Page 96 of Scarred Hearts

He rolled his chair back, standing and sauntering around toward me. “You’re dancing tonight on the main, yeah?”

Before I could answer, the door swung open, and Chance strode in with a big grin on his face. “I got Marcus Butler and Ashton Jackson,” he announced.

“For what?” Ian asked, stroking his chin as Luke came to stand beside me.

“The fight,” Chance responded with a scoff. “Marcus is trained for it, but Ash is supposed to play a fighter in an upcoming movie. I talked to the director, aka myself,” he said, pointing to his chest, “and I decided to film the flashback scene first so that if Ash gets beat up, we won’t need much makeup.”

“No,” Luke shook his head, “we’re not throwing that pretty face into a ring with professional fighters.”

“Hear me out,” Chance countered, roaming the room, “Marcus will fight him. Ashton wants to take some hits anyway. They’re both actors. They know how to sell it.”

I found myself smiling at Chance’s enthusiasm and glanced at Ian. “He’s got a point.”

He blinked down at me then back to Chance. “Fine.” He shifted his attention to Luke. “What do you think?”

“Okay but I’ve got a couple of real fighters coming to distract them from the dangerous game we’re about to be playing.” He looked down at me. “You and Nadia better make sure you sell it because we need you to annihilate Ivan.” He glanced down at his watch. “We better get downstairs. You’ve got to dance soon, and we need to be present.”

Ian took the lead, escorting Chance, Luke, and I down to the showroom. Just before we entered, I excused myself and entered Luxe again, changing into my headline attire in the office. Tyler was nowhere to be found, so I assumed he’d just gone into VIP.

As I was exiting the office, I almost bumped into him. “God,” I jumped back, “you scared me.”

“Sorry,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me to his lips, “I was taking care of something. I want to show you after you dance before we leave.”

“Okay?”

He laced his fingers together with mine, leading me out of Luxe, then kissing me again at the side hallway entrance. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Our fingers reluctantly parted, and he went into the showroom while I hurried down the back hallway to the backstage entrance. Amber was just finishing up, so I watched her for a minute before she paraded offstage toward me.

“Hey, girl,” she beamed, “have fun!”

“I will!” I laughed as the stagehand appeared with her money.

When the lights dimmed, I took the stage, feeling right where I belonged. “Home,” I whispered.

Confident, I sashayed around, my body moving to the rhythm of my song. As I reached the pole, I gave a seductive glance at the VIP area where Tyler sat. His face was illuminated by a passing blue light. A surge of joy rushed through me, and I couldn’t help but flash him a dazzling grin and a sly wink as I spun around the pole, using my toned muscles to hold on with ease.

The crowd erupted into cheers as I gracefully pulled myself up into an archer position, then smoothly hooked my leg around and spun while balancing solely on the crook of my knees. And when I finally unfastened my top and tossed it onto the stage, the room exploded in excitement as they got a full view of my bare breasts.

With a flick of my wrists, I gracefully let go of the pole and landed in a perfect split on the platform, eliciting gasps and cheers from the audience. As I simulated sex for their entertainment, I skillfully removed my bottoms, covering my exposed pussy with one hand, before climbing the pole once again.

Lost in the pulsing beat of the music, I felt completely free and alive. Money rained down onto the stage as I brought my legs out, twisting them around the shiny metal rod. With each movement, I could feel the energy of the crowd feeding into me.

While I moved my stomach in a sensual wave, a smile spread across my face as I made eye contact with individuals in the crowd. With a final spin, I scanned the room while moving with the music.

Just before I flipped upside down a final time, I spotted Nadia in the audience toward the back with a man I didn’t recognize. What the fuck?! I thought as I slid to the floor, stopping just before my nose touched the stage.

23

THE ROOM

TYLER

The moment she stepped off the stage, I quickly weaved through the bustling crowd, going straight to the backstage area. A sense of stress drove me to check on her since I could tell something had upset her during her performance. As she hastily redressed, I came to a stop in front of her.

“Nadia’s here with some guy,” she hissed, and my eyes widened. “But it was too dark to tell who he was. What’s she doing here?” she asked, standing up straight with a glare.

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