My words are gasoline to an already uncontainable fire, and I watch Violet’s eyes light with rage.
“You’re a pig,” she snaps.
There she is.
“Maybe, but you know I’m right.” What she isn’t aware of is the fact that I’m no better than those guys. That I’m worse because instead of worrying why she’s stripping in the first place, I’m thinking about all the ways I can please her. All the fucking ways I want to take her. I don’t care that she’s nine years younger than me or that her brother would fucking kill me for touching her. I don’t even care that she’s looking at me like I repulse her. When she’s coming all over my cock, she’ll look at me like I’m a fucking god.
Christ.
Focus, man.
Sighing, I roughly drag my fingers through my hair. That blazer does shit to cover her, she needs to put clothes on…stat. Pulling myself together, I force myself to find out what the fuck is going on.
“Bug, what the fuck are you doing here?”
I hiss the question and her eyebrows reach new heights.
“Funny, I could ask you the same question,” she retorts.
I don’t make it a habit to ask questions about Joaquin’s sister, but I listen when he talks about her and while me and her brother have been digging our graves in Miami, she was accepted to the New York Academy of Ballet on a partial scholarship. Now, I might be a self-absorbed prick, but I think I’d remember Joaquin mentioning his sister ditching the ballet to bare her tits and dance on a pole, which means Flashdance over here is hiding something.
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” I growl.
My fists curl at the suggestion.
It’s the only logical answer and I think back to the reason I’m here… Mitch Ryan. The sleezy motherfucker who owes Uncle Vic fifty large. If that son of a bitch has anything to do with Violet working that pole, I’ll bury him alive—fuck breaking his kneecaps.
“What I am is none of your business, Rocco,” she snaps, turning away from me. She grabs a duffel bag and starts throwing her shit into it. What she needs to be doing is putting some fucking clothes on.
“You might want to grab a pair of pants or something,” I tell her as I reach into my suit jacket and pull my phone from the inside pocket. “A bra would be helpful too.”
She glances over her shoulder and shoots me a glare.
“Are you done?”
I scoff.
Far from done.
“No,” I retort. “But we have all night.”
Deciding she can tell me her reasons for stripping when she’s in my car, I call my driver and tell him to bring the town car around to the back of Delilah’s Den.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I forgot how difficult she can be.
“Wrong.”
“Rocco,” she starts, spinning around to meet my gaze. “Look, can we just forget tonight—”
Her words get cut off as the door to the dressing room swings open.
“What the fuck was that?” Mitch barks, but as soon as I turn around, his face pales. “Rocco.” He swallows and looks from me to Violet. I follow his gaze and one look at Violet’s face tells me something isn’t right. Like she doesn’t cry, Violet also doesn’t do fear and right now she’s fucking petrified.
I don’t like it.
I don’t like it one fucking bit.
“Go out to the car,” I order quietly.
“But—”
“Now, Bug,” I reply gravely. Shrugging my jacket off, I hand it to her. “Tie this around your waist and go out the back door. My driver will be waiting outside with the car.”
She hesitates, her eyes flitting from me to Mitch for a second before she reluctantly takes my jacket. Stepping closer to me, her breath tickles my ear as she whispers, “You don’t understand…my mom…” Her voice trails as I wrap my fingers around her wrist. Turning her head slightly, her worried gaze meets mine.
“I’ll handle it,” I assure her.
Her eyes search mine for a moment before she ties the jacket around her waist. Hitching her bag over her shoulder, she glances at Mitch before exiting out the back door as I instructed. Once the door shuts, I turn back to Mitch.
“Rocco…I…I….”
Ignoring the stuttering prick, I undo the buttons on my sleeves. I take my time rolling them up to my elbows as I contemplate my options. Coming here I knew the odds of me collecting his debt were slim to none, but I’d take whatever the cocksucker offered, drain every dollar from the