Stripped Love (Guys Next Door #1) - Baylin Crow Page 0,67

She dropped into her chair and wheeled it closer before stabbing the keys with more force than necessary. Scrolling through the list, she froze and then sat back, lacing her fingers together over her stomach. "How did this happen? What do you know, Damon?"

"Phoenix and all the guys, the ones who will talk anyway, will tell you Aiden bragged about his brother hacking into his job's payroll system when he was hurting for cash months ago. Said his brother didn't even have any trouble with it either. Too easy was how he described it if I remember correctly." He sat back, leaving her to stew over the information and sent my mind reeling as I remembered Aiden boasting about his IT savvy brother.

"You think he hacked the system?” I asked.

“You need to bring the police in,” I demanded. Aiden was out of control. The thing was, he wasn’t even a monster. Just a jealous asshole with connections and no boundaries. Someone needed to put him on a damn leash until he got some fucking help.

She waved me off though her jaw clicked. "You think I'd let some stripper break into our network without consequences? I'll handle it, but you can expect a full investigation, and you'll likely be questioned, Nix. If this is true, I need to know the full extent of what Aiden's done to our system."

Some stripper was said with such derision, I wondered why she'd taken the job in the first place. It was nice to know how she really felt about us.

"Are we done here?" I asked.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. "For now, yes. Too many people witnessed that shit show, so I can't send either of you back up there. I think it's best if you both take off for the night and let things settle down. I need to deal with Aiden. You can come back in tomorrow night."

Before the decision even fully formed, I shook my head. "I won't be back, Des. You'll need to look for another dancer."

Her hands dropped, and her mouth parted. "You're quitting?"

"Yep, as of now I no longer work for you. I'll clear my locker as soon as I get changed." I stood. "This could have been avoided if you'd listened to me, but now I'm not sure if I've lost my boyfriend. That's just not a price I'm willing to pay to stay here."

I wasn't sure what my next step would be, but I knew I didn't want to dance anymore. Worst case scenario and last resort, I would burn through my savings and have to find work at another club.

She sat forward. "Even if Aiden is let go? You're one of my best dancers, and I'd really like it if you stayed."

"No, I’m done, but best of luck with everything,” I said, but wasn’t sure I meant it. She’d been neglectful when a dancer had been reported, and the fallout rested on not only Aiden’s, but her shoulders as well.

She nodded with a defeated sigh and looked at Damon. "And you?"

My gaze dropped to Damon who shrugged. "I have no beef here. If Aiden's gone, I'm staying."

Too much time had passed since Archer had all but ran out, and I needed to get home to explain everything I'd just learned. I had to hope he'd forgive me and the stupid decision I'd made in not shoving Aiden into the fucking wall when he touched me.

"I'm heading out," I said, and she slumped further in her chair.

"Call me later and let me know if you and Archer work things out," Damon said as I turned to leave.

Holding his hand out, we slapped palms. "Will do. Hopefully..." Hopefully what we had was strong enough to mend the hurt I knew he was feeling.

"If it helps, I'm pretty sure he's in love with you." He pretended to gag, and a reluctant grin tugged at my lips.

I hoped he was right. I hadn't told Archer yet, but he owned my heart and was capable of ripping it straight out of my chest.

After I left the office, I headed for the dressing room and swung open my broken locker. I quickly stripped out of my costume and into a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Since I hadn’t had time to do more than take note of the damage on my way back to the office, I swiped across my phone screen.

My messages with Archer were already pulled up. Not surprising, there wasn't a new text from him, but I read