Page 51 of To Have and To Hold

“It’s about something at Wanderland—someone. He just started. He’s a new guard.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Su nombre esEfrain.”

“Has Efrain done something?”

“He comes into our dressing rooms and our showers. He just stands and watches. We’ve told him to leave, but he just laughs.”

I questioned, “You said he’s new. Who’s his boss?”

“Lieutenant Ruiz, Nicolas.”

That was the name Celeste and Reina mentioned on my first day. “Have you told Nicolas?”

Her eyes opened wide. “No, Izzy. Nicolas doesn’t like us to complain. If we do, he would punish us not Efrain.”

“Physically?” I asked, shuddering inside, afraid of her response.

She was back to looking at her hands. “Sometimes but in other ways. Nicolas determines our customers and if we’re in VIP or not.” She looked up. “VIP is where we want to work, but Nicolas only assigns girls there who he likes. No one wants on his bad side.”

“I’ll talk to Mia about Efrain. Maybe he just needs to be reminded of the club rules.”

“Before Mia, the rules were different. I was thinking that if she knew…”

I sat taller and leaned forward. “Isla, thank you for trusting me. I promise I’ll speak to Mia.”

“Please tell her not to use my name.”

“I’m sure she knows.”

We both turned to a knock on the door. Isla stepped quickly down from the chair. “I should go. If … please don’t tell anyone but Mia about what I said.”

“We were just chatting. I have a lot to learn.”

“Gracias, Izzy.”

Walking toward the door, I gave Isla one last reassuring smile and opened the door.

Emiliano was standing there. Gone was the spicy tobacco aroma and back was the clean, fresh scent. It was as if he’d recently stepped from the shower. His dark hair was damp and combed back. The usual beard growth running over his chiseled jaw was gone, leaving what I could only imagine would be smooth cheeks. I wanted to reach up and feel them for myself. In place of his blue jeans and black t-shirt, he was wearing a white button-down with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Only the tip of the snake’s tail was visible. His black denim jeans fit his ass and long legs to perfection. When he flashed his panty-melting smile, I had to remind myself that this was a tour.

Nothing else.

I tried to temper the excitement about our tour in my voice. “Hi, Em.”

“Adios, Izzy,” Isla said as she hurried away.

“Thank you for your help,” I called after her.

My heart fluttered as Em lifted his arm to the doorframe and stared down at me.

“You showered.”

“I do that on a regular basis.”

“I should have changed clothes.”

He scoffed. “Your job is a lot cleaner than mine.”

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