Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I took on all the private clients I had time for while he was gone, but I still looked for him in the audience, even though I was sure I’d feel his eyes on me if he’d returned.
One night when I got home from work, an eviction notice was on my door. I had until noon the next day to get out, and I had nowhere to go.
I actually considered messaging Val. He’d given me his direct number in case I had trouble at Pound, though I wasn’t sure why he didn’t just tell me to talk to Trevor about any issues.
What would I say to him? That I needed to pay my rent before I could make that week’s payment to him?
No way was I going to suggest that.
Homeless was better than dead or in the hospital racking up even more bills.
Would Val really hurt you?
I wasn’t sure enough to gamble on it. I could tell him I needed a place to stay. But he’d made it clear I wasn’t going to stay with him, and while his family probably owned a number of buildings, I didn’t think he was going to give me an apartment rent free.
He bought you clothes.
Yes, but that was about image.
A dancer being on the streets doesn’t help the club’s image.
I picked up my phone and stared at it, but asking for more from the man I already owed was too much. Maybe I did have some pride left.
I logged into my bank account and checked my options, knowing they were slim to none. I stared at all the things I’d simply have to abandon, then I had an idea.
11
VALENTINO
“When is Liam working next?” Vito asked.
“Leave him alone.” I pulled out of a drive-through where we’d gotten burgers and soda to refuel us for the rest of the drive.
“But I want to see him. You can’t ban me from the club.”
“Yes, I can.” This was starting to feel like the longest drive of my life.
Vito shook his head. “You’ve really got it bad for him.”
I couldn’t leave him thinking that. “Liam opens tomorrow, or I guess now it’s today at five.” How was it already nearly 2 a.m.?
“You’ve memorized his schedule? I like that.”
I cursed myself for giving Vito more ammunition. I should have pretended not to know. “I like to know what goes on at the club I run. There’s nothing unusual about that.”
“Right. So, when is Eddie up next?”
Why did he have to pick someone who’s schedule I couldn’t remember?
My brother chuckled. “Oops. Did you forget? That’s interesting.”
“Any chance you’re going to sleep the rest of the way back and give me some peace?”
He pulled out his phone and started up an obnoxiously loud game. “Not a chance. You know I’m rarely in bed before dawn.”
I woke up in the middle of the day covered in sweat with the bedsheets twisted around my legs. I’d been dreaming of Liam. In the dream he was naked. He was dancing just for me, then he was on his knees, his mouth around my dick. My hands were in his hair, and his mouth felt like heaven. It was everything I wanted.
I glanced down, making sure I hadn’t actually had my first wet dream in years. There was no wet spot, but if I hadn’t woken when I did, I bet there’d be a sticky mess on the sheets. As it was, they were damp with sweat and needed changing.
When I forced myself to stand, the room swam around me for a moment. That’s when I remembered downing several glasses of whiskey the night before in an attempt to keep thoughts of Liam at bay. Obviously that hadn’t fucking worked, and now my head was throbbing, the room was spinning, and I only had a few hours to take care of some business before meeting Vito at Pound.
My brother was a fucking asshole. He’d told me he was going to watch Liam dance, and I could join him or not. He knew how to rile me up like no one else, and I’d taken the fucking bait.
The second I could get Vito to leave, I was going to another bar and finding a man who would bend over for me and let me wreck him. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to know his name. I just wanted to get some relief.
I could pretend it would help me stop thinking about Liam, but I was becoming more and more sure that was impossible. I had a fucking problem. Liam was an addiction, an obsession, and that was dangerous as fuck in my world.
Though somehow Lucien, his brother Angelo, and our cousin Devil had all found a way to live with men they cared for. I had no doubt they would kill anyone who even looked at their men wrong. The few times I’d met Lucien’s boyfriend, I’d kept my eyes averted.