When I reach the den, the three girls are lounging around, and the one he called Sarah—the blonde—smiles at me. “So Drex let you come speak with us. He was determined to keep us away from you earlier.”
The redhead doesn’t even try to pretend that she’s less than disgusted with me. The older woman with dark hair like mine just sits, observing me with mild interest.
Very awkwardly, I sit down on the couch while the TV on the wall plays through a show I’ve never seen before. I don’t know if I should speak, and I’m not in the mood to attempt it.
“Drex seems to be really into you,” Sarah says, seeming genuinely pleased, which confuses the hell out of me.
The redhead snorts and rolls her eyes while feigning interest in what’s on the screen as she retorts, “Drex had a girl sell herself to be at his beck and call. He’s fascinated. It’ll wear off soon. Real soon. Boredom will kill him, and he’ll pass her along to one of the other guys.”
Oh shit. I hadn’t thought of that since he said I was his. I don’t want to be passed around. I’ve not even made peace with being Drex’s whor—um… I mean… toy. I’m sure as hell not ready to be anyone else’s.
Sarah rolls her eyes while waving off the other girl.
“Ignore Colleen. She’s just pissed because she’s always wanted in Drex’s bed. She’s not as bitchy as she seems right now.”
Crap. Just what I need. A scorned woman painting a target on my back.
Colleen scoffs, “I prefer to keep my self-respect instead of being a prostitute. Drex used to have standards.”
So everyone knows that I sold myself. As if my life wasn’t going to be hard enough.
“Ask questions. I know you have them,” Sarah prompts.
Liza’s eyes zero in on me, as if she’s waiting for me to say the wrong thing. Asking questions is tricky, because I don’t want to ask a question that will make someone suspicious of me—or more suspicious of me. The guys are probably speaking about how they’ll get rid of my body if I run my mouth or help the FBI.
I don’t even know what they’re doing that is shady. And I don’t want to know. The less I know, the safer I am.
“I really don’t know what to ask,” I say honestly.
Probably best to keep things as neutral as possible.
“You have to be curious about the rest of the club and us. I’m with Snake,” she says, sounding proud.
Is Snake the one with the snake tattoos? That would make sense. Or did Drex call him Axle? It’s all a blur.
“Snake seems quiet,” I say softly, trying to add to the conversation without painting a bigger target on my back.
“Opposites attract,” Colleen mutters spitefully under her breath, still pretending to give a damn about the TV.
Sarah continues as though Colleen didn’t just take a stab at her. “He is. And he’s incredibly sweet. Liza introduced us. She runs the strip club. I was working there, Snake saw me, Liza made a private meeting possible, and it was love at first sight. Now I work at the salon that Colleen runs. Snake obviously didn’t want me stripping anymore.”
Liza is still attentively studying me, and it’s making me even more uncomfortable.
“Do you live here?” I ask, turning my attention back to Sarah.
“Sometimes we stay here. Usually Snake and I stay at our house. We just bought a place last month. Drex has a nice house. Will he be taking you there?”
I have no idea where I’ll be going.
“Drex will be done with her before he goes back home. She’ll be one of the other guy’s whore by then,” Colleen says, smirking as though she’s enjoying the hell out of this.
Liza seems older, possibly late thirties or early forties. Her constant staring is making me more uncomfortable than Colleen taking every nasty jab she can.
“How are you ladies getting along?” Sledge asks as he comes in and sits down beside Liza. She smiles at him before he tugs her to be on his lap, and she settles down peacefully as though it’s a truly normal thing.
I look behind me just as a tall guy with a large snake tattoo on the side of his neck walks in. That’s not the guy I thought Snake was. Glad I guessed lucky about him being quiet.
Sarah beams up at him as he comes to pull her up from her spot on the couch. He sits down where she was, and then she ends up in his lap. He looks like a model with tattoos, almost as though he’s an actor playing a part. His blonde hair, clean shave, and white teeth don’t fit the dark tattoos he’s wearing.
When Drex and a few others walk in, my heart tries to stop. He’s drinking a beer, and his eyes are glued to mine. I can’t tell if he hates me or wants me right now. I really don’t want to be thrown into bed with someone else. Someone who might hurt me.