Page 40 of Devoured
“I like it too,” she added. “It’s fun. Why wouldn’t I want to get paid two thousand dollars to walk all over a man? Literally. In my boots.”
I could understand that. “But politics make it so that you can’t be open.”
“Yeah. So if a customer fucks with us, we can’t go to the police. We’d be prosecuted. But politicians have to do what they think is right, and it usually comes down to the same ideas. Trafficking is bad; laws are good; no woman wants to do sex work.”
“Which is bullshit,” I said.
“Exactly. It’s all caveman thinking.”
“But pretend for a second,” I said, “Imagine you gave a good argument and got a politician on your side, and they made it legal. You know they would want to regulate it.”
“Which isn’t ideal. I’d prefer that we were left to self-regulate, but it’s a concession I’d be willing to makeifit made a safer space for us.”
That was huge. It seemed hard for Iris to compromise, especially when it came to the Dahlia District, but for this, she was willing to. I was impressed.
“So you’d be willing to make changes to Dahlia Districtifit made the business better?”
“Yes.” She pushed back her hair, then looked down. “Of course,” she said in a whisper. “As long as it made it safer for us.”
My heart burned at those words. Iris had been determined to keep the clubexactlyas it was, claiming it didn’t need any fixing. But in reality, she was willing to change it if it meant making the place better. If it meant she had a safe place for her servers, and for herself.
