Page 9 of Twisted Games of Revenge

She shrugs, and I know she doesn’t believe me.

“Do you think he will retaliate somehow?”

“I hope not, but you always have to be ready for Enzo. Who knows what he will do next.” She doesn’t sound worried at all, and I guess the big dude shadowing us helps with that. But I would be worried.

She looks over her shoulder at me, probably wondering why I’m not keeping up with her large strides. “When you came here with the boys, they only brought you into the bar, right?”

“Yeah, how big is the place?”

She smirks. “It will blow your mind.” I walk beside her through the main bar. Apart from a few Iron Strykers, jacket-wearing bikers, drinking beers at the bar, and a couple snuggled together in a booth, the place is empty.

She takes me up a set of five stairs and stops moving when she comes to double doors at the very back of the room, with a suit-wearing bouncer guarding the door. “Each new space has a higher degree of security and checks that need to be made before you can enter the space. We need to take extra precautions to keep the girls safe in these spaces,” she tells me as I show my new fake ID her brother Malachi had made up for me, and the security guard pushes the doors open for us.

I gasp in shock by the expansive space that stretches out behind the club, completely different from what I pictured. Music pumps through the speakers as a couple of scantily dressed strippers dance on the two main stages. One’s female, the other male, and fuck, what a male, his chest bare and his package barely concealed. I blink away, trying not to stare.

Down the far side of the room is a fancy looking bar that runs the length. The music changes and so do the dancers on the stage, and I find my attention being drawn back to them. I stop and watch the dancers, kind of in awe at their impressive moves and their confidence. “I would never have the guts to do that.”

Sloane takes my arm, moving me along. “You would learn. If it was something you wanted to do, the girl on the stage, Page, is our dance coordinator. She’s been with me for years, and every new girl gets trained by her. They make it look complicated, but you could do it.”

I give her a look, like fuck I could. She doesn’t know I have two left feet, and when I get embarrassed, I go bright fucking red. It would be a terrible look for her business. “How long have you had this place? No offence, but you don’t look much older than me and I’m barely legal.”

“I’ve been running it since Jagger took over the Iron Strykers from Syd. I was just eighteen, but I already knew I wasn’t going to let this place be run by just anyone. I had to fight my brothers off for it, but Jagger knew I would run it better than any of them, so he backed me.”

“It’s important to you?”

Her expression turns more serious. “Extremely. This place raised me. The women in it, anyway.”

I’m not sure what to say back to her, that makes me feel sad for her. I want to ask about her mom, but something tells me I don’t know her well enough for that conversation. We make it to another door, and I show my ID again to a new guard.

“Viv’s with me, I’ll get her clearance sorted by this evening,” she tells the oversized dude on the door.

He nods gruffly, letting us through.

“Clearance for what?” I ask, dropping my head closer to her as we pass the guard and head down a long corridor. This part of the club is quieter.

“For every area of my club.”

I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest, completely bewildered by what’s happening. She wants me to work here. “I’m not going to work here, Sloane; I already told you I don’t want a job.”

“You might change your mind when you work out how much my girls get paid.” She laughs lightheartedly, not insulted by my reaction. “This place is my life, sis, I have no idea why you would want to work anywhere else.”

I raise a brow, curious, but already knowing I won’t. “What is this part of the club?”

“Private rooms, a safe place for the escorts to meet with their clients, knowing they have security and a quick way out if things take a turn. We also make sure all the clients are put through vigorous vetting before they’re allowed access to this place. The dancers out there show a bit of skin, but the ones in here will give their clients the full girlfriend experience. So, it’s only VIPs who get access.”

My mouth nearly drops open. I feel so damn naïve. I mean, I guess I know these types of places exist. But I have never been in one before. “Whatever they want?” I ask, needing clarification.

“They have their limits all laid out so it’s clear. But yeah, they agree on what they’re willing to do or not do, and they go from there. Every experience is different, it’s part of the fun.”

I stare back at her, my mind racing, trying to make sense of everything. “Just out of curiosity, how much do they get paid?”

She smirks knowingly. “Depends on what they’re offering, but for the full girlfriend experiences, it’s upwards of one thousand an hour.” She pushes open one of the doors to what looks like an up-market hotel room. A brass chandelier, dripping with crystal pendants, hangs in the center of the room, casting a dim glow on the velvet curtains that shroud the window. The dark charcoal wall panels, accented with gleaming gold trim, set off the luxurious, soft-looking bedding.

“Have you ever…?” I motion to the gorgeous room.

She scrunches up her face. “I run the place, that wouldn’t be very professional.” But the way she says it doesn’t convince me. Sloane’s such a mystery in so many ways. “So, what do you think?” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“I think I have a million questions.” I laugh, still looking around the place.

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