Page 94 of Riordan's Revenge

“Get off me,” I bit out.

“Don’t fight it, Riot. You need this as much as we do,” Shade ordered. “One little test and it’ll all be over.”

In darkness, I submitted to their control. I had no other choice.

Chapter 29

Cassie

At the woman approaching me, I dropped my jaw in comic appraisal then wolf whistled loudly. “Babe, ye are a fox. Check ye out in street clothes. Stu-nning. Ate and left no crumbs.”

Dixie snickered a laugh and dropped into the seat opposite me in the brothel’s office. Often, the dancers and sex workers who came and went from the warehouse did so with a significantly toned-down appearance. Alisha out of her wig and makeup had been barely recognisable.

That wasn’t the case with Dixie. Even in a hoodie and tight jeans, her platinum hair up in a ponytail, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her heels gave her a few extra inches of height, but the lass was a shortie, just like me. A pocket rocket.

That wasn’t why I loved her, though. She was made of salacious gossip and fun. A force of nature and my secretfavourite of all the people who worked here. Way more than the skeleton-masked boys, Riordan aside.

She folded her hands in her lap. “Sorry to message like I did then take so long over getting here.”

“Don’t be daft. Is something wrong?”

Dixie’s expression altered, her gaze uncertain. “Yes. Or maybe no. I might need a few days off.”

I collected the tablet from the desk and opened the rota. “Seeing family?”

“I don’t have any. I just need some time away.”

“I’ll schedule it in. Ye don’t actually need permission, though. Ye know that, right?”

The sex workers were all self-employed. Arran’s method of keeping the brothel semi-legal while ensuring the women the layers of protection they needed.

Dixie examined her nails. “It’s not that that’s bothering me. It’s the thing I might do.”

I lowered the device. “Are ye in some sort of trouble?”

“Not me. But someone else will be, if I can help it.”

“I’m sorry, ye can’t say something like that and not immediately follow with details. Spill it. I have never been more intrigued.”

Her gaze leapt to mine, something dancing in her eyes that boosted my intrigue to sky-high proportions. She wasn’t upset, as I’d started to worry she might be. She was angry. Or maybe even vengeful.

“I can’t. Not yet.” Quickly, she added, “And not because I don’t trust you, but this is something so vital to me, I don’t know how to handle it. Let alone talk to someone else about it.”

On the desk, my phone vibrated once, and then a second time.

Dixie eyed it. “Do you need to get that?”

I peered at the screen and rubbed my hands together. “It’s just people checking in with a few tasks I asked them to do. Take a look.”

I opened it on my message screen.

Daria: My boyfriend stuck fly posters all over town. This good?

She’d included a picture of a poster stuck to a wall in a rougher area of Deadwater. It had a picture of a generic black cat and MISSING – REWARD across the top. A hefty reward was offered and two phone numbers included. Beneath, with the words: PLEASE USE THE KEYWORDS ‘FIND MY PUSSY’ WHEN YOU CALL.

Dixie blinked. “Whose cat is missing? Oh, wait, is this to do with the revenge list you asked me about? Ohmigod, the pet isn’t real, is it?”

I grinned. “Nope.”

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