Page 81 of Rising Queen (Blood Empire 1)

“She offered,” the guy defends.

“Don't look at me like that,” the woman sneers at Harlow. “He gives you an extra hundred on your check if you suck him off.” She shrugs. “Always good to have extra cash.”

Harlow just smiles and shakes her head. The woman rolls her eyes and struts past us, but Harlow sticks her free hand out, stopping her. Harlow leans in close to the woman. “I’ll be seeing you later,” Harlow says, then backs away, giving Dina an air kiss.

Dina sneers at Harlow. “You don’t scare me, Queenie. I know you don't kill women.”

Oh, this girl has a death wish. That may have been true in the past, but after seeing what she did to Rosie’s mom, I know that if you piss her off enough, she will gladly fuck a bitch up.

Harlow just blinks at Dina before bursting out laughing, making Neo join in, and I can't help but smirk. “Oh hunny, you’re so cute,” she giggles. “Run along now. But don't leave, okay?” Harlow talks to her like you would a child.

“Whatever,” Dina scoffs and leaves.

Harlow turns back to the creep at the desk. “Ballsy little bitch, isn’t she?” Harlow says, sounding kind of impressed. “Too bad, it's gonna cost her her job.”

“What do you mean? She's my best girl. Please,” the creep begs, zipping up his pants.

“Well, not anymore. I'm thinking broken legs, a nice haircut, and I think that face could use a little work, don't you, Neo?” Harlow asks.

“Yeah, think she could use some facial reconstruction,” he chuckles.

“Well, it just so happens I’m certified to do that.” She gives a cocky smirk.

Neo walks around the room, checking the place out. He notices the private liquor cabinet and tries to open it, but it's locked. And rather than ask the guy for the key, Neo smashes his elbow into the glass and pulls out a bottle of bourbon.

“Not that one!'' The guy starts to get up, but Harlow cocks her gun and the guy freezes in place.

“W.L. Weller,” Neo reads, then looks at the guy. “Dude, this shit is like, super expensive. How can you afford a $7,000 bottle of bourbon?” Not waiting for an answer, Neo opens it and takes a swig.

“Fuck that’s good,” Neo groans. The guy sighs and sits back down. Neo goes over to the guy’s desk and picks up a box that's sitting there and opens it. “Nice! Some Cubans too. Nice of you to take such good care of your guests." Neo takes the cigar, cuts the end off, then lights it up with a lighter from his pocket.

“You know, I'd like to know that too. How can you afford all this nice shit?” Harlow asks. His office is fancy compared to the rest of the place, all new furniture and everything.

“The club does good,” he says, but this fucker’s poker face needs work.

“Neo dear, do you mind bringing our friend over here?” she asks, grabbing a chair from against the wall and placing it in the center of the room. Neo goes over to the guy, pulls out his chair, and pushes it over to Harlow, with the guy still in it.

When the guy is face to face with Harlow, she hands Neo one of her guns and puts the other away.

“You see, I think it has something to do with whoever is taking all these young ladies who have coincidentally gone missing after spending a night atthisclub. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“N-no,” he stutters, shaking his head frantically. “I have no idea about any of that.”

Harlow narrows her eyes and smiles. “Nah, you're lying,” she laughs. “How can a bunch of girls go missing from this very club over the past few months, while you have no idea what's going on? Kind of fishy if you ask me.”

Neo, the crazy fuck, leans into the guy and takes a big sniff. “Like a fucking fish market,” Neo grins, and Harlow giggles.

“Pet?”

“Yes, My Queen?” Neo purrs.

“Hold him,” Harlow grins. Neo chuckles darkly as he grips the guy’s shoulders, holding him in place.

“Wanna know something about me?” Harlow asks, reaching for one of her daggers in its holster. She takes it out and holds it in front of her face, fixing up her lipstick in the clear reflection of the blade, before looking back at the guy. His eyes are wide as his gaze is fixated on the dagger. Swallowing hard, he looks back at Harlow.

“Well...?” she drawls.

“Sure?” he questions.

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