Page 79 of Into the Blue

I gulp as the tall one, Lonny, takes my trash and leaves.

“Don’t like repeatin’ myself,” Milo chastises at the entrance of the long dark hall already.

I follow dutifully again. Never allowing too much space between the two of us.

“Sit,” he says and I take a seat in the chair across from his desk in the office that started my downward trajectory with him.

“Milo—”

“Blue,” he insists and I suck in a breath.I don’t like that correction.It draws a clear line in the sand that my access to the man I was beginning to know is gone.

Swallowing, I try again. “I haven’t lied to you.”

As enigmatic as I’ve seen him, he turns a folder on his desk so that it faces me. I reach for it and see a myriad of information. My application for Off Topz. Other employment history. My degrees. Several photos that I know were taken without my permission during the time I worked for him. It’s all there. He’s been keeping tabs on me. And yet…

“What am I looking at?”

“You tell me.”

“You have a file on me. You’ve been… stalking me.” My gut tightens. I flip through the papers with some hesitation to not appear frantic. But I need to know what he does know about me.

“Stalkin’ is an extreme word. I had a vested interest in keepin’ you safe. You needed it—more than once.” He taps the desk twice and it brings my attention back to him. “Why is that?”

“Welive in a patriarchal society where men feel that sex workers are public property and have zero respect for consent or boundaries,” I respond with an eyebrow raised.

“True. I won’t deny that. But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

I shrug.

His eyes narrow and then he stands from the desk. With deliberate movements, he locks the door and sits on the edge of the desk looking down at me.

“I’m gonna ask you a question. For each one that you answer honestly, I’ll let you move on with no consequences.”

I gulp. “Okay...”

“For each one that you avoid or lie, I’ll take somethin’ you’re wearin’.”

“Huh?”

“Somethin’ you’re familiar with. You’ll strip.” He stands. “And you didn’t put much on, so I’d recommend you be forthcoming.”

My jaw tightens. “I don’t wanna play your game.”

“Didn’t ask.” He rolls up his sleeves and sits in his desk chair. “Why are you here?”

“You brought me here.”

He tsk, “I’ll let you have that since I should have been clear. Why Clayton Terrace when you could have gone anywhere? You show up at my club.”

“That was a coincidence.” Truth. I only applied at Off Topz because Junior was the man behind it at the time. After he killed Manel for denying him the right to sell his shit in the club, we figured he’d take over. I knew other players went there, sure, but the news about the switch in owners came to me when Chanel told me that the new boss was my first private room request. At the time, it was sheer luck that the man I was looking to ally with came looking for me.

“Do I get to ask any questions?”

His eyes narrow, but he nods, “Sure.”

“Why are there men in the house now?” There. Gives nothing away.

“Security is more important than ever. There has been… some things that don’t concern you, but concern me very much. Need to make sure I’m prepared.”