Page 79 of Say My Name

It’s a nice place.

But I’m not here to hand out compliments.

“I didn’t think Club Greed made house calls.” He doesn’t sit either, opting to shovel a hand through his red hair. “Listen, if this is about the other night. The fight. I’m sorry. I never—” His words cease when I lift a hand for him to stop talking.

“What was the fight about? Don’t give me this money-owed bullshit.”

Kurt slips his hands into the pockets of his khaki trousers. “Yes. I owed Derek some money.”

“Money for what?”

Kurt’s blue eyes bounce between us. “Well, for um…” I can tell he doesn’t want to answer my question by the red splotches on his neck. “Well, for the Greedy Girl hookers.”

I let the “hooker” part slide for now. “Club dues?” I ask, confused, my eyes meeting Roman’s, and then Ledger’s.

Kurt shifts his weight from leather loafer to leather loafer. “Fuck,” he lets out. “Mr. Huxley, I guess you’re not aware of a prostitution ring working out of your club, huh?”

“A what?” My heartbeat ratchets up as I listen to this man offer an explanation.

“A service where you can pay to sleep with the Greedy Girls.”

I’m so lost. “You can sleep with them at my club if they agree to it. What do you mean?”

Kurt keeps talking in riddles. “A member can, yes.”

“So, what are you saying?” Roman rises from the couch to step closer to Kurt.

Kurt must take this as a sign of aggression and backs away. “There’s a number you can call to have a Greedy Girl come to you.”

“Are you shitting me?” Ledger says, standing as well, looking baffled by the conversation.

I pace the room, running a hand down my beard. As soon as I can process what this guy is telling me, I spin around to face him. “Explain it to me, in detail. Leave nothing out.”

We all take a seat in the living room, and Kurt offers us a drink. Whiskey is exactly what I need right now.

After we’re all settled with our drinks, Kurt reaches into his wallet to hand me a black card with nothing on it except a phone number written in gold.

“That’s the number you can call,” he says.

I flip it to look at the back, but there’s nothing there. “What happens when you call the number?”

“A girl answers and gets your information, asks what Greedy Girl you want to play with.”

“All the Greedy Girls are in on this shit?” Roman asks before I can.

Kurt shakes his head. “Only a few. Like Panti and Kitty aren’t in on it.”

I feel like I don’t need to ask the obvious, but I do anyway. “Were the murdered girls in on it?”

Kurt nods.

“Even Luna?”

Kurt shrugs. “I never saw her.”

“Why were you paying for this if you were a member?” Ledger asks, reading my mind.

Kurt puts his wallet away and shifts in his chair. “It wasn’t for me.”

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