I grab the pole to spin around it, and to my surprise, it spins with me, nearly sending me flying off the stage into the crowd. Somehow, I manage to keep myself from dying as a few bills land at my feet.
Is this really happening?
The whole thing feels like a dream as I dance, barely hanging on to a series of “moves” that make up my act. Bills keep landing at my feet, and by the time the song is over, I’m actually not so panicked anymore.
The voice comes over the loudspeaker again and says something, but I’m too busy escaping backstage to even hear it. There’s another girl waiting there to go on, and to my surprise, she actually gives me what could pass as a smile. “Not bad.”
“T-thanks,” I reply.
I’m on my way back to the locker room when I run into Damien. He’sactuallysmiling at me.
“Not bad, Diamond.” He reaches out and takes the money from my hands, pocketing what looks to be about sixty-percent of it. “I’ll be taking this as the club’s fee, but you won’t mind after I tell you what I have for you next.”
This can’t be how it really is, can it? I just showed up here, did my routine, and he’s taking all of that for a “club fee”? That feels like something my dad would do.
“Something…next?” I ask.
Damien smiles. “The VIP lounge. Some of the men out there, let’s just say they liked you, and they want you to come andservicethem, and they’re willing to pay big bucks for it too. And this percentage you just saw me took will be considerably less. What do you say?”
Suddenly, I get flashbacks of my father telling me I’ll be marrying his friend two weeks after I turn eighteen, and goosebumps break out over my entire body.
“I…um…”
“That’s not going to happen, Damien.”
Out of nowhere, a voice booms. The two of us turn to see a man, tall and broad-shouldered, standing no more than ten feet away, his eyes on both of us. He’s intensely handsome, but there’s a thick scar running down his left cheek. He also has piercing blue eyes that seem to look right through me.
He’s wearing a pair of relaxed jeans and a white T-shirt that hugs his thick biceps, with a simple gold chain.
“Boss?” Damien says, clearly surprised by this man’s presence. “What are you doing here? I thought you were gone for the night.”
The man ignores Damien and advances on me, his eyes locked on me the entire time. I can’t even move, but the feelings running through me are nothing like the ones I felt when I first met Damien. There’s something else going on inside me—something I like.
“And who are you?” he asks me. He sounds like he actually cares too.
“D-Diamond.”
“Not your stage name,” he replies. “Yourrealname.”
I’m sweating. This man is not a threat to me. I don’t know how I know that, but I do, and still for some reason, I’m extremely nervous around him, like he’s going to ask me to go to the movies with him or something.
“Tilly,” I reply softly. “My name is Tilly.”
“Tilly,” he replies, almost as though he’s speaking to himself. “Well, Tilly, my name is Colt. Let’s get you dressed and get you out of here. You’re not going with any VIPs tonight, and you’re not going on that stage again either. Damien, give her her money back.”
“But boss—”
“Give it back to her!” Colt snaps.
Damien, clearly unhappy at being treated this way in front of a woman, frowns but bites his tongue as he digs through his pocket to find the money he stole from me a moment ago. I make sure to avert my eyes and keep my mouth shut as I take it back from him.
The next thing I know, Colt is taking my hand in his. I’ve never felt safer in my life.
“All right,” he says. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“What… Can I ask what just happened?” I say. “Who are you, Colt?”
“I’m the owner of this shithole,” he replies. “And you’re done for the night.”