Page 9 of The Biker's Red Christmas

I inhale deeply and instantly regret it. It smells like someone has thrown up recently. The smell makes my eyes water. I know I'm going to have to get used to it for the days to come because the owner of this place would never willingly get anyone in here to clean. I swear one day I'm going to catch something just from being in here.

Sunshine glances up in my direction while flipping up on the pole. As she slides down, she gives me a wink, and I nod my head in her direction. All the girls know I'm here to help, so when they see me, they are usually nice unless one of them is having a bad day. I don't take it to heart when they roll their eyes at me or flat-out ignore me.

I make my way through the crowds of men and head straight to the back where I know the bulk of the girls are waiting to either get on the floor or to go up on stage.

Before I can reach forward to part the curtain that leads to the employee area, a man I've never seen before steps in front of me.

"Oh, you must be new here. I'll take you for a ride. What's twenty dollars get me?" he asks and leans forward, giving me a brave smile. I cringe backward as I see the incredible decay and smell the severe halitosis that comes from his mouth.

No wonder he thinks he needs to buy his love; why the hell would anyone find him attractive when he can't even be bothered to take care of his own personal hygiene?

"Hmm, let me see, twenty will get you a swift kick to the balls." I give him a sarcastic smile and tilt my head to the side, waiting for him to get the point.

"Ouch, no way, baby. I'm not into that BDSM stuff." His eyes open wide.

"Aww, that's too bad. I've got a new set of whips and chains in the back; I thought you could be my first victim...oh wait, customer." I take another step forward, and this is enough to send the man running away.

I roll my eyes at the man's back. It's so easy to expose people's insecurities. I don't mean to be such a bitch all the time, but it's just so easy.

I turn back to the velvet curtain and pull it back. The locker room is full of girls either doing their makeup or playing dice in the corner. Money is being slammed on the ground, and I see a few people shooting up in the corner. When I first came to this strip club, it was such a culture shock to see these things happening, but now I'm used to it. As long as they stay in their lane and don't try to force me to do anything, what they do is none of my concern.

"Sienna, long time no see." Milly smiles wide at me, and I shake my head at her. I saw her last night at the party. I even told her goodnight when she left at something like two in the morning. She was walking bowlegged, and I could only assume it was because she had a good time.

"Yeah, fancy that." I look around the room, and instantly it feels like a weight is being lifted off my shoulders. They're all here. Thank God.

My eyes settle on the back of the room where I see Uni at one of the makeup stations. She's not doing her makeup; instead, she's looking in the mirror at me. When I catch her eyes in the reflection, she picks up a concealer that is clearly at least two shades too dark for her, trying to act like she wasn't just staring at me. She can't hide things; she doesn't have a good poker face.

I make my way over to where she's sitting and kneel next to her. I sit back on my haunches, desperate not to let any part of my body touch this dirty floor. Who knows what the hell is on it?

"Hey girl, everything okay?" I ask her, not wanting to seem like I'm pressing her too hard.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Uni answers me a little too cheerfully. I know this girl since she was fifteen years old and fresh on the streets. I ran back into her last year when she started working at this club. We've always had a good rapport with each other. That's why it bothers me so much that she seems to be hiding something from me.

"Uni, you don't need to lie to me, you know that, right?" I tilt my head to the side, trying to get her to look at me instead of the mirror. Finally, after staring away from me for a few seconds, she turns to look at me.

"Yeah, I know. I just know that you take things to the extreme sometimes, and I don't even know if anything is wrong."

"How many times do I have to say it, girl? Nothing is wrong. They are just off having a good time." One of the other strippers barks out, but I don't pay her any mind. Now I'm completely focused on Uni.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" I grab hold of Uni and stand to my full height to look down at her. I want to know what's going on immediately.

"It's probably nothing, Sienna, really." Uni tries again to get me to drop it.

"Let me find out for myself." I reply.

"Fine, it's just Lia and Max didn't show up this morning. They always work the block, but tonight they didn't show." Uni rushes out her explanation, and I rack my mind trying to think about when was the last time I saw either of them. They were both at the party last night.

"You mean no one has heard from them since they went to the party yesterday?" I look around the room and am met with silence.

"They're just off on a bender or something. You know how those types are." One of the strippers calls out before she walks out of the back room to do her set on stage.

It was a distinct possibility that she could be right, but there was even more of a possibility that this could be my worst nightmare. Some of the girls could be missing right as I watched them.

"Don't think too much into it, Sienna." Uni tries to console me, but I'm not going to be deterred. I want to know where the two of them are. And I want to know now. That means I have to go back to the last place anyone saw them. I'm going to have to go back to the Chrome Creed Clubhouse.

5

LASH

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