I sigh. “We went there to make a deal and get the money we need. She is gonna give us all of that. Money to pay off our debts, to pay for Rosie’s care, and money to live on. I don't get what the big deal is.”
“Are you stupid? You signed us all up to be her slaves for the next two years!” Axel shouts.
“You what?” Dean asks, trying to keep his cool.
“We agreed to be Harlow's lapdogs, and honestly dude, I think this is the best job I could have ever dreamed of, like really, who needs stuffy boardrooms with ugly, old dudes in expensive suits when you can look at a goddess with an ass that could cause another world war,” Neo groans.
“And what exactly do we have to do for her? What does this job entail?” Dean asks, looking at me for answers because Neo is useless right now, so Axel answers.
“That's the thing; we don't know. It could be anything from cleaning the place to burying the bodies,” Axel grumbles.
“Oh, don't be dense, she would never bury bodies. Too easy to trace back to her,” Neo scoffs, grabbing a handful of candies I have on the side of my bed and eating them all at once. I swear that man is always eating. I don't get how he's not a thousand pounds.
“Look, I don't think it's gonna be too bad. She doesn't trust us, so it definitely won't be the body thing.”
Just then, all our phones go off. I grab mine off my nightstand and open the text message.“Morning, boys. Work starts tonight at 9 pm sharp. Be warned, it will be a packed night, and you’ll be shadowing Lucas. I'll meet up with you after my performance."
“Fuck yes,” Neo groans. “I better get front-row seats to this, or I'll stab someone.”
“I don't like this,” Dean says, turning around and leaving the room. “I don't like this one bit!” he shouts as he takes off down the hall.
My brother turns to me. “If we get fucked over by this crazy bitch,you'rethe one I'm blaming.”
“I'm not the only one who agreed to this,” I say. His attitude is not welcomed. We may be twins, but we’re not best friends. Neo is mine and Dean is his. I guess they are each a better personality fit for us. But he's still my brother, and this is my family.
“I'm not going to hold that one accountable for anything. This is something I’d expect from him. He bought a llama in an online auction. Of course, he's gonna agree to be a slave to sex on legs,” Axel snaps.
“Hey! It was an alpaca, not a llama,” Neo defends.
Axel narrows his eyes. “The point is that you spontaneously bought a wild fucking animal out of nowhere!”
“I don't regret it. Susie is adorable. And smart. She probably would have gotten sent to some zoo, just to be gawked at by a bunch of crotch goblins.”
“And how is that better than her living in our backyard by herself?!”
“I take good care of her, thank you very much,” Neo growls, getting into Axel's face. “She has her own pen and everything. She's my baby. I was also thinking of getting her a little friend. Do you think Harlow would spot me the cash to get a donkey?”
“We're not getting a damn donkey,” I groan. It is way too early to be dealing with the typical Neo crap.
“You're right; they're too loud.” Neo snaps his fingers. “Oh, oh, I got it. A goat. One of those baby ones, and we can dress it up in a onesie!”
“No goat!” Axel snaps.
“Well, you're just gonna have to tell Rosie that and break her little heart,” Neo says, then picks up the phone and makes a call. “Hey, my little Posy Bear, guess what, we're getting a baby goat friend for Susie!” Neo says into the phone. For a moment, I think he’s fucking with us, then excited girly squeals come from the other end of the line. Fuck, we're getting a baby goat...
“Fuck this shit. I'm done with you two today. I'll see you later for our first day in hell,” Axel seethes, clearly done with the day already.
“Neo, give me the damn phone,” I tell him as he chats up my daughter.
"What was that, Rosie? You want to name him Bob? I think Bob is a perfect name,” Neo smirks, ignoring my request as he darts around me and rushes out the door. I'm honestly surprised Rosie's mother hasn't taken away the phone I bought for her. She uses it to FaceTime us whenever she can. And almost every time, her mother asks for more money on top of the agreed upon amount. Working for Harlow is what’s gonna fund me, keep that selfish bitch at bay, and my daughter close. So, I’ll do whatever she wants of me.
THE PLACE IS MORE PACKEDtonight than it was last night. There’s extra security in every corner of the room.
“So, what are we doing tonight? Queenie is busy, so what exactly is our job?” Dean asks, looking around the room. People from all different walks of life have shown up for whatever kind of show is happening tonight. I’m pretty intrigued to see what goes on in this place. You know, when Harlow's not murdering people.
When she left the room last night, leaving Lucas behind to explain a few more things to us, he made one thing very clear. We are NEVER to use her real name in public. Everyone who works for her knows her real name, but that's it. Unless we are 100% sure no one outside her little family is around, we must always refer to her as Queenie.
“Tonight, all you're gonna do is observe. What you saw last night might be a big part of what goes on around here, but it's not the main thing. This club is everything to these girls. It’s their whole lives. They work hard to do something they love, and Queenie makes sure they have a safe environment to work in. Not every night is going to be soaked in blood. Most nights, it’s simply this,” he says, gesturing to the crowd of people laughing.