Page 65

Planting a loving kiss on his cheek represents all my fears and hopes, at least for the short-term. “Come back for me, Trino. Don’t leave me in Star Dust to rot.”

His grey-green eyes linger on mine. “I won’t leave you dry, Capri. Now sit back.”

We arrive at Star Dust, and my second night of work feels more nerve-wracking than the first. As if it was even possible. Trino whispers something to the bouncers about me when I’m just out of earshot, then grabs the back of my arm and presses his perfectly luscious lips on mine, giving me a brief instant of comfort before pulling away.

“Go see Bruno. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Nerves tingle all the way down to my toes as the warm air of a starry night is sucked into the perfume-sweat musk of the strip club. Not being paraded in by Trino might work to my advantage today. I’m just another one of the girls, tonight. Not to mention, I had to rethink my stoic hot-girl strategy since these dancers can work the pole about one-hundred times better than I can.

Can’t keep relying on ol’ twerky.

I wave at Desdemona manning the front desk, and make my way inside the dingy room. Once I see the long four-corner bar framing the stage, my stomach sinks. Déjà vu of Trino getting up mid-dance still haunts me from yesterday.

God, what a freakin’ whirlwind these last days have been. Just last night I was sitting on a chair surrounded by grass, hiding from a mobster. Now I’m married to him.

“Misty, hunnie. Evening.” Chestnut and her two breasts greet me from the sky. Just kidding, but she’s really damn tall. Her arm slides around my small frame, and I get a waft of her lemony perfume. “Bruno wants you to check in before you get started tonight.”

“Are you holding me tight so I don’t run away?” I address the elephant in the room, and she giggles at that.

“We’ve all wanted to do it before. In a sense, you were the only one with the balls to.”

“Oh, you’re too kind. That was embarrassing as all hell,” I say, looking up at her. She’s as tall as Trino, damn.

“Don’t let those girls get into your head, okay? They can be a little rough about any little insecurity you show them. Keep that bitch face on tight.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We walk up to Bruno, who’s sitting on his ass with oversized glasses counting cash and working on an old schoollaptop. Papers sprawled everywhere. Guess he’s doing the books.

“Daddy’s main squeeze has arrived.” Chestnut presents me. In the back of my head, I wonder how many women she’s presented this way, and whether she was ever one of them. Shit. Did Trino fuck all the Dusties?

Yeah, I just nicknamed all the dancers Dusties. That’s sticking in my book.

“Misty, have a seat.” Bruno pretends to barely know me. “Thank you, Chestnut. I’ll get her started.”

She winks at me and struts away. It’s only now I realize the establishment is attracting more business folk than last time. Rolled black sleeves and open corporate-casual blazers are on pretty much every guy around the bar.

“You know you’ll never keep that kind of clientele with the floors so sticky,” I say.

He puckers his lips. “Then the old flies will come right back to take their place.”

“Don’t you want to thrive? I know these types – lawyers, accountants, financiers – I went to school listening to their complaints. They got the moola, Bruno Belly.”

“Don’t want too much attention, hun.”

I shrug. “Guess I have a lot to learn about the underworld.”

He looks over the rim of his glasses. “You want to learn? I’ll teach you. Come by after your shift.”

I smile at that – some semblance of my old life gives me a shred of hope. “Sounds good. So what’s my directive today?”

“Hm. It’s possible you launched yourself out of a cannon the first day. Why don’t you take it slow. Get to know some of the girls, and if someone requests a dance, see what you can give ’em.”

That last part made me stiffen. I havenoidea what the hell I was imagining, but dancing up on random guys as they groanand try to rub their junk on me was something I thought I was protected from.

What was I thinking? Could Trino just order unlimited dances from me?

“Will do.” I adjust my lace to perfectly cradle my breasts, then about-face, psyching myself to get out there.