Page 44 of Hot Cops

“All this time I thought she was addicted to the spotlight, to being a star. I understood that because she still came home to me every night. It wasn’t the job,” he said, his voice laced with agony. “It was me. I wasn’t good enough for her.”

“Oh Johnny.” Riley reached out and took his hand in hers. “I’m so sorry. Really I am. We were just going to head next door to the all-you-can-eat buffet. Why don’t you come with us? My treat.”

Johnny accepted her comfort for only a moment before he shook off her hand and raised a pointed finger at them. “I’m gonna find that asshole friend of yours and I’m gonna kill him. Kill him for stealing my Bella away from me!”

Before they could try to talk him down, he turned and stormed away.

“Wow.” Riley turned to look at him. “This sucks.”

He nodded. “Yep. Trev’s in a whole world of hurt.”

“We still hitting the buffet?”

He grasped her hand and headed for the street again. “Hell yeah.”

CHAPTERNINE

As they walkedout of the casino, Riley’s cell phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Riley?”

“Yep. Bubbles?”

“Hey.”

Riley frowned at the woman’s dejected tone. When she’d left Bubbles last night, the woman had been floating on air and confidence. Her voice now betrayed serious depression. “Oh shit. What’s wrong? Didn’t you get the job?”

“Oh yeah. I got it.”

“Woohoo!” Riley pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at Aaron. “Bubbles got the stripper job.”

Putting the phone back to her ear, she started to congratulate her new friend. “That’s awesome. I’m?—”

“I got it and lost it.” Bubbles halted her rejoicing mid-sentence.

“Lost it?” She pulled the phone away again and shook her head. “She lost it.”

“How?” he asked.

“How?” she asked into the phone.

“That cunt Bella fucked me over.”

“Bella?” Riley asked.

Aaron frowned. “Bella? Is she back?”

“Apparently the cunt showed up at the club and begged for her job back this morning. That loser Louis gave it to her. He just called to tell me the lap-dance job was no longer necessary since he had his star back. Irockedthat place last night. If you don’t count the broken chair. And the three spilled drinks. And there was the issue with my elbow and that guy’s eye, but other than that, I rocked it.”

“Is she still at the club?”

“How the hell should I know?” Bubbles yelled. “I’m not there yet.”

“Yet?”

“I’m looking for that whore and when I find her, I’m gonna kick her scrawny ass from here to Kansas.”

---