Come a Little Closer (Kadia Club Nights Book 1) Page 12

  Then, without warning, she slapped his hand. Hard.

  He yelped and pulled away.

  Keesha laughed and shook her finger at him. “No touching.”

  He was hooked. Done for. Floored. He watched her walk toward the pole like she had already sucked his cock. She owned him.

  As she looked around at all the attention she’d already drawn, she smiled to herself.

  I own all of them.

  The song playing through the club was halfway over, and Keesha never started a set midway through a song. She spent the first three minutes on her platform making friends with the men in the front row and flirting with them. She made sure her businessman never felt forgotten because he’d tipped her so well last time, but she also made sure to lure in some new faces.

  When the music died and the lights went down, Keesha went to the pole. She reached up, gripped it, and leaned out, letting herself hang as the lights came back up and the music started, slow and sensual.

  She began her routine with how she felt, just like Ashley suggested. She dragged the sole of her heel around in an arc along the platform, pulling her leg back in when she completed the half circle so she could swing herself around the pole. Her hair fanned out and she leaned into the pull of the music.

  Within seconds, she became the music. She used the pole and her strength to perform tricks, each one more daring than the last, and by the time the first set ended and she was ready for a break, she’d already stuffed her outfit with over six hundred dollars in cash. She still had seven more sets left tonight.

  As she stepped down the stairs to go get herself a drink, her businessman walked toward her. She smiled, but her smile faltered when he was cut off by a familiar, good-looking man in a crisp dark gray suit. His hair was slicked back, his features were masculine and dangerous, and his eyes were as dark as his suit.

  “My dear,” he purred. His voice sounded like sex. “You are going to join me in a private room for a personal show. I’ll pay handsomely.”

  She recognized him. This was the man who Marcus had nearly come to blows with down at the bar two weeks ago. What was his name again? He’d been wearing a white suit and Marcus had warned her to stay the hell away from him.

  “I’m sorry,” Keesha said carefully. “I’m a dancer. I don’t do private bookings.”

  He leaned in close. He smelled like cigars and bourbon. “And I don’t take no for an answer. Walk with me.”

  He took her by the upper arm and led her away from the platform, leaving her businessman looking dismayed. She looked back, eyes wild, and spotted Vance still standing in the shadows. He straightened when he saw her and stepped forward. Strobe lights lit him up enough for her to know she was making eye contact.

  Help, she mouthed.

  Vance began moving through the crowd after her.

  The man holding onto her pulled her down the hall and ducked into a private room. There was a naked young woman standing in the middle of the room. She was not an employee but a guest. Behind her stood a man, also a guest, who had his arms wrapped around her so he could hold her breasts. He too was naked.

  Marcus would be furious if he found out this man walked in on one of his paying customers.

  “Get the fuck out,” the man spat.

  The man with the woman blinked in surprise. “Excuse me. We’ve booked and paid for this room. Find another—”

  “I said, get out.” The man holding Keesha dragged her forward and shoved her ahead of him. She stumbled into the sofa.

  The naked man and woman collected their clothes and darted out of the room.

  “Who are you?” Keesha asked.

  He smiled. “My name is Adam. And you are Keesha, yes?”

  Keesha nodded. She just needed to buy some time before Vance reached her. “What kind of dance do you want?”

  Adam chuckled and moved toward her. He leaned in close and she pressed herself deep into the sofa cushions, trying to create as much space between them as possible.

  When Adam reached out with sickening speed and grabbed a fistful of her hair, Keesha nearly screamed. He pulled her head back, forcing her to look at him. Her scalp burned. “You’re leaving with me, Keesha. Understood? We’re going to walk out of this room and out the emergency exit door. Keep that pretty mouth of yours shut. Don’t make a sound, and you won’t get hurt. Got it?”

  Her heart hammered wildly in her chest. She tried to find her voice but it failed her, getting caught in her throat.

  Adam tightened his grip in her hair. Her eyes started to water. “I asked you a fucking question,” he growled.

  The door burst open.

  Vance barreled into the room and barked at Adam to step away from Keesha. Adam released her hair and Keesha curled up into a small ball in the corner of the sofa.

  Suddenly, she understood clearly why Marcus didn’t want her anywhere near this man.

  He’s evil.

  Vance and Adam faced each other. Keesha’s blood ran cold as they rushed forward and both slammed into each other with enough force to make her want to be sick. Vance grunted. Adam grinned like a madman the entire time and drove his fingers, pressed together like a spear, into Vance’s stomach six times in rapid succession.

  Vance wheezed for breath.

  Adam wound back and drove his fist into Vance’s jaw. Vance stumbled and lost his balance. As soon as he hit the floor, Adam kicked him in the ribs.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Three times.

  Vance spat blood.

  Keesha leapt out of the sofa. “Stop! Please, stop!”

  Adam wouldn’t stop. He kept kicking Vance even when the guard fell still at his feet. Keesha reached them and grabbed Adam’s arm to pull him away from his victim. Adam rounded on her. His eyes narrowed to slits and he grabbed her wrist and dragged her close. Before she processed what was happening, he pulled something out from the inside lining of his jacket and pressed it to her navel, right against her bellybutton ring.

  “We’re leaving,” he spat. “Together. Unless, of course, you would prefer to bleed out in a shit hole like Kadia. Your call, princess.”

  Keesha’s whole body trembled. She looked from Vance to the man who had a hold of her and knew how alone she was. Nobody was coming to save her.

  Her mother had been right all along.

  The only thing Keesha could control in that moment was how many other people got hurt. Adam wanted her. If she let him have her, he wouldn’t hurt anybody else. There were other girls in there she had to protect. Girls like Ashley. And friends like Dean.

  The choice was simple as long as she didn’t think too long about Beth. This man needed her for something. Chances were, he’d need her alive.

  Hopefully.

  Keesha glared up at him. “Let’s go then.”

  17

  Marcus

  Cole’s jaw flexed as he glanced at the matte black watch on his wrist. It was twenty minutes to one in the morning. He shook the sleeve of his jacket back down over his wrist and searched the partygoers. “He should be here by now.”

  Marcus eyed the ex-cop with irritation. “Why would you expect Cooper to be on time? He’s making me sweat it out.”

  “I don’t like it,” Cole growled. “Something is off. Cooper doesn’t just wait around. He’s late because he had something to do.”

  Marcus shrugged. That might have been true, and it might not have been. Even if Cooper did have something to do before meeting Marcus, who was to say it had anything to do with their appointment at the underground rave?

  “Be patient,” Marcus said. “He’ll come.”

  Jon, who had been quiet during the exchange, ran his finger around the rim of his untouched bourbon. “I always figured you’d end up at a place like Kadia,” Jon said to Marcus. “I should have put two and two together when Cole called and said he had a job to run under the radar with his new boss. How did you put it, Cole?”

  “Put what?” Cole glowered.

  “You
referred to Marcus as ‘a cunning brute with shit manners and a bad attitude.’” Jon smirked.

  Marcus arched an eyebrow and turned to Cole. Now wasn’t a time for jokes and amusement but he couldn’t deny he was entertained. “Cunning? I’m flattered.”

  “Don’t be,” Cole said. “There was more left unsaid.”

  Marcus chuckled.

  Cole still seemed flustered. Marcus had never taken the ex-cop for a patient man when it came down to the shit like this. Adam Cooper had him champing at the bit. Where Marcus had settled into the calm before the storm, Cole seemed to have become the storm.

  The three men moved away from the bar so as not to look suspicious. They milled around the lower level of the party until they found another spot that was secluded but not enough to look suspicious. They were surrounded by strangers sipping their drinks as they stood below the staircase.

  Marcus noticed thin dark green vines creeping through the cracks in the floor and walls and wondered how something could ever grow in a place like this. There was no sunlight.

  Life always finds a way.

  “Kate’s going to be happy to hear you’re still cock deep in this kind of shit,” Jon said.

  Marcus couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Would Kate actually be happy for him? Or would she worry he was still on a one-way road to his own demise? Perhaps it would be a little bit of both.

  “She doesn’t need to know,” Marcus said.

  “I have no intention of lying to my wife.”

  Wife. The word hit Marcus in the gut. He already knew Jon and Kate were married. Hell, he’d been to the wedding—but that didn’t cushion the blow.

  “How are you and Katie?” Marcus asked, even though he didn’t want to know. “Any kids yet? I know she wanted to start as soon as possible.”

  Jon went a little quiet.

  “Shit,” Marcus muttered. “What did I say?”

  Jon gave a slight shrug while Cole continued to keep his eyes peeled. “No, but Kate and I have been having some troubles, you know, conceiving.”

  “Oh,” Marcus said lamely.

  “She wants to fill the house with babies, but for some reason, it isn’t happening for us. We have a lot of appointments with doctors. Kate’s trying everything under the sun. It’s just…” Jon trailed off and gave his head a shake. “It’s not a conversation for a place like this. Hell, it’s not a conversation for any time really.”

  Marcus was sorry to hear this. It hurt his heart to know Katie might never get the family she wanted. There was a time where she used to lie in bed with him and tell him about the two children she imagined she would have one day. A boy and a girl, of course.

  “If there’s anything I can do to help,” Marcus offered, “you just say the word.”

  Jon nodded. “I appreciate that.”

  Cole cleared his throat. “Will you two play catch up later? I don’t think Cooper is coming.”

  “Give him more time,” Marcus said.

  Cole’s eyes narrowed on Marcus. “We only have one shot at this. You knew this was important. You weren’t convincing enough when you called him.”

  “Fuck off, Cole,” Marcus spat. “Shit like this isn’t straight and narrow. Just because it’s important and you need it to go one way doesn’t mean it will. Actually, in my experience, it hardly ever does. So you’d better buckle up because the unexpected is the name of the game in this life. If you can’t handle that, I suggest you hit the stairs and make your way topside.”

  Cole broke eye contact.

  Jon shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We’re on the same side, boys. Let’s remember why we’re here. Marcus is going to stick his neck out for this tonight. Arguing is hardly going to give him any confidence in us.”

  Marcus hooked his thumb at Jon. “What he said.”

  Cole rolled his eyes. Then his stare seemed to land on something. He tipped his chin toward a man weaving through the crowd. He was lean and narrow shouldered, making it easy for him to slip between the tightly packed bodies. His suit was blue and had a lustrous shine to it. His black hair was slicked back with glossy hair product and his eyes were hidden in shadow beneath a hooded brow.

  One thing was obvious. He was walking right toward the three of them.

  “Look alive, boys,” Marcus said under his breath.

  All three of them straightened as the man in the blue suit drew close. He ignored Jon and Cole equally and turned a steely blue stare on Marcus. “Come with me.”

  Marcus could feel the eyes of his companions on him. “Am I being summoned by your boss?”

  The man in blue nodded. It was nothing more than a slight inclination of his chin.

  Marcus handed his nearly untouched drink off to Cole. “Sorry, boys. I’ll have to catch up with you later.” Marcus kept his tone casual. There was no sense in tipping this man off that the three of them were working together, although he had probably already assumed as much. For now, Marcus would let him wonder. For all he knew, Marcus had run into them at the party.

  Cole let out an uneasy sound in the back of his throat but Jon stopped him from speaking with a stern look. It seemed Cole still had a lot to learn, even though he’d been the mastermind behind this plan. Even though he grinded Marcus’s gears, he couldn’t deny the man had talent.

  And balls.

  Two things Marcus could appreciate.

  He followed the man in the blue suit across the crowded floor. Marcus didn’t have as easy of a time squeezing between bodies, and people with this much money did not appreciate being jostled around. He received a lot of moody looks from men and women alike.

  Fuck ‘em.

  Marcus was surprised to find a small open doorway carved into the stone in the northeast corner of the chamber. It was hidden from view behind two massive guards dressed in black suits with radios tucked into their belts for underground communication. They stepped aside and let Marcus and his escort pass.

  The two of them plunged into darkness on the other side. It smelled dank down here. The air was humid but cold, and the ground underfoot was dirt, no longer stone or worn pavement.

  Marcus wondered how new this tunnel was. Had it been dug specifically for the use of a private passage for these wealthy socialites to do business down here? This was a whole world Marcus never even knew existed right under his own feet. How many others were there?

  He followed the man in blue down several passages that seemed to only grow more and more narrow the deeper they went. He had the impression they were going deeper into the earth as well. There was a slight decline in all the hallways.

  Marcus peered around the man when he spotted warm light up ahead. Torches lit in metal brackets burrowed into the stone walls burned with calm, still flames. There wasn’t any air movement down here to pull or flicker the flame.

  How much oxygen is down here anyway? Is it safe to burn torches?

  Marcus had a lot of questions but decided they didn’t matter. All that mattered was Adam Cooper. Marcus couldn’t risk getting distracted by the lighting practices down there.

  They moved through another archway and stepped into a bigger room. It wasn’t nearly as big as the chamber where the party was taking place, but it was roughly the same size as the first floor of Kadia.

  Much to Marcus’s surprise, there was furniture in the room.

  Brown leather sofas sat atop Turkish-style throw rugs covering the stone floor. Marcus guessed this was to offer some sort of sound muffling so conversations wouldn’t echo down the halls and passages. Candles burned on several tables scattered around the room in what seemed to be a haphazard way. It was dimly lit and pleasant, and it smelled like sage and tobacco.

  Many important people have conducted business in this room, Marcus thought as he looked around.

  The man in blue walked to a high table against one wall. A mirror was propped up on top of it, leaning against the stone wall. A single candle burned on the table, and Marcus watched the man in the reflection of the
mirror as he opened a crystal carafe of liquor and filled a glass. The man turned, expressionless, and moved toward Marcus to extend the drink to him.

  Marcus arched an eyebrow. “I don’t drink when I’m doing business.”

  The man shrugged, tipped his head back, and downed the drink in four gulps. Marcus watched his Adam’s apple slide up and down his throat as he swallowed. After, he smacked his lips, tossed the glass in one hand, and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “Suit yourself.”

  “Where’s Cooper?”

  “On his way. He had to pick something up before he got here.”

  “Punctuality is—”

  “He’ll be here, thug.”

  Marcus’s temper flared but he kept his composure. He couldn’t go letting this pipsqueak ruffle his feathers before the main event. “Do I get to enjoy your company while I wait?”

  The man smirked and turned his back on Marcus to walk back to the table and set his glass down. “No. I have something to attend to as well. Sit tight. Mr. Cooper will arrive shortly.”

  “Good.”

  What are you up to, Cooper?

  The man left Marcus alone in the room. He didn’t bother with politeness and he crept around the room, inspecting everything in it. There were what appeared to be old relics from different parts of history. A goblet from Arthurian times (or so the inscription on the silver plaque in front of the goblet read), a gold crown of leaves from Greece, a carved Anglo-Saxon stone that might have been a headstone, old coins from the Middle East, and several more items.

  There’s a lot of money in this fucking room. Why?

  Did this stuff get moved in and out of here before the event? Or did it always stay down there, six stories beneath the surface?

  Fuck. Did someone live down here?

  Marcus had heard of crazier things. This place might not be such a terrible lair for a person who couldn’t risk being seen above ground.

  He continued moving around the room marveling at the other relics on display and squinting at the spines of old leather books set in a high bookshelf. Most were not in English and he couldn’t make out the importance of any of the texts.