Page 32 of Pin-up Girl

Elise cleared her throat. “You want me to join you on this job. I deserve to know why you’re doing it, and what you’re planning to do. I need to walk in there with my eyes wide open.” Her gaze flitted between the three of us, a slight hesitancy in the way her hand fluttered around on her knee.

In an uncharacteristically gentle move, Emmett tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “We were born into a world of arrogant assholes who believe they have rights to the world that no one else has. They don’t think twice before manipulating or blackmailing innocent people to get their way. Milo, Jules, and I, we’re tired of that world. It’s not a good place to be, not only because it’s not good for us, it’s not good for the people who accidentally stumble into our world.”

She gulped, understanding she had stumbled into our world without having the first fucking clue what that meant for her. An unusual stroke of pity brushed over me, but I shoved it away. She was here now, and there was nothing she or we could do about it, except let it play out.

“Tonight is a job for us, to try and broker a deal with Clownface that could help us secure our freedom. A lot of the men that are holding the trap together frequent this place. And their tastes are definitely on the more unsavory side. If we’re ever going to live our own lives, we have to be smarter than the other players, know their habits and proclivities better than even they know them.That’swhy we’re here tonight.”

Milo bypassed the valet, driving straight into the parking garage. Smart move, considering we had no idea how this was going to play out. If they had the keys to our getaway, that could mean very bad things for us.

We parked in a mostly deserted level close to the ground. Bright fluorescent light speared into the car, casting an unhealthy gray glow off of Milo’s profile.

He unbuckled his seatbelt, pulled out the keys, then twisted to face Elise head on. “I don’t have to tell you tonight is very important to us, Elise. Can we count on you to follow our lead, and maybe help us start the long descent to put some of these bastards away? Or at the very least, make them stop their sick shit of playing with lives like they’re pawns on a chessboard?”

A car horn blew on the other end of the lot, but no one looked away to see which car it was. This was too important. Before we brought Elise into our fold, even if it was to trap her into silence, we had to be absolutely sure she wasn’t going to fuck this up for us.

She lowered her gaze, nodding.

“I need the words. And your eyes,” Milo demanded.

There was no hesitation as she met my gaze first, shocking the shit out of me. Then Emmett’s, and finally Milo’s. “I know something about having your decisions taken away and wishing like fuck you could punish every bastard that ever crossed your path. I promise, I’m with you. All of you.”

What the hell didthatmean?

She didn’t wait for us to process what she said, or draw conclusions on what had caused her to feel that way. Instead, she opened her door, smoothly sliding out of the backseat. I jumped to follow her. This place was crawling with slime no matter the day or hour, and she was beautiful enough that she would land on their radar in a fucking blink.

Scents of sesame and greasy fried rice drifted through the parking garage, leading right to the door as if there wasn’t a sign for the restaurant in bright neon letters hanging over it. For anyone walking in, this could be just another Chinese takeout. It wasn’t until a hostess in a black designer cocktail dress opened the door that you got the first glimpse of the opulence inside.

Milo went through the door first, not giving Elise the opportunity. I couldn’t see her face, but her head was tilted up like she was staring lasers into the back of his neck. She probably thought he’d be a gentleman out in public with his perfect persona. She didn’t realize he was shielding her. Even with her heels, Milo was tall and broad enough to block others’ view of her. The entrance into the restaurant was highly visible, but the patrons would only see Milo, then Emmett, who had also shoved his way in front of her. They knew I’d maneuver her behind them as they walked to the side hallway.

She huffed, adding a little bit of indignance to her stomp. At the bottom of the stairs, another sexy, Asian hostess greeted Milo, smiling coyly and promising a night of shy but kinky passion. Chao always had some of his best stock take shifts at the front to entice the men to the parlor, even when they only came for a nice dinner.

As soon as Emmett’s feet hit the black marble floor, he stepped forward and lingered, taking a long look around the dining hall, not that he’d see much with all the low mood lighting and secluded booths. That was my cue. I pushed Elise to the side under the illusion of making room for myself.

Together, we boxed her between us so no one would be able to recognize her later. A foreboding sense of doom crowded my conscience, leaking into the cracks of my thoughts. At the end of the hallway, Chao was holding the door to the saloon open, smiling so wide, he gave truth to the Clownface nickname. My doom and worry started to scramble my thoughts, distracting me from what we were here to do.

Chao’s solicitous smile turned into a grin full of cut glass when he caught sight of Elise. This was a very bad idea. A very fucking bad idea.

“Mr. Kingston, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Astor. What a pleasure to have you join us tonight.” He swept an arm back, inviting us into the posh waiting room. We passed through one by one, and I couldn’t help but to press my hands against Elise’s hips, sending a subtle warning to Clownface that she was not to be fucked with, in any interpretation of the word.

“Chao. Good to see you. I’ve heard business has been good for you.” Milo walked to one of the round, painted tables off to the side. He picked up a crystal orb, pretending to study it. That was his thing. He loved to make people believe he wasn’t watching, right up until he broke them apart with his violence, words, or—my favorite—social standing.

No one fucked with us.

Freshman year, we’d needed to make a name for ourselves, so we started pushing the upperclassmen in passive aggressive ways—taking jobs that were for the more experienced, stealing the attention of the sorority girls, things like that. It wasn’t long until thethenpresident cornered us on campus—right in the fucking center of campus. By that time, Milo had already cultivated a following with his winning personality. It was nothing for Milo to reduce that douche to a social pariah. It hadn’t even mattered that he was the pres, Milo shut his shit down and officially took over the position…unofficially.

Chao smiled wide, taking the orb from Milo’s hands and placing it back gently on the table. In the past, touching his precious items—and by that I meant objects of priceless value, not the girls he rented out—was a legit way to make him twitchy.

“And who is your lovely friend, hmm? Did you bring her in to sample one of the girls? Will you all be sharing?” He raked his disturbingly heated gaze down Elise’s hourglass figure garbed in a skintight red dress. Emmett really knew what he was doing when he picked that out for her. Every one of the girls would be wearing black, and with her blonde hair and fire engine red dress, she was like a flashing beacon in the distance, calling all sinners to die at her feet in pleasure.

Damn, that was a little too poetic, even for a moody bastard like me.

Chao snapped his fingers above his head, and a train of waiting girls walked into the room in a perfectly formed line. I couldn’t speak for Emmett or Milo, but this was a little too Stepford for me.

With each girl that came out, they looked younger and younger. Elise stared hard at each face that passed, her body growing more rigid as she saw just how young these girls were. But these weren’t the very young ones. He saved those for only the best clients, and with Elise here, I doubted he’d take the chance to expose one of his dirtier secrets.

Emmett waved a hand good-naturedly, sending theEmmettsmirk at a few girls as they passed. I didn’t think Elise noticed, or if she did, maybe she wouldn’t have cared. He just couldn’t help himself. Honestly, it would be a miracle if he actually kept his dick in his pants while we tried this thing with Elise.

Not that I thought he would go back on his word, he was just more likely to lose interest and want to end this little arrangement first.

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