Ruthless King (New Orleans Malones #4)

Chapter 33

33

“ Y ou know what . . . I think I might take that nap now.” She sank down on the bed, pulling the covers up and over her head.

Perhaps if she pretended to be invisible, it might actually come true.

Unfortunately for her, that did not happen.

Regent drew the covers down. “Nice try. Not happening. Now that we’ve started this conversation, we’re going to finish it.”

Grasping her under the arms, he hauled her up.

Damn. She hated that she got turned on by that show of strength.

He frowned. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Jilly pointed at her mouth, then down at her throat.

“You haven’t tried to rest your voice once,” he told her. “Not even when you were supposed to. Tell me what is going on, Jilly. I’m not letting this go. I know that you’re Nyx and that you strip at Sexy Sin.”

“How do you know I dance at Sexy Sin?” she asked. Even though she knew how he knew.

But she wasn’t ready to tell him that she’d seen him enter a private room.

Maybe there’s a perfectly good reason.

And maybe it’s none of your business. You weren’t together then.

Stupid voice of reason.

“Because I saw you there one night. The owner asked me to meet him there. He wants to open more clubs and needs a backer.”

Wow. She was shocked that he was telling her all of this.

“Are you going to back him?”

“No. But I said I could put him in contact with some people who might. I want to watch him for a while. Make sure he’s treating his staff well. And not trying to get close to me only to betray me.”

It must be hard not to be able to trust people at face value. She guessed she’d have to work on being more guarded.

“Why were you stripping? Is that the secret the note is threatening to reveal? Why would they think you’d pay them to keep that quiet? And don’t you know how dangerous that club is? Anyone could have grabbed you and hurt you. Not to mention traveling to and from the club at night. Did you ever do private dances?”

Okay. Whoa.

She just gaped at him. She wasn’t certain she’d ever heard him say so much before.

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Start with why.”

Jilly twisted her fingers together. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Someone is threatening you, Jilly,” he said sternly. “It is a very big deal. I am responsible for your health and safety. Both of which you’ve put at risk. No wonder you’re ill if you’ve been working two jobs. Now I want to know why.”

And from the look on his face, he wasn’t going to bend on this.

She sighed. “I had this boyfriend, Lowell. I met him not long after I moved back here. Things progressed quickly and we got an apartment together. I thought he was an insurance broker. When I first met him, he was funny and generous. Anyway, it turns out that Lowell, the insurance guy, was actually Lowell, the scummy scammer.”

“What did he do?”

“Over the eight months I lived with him, he racked up thousands and thousands of debt in my name. I had no idea what he was doing until I came home one day to find our apartment empty of all his stuff and an eviction notice. The landlord hadn’t received rent in two months, even though I gave Lowell my share of the rent. He was paying it directly into the landlord’s bank account. Or so I thought. God, I was so stupid believing everything he said.”

“I want you to write down everything you know about him. Name. Date of birth. Where he grew up. Everything.”

She stared at him, startled. “Um, why?”

“I think you know why. That bastard isn’t allowed to treat you like that. You didn’t report him?”

“No,” she said. “My mother spent years instilling in me a fear of the police. I couldn’t go to them. So I decided to take care of it myself.”

Regent nodded. “So you were paying off the debts by stripping?”

“What else was I supposed to do? A librarian’s salary isn’t much. And I still have student loans. Even though I didn’t have to pay rent when I moved into Mama’s house, the utility bills are still substantial. I knew I wouldn’t even make a dent in the interest. So my friends about what I could do, and we came up with a way for me to earn some more cash.”

“By stripping?” He ran a hand over his face. “You didn’t think to ask your mother for money?”

“No. Mama doesn’t have a lot. And I wouldn’t do that anyway. I was embarrassed and she didn’t really like Lowell.”

“What about coming to me? Why didn’t you do that?”

“Why would I have come to you?”

“Stripping isn’t safe, Jilly. What if a man grabbed you outside the club? What if you were pressured into doing private dances? Or what if you were attacked while getting an Uber home late at night?”

“None of those things happened, though. Santé is actually a pretty good boss. And he hires bouncers to keep us safe. Plus, he agreed that I didn’t have to do private dances.”

Regent shook his head. “He could have changed his mind at any time, pressured you into it. Could you have said no?”

No.

She didn’t mention that she’d been considering doing one or two to accumulate some more cash for the debt fund.

“You said that your friends helped you come up with this plan?”

“One of them works there as a stripper. Then Dan, he’s another neighbor who likes to dress in drag, helped come up with some costumes that were sexy but not too revealing. He and Sasha taught me some moves. I think I’m quite good at it.”

“You are never doing it again, understand me? You are forbidden from stepping foot in that club.”

She gasped. “You can’t forbid me, Regent Malone!”

“Think again, sweet girl. You. Are. Forbidden.”

The nerve of this man.

She went to argue with him, then thought about what she was arguing about. She didn’t actually want to strip anymore.

Especially not when someone seemed to know who she was.

“I don’t like the word forbid. And I don’t think you get to forbid me from doing things.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked like he was going to protest, so she continued quickly.

“But I don’t actually want to strip. I like dancing, but I don’t enjoy doing it like . . . like that.”

The first few times she’d done it, she’d vomited beforehand from sheer nerves. But she’d learned to shut off the part of her that was Jilly and become Nyx.

“Good. I want you to gather up all the information about the debts that Lowell racked up in your name when you’re feeling better.”

“That information is at the house.”

“We’ll get it later, then. Now, who do you think wrote that note?”

“Wait, you said you found it last night. Is that . . . is that why you insisted I come here? That’s why you were packing my bag this morning?”

Not because he’d suddenly realized that he couldn’t resist her and wanted her with him. But because he thought he needed to protect her from whoever was threatening her.

“That’s part of the reason.”

She turned her face away, staring down at her lap. But he grabbed her chin, tilting her head up.

“But it’s not the entire reason. You were always going to end up here, sweet girl. This threat might have sped up the timeline, but this was always going to happen. Deep down, I always knew that. Even if I was fighting it because I didn’t think it was what’s best for you.”

“You’re sure?” she whispered.

“More than sure.” Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly.

“You really shouldn’t kiss me. Germs.”

“I think we’ve already had a conversation about germs,” he admonished her. “No germs are going to stop me from kissing my girl.”

He dipped his head again, brushing his lips over hers.

Oh, Lord.

She could feel her insides heating. Her clit throbbed, wanting more.

“Who wrote the note, baby?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Honest, I really don’t. I’m not even sure who they think they’re going to tell.”

“Why is it a big secret? Why the mask?” he asked.

“I needed it so I could become someone else. I . . . I couldn’t do it as Jilly. Jilly wears conservative clothes and never dances in public. Jilly doesn’t go to nightclubs. Jilly never even goes out drinking. She works in a library and dreams her life away. I had to be Nyx in order to have the courage. But also . . . if Margaret found out what I was doing, I know she’d have me fired. Technically, it’s not against my contract, but she’d find a way.”

“Don’t worry about Margaret. She’s getting what she deserves.”

“What do you mean?” she asked with alarm.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Oh God, Regent. What did you do?”

“She needs to learn that she can’t bully my girl and get away with it.”

Holy. Hell.

She might’ve felt bad for Margaret, if she hadn’t been a complete bitch to Jilly.

“I think it’s better I don’t know the details,” she said.

“Good. Because I wasn’t going to tell you.”

The boss had spoken.

She gave him an exasperated look.

“So you just didn’t want the old bat finding out?” he asked. “Would she have? I doubt she frequents that area of town.”

“No, but there’s also Mama.”

“Anne? You think she’d worry about you stripping?”

“I know she would. My father brainwashed us for many years about how a woman should behave. And I don’t know if it’s that or if she would have always been this way, but she would be horrified if she’d learned what I was doing.”

“I think she might be more understanding than you realize.”

Well, Mama didn’t seem to have a problem with her being around him. And he wasn’t exactly safe or conservative.

So perhaps he was right.

“I don’t know. I guess I felt like I was letting her down. It just seemed safer to keep my identity hidden, you know?”

“But not exactly worth paying ten thousand dollars, is it?”

She bit her lip.

“You were going to pay it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I only just got the note! I hadn’t thought about what I was going to do because I wasn’t feeling well and I just wanted to go home to bed. And then you swooped in to take care of me and it slipped out of my head.”

Which was really dumb.

Someone knew her real identity. And they were trying to blackmail her.

“Ten thousand isn’t that much money.” Not that she had that sort of money. So how she would have gotten it, she had no idea.

“No. Exactly,” he said.

“What?”

“Why bother going through this for ten thousand dollars? It doesn’t make a lot of sense. If someone is going to blackmail you, they do it for something big . . . like a hundred thousand dollars.”

“I’d have to sell a kidney for a hundred thousand.”

“That’s another thing. Why blackmail someone who doesn’t have any money? It’s almost like they asked for an amount they thought you could pay. But why risk exposure for ten thousand? How did they know you wouldn’t go to the police?”

These were all questions she should have been asking herself but probably wouldn’t have. She had no doubts that she’d have been in a state trying to figure out what to do.

“And if you don’t pay, then what? Who are they going to tell? An anonymous email to Margaret? How do they know where you work and that it would be a problem for you if she found out what you’ve been doing?”

“Are you . . . are you saying this is someone I know?” she asked.

That’s where she thought he was going with this. But that seemed crazy, right?

“Who knows that you’re Nyx?” he asked.

“Um, well. Sasha, Mrs. Yards, Dan, and Scott. But they’re all my friends. And Santé. But I can’t imagine he’d want to blackmail me.”

“Yeah, Santé wouldn’t make much sense. Does he know why you were keeping your identity a secret?”

“No. I just told him that I didn’t want to deal with issues in my personal life. I think he thought I wouldn’t last. In fact, he was reluctant to even give me a chance, but Sasha convinced him to and, well, people seem to like my act. So he ended up using me as a promotional tool, which worked for him.”

“We won’t rule him out yet, but he’s unlikely. He wouldn’t want you to stop. Besides, he doesn’t need the money. Dan and Scott. Tell me about them.”

She shrugged. “They’re a cute couple. Dan works as a pilot. He likes to dress in drag and perform. Scott is a fitness instructor. We’re good friends. Then there’s Mrs. Yards, she’s lived across the road for as long as I can remember. She’s good friends with Mama. And Sasha rents a room from her.”

“Right. How long have you known her?”

“Sasha? I don’t know. Eight months, I guess. But why would she do this? Why would any of them? And why now?”

“That’s a good point. Do any of them have any money issues? Secret gamblers? Addicts?”

She shook her head. “These are normal people. Well, normal is subjective, I guess. I mean . . .”

“What is it?” He sat forward.

“Mrs. Yards had to take on a renter to help with bills. But she would never do this! She’s like a grandmother to me. And, well, I do remember Sasha saying something about tips being bad lately. But I don’t think that means anything!”

“They’re both on the list of suspects. Especially as they’re both having money issues, know your secret, and know why you’d want to keep it.”

“They’re my friends, Regent.” She couldn’t believe that any of her friends would do this.

“Baby, there are very few people in this world you can fully trust. I’m one of them. I need you to trust me to take care of you, and this is part of that.”

What was she going to do? She did trust him and she knew that he would look after her.

Also, she had no idea how to deal with this.

But she just hated the idea that one of her friends could do this to her.

“Maybe it’s not one of them. But we have to find out, don’t we?” he murmured, squeezing her hand. “This can’t be allowed to go unpunished. I will never allow anyone to threaten you.”

“What will you do? How will you figure it out?”

“Simple.” He smiled, but it was a chilling look. “I’m going to pay the blackmail.”

She blinked. “What? You can’t do that! It’s ten thousand dollars.”

“I didn’t say I would let them keep it. I might not even use real cash. I have to think about it. But I will find out who is doing this. And then the problem will go away.”

She had to admit that having someone solve her problems was appealing. Although it probably wasn’t something she should let happen regularly.

Pick your battles.

“All right. But I want to know what you plan to do.” She said it firmly and didn’t waver, even when he raised his eyebrows.

She waited for the argument, but to her shock, he nodded.

“I can agree to that.”

Huh.

Maybe she could teach him to compromise.