“Okay, hit me with it.”
“Have you ever shot a person?”
He glanced over at her and saw her cheeks were bright red. “You have?”
“It was an accident. I shot Riley in the leg while he was training me. It was a complete mistake, and I took him to the hospital. He wouldn’t talk to me for so long. For a time I thought he’d never talk to me. He did though.”
Even though Lou had a fuck off attitude, he saw that she was a good woman, a kind one. Tamsin had been calling him asking if she was going to be stopping by the house any time soon. His sister was a good judge of character, and she liked Lou.
“I can see Riley not talking to you, maybe even having a pet lip.”
“He did. It stuck out like right out here.” She smiled. “It took me three months of ice-cream making, cooking his favorite foods, and sitting with him watching old movies before he’d forgive me. There was also some begging, and groveling. A lot of groveling.”
Jacob liked this. He liked talking with her, and he loved the sound of her voice.
I’m fucking pussy-whipped and I’ve not even gotten the chance to screw her yet.
Once again he was left gripping the steering wheel while his dick throbbed against the front of his pants. Just another night of struggling through with a hard-on for him.
****
The rooms were dark when they entered the brothel, and it did look like something on one of those seedy films that she’d seen. Lou stayed beside Jacob as he walked down the long hallway. There hadn’t been anyone to greet them on the door, and that had pissed him off.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Someone should be on the door. How the fuck are they supposed to monitor the men who come in if they’re not fucking there?” He snapped each word out, and his body was tense.
Keeping silent, she followed him down the long corridor until they came to a door. Moans, groans, and the occasional cry filled the air.
Heat filled her cheeks as she imagined what was going on behind closed doors.
“Don’t say anything. Do as I ask, and don’t argue.”
“Got it.”
Jacob opened the door, and she noticed he held onto the gun at the base of his back but didn’t make a move to pull it free.
Glancing into the room, Lou’s stomach rolled. There were drugs, sex, and alcohol all around. The room was covered in filth, used condoms, and she was sure some men hadn’t even tried to clean away their cum stains. It was gross, and nothing like what Jacob had described in the car. This was exactly what she had imagined, and it didn’t disappoint even if it did turn her stomach.
“What the fuck am I seeing?” Jacob asked.
The room froze, and Lou watched as a man pushed a woman off his cock, and got to his feet. “Mr. Denton, I didn’t know you were coming.”
“No, yet as far as I’m concerned it shouldn’t matter when I turn up or not. We have a standard. Where is the guard on the door? Why the fuck are there drugs? And why, David, have I heard that you’ve stolen women off the fucking streets?” Jacob stormed up to the man, grabbing him by the lapels of his stained jacket.
Lou grabbed the gun behind her back and waited until she would need to use it. She changed her attention from looking at Jacob to around the room. He had a gun pressed to David’s throat.
“I want fucking answers now.”
Several men had their hands held up.
“Lou,” Jacob said.
“Yeah?”
“Call Maddox, tell him we’ve got a serious problem with David and the red zone, and I need some backup.”
She caught the phone that he threw her way, and found Maddox’s number. She relayed the message and waited.
“He says to hold down the fort. He’ll have backup to you in ten.”
“Take care of him, Lou. Is it bad?”
“Yeah. This is just, wow, it’s awful, Mr. Denton.”
“Maddox. You’re working with Jacob. You get to call me by name.” He hung up, and she stared down at the blank screen.
Charming man.
“I want you all to separate. Women, over there, men, over there,” Jacob said. “You, stay the fuck there.” He pushed David into a seat and stepped back. “Where is everyone?”
“The bitches are working,” David said. “We’re doing good for business.”
“You call this good? I call this a fucking shithole. This is not what we handed to you, David. We gave you the rules, and now we’ve got rumors of people stealing women. Not good.” Jacob kicked over a table that had lines of coke and straws. “This is not what we’re about.” He walked over to a woman that looked completely fucked. Her eyes were glazed over, and drool was coming out of her mouth. Jacob grabbed her face. “What’s your name?”