Page 25

CHAPTER 24

ATLAS

I leaned on the edge of the stage and surveyed the ten women standing in front of me. Each was dressed in tiny black shorts, the kind many professional dancers practiced in, paired with different variations of sports bras. All were toned, yet slender.

All had lithe dancer bodies. Except the one at the end.

She was short and compact and had a mean look about her. There was something in her eyes that reminded me of Beasty.

She was my favorite.

"Your dancing skills are passable, which have brought you this far. Next, you'll pair off and spar." I aimed the remote toward the DJ station where a speaker system was set up and hit play.

Dramatic martial arts music spilled out, setting the scene. Kim would love it, but he'd disappeared into one of the other rooms with Beasty and Andrea, making me swear I wouldn't peek.

I promised...Not to peek right now. He didn't know I had this planned.

I'd rewatch the footage later to see what he was up to with Beasty.

The girls easily paired off without any input from me, and they started sparing in earnest. All the girls were decent fighters, blocking and landing hits in equal measure. Except for the short woman. She was especially ferocious with her opponent, growling and jumping forward to land a throat punch.

I grinned.

"Switch!" They rotated seamlessly.

If only managing actual dancers were this easy.

The door to the hallway banged open and Lake poked his head inside. He saw me and started eating up the distance in long strides, but slowed his steps when he realized what the women were doing.

I continued watching the women as he approached. When he made it to my side, he huffed with irritation.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking an interest in the business?" I smirked.

"What, are we starting mud-wrestling?" Lake snarked. "We're a little more high class than that, don't you think?"

"Funny," I said in a tone that was not amused. "Beasty wants a little more freedom, and we've given it to her by allowing her access to the entire club. But we can't be with her everywhere. And if Kim's being honest, he's performing with Beasty, and I want to make sure she's well protected."

"With fighter women?" A new light of appreciation entered his eyes.

"Exactly."

Then it extinguished. "We'll run into the same problems. We can't trust any of them. It's what I've been wracking my head against for weeks. I just left the tech guy in the surveillance room. He's installing facial recognition software since our bouncers can't be trusted."

"I'm impressed." I raised my brows. "Switch!" The girls rotated again. "But I still want more protection on Beasty. What if they send in a woman to take her from the bathrooms?"

Lake palmed the back of his neck as he thought it over. "They'd have to get her out of the building and I don't think that would happen."

I shrugged and pushed off of the stage. "I'd rather have as many safeguards as possible."

The woman directly in front of me grunted as her head snapped back from a particularly vicious punch from the short woman. I reached for the files next to me and thumbed through them.

Sarah Harris. Twenty-five. Orphaned at ten. Prior military, kicked out for misconduct.

Lake sighed. "Fine, but we still stick with her as much as humanly possible."

"Yup."

Lake pushed into my space. "That wasn't why I'm here. We have a woman in the gray room."

I snapped my gaze to him. "The sister?"

"Mm-hm."

To the women, I shouted, "That's enough!" Hitting the button to cut the music, I stepped forward and the women created a circle. Most panted, and they all had a decent amount of sweat on them.

"That was great, ladies. Exactly what I'm looking for." I glanced around. "You're all hired. Go ahead and get showered. I have some business to take care of right now, but when I come back, I'll pass out assignments and introduce you to the lady who runs the dancers."

I got a resounding "Yes, sir!" Before they all jogged toward the side exit that led to the dressing room.

"Sarah!" I called for the short woman.

She pivoted back to me without any problem. "Yes, sir?"

I tapped my fingers on the folder in my hand. "I see on your file that you were dishonorably discharged. Can you tell me why?"

She canted her head. "You hired me without asking that first?"

I smirked. "You're still hired, but this answer depends on where I assign you."

She dropped her hands loosely at her sides and stared me dead in the eye. "My commanding officer tried to force himself on me. When I reported it, it was swept under the rug. My...misconduct was my retaliation because of how they wronged me."

"What was the retaliation?"

"Starting fights with every single person who could have done something about it."

I whistled between my teeth. "Didn't that get you arrested?"

Sarah bared her teeth. "Not when I threatened to go to the media. They agreed to part ways without any further legal action if I kept quiet."

"You're a man-hater?"

"I'm an injustice hater."

That could go in our favor or against us. "Are you above using any means to take down the people who misuse the power they're given?"

"No." She pulled her shoulders back. "I've found it's the only punishment they respond to."

Exactly what I wanted to hear. "Perfect. When I come back, I'll tell you about your assignment."

She dipped her head, then jogged off toward the dressing room. When I turned, Lake had his arms crossed, studying me with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't think there was anything that would get you to take anything outside of media seriously."

I joined him and we both started for the hall. "That's because you took your sweet-ass time getting Beasty to come back."

Lake grunted. "Right, because that was all my fault."

I remained quiet. I wasn't going to throw blame. Verbally, anyway.

"I still don't like this." Lake glanced at me as he pushed open the door. "How are we to know that none of these women are plants?"

"I might not have been active in the security piece of our business, but I did watch you." I rolled my eyes and waved the files at him. "Each woman was hand-picked by a Network contact Sonia gave me. They're from all over the country. That's why we had this today instead of a few days ago. I needed time to fly them in. In each file is also a decent amount to be used as leverage if they betrayed us."

He opened his mouth and I knew an argument was coming.

"Relax. I told them individually the information I found and how I would use it if they betrayed us. I also told them the pay and left it up to them to audition."

"As women fighters?"

"As dancers, you jackass. They're to blend in, but step in if someone tries to take Beasty."

Beasty and Kim ran out of the room at the end of the hall, laughing and falling over each other. Beasty's hair was wet from a shower, and her face was red from whatever they’d been doing.

She was so fucking delicious, and she was mine. Ours, but mostly mine. I'd just never say that to the others.

"Beasty," I growled before swinging her up into my arms and devouring her mouth. She tasted like mint and coffee. So addictive. At first, she tensed, but then relaxed as if I'd surprised her.

I probably had.

I tilted my head, deepening the kiss.

Lake grunted, and I set her back down. "We need to go."

"What do you mean? Where are you going?" Beasty asked, breathless now for a different reason. Kim watched us with an unreadable expression.

"We have someone in one of our holding rooms," Lake said it so lightly like he didn't want her to follow. If that was the case, why did he share that at all? It was like waving a carrot in front of a horse.

"Perfect. Let's go." She wiggled out of my arms and glanced at Kim. He nodded.

I grinned at Lake. "Looks like you have a full bus for this field trip."

He leveled me with an unimpressed stare.

"What's wrong?" Beasty, as observant as ever, picked up that Lake wasn’t ecstatic about her joining us.

A light dawned in Kim's eyes. "They have someone in one of our special rooms." He dropped his voice so only we could hear them.

"Special rooms?" She twisted to look at each of us. "What rooms? I've been all over the club."

"Not to this room." Kim cleared his throat. "And it's only one room to be exact."

"Who's in there?" Beasty turned to Lake.

"Rocco's sister." Ah, he'd given up the fight.

Pulling herself back into work Beasty mode...I couldn't suppress my grin. I'd have to get that put on a T-shirt. Kim would love it too.

She turned to Lake. "Great. Let's go."

Shaking his head, Lake led the way. We hit the stairs and climbed up a floor. When we reached the trick wall, he pushed it open, revealing a hidden space and a door that had Gray written across it.

Beasty studied every inch of it, likely trying to figure out how she'd missed it. If she were like me, she'd also be wondering if there were any other spaces like this in the club. There weren't. But there was one in our house.

"What is this room used for?"

"Interrogations," Kim supplied helpfully.

Beasty locked up, and an expression of regret flashed across Kim's face.

"This is where you had Stevo."

We were dead silent. No pun intended.

She released a shaky breath and pressed a hand to her stomach.

That she was upset on his behalf shouldn't bother me. Yet a streak of jealousy a mile wide cracked through me.

Rationally, I knew it was the death and not necessarily missing Stevo that troubled her, just like she was rattled at the warehouse where Lake was held.

But irrationally, she was mine, and I didn't want any other man, dead or alive, to evoke any kind of emotion from her.

Especially when she turned away from us.

"He was a danger to you, Beasty. Do you really think he wouldn't have gotten you killed or worse if we'd left him alive?" Venom coated my words, and Kim gave one hard shake of his head. He didn't like where I was going with that.

Too fucking bad. I'd never had the control he had.

"I know that!" Beasty yelled, then pressed her fingers into her temples. "I know that," she repeated. Facing me, she had both a look of guilt and understanding. It caused my stomach to flip over.

I didn't like this expression on her either.

"I'm not mad or upset or whatever you think I am right now. I'm just processing."

I nodded. I was an ass. I would always be an ass. It couldn't be helped.

"Come on," Lake said softly, reaching for the door and scanning his card. "We need answers sooner rather than later."

He opened the door, entering first. Beasty followed next, then I waited for Kim before I stepped in last.

The room was the same, except now there was a bleach stain on the concrete. It was hard to see because everything was dark and the hanging, flickering light didn't do any favors for visibility.

Beasty took in every inch of the space before landing on the woman at the table.

The woman was young. Barely eighteen. Her hair was a ratty mess and she was draped over the table like she was two seconds from passing out.

The door slammed shut behind me, and she lurched, raising her head. Fresh, light bruising was just forming around her eye and cheek.

The room was compact and we were not small people. Even Beasty, as slim as she was, was still tall for a woman.

The girl scrambled back against her chair, the metal legs scraping against the floor as she tried to get away from us. At least Lake hadn't chained her to anything.

"I don't know anything, I swear!" She cried, raising her hands to cover her face.

"Really? That's a shame. We were hoping you knew all the things." On the side of the table closest to us, there were three more metal chairs. Lake pulled one back and nodded at Beasty. She took the seat, and he took the other. I was fine to stand, and apparently, Kim was too.

The whites of the girl's eyes were visible all around her irises. "I-I don't understand. What's going on?"

I couldn't see Beasty's face from where I stood, but her shoulders softened. She was probably confused about how to handle this. She sympathized with this girl.

"What's your name?" Beasty asked quietly.

"Desiree." There was no fight in this girl. That could be very good for us.

"Desiree, I'm Cressida." Beasty paused and glanced at Lake, seemingly unsure of how to proceed.

He took over the questioning. "Desiree, I was a friend of your brother. Do you know what happened to him?"

Immediately Desiree's shoulders started to shake, and a sob caught in her throat. Nodding, she cast her gaze to the table.

"Tony told me that he was a-a-a traitor." She released another sob. "He wasn't. My brother is not a traitor. He's loyal to those who deserve it!" A bit of fire entered her voice.

Lake nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Beasty twitched.

"Desiree," Lake continued. "I was trying to help Rocco, but the Pescis' men got to him first. Do you know what he was going to tell me?"

Desiree sniffed loudly, wiping her nose on the hem of her shirt. When she glanced at Lake, she took in his near-white hair, then shifted her gaze to Kim, and finally to me. The only one she didn't study in this way was Beasty.

"You're the model boys?"

"They are. I'm their bodyguard." Lake angled his head toward Kim and me.

"You're more than just our bodyguard, Lake," I added, and he shot me a glare.

Desiree dropped her gaze again. "The Pescis have been screaming about you guys. Especially the girl." She snuck a glance at Beasty. "You're really Cressida?"

"I am. What are they saying about us?"

There was a pause and her mouth opened and closed. Desiree was trying to figure out what she wanted to say or hold back. The question was, did she actually know anything useful?

"They're saying that you're all giant wastes of space. Pussies. That you think you're a big deal when really you're all just a bunch of pretty faces with shit for brains. Otherwise, you wouldn't have sent that head to them."

Beasty turned rock hard, and Lake closed his eyes. He regretted that brash move.

Clearing her throat, Beasty asked, "What else?"

Desiree shrugged, playing with her fingernails. "They don't think you're a threat to their territory if that's what you're asking."

"It's not. We want nothing to do with their business."

Desiree eyed Lake with a shrewdness that was far older than her teenage years. "Then why send a head?"

"That's complicated and not any concern for this conversation,” Lake said.

"Then I don't have anything else to say."

Lake's top lip peeled back as he expanded in his anger. Desiree shrunk back, but Beasty placed her hand on Lake's arm.

"Why do you need to know that?"

Desiree glared at Beasty, and I took a step forward. I didn't give a shit if she was wronged or not. She didn't get to look at Beasty like that.

Her gaze flicked to me, and she shrunk back. "I'm not going to jump from one frying pan into the fire. Sending a head is a message, and you might as well just kill me if you're evil like the Pescis. Death is better than going back there."

"You're afraid Lake's a bad man?"

"I'm afraid he's a bad man with a lot of power," Desiree corrected. "I'm not going to snitch and put myself in a worse position."

Smart girl. Stupid, but smart.

Leaning forward, Beasty waited until Desiree met her eyes. "My boys aren't like that."

Kim preened when she called out her ownership of us. I couldn't lie and say I didn't like it either. We were hers just as much as she was ours.

"Stevo was the bad man. He put me in danger with the Pescis. Lake...lost his temper and shouldn't have sent the head back, but he was just protecting me."

"Is that true?" Desiree demanded.

"It's true," Lake confirmed. "I don't give a shit about anything the Pescis do or don't do. The only thing I care about is keeping Beasty safe. That's all I want."

Desiree continued playing with her nails. Eventually, she nodded as if she was having a full-blown conversation with herself.

"Can you keep me safe too?"

I had to lean forward to hear the soft words.

"Absolutely." There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in Beasty's reply, although Lake glared at the side of her head.

"If you can make sure they never get to me again, I'll tell you everything I know.”