Ruthless King (New Orleans Malones #4)

Chapter 16

16

J illy climbed down off the bus, her backpack weighing her down as she walked toward the club. She always went in through the back alleyway, putting on her mask before entering the club.

Maybe it was overkill.

Really, who would even think of telling Margaret or her mother?

But she still kept her identity a secret. It had been ingrained in her to not bring attention to herself since she was young.

Although she didn’t think that her mother quite had this in mind . . .

As she strode toward the back alley, she felt this weird sensation. Something like awareness ran up her spine. As though she was being watched.

Moving quicker, she shook it off. But she hid behind the large garbage dumpster and drew out her mask, setting it over her face and ensuring the hoodie fully covered her.

She entered the code into the key pad and stepped inside.

Music was pumping but things wouldn’t get busy until around ten. Her first set was ten-thirty so she had plenty of time to get ready.

She walked down toward her private dressing room. If you could call it a dressing room, considering it was the size of a shoe box. But it had a locker to store her stuff. A mirror. And best of all . . . a lock on the door.

The other girls weren’t happy that she got special treatment. But, really, it was a glorified storage cupboard. Not that glamorous.

As she reached the door to her room, she realized it was slightly open and there was . . . giggling coming from inside?

Normally, she’d step back and walk away. Jilly wasn’t a fan of confrontation.

Which was part of the reason Lowell had managed to walk all over her.

However, she didn’t want to go into the main room to get ready. All of her stuff was in here.

So she pushed the door open and squared her shoulders. She might not be able to tell Margaret what she thought of her. And perhaps she couldn’t tell Regent how she felt about him.

But she was determined to kick out whoever was using her dressing room as a hookup place.

Knocking briskly, she stepped inside.

“Hello? Who’s in here?”

A gasp. “Oh, Nyx! It’s you.”

Her eyes narrowed as she took in Kimmy. She liked Kimmy well enough, but this wasn’t cool.

And why was she acting so shocked that she was here when she had to know that Jilly was working tonight?

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t think you’d be here so early.”

That might be true. Jilly came in early because she was always worried the bus wouldn’t be on time. And she needed plenty of time to prepare herself.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jilly muttered, glancing up at Kimmy, whose top was down around her waist. Her bare breasts bounced as she moved away from the man she was with.

It wasn’t okay, though. And she didn’t know why she’d just said that.

“We needed somewhere private to go,” Kimmy whispered, not bothering to cover up her breasts.

Jilly tried to keep her gaze away from them, but it was hard when they were right there.

“My apologies,” the man said smoothly. He was older but handsome. She certainly understood the appeal of an older man, although Regent was far more attractive than this guy. “I don’t get into town often, and when Kimmy said she had to work, I thought I’d stop by. I’ve missed my baby.”

Kimmy giggled, and Jilly barely managed not to cringe as he slapped her ass.

“Right. Cool. But I’ve kind of got to get ready.”

And find some disinfectant to clean this place. Kimmy moved her top up with another giggle. Jilly wanted to warn her that Santé didn’t like them having anyone back here. No family, no clients, no boyfriends.

But she bit her tongue. It wasn’t her business.

“Sorry again,” the man said, holding out his hand. “I’m Trip, by the way.”

“Um, yeah, Nyx.” She shook his hand. Ouch. That was some grip he had on him.

“Interesting name.”

Kind of ironic coming from a guy named Trip.

“It’s a fake one, silly,” Kimmy said, slapping Trip’s chest.

Hmm, for a moment, his smile dropped. He didn’t seem to like that.

“Nyx here is Mrs. Mysterious. She doesn’t want anyone to know her real identity.”

No, she didn’t.

Luckily, all of her stuff was in her locker and there wasn’t anything lying around that could identify her.

“How mysterious,” he murmured. “Have a good night, Nyx.”

Jilly shook off the weird feeling she got from him and locked the door behind them with a sigh of relief.

Now she had to clean the room before she got ready. Who knew what they’d touched?

Awesome.

Nyx was back on stage and he couldn’t help but be mesmerized. Her movements took him away from the dark, seedy strip club he was sitting in.

His dick grew hard. That was disconcerting. That never happened without his express permission. Not since he was younger.

He’d always had tight control over himself. Maxim liked to joke that a good fuck might help him loosen up. But Regent didn’t want a quick, pointless fuck.

“Hello, the boss said you want a private lap dance with Jingles.”

He looked up at the man standing next to him. He was a big guy with a shaved head and tattoos up his neck. Intimidating. No-nonsense.

A good choice.

Regent nodded and stood, ready to follow him out the back where the lap dances happened. He had a mental map of this place. He tried to never go anywhere where he didn’t know all the exits and hidden nooks.

Victor walked beside him.

They moved past the front of the stage, and Nyx seemed to pause when she saw him.

That was odd.

He glanced up at her . . . there was definitely something about her. Something that pulled at him. But she quickly turned away before he could work it out.

Where would he have seen her before? Who was she?

“That dancer up there,” he said. “Nyx? Does she do private dances?”

“Nope.”

“Not even for extra? I’d be willing to pay twice as much as the usual fee.”

It was quieter back here as the guy led them to a door.

“She got offered three times the normal fee last week but turned it down. You’ll have to be satisfied with Jingles.” The big guy smirked at him.

Regent narrowed his eyes, aware of Victor behind him. He knew his brother had to be wondering what the fuck he was doing.

But he had to know who that woman was. It was burning a hole in his gut. Perhaps he’d speak to Santé. Then again, he didn’t want Santé knowing that he was interested.

The bouncer gestured to Victor. “Boss said he can wait out here. But he can’t go in.”

“I need to check the room,” Victor said.

The bouncer nodded and Victor slipped into the room.

“Does Jingles have a boyfriend?” Regent asked.

The big guy just glared at him.

Okay. He was loyal to the dancers.

“I can see why Santé hired you. If you ever want another job, you can get in touch with my brother. He’s always looking for new bouncers for his clubs. He pays well.”

Regent handed him a card with Maxim’s name on it. To his surprise, the other guy didn’t rip it up. But he didn’t seem to look at it either.

Victor came back out with a nod. All right, time to go visit with Jingles.