Page 66 of Vegas Daddies

But nobody has escaped the Bratva and lived to tell the tale.

Lifesaver continues to circle around him, and the hot iron rod in Brander’s grasp inches closer. Maybe this isn’t going to work. Maybe deathiswhat the guy wants—his unflinching body would suggest that.

“Tell us,” Lifesaver says. He presses the muzzle of the gun against his back. “Dying is a selfish act. You don’t want to be selfish now, do you?”

Somehow he’s clocked onto my train of thought.

“How will your family and friends react?” he continues, “when they find out that you’re dead. Imagine them crying. Will you have an open or closed casket?” He pauses for a moment. “Closed would be better, I think. Coroners can only hide so much with makeup.”

“They’d have to put a mask on you to hide the burn.” Brander raises the iron rod higher, the burning red tip an inch away from scalding the man’s ear.

“That’s true,” Lifesaver says. “You’d be gone forever, but they’d be left to pick up the pieces. That’s not fair, is it? Don’t you?—?”

“Ursula and Hook,” spits the guy.

“Excuse me?” Brander lowers the iron rod.

“That’s where Alice is.”

“Why?” I ask.

“It’s a strip club. One of the biggest places in the syndicate for money laundering. She’s there.” The guy’s features curl now into more of a smile. Something about this pleases him, and myears aren’t ready to hear it. “Apparently she’s bringing in lots of money tonight.”

16

BRANDER

The windowless spaceand red interior lighting rings alarm bells as soon as we step inside Ursula and Hook.We’ve been here before. It was the day after we met Alice, when we came here for girls and alcohol. For temporary distraction to divert our minds from the girl who stopped all of our worlds from spinning.

Trust her to go and do it again.

Seven women twirl around poles center stage in minimal clothing. Other podiums dot around the VIP area. These girls are even more beautiful, bodies twirling around the poles even more gracefully, in even tinier costumes that expose everything but their breasts and the in-between of their legs.

My heart stops when I see her.

“Alice.”

Our heads all whip over in unison.

I feel the other two hearts pause also.

Oh my god.

“Fuck.”

My blood thickens. Rushes to my head and confusingly, my dick.

She prances around on a podium in purple lingerie. Two tiny bows decorate the tops of each stocking, but that’s not where my eyes focus. Thin bits of material strap around her swollen breasts, barely keeping them in place. I hold my breath. One wrong move could knock the material out of place. Expose her to the whole world. The thin bits of material form an X, the middle of the letter concealing nipples that the hypnotized men in the booth below look desperate to see.

She lifts herself up onto the pole and spreads her legs. Purple lace covers her pussy, but barely. The G-string is tiny. Her ass is practically on show. Long locks of blonde hair cascade around her, and her breasts knock together every time she moves. This wins her more attention, and it’s from men seated in other booths. They have their own girls, but Alice is the woman they set their eyes on.

My legs carry me forward.

Next thing I know, I’m clawing my nails into the back of some guy’s balding scalp and breaking his nose. I feel the bone crack under my fist.

“Fucking hell, man,” goes one of his buddies, shooting up to punch me to the ground.

He fails.

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