Owned (2 page)

Men from the tables in the back of the room rose from their seats and were closing in on the stage area. Figuring it was now or never, I got to my feet and shimmied around again. Facing away from the audience, I placed my hands high on the pole and jumped up, straddling it and squeezing my thighs together to hold me in place. Arching my back, I released my hands and used my stomach muscles to support me as I flashed some cleavage at the patrons. After a few seconds of holding the position and nearly falling out of my top, I straightened up and slid my way down the pole, shaking my ass and earning more whistles.

When I spun around, my eyes met with Ryan’s for a brief moment. I couldn’t help but smirk at him and toss my hair over my shoulder as I continued to dance. Was it possible that god-like creature wanted me? The mere thought of it turned me on more than anything ever had.

I made a full circle on the pole when I saw him waving a hundred dollar bill around, trying to get me to come over. Feeling overly confident and wanting to fuck with him a bit, I sauntered over and shimmied my hips just inches from his face. His eyes were locked on my covered pussy, and I could have sworn I saw him lick his lips. An image of him between my legs flashed through my mind, and I felt myself getting damp with arousal. Shaking my head slightly to clear it, I continued with my dance.

Every time Ryan reached up with the money, I backed away so he couldn’t touch me. He wasn’t supposed to touch me anyway. At least…I didn’t think he was. None of the customers were ever allowed to touch the dancers according to what I’d been told. Carlo had said that Ryan ran the club, though, so I wondered if that meant he was an exception and could do what he wanted. That thought both thrilled and terrified me.

Still, I shook my head with a smirk on my face and sunk down to my hands and knees. His eyes were focused on my tits, which were nearly bursting out of my bikini top as I began to make my way toward him, so without him even noticing, I pulled the money from his hand with my teeth.

“Thanks,” I winked as I rose to my feet and headed back to the pole to finish the song. I could feel his eyes boring into me until the lights went out and I collected my tips.

When I walked offstage, I placed my hands on my knees and bent over, drawing in quick, shallow breaths. I was dripping with sweat and felt like I was going to hyperventilate from my time in the spotlight. Being the center of attention was something that would definitely take some getting used to if I was going to keep the job.

When my breathing returned to normal, the sound of the crowd came into focus, and despite Jesse’s attempt at introducing the next dancer, they were all screaming my name. Straightening up, I noticed Libby making her way toward me.

“Oh my god, Trixie! You were ah-maze-ing! Did you hear how the crowd reacted? They fucking
loved
 you! And holy
shit
! The way you took that money from Ryan with your teeth? I about creamed my panties right then and there. Girl, that was
smokin’
hot!”

Her mention of Ryan had me glancing around to see if he had made his way to the back, but disappointment set in when I didn’t see him. There was a mutual attraction between us—that much was obvious—I just wasn’t sure what I would do about it. Could I do
anything
about it? I mean…he was the manager of the club and I was an employee. Carlo hadn’t mentioned any rules about not dating other people that worked there, but maybe he thought he didn’t need to. The one thing I did know was that Ryan was sexy as hell and I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone.

“Earth to Trixie!” Libby’s voice broke me out of my Ryan-induced trance, and I shook my head to clear it. “Do you want to rinse off and get changed? There are showers in the locker room. You’re only dancing the one time tonight, right?”

I smiled at her and nodded. “A shower sounds like heaven right about now. And yes, Carlo wanted to see how I did before he offered me a permanent position. This was an audition of sorts.”

Libby smirked. “Well, Carlo is a dumb jackass if he doesn’t hire you after
that!”

“I guess we’ll see what happens.” I laughed as we made our way to the locker room. When we got there, I pulled my clothes out of my locker but then paused. “Hey, Libby? Is there a place around here I can smoke? I’m jonesing for some fucking nicotine.”

Wrinkling her nose, she giggled and teased, “Oh, you’re one of
those,
huh? Yeah, if you walk out of the locker room and make a right, the door at the end of the hall leads out into the back alley. You can smoke out there. I would offer to keep you company, but I go on in ten minutes and need to touch up my makeup.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for showing me around today. I really appreciate it.”

She pulled me into another tight hug before stepping back. “Anytime. I like you, Trixie. I have a feeling that you and I are going to be great friends.”

I was going to tell her that I really didn’t have friends, but stopped myself. Maybe things were changing and I could allow myself to get close to someone for once. It would be nice not to feel so alone all the time. “You might just be right,” I said instead. With a smile on my face, I grabbed the pack of smokes from my purse and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you in a few.”

Finding the alley was easy enough, and I was about to light up when a sound caught my attention. I glanced down the narrow space about twenty feet and froze at what I saw. Ryan was there with two other burly men. The three of them were standing over a guy on his knees as he clutched at his stomach.

I watched in horror as the men with Ryan pulled the other guy up and held him there as Ryan threw punch after punch at him. The poor man was begging for Ryan to stop, but that didn’t even slow him down. He hit the guy over and over, and when the two men let him sink to the ground again, Ryan began kicking him in the ribs relentlessly.

Having been on the other end of abuse, I wanted to run over and stop him, or scream for help. I wanted to do something
…anything…
to help the poor stranger, but I was afraid of drawing attention to myself. Like the scared little girl I was when I left home three years ago, I cradled my purse to my chest and made my way back inside quickly and quietly. No one had seen me witness that attack, and I planned on keeping it that way. As a shiver ran down my spine, I also decided that, for my own safety, I needed to stay as far away from Ryan as I could.

Siena

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, Siena?” my dad screamed as I was walking toward the door. “You have shit to do around here, and you didn’t make my breakfast.”

Visibly shaking, I turned around to face him. “I’m sorry, Dad. I have school, and I can’t miss today because of a final in Calculus.” He was drunk, and I cringed internally at what I knew his reaction would be.

“Oh, look at you. All high and mighty, going to school to take your Calculus test. You think you’re better than me, don’t you, Siena? That you’re smarter? Well, I have news for you, you little whore. You’re not.”

Even though I was expecting it, his fist caught me off guard and I flew backwards into the door, crying out as the knob dug into my spine. Fighting the tears that filled my eyes, I took a deep breath and righted myself. “No, I don’t think I’m better than you. I’m just trying to finish school so I can get a better job and start helping out more around here.” That was a lie, but there was no way I was going to tell him I was saving up to get the hell out of Murphys and put as much distance between him and me as possible.

As my cheek throbbed, I wanted nothing more than to reach up and rub it, but I resisted. He wasn’t done with his rant, and I knew from experience that any sign of weakness would only make it worse. Standing in front of me silently, he glared at me as he waited for me to say something else.

“You’re a worthless piece of shit!” he shouted after a minute, closing the distance between us. “You’ll never be good for anything but cooking and cleaning like the pathetic little whore you are.” He moved, and though I tried so hard not to, I flinched. “No one wants to hire a murderer. You can do as well as you want in school, but this whole town knows that you killed your mother, and they don’t want anything to do with you.”

Tears streamed uninvited down my cheeks at his words. I never knew my mother, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to…or missing her. I would never get that chance, though, because he was right. I may not have killed her with my own two hands, but she died giving birth to me. My father never forgave me for that, and took it out on me every chance he got.

I pressed myself harder against the door and closed my eyes, waiting for the next blow—the one that would knock me cold. It always came; it was only a matter of time.

It had been three weeks, and I’d managed to avoid Ryan for the most part. When I’d gone back inside that first day, I had every intention of telling Carlo the job wasn’t for me. I had thrown my clothes on over the outfit I was wearing, grabbed my purse, and then went to put my tips in my wallet.

When I realized I’d made over four hundred dollars, plus the money that Carlo had promised me for even coming in, I started to rethink things. Being on the run, moving from city to city every few months was draining both physically and financially. I had been able to do things like waitressing, but the pay was minimal and the tips were shit. An opportunity to save up some money wasn’t something that should be taken lightly, and I’d decided that I couldn’t pass it up. I justified it by telling myself that it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid Ryan, even if he was the manager of the club. The last thing I wanted in my life was a man like my sperm donor.

I had just come from the stage and was making my way to the dressing room when Tony approached me. He’d been watching me every chance he got, and had asked me out a few times. The way he looked at me still gave me the creeps, but I did my best to hide it.

“Hey there, Sexy. Are you ready to let me take you out on that date yet?” he asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

I tried to hide my uneasiness with a laugh as I playfully swatted at his chest. “Come on, Tony. I told you before that I’m not going to date you. You’re the boss’ son, and doing so could potentially cause a lot of problems.”

He stepped closer to me, pinning me between him and the wall. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman, Trixie. And I already talked to my dad about it. He said as long as it doesn’t affect how you dance or the money you bring in to the club, he’s fine with it.” I had to fight hard not to flinch when he reached up and tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind my ear. “Please? Just one date, and then if you don’t want to go out with me anymore, I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

“One date?” I asked, looking at him skeptically. “And then you won’t ask me out again?”

“Just one date,” he confirmed. “And if we don’t hit it off, that’s it.”

With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly agreed. “One date. But that’s it!”

He smiled widely. “You won’t regret it. I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at eight,” he said before turning to walk away.

“Tony!” I called after him. When he turned around, I continued. “I can’t do it tomorrow. I work until midnight.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll let Ryan know you’ll be with me. It’s all good, trust me. See you tomorrow, Sexy.” Without giving me a chance to respond, he turned around again and sprinted down the hall and into the back room of the club.

I changed quickly, grabbed my stuff, and was making my way out the back when I heard shouting coming from Ryan’s office. Stopping just outside the closed door, I listened for a moment, shocked when I realized that Ryan and Tony were having an argument.

“What makes you think you can walk in here and inform me that one of
my
dancers won’t be in tomorrow night because she’s going out with you? That’s bullshit, Tony, and you fucking know it! Wait until your father hears about this!”

“You’re a dumb motherfucker, Ryan. Face it...Trixie wants me, not you. You said it yourself—she’s been avoiding you ever since her first day here. And my father already knows. He gave me his blessing, which means she’s off limits to you, my
brother.
She’s fucking
mine!
”

That bastard had another thing coming if he thought he could claim me like that. Without waiting to hear the end of the conversation, I quickly made my way into the alley and pulled out my smokes.

I found an old milk crate on the side of the dumpster and took a seat, knowing I wouldn’t be seen. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I didn’t want to be bothered. As I took a deep drag of my cigarette, I heard the back door opening and then some girls starting to talk. I wasn’t positive, but it sounded like that blonde bimbo, Barbie, and her skanky friend, Bambi.

“Can you believe Tony? What the hell does he see in that mouse anyway? I mean, what does she have that I don’t?” bimbo one whined.

Bimbo two laughed. “Nothing, Hun. And at least you have bragging rights. As far as I know, Trixie hasn’t sucked his cock or fucked him. God, she doesn’t even do lap dances from what Libby said. All she does is strut around that pole like she owns the place.”

“True,” the first one laughed. “What a fucking bitch. That’s okay. Tony will take what he wants from her and then come crawling back to me. He does every time. And one way or another, I’ll worm my way into that family. I’ve always wanted to be a mob princess.”

At her words, my breath stuck in my throat. Mob princess? Did that mean that the Valentis were a mob family? As the thoughts swam through my head about a million miles a minute, it all started to make sense. The bodyguards…the men in suits…Ryan beating up that guy in the alley.

I was fucked and I knew it. If I tried to tell Tony that I wasn’t interested in dating him now, he would know something was up and would start asking questions. Hell, if I told him I changed my mind, he was likely to shoot me right then and there. At least, that’s what my mind kept screaming at me.

I stayed tucked behind the dumpster for another ten minutes while I waited for the bimbos to go back inside. When they did, I stood on shaky legs and accepted my fate. Until I could afford to get out of the city—maybe even out of the country—I was stuck. A person didn’t say no to a mob prince and live to tell about it.