“No. I’m good.”
“You’re crazy. Most women just want an expensive dinner, some jewels, and a good long fuck.”
“I take it you give them what they want?”
“Most of the time.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, taking the gun from his hand, and holding it in her own. She checked to make sure it was safe to put away before placing it back in the glove compartment. There was no way she was traveling with that thing at her back.
“First stop is the casino. I get the rundown of what I’ve got to do, and then we’ll go and check it out.”
“Sure, okay, I can handle that.” She rubbed her sweaty palms down her thighs.
You can do this, Lou.
“You’re a unique woman.”
“I don’t think you mean that as a compliment.”
“I do. You’re memorable.”
“I like how you’re not trying to pretend to be someone you’re not.”
He chuckled. “I’m not going to pretend that I’ve not fucked other women. You’ve been with other men. What matters now is what we do with each other.”
She noticed her gripped the steering wheel tightly. “What do you mean?”
“This is a date. I’m not going to be seeing other women. I’m not going to be fucking anyone else but you.”
“I’ve not said I’d fuck you.”
“You will. It’s inevitable.”
“Are you really that good?”
“I’m the best.”
“Wow, you really have an ego, don’t you?”
“It’s one I’ve earned, baby.”
Glancing out of the window, it was only seven, and the sun was slowly setting in the sky. She rolled down the window to allow some air into the car. It was damn hot, and if she’d been at home, she wouldn’t have even bothered getting dressed.
They passed a rough part of the city, and she saw women of all ages on the street corners already looking for customers for the night.
“You’re sad, why?” he asked.
“Do you deal with women like this?” She looked over at him. “Women on the streets?”
He sighed. “We deal with women, Lou. It’s the oldest trade in the world. We don’t deal with these on the streets, and if I see a pimp mistreating his woman, then I step in.”
“Do you deal with women? Hurt them if they stop earning enough?”
“Fuck! No, I don’t. We have men who deal with that shit. We do go to the brothels to make sure everything is good. None of us accept men abusing the women.”
Lou snorted. “Right? You’re just straight up guys.”
“We’ll make one of the stops tonight, and you’ll get to see the other side of it. Some of these women, they come to us to earn a living, not the other way around.”
“You don’t kidnap women? Force them?”
“Fuck, no! There’s enough women who want to do what they do. We don’t have to fucking force them.”
“Women actually want to do this?”
“It’s easy money. Fucking always is, and we have more than enough clients who like to pay.”
“What kind of clients?” she asked.
“The kind who don’t want their shit known to the world.”
“You’re having a lot of faith in me tonight.”
“Yeah, well, I’m also putting you at risk.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you tell anyone of what you see tonight, you won’t live for long enough afterward.”
“You’d kill me?” She figured as much.
“Got no choice. I’m putting a lot of trust in you as well.”
“Why?”
“Consider it a hunch.”
He didn’t go into detail, and she didn’t press him.
Chapter Six
Jacob had done his research on Louisa Moore, and had come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t hold anything back. Lou wasn’t the kind of woman who was thrilled by diamonds and luxury. She liked to get down and dirty. The jobs she’d taken had proven that. He’d even heard she’d been a waitress for a short time, a cleaner after that. Each job showed hard work, and it made him wonder if she was trying to make up for her parents’ complete lack of care.
Riley wasn’t all that helpful. He spent most of his time avoiding questions about his sister. Fortunately, there was always a paper and internet trail with everyone.
Pulling into the parking lot of the large casino, Jacob ignored the frenzy outside, and rounded the car to help Lou out of the car.
“Welcome to Dentons’.”
“Out of all of the names you could think of?”
“What can I say? We just love our name.”