Page 3 of Stripped

“Oh, neither is Lily,” Alice said. “She just really wants to get in your pants.”

The three of them headed for the exit, Zed trying to come up with reasonable excuses. I laughed as the door closed behind them. I picked up the locker room and headed back to my office. Zed wouldn't be back for me. I parked right next to the exit, in a well-lit spot, so I could work late.

I paused half-way to my office. There was a familiar figure leaning against my door. “Emily,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

The woman stepped forward into the light, her hands shaking, her eyes red around the rims. I did everything I could to ensure a safe working environment for all my employees and to make sure everyone was well and healthy, but some people didn't handle this life well. I suspected Emily had been addicted before she'd come to work for me, but she'd gotten so bad I'd had to fire her last month. I'd paid for her to see a therapist, but nothing had worked for her.

“I'm sorry,” Emily said. “I just… I just need a job.”

My heart ached for her, remembering the vibrant, though troubled woman, she'd once been. I couldn't see that woman anymore, there was only need in her eyes, desperation in her voice when she spoke. “I can't hire you unless you've been clean for a month, Em. You know that.”

“I've been clean.” Her lips were chapped, her face drawn. She was so thin she was practically skeletal.

“Don't lie to me.”

She bowed her head and, when she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. “I just need some cash, Abigail. Just a few hundred dollars to get me out of this town and away from… Them.”

I narrowed my eyes and placed my hands on my hips. I wouldn't be lied to and I wouldn't enable her, not ever again.

She flinched. “I'm going to quit. I am. I just need… Just a few hundred dollars. I know you have it.”

I did have it and I'd pay that and more if I thought it would end her pain, but giving her that money would just prolong it. “You can come back to my place if you need somewhere to stay. I'll buy you breakfast. I'll help you find a place somewhere far from here.”

“I need…” She swallowed hard. “They won't let me stop, Abby. No matter where I go, they always find me and they say… They say they'll promote me if I convince you to give them their dues. Please Abby, I don't want to do this anymore… I just want…”

I knew what she wanted. She wanted to die. She'd never admit that out loud, probably never admitted that to herself, but it was clear. Had been clear since she'd driven her car into a tree after a few too many drinks and her boyfriend, her childhood sweetheart, had crashed through the windshield and met the tree headfirst. She'd started hanging out with the vampires after that and they'd been happy to have a new blood groupie in their stable. When she said they'd promote her, she meant they'd give her to one vampire on a permanent basis and he'd take care of her, feed her need for whatever the vamps did for her when she shared her blood with them, feed and clothe her. Some people said it was the vamp saliva that was addictive or that the vamps shared blood with the blood groupies or that the sex was addictive. I'd never wanted to know, in all honesty. I'd seen enough destroyed humans, male and female, to know that whatever it was it was toxic. I didn't believe Emily wanted to be promoted, it was a lie she told herself, because she couldn't admit that all she really wanted was punishment and an end to the guilt and the pain.

“I can't give them money, Emily. I don't have anything to give and if I can't pay them, they'll ask me to give them Alice or Zara or one of the other women who work here. You don't want to see anyone else trapped, do you?”

Her expression hardened and she shoved past me. “Forget it.”

I turned to watch her go, wishing I knew what to say or do to help her and hating that there was nothing.

***

The sky was pink with dawn when I stumbled into my condo, drowsy and ready for bed. I locked my door, kicked off my shoes and headed to my kitchen for a mug of the sleep-inducing tea I'd gotten in the habit of drinking before bed. It helped me get a good sleep when the sun was shining.

“Hey, baby.” Rixton was standing in my kitchen eating take-out pizza from a box. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but thankfully, he was wearing pants. “I thought you'd never get home.” Rixton was a decent-looking guy, with a slightly crooked nose, a five-o'clock shadow that never went away, and a lopsided mouth. His attraction lay in his nova bright confidence and his lackadaisical attitude. Nothing bothered him and he attacked every aspect of his life with a laid-back grace like he knew it would only ever please him. He was also unemployed, with zero ambition.

I glared at my ex-boyfriend and put my hands on my hips. I was not going to give in this time. I wasn't going to do it. “What are you doing here?”

“I ordered you pizza,” he said, shaking his slice in my direction, bits of sausage and bacon dropping off and hitting the linoleum. “Want some?”

“I'm a vegetarian.” We'd dated for almost a year and he never remembered that I didn't eat meat.

“You are?” His mouth twisted into a grimace. I liked that look better on him, because it made him less attractive. I needed every defense I could get. Sex with him was easy and fun, and I wasn't someone who liked to go too long without. “Since when?”

“Since I was twelve. So, eleven years.”

“Huh.” He shoved another bite of pizza in his mouth.

“Why are you here?”

“I missed you, baby,” he said, still chewing, a bit of food falling from his mouth. He caught it and shoved it back in. Table manners had never been one of his charms.

“I'm not sleeping with you. We broke up. You need to leave.”

He stalked toward me, his eyes heating as he got closer. “You know I'll give you pleasure.”

---