Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 177397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 887(@200wpm)___ 710(@250wpm)___ 591(@300wpm)
“Don’t remind me.”
The salaries at Le Rogue are amazing. My position is the highest paid job I’ve held since college. My paycheck allows me to contribute to the rent, which my new building supervisor assures me I don’t owe since I’m supposedly months in advance, and some of Grampies’s ongoing medical expenses, but I doubt that will remain the case when Mr. Fakher’s accounting error is unearthed.
It is only a matter of time before I’ll owe thousands in backdated rent. I could lessen the anxiety keeping me awake at all hours of the night by being honest with the building sup and organizing a payment plan, but sometimes the best lessons are the ones you teach yourself.
That’s how I’m seeing my time at Le Rogue—as a lesson.
Nothing in life comes free…
And when you lay with an adulterer, you could end up surrounded by them.
I don’t think any of the Le Rogue regulars are single and ready to mingle. Not even ten percent of the patrons bother hiding their wedding rings, yet they’re still one step higher on the morality chart than Andrik.
They keep their extramarital activities away from their home base. They don’t flaunt it in the driveway of their mega-mansions for their wives to possibly see, or in a sex club with hundreds of guests only feet away.
“That dick must have been good,” Mars murmurs, pulling me from my thoughts. “Because you, my dear sexy friend, could have any dick you want, but you seem unwilling to let go of the last dick you had.”
“I wasn’t thinking about dick.”
She pffts me before slumping onto the chair opposite me like she’s wearing more clothing than she is. One wrong knee slip and I’ll see everything. “I’m surrounded by unvoiced desires for hours every night. I can read thoughts when it comes to what people are craving, and you, baby girl, are stuck on your ex.”
“He isn’t an ex,” I choke out with a laugh, hopeful it will hide my angst.
I’ve only known Mars for a week, yet she can already read me like a book. “So there is someone?”
Too tired to lie, I remain quiet.
Mars can never take a hint that you want to let bygones be bygones. “Cough it up. Who has your panties in such a mess you don’t want to flash them for 20K for one night’s worth of work?”
My eyes bulge at the mention of potential earnings, but her calculations are a little off. “That’s only 2K.”
She fans the cash I handed her, ruffling her perfect hair. “For my first dance of the night after a three-year stint in the strip circuit. First-timers rake in a fortune. Some pots even go as high as twenty.”
“Thousand?” I double-check.
I’ve been caught out before.
I won’t make that mistake twice.
She hums in agreement. “Melita got close to a new record last month. She was a couple of hundred short.” She flashes a cheeky grin, doubling my interest. “But between you and me, she more than doubled that when she went home with a John wanting a second viewing.”
The longer I remain quiet, the larger Mars’s smile grows.
I’m not shy, not in the slightest, but as often as guilt floods my heart, so does Andrik’s threat.
Don’t test me on six because I can guarantee neither you nor him will survive the outcome.
I tested him last week.
I’ve not heard a peep from Vlad since, and I’ve called him over a hundred times.
So as much as a one-time twirl around a pole could help me replenish the funds stripped from Nikita’s savings after Grampies’s latest health crisis, I don’t give it any true thought… until Gigi’s number pops up on my phone.
With my heart in my throat, I slide my finger across my phone screen and then squash it to my ear. “Gigi, are you okay? It’s late.”
“He’s struggling to breathe. His lips are blue. I tried to call Nikita. She’s not answering. I don’t know what to do.”
I shoot up from my chair, startling Mars. “Have you given him Epinephrine?”
“I can’t. The box is empty.” The rattle of an empty box sounds down the line. “There are no EpiPens left.”
Panic rains down on me before lucidity slips through the cracks. “Hang up and call an ambulance.”
“We can’t afford that.”
“I’ll get the money. I promise you I will. But you need to call them now, Gigi. He needs help you can’t give him. He needs urgent medical assistance.”
Her sob breaks my heart. She knows as well as I do that Grampies won’t make it if she doesn’t seek medical help immediately. “Ok-okay. I’ll call them now.”
She disconnects our call. I race for the exit just as fast.
“Go,” Lilia says before I can issue her a single excuse to leave early. “I’ll cover your shift.”
She accepts my mouthed thanks with a smile before telling the doorman to hail me a cab.