the world, what people think?”
He grunted. “What people think? I know what people think.” He nodded toward the outside world. “They all know our name. Evil Dead. I hear their whispers when I walk through a store, a restaurant. There’s fear there, maybe, yeah. But there’s respect too. We don’t take crap. I don’t take crap.”
Her eyes moved from him to her surroundings. “What is this place?”
A grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, about that. You familiar with the phrase cat house?” At her frown, he continued. “Guess not. It’s a whore house, baby.”
“You mean a brothel?”
Crash shrugged. “Fancy word, but yeah.”
> She pulled back, taking a step away from him. “Why are we here?”
He pulled her back. “Relax. We’re not here to partake. This is just business.”
“Business?”
“Yeah. And the less you know…”
“The better. I know, I know.”
He grinned down at her. “She’s learnin’.”
Cole walked up shaking the pain in his fist out, and his eyes fell on her. “You and me are gonna have a sit down when shit calms down.”
She swallowed and nodded.
Cole’s gaze slid to Crash. “Come on.” He led the way to the door, ringing a bell. Crash took Shannon by the hand and pulled her along. Red Dog, Green and Wolf followed. A moment later, a middle aged woman in a long silk caftan answered the door. Her flaming red hair was tied headband style with a matching scarf. She had false eyelashes and bright red lipstick. She took one look at Cole and grinned.
“Hey, baby. Glad to see you. Come on in.” She stepped back, swinging the door wide.
Cole stopped to give her a one armed hug. “Hey, Dolly. How’s it shakin’?”
“Sweetie, it’s shakin’ just fine. You want a test drive, ‘ol Doll will be happy to oblige,” she teased, at least Shannon thought she was teasing.
Cole moved into the room, and Crash pulled Shannon in with him. The woman’s eyes fell on her, and then moved back to Cole. “She lookin’ for a job?”