Page 18 of Arran's Obsession

My pulse skipped.

“Lara, can you show me upstairs?” I asked.

“Um, no? Sorry. Alisha just said to take you back.”

“I’m trying to find someone called Sydney. I think she’s up there.”

“If she is, she’s busy.” My escort linked her arm through mine, making it clear I wasn’t going off alone. “It’ll be even busier here tomorrow.”

“Saturday night,” I mused.

We neared a door off the main floor markedPrivate. A bouncer held it open for us. Ahead, two women entered what appeared to be a changing room. A clipboard hung outside. A rota? My pulse picked up even more. I needed to see it.

“That, sure, but they’re running the game. It gets a lot of attention, and men flock in. Some women, too,” my escort continued. “Even if they restrict entrance.”

She talked on, but I stopped listening, slowing to scan the list of names with urgency. Bonnie, Maeve, Dixie, eight more. Damn. No Sydney. Not that I could see.

Then we were back at the office again, and dejection filled me.

Alisha caught us up. “See all you needed to?”

I sighed because no, I really hadn’t. Not much more than a paying customer. Inside the big room, the three men in skeleton masks waited. I wished it was brighter in there, but the room was set up to intimidate people on the wrong side of the desk, judging by the lamp shining in my eyes.

“It’s an amazing setup here,” I lied. “I’ll do it. I’ll strip. I can learn.”

I needed that second opportunity to come back.

The boss angled his head, drawing his focus up and down me. Something in his eyes caught my attention.

“So you think you understand what it takes to work here now. One walk around and it’s all clear.”

He was going to refuse me. I took a guess. A wild burst. “If it works out, I want to move to the floor upstairs. To sell my body.”

All four people in the room sharpened their attention on me. But it was the man in the middle who kept the floor.

“To fuck for money?”

“Y-yes.”

He flexed his hand, his short nails on the desk surface. “What makes you think that happens here?”

“It does, right? And I want to work doing that.”

His intense stare didn’t let up, a hunter toying with his prey. “If such a job existed, there would be rules for new staff.”

“Of course. I’ll obey them.”

“They’d have to fuck me. To be available when and where I need them. They can’t say no if they want to work here.”

Horror sank through me.

One of his men laughed.

My jaw trembled. “I can do that.”

“You’re giving me permission?”

Recklessly, I nodded. If I couldn’t find Dad, I couldn’t sort out the rent, and we’d lose our home. Besides, if I was called in to sleep with the boss, I’d quit and run. He wouldn’t make me straight away.

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