“I can, but you know they probably have your ass on camera,” Dereck says.
“If they recognize and come after me, I’ll know who my fucking target is then, right?”
He shakes his head. “You’re not wrong, my friend. I just think you should have backup when you go in. What if Evers runs point out front, then I’ll watch Layla?” Dereck says.
“Hey, I’m the driver. When does the driver run point?” Evers growls.
Dereck turns to him and scowls. “Do you ever fucking smile?”
Evers glares at him for a minute and then his lips pull back, exposing a very white set of teeth. “Now that you ask, not since I stopped working security and started driving your sorry asses around. You want a point? You got it!” he says, grinning broadly first at Dereck and then at me in the rearview mirror.
“Roger that!” both Dereck and I say in unison, as I chuckle under my breath.
“You go in first, cover my entry, then find Layla, I’ve got Bryanna.” \
“Got it. Here, put this on,” Dereck says, tossing me one of the beanies he wears.
I raise my eyebrows. It may not be exactly my style, but it’s a disguise, and I shove my scruff underneath the hat. Evers pulls up to the curb while I inch the car door open and roll out onto the grass and into the bushes he’s parked beside. I watch as he gets out, comes around the vehicle, kicks each of the tires, and makes a show of checking for leaks before deciding everything is okay, getting back into the car, and driving on without me.
I watch for a few more minutes and see a couple people in neighboring homes close curtains as I make my way through thebushes and into the little park that sits along the river. I follow it for about a block, weaving myself back toward the front lot of the bar, staying behind the dense hedge. A couple cars pull up, giving me the perfect cover. I walk out, seemingly from one of the farthest parking spaces, and join their group as we enter the seedy little bar together.
The lounge is smoke-filled, and my eyes burn within minutes of being in the small, enclosed space. My head may be down, but my eyes are alert, scanning periodically. The group I’ve joined meanders toward the small circular stage where Layla is giving it her all for the crowd. They’re going crazy as she grinds her nude body along the length of the pole and ends with her tail in the air for the entire crowd as they erupt into a bunch of catcalls and whistles. A few of the customers have stood and are yelling for her to come home with them. I’d be more than a little worried about her if I didn’t see the bouncers already in place, ready to deal with anyone who even looks like they’re about ready to get out of line. Layla suddenly flips right into the air and then takes a bow, raising another house-resounding cheer before wiggling off the stage.
The lights lower and a sultry sound comes over the speaker, and my breath catches as the sight before me materializes. Bryanna walks onto the smoke-filled stage, an erotic illusion with shoulder-length dark hair, bright green eyes that are amplified by the neon lighting, and a pink barely-there costume. My dick hardens to stone, as if I didn’t already know just how attracted I am to my little charge.
The music pulses seductively, and Bryanna doesn’t miss a beat. She almost glides to the erotic rhythm, and when the tempo heats up, so does she, making her way across the floor, teasing the audience, and my cock, as she does. She spins on her pink-and-black platform heels, giving me and the entire audience a very up-close glimpse of her heart-shaped backside,which is decorated with a hot-pink ribbon of satin. I save that image to my brain, because it’s the same little ass that I want bent over my lap as I paddle some sense into her for showing it to everyone in this fucking bar.
The beat drops, and everyone waits. Bryanna spins around again, lowering her ass seductively to the floor in time to the music. I’m mesmerized, watching as her toned backside shimmies as low as it can go without touching the stage, and then slowly, and ever so indecently, wiggles all the way back up until she is standing.
The dance continues, her teasing the crowd right along with my pulsing dick. She’s getting ready for the finale, and while I may want to see every inch of her delectable body, the very possessive side of me doesn’t want her anywhere near these men in this state of undress.
Every man in this room is waiting to see her bare herself to them. All I can think about is how to keep her from doing exactly that without endangering her life, and the sad reality is that I can’t. There’s something I don’t know yet, but I’d bet a fair sum of money that she returned to the people who drugged her because she had no other choice, and figuring this shit out is now my mission. I know damn well that she’s not here by choice, and I’m not going to find out why by snatching her off that fucking dance floor.
My eyes track the men all staring hungrily at Bryanna. I want to pummel every fucking one of them, but that’s not going to keep her safe. I have to trust that she’ll lead me to the truth. She’s come back to this place for a reason, and after more than a day, someone’s not going to be happy that she’s been gone. Whoever that is, that’s the person who’s going to help me get some answers so I can get my green-eyed Doll out of here. That doesn’t make it any easier when she spins on those pink-and-black platform heels and releases the little clip on her pink-and-silver bikini top, exposing her perfect peach-sized breasts and nipples to every horny man in the room.
My dick throbs at the sight, but my jaw tightens because my head isn’t in the game. The crowd goes wild, and I clap right along with them, because she is a beautiful dancer, and the performance was stunning. Her eyes lower with what looks like embarrassment, even shame, and that confirms my theory, and my resolve to get her out of this situation intensifies. I look around, and these horndogs are all watching Bryanna bare herself, and it fucking pisses me off. This woman is messing with my fucking mind.
She gives the crowd a sexy little look, spins as if by routine, and bends completely at the waist, giving the crowd and myself an extremely up-front-and-personal view of her ass, before leaving the stage under the deafening sound of thunderous applause.
I text a group message to Matt and Cole, who are in their places outside, letting them know she’s in the building and I’ve got my eyes on her. Dereck’s still in the back of the bar, and I give it a minute before making my way through the throng and ducking into the back hallway, but stop short and slip into an open doorway when I see two men down the hall push Bryanna into an alcove in the long corridor.
“Where the hell were you?” a voice growls at her.
“I don’t know exactly. I don’t remember anything after the waxing parlor. I woke up and some sick son of a bitch had me all tied up. He untied me to go to the bathroom, and then left me that way when he went to shower, thinking I’d gone to sleep. I made it out of that place with my life due to sheer dumb luck!”
“Good thing you did too! I’m tired of babysitting your ass and listening to Layla mother you. Tomorrow night can’t get here soon enough for me!”
The men leave Bryanna and start talking amongst themselves as they head back to the lounge. I linger in my crouched position behind one of the doorways, waiting for her to come out and head to the dressing room, but instead I hear what can only be her crying, and something foreign in my chest tightens at the sound. All I can think about is pulling her into my arms, comforting her, and wiping the tears I envision falling from her beautiful deep green eyes.
I will myself to physically stay in place and keep from going to her, knowing it will only add to her anxiety. If I needed any more proof that she was being held under duress, then that was it. I need to find out what’s happening tomorrow night, as quickly as possible.
I listen as Bryanna quietly sobs. Her sniffing slowly starts to subside, and she gets herself under control. She must have had a robe backstage, because she walks out of the alcove in a short silky one and those platform heels, which do nothing to hide and everything to accentuate those long, sleek limbs.
I watch as her heeled feet take her toward the end of the hall, watching her perfect ass, barely covered, swaying back and forth until she reaches the dressing room. It’s only my sheer restraint that keeps me from marching forward, scooping her into my arms, and carrying her like a caveman off to the safety of my home.
Bryanna suddenly stops walking.
I just barely pull myself into the little alcove and avoid being discovered, and watch her through the venting.