Tess
For three days, Venna and I played every client. All it took was some acting, a blindfold, and some music to drown the voices. I hated every moment of it. I felt dirty and used, more by my mother than by the clients. I may not have been sleeping with the men, but more than half the time they would stick their tongues down my throat or slip their fingers into my panties every chance they got, but at least they weren’t hiding who they were.
The only time I felt all right was when I was dancing. They weren’t allowed to touch me then. Venna was making a fortune, and I wasn’t too far behind. Half my money was going somewhere else, so it would take me a little longer to get out of here. It was a hard pill to swallow, but I still needed to find out what Clark had on Trigger and the club.
I spun once more on the pole then started to feel ill. My ribs were on fire, and my stomach rolled. Feeling like the world was about to fly off its rocker, I danced around and waited until the lights flickered off.
I nearly fell down the stairs as I descended and crashed heavily into someone who broke my fall.
“What’s wrong, Tess?” Clark bent down to my eye level.
“Nothing.” I pushed him away, but he wouldn’t have it. He half carried me to the private dressing room and sat me on a chair before he handed me a bottle of water.
“You’re white as a ghost. Have you eaten today?” He felt my forehead, but I pushed his hand away.
“Yes, and stop touching me.” Even the water made me want to vomit.
“You’re not fucking pregnant, are you?”
My eyes stung as I glared at the asshole in front of me. “If I was?”
He rubbed his face, then his neck. His expression darkened, and I could see where his head went. He thought it was Trigger’s.
I slowly rose out of the chair and turned toward the door before he jammed himself between me and it.
“Are you?”
“Move.” I breathed through my nose to try to calm the storm inside.
He bit his lip but lost the asshole behavior. He brushed my hair away like he used to, and he carefully lifted my chin so I’d look at him. “Despite your anger toward me, sweetheart, I really care about you and your wellbeing.” His fingers dragged across my bottom lip, and for a moment, I gave in to it. It felt good, like I was home again. He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine, and I nearly broke. “I missed this.” When I started to speak, he sealed his mouth over mine and kissed me sweetly. His kisses had always seemed tender and caring, but really, they were a mind fuck. “Tess,” he whispered against my wet skin. “I just want to know if you’re okay.”
It was as if someone sucker punched my heart. I stepped back, wiping my lips dry.
“Don’t.” I wanted to cry with how much his words made me miss Trigger.
“Don’t what?” He moved closer. “Don’t do this?” He again pushed himself on me, but in a gentle manner. It felt wrong. I was so fucked up and twisted inside, any sweetness during intimacy made me feel gross.
He did that to me.
His arms wrapped around my back and pulled at the string holding my top on. “Remind me of how sweet your breasts are.”
Jesus.
Tears prickled my eyes, and that annoying lump returned to the center of my throat. I ripped the string out of his hold and wiggled away with my hand over my breasts.
“Clark, enough,” I bit out and tried to make sense of my million and one mixed emotions.
“Sorry.” He held up his hands. “Just hard when I haven’t seen you in a while. You know what you do to me.”
“I need to go.”
“Okay.” He got the hint but still waited a beat before he opened the door for me.
Once I was alone in the hallway in the back corridor of the house, I slid to the floor and held on to my knees for something to stabilize me. Clark stirred up so many dormant feelings that I’d finally managed to chase away. He wasn’t good for me, but shit, that kiss clouded my head.
Later that night, my ribs got worse. Or was it my stomach? I couldn’t really tell. Taking the pills Sean—or Shantee—had given me, I slipped off to a very uncomfortable sleep.
The next day I spent in my room trying to take it easy. My mother was pissed she had to reschedule my appointments, but Clark helped convince her. I stayed in bed, hoping time and rest would help. Sadly, by three p.m. the next day, that wasn’t the case.
***
The lady behind the desk kept her eye on me while I waited for the doctor, who was running behind. I could have seen the house doctor, but the last time I did, it had severely scarred me. Literally.
“Tessa Marin, come on back.” The doctor smiled at me from behind her red-framed glasses. Her office was just as funky as her outfit that peeked out from her white coat. She had taken a sponge to her walls and had made a neat mural of the park across the street.
“So, you’re new to me.” She grinned at me as she propped up her laptop. “Why are you here today? Tell me a little bit about yourself.”
Where to begin?
“To make a long story short, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got jumped. My ribs took the majority of the beating.”
“Okay.” Her tone immediately changed to a more serious one. “Did you see a doctor when it happened?”
“Kind of.” I made a face that told her my story had some holes. “He didn’t see any problems that would lead me to think I should go to the hospital.”
She squinted before she typed something in her laptop.
“I’m having some pain here.” I pointed to my lower abdomen, and her eyes followed my hands. “Not really sure if it’s connected to what happened, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
She placed her laptop on the desk and started to warm her hands by rubbing them together.
“Lean back and let me take a look.”
Easing back on the bed, I lifted my shirt and watched her facial expressions. Her cool hands felt around, and I nearly hit the roof when she applied pressure to my left side.
“Your bruises are yellow, so to be having that kind of pain, I would think there may be more going on. Maybe a cracked rib as well.” She glanced at my file before adjusting her glasses as she looked me over. “I would feel more comfortable if we did some x-rays.”
“Now?” I needed to get back.
“Yes.”
“I can’t. I have to get back to work.”
“I’ll squeeze you in.”
Fuck.
“Okay.”
She sank back in her seat and scrolled through her laptop. “Okay, let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later, I quickly dressed and promised the doctor I’d come back for the results.
I gathered my things and plastered a smile on face. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
She stood as I handed her the very lengthy questionnaire she made me fill out. She immediately flipped to the third page and frowned. “Here.” She handed me a prescription. “I have a theory on what’s going on, but until I’m sure, please take these. If they don’t help, come back, and I’ll try something else. In the meantime, take it easy, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“Tess?”
I opened the door and stood in the doorway as if to ask, what?
“Whoever did that to you, were they caught?”
Trigger’s face broke through my walls and made me smile. “One did, and the other will get his day.”
She nodded then reminded me once again to keep my word to return for the results.
I didn’t even get outside before my phone lit up. I tossed back two of the pills she gave me and opened my messages.
Ven: I’m stuck at the club and your mother is on a rampage. Call Rachel asap!
Tess: Not a good time.
Not even ten seconds later, I felt her reply.
Ven: Call her NOW!
Shit.
“Where the hell are you?” Rachel, the house admin, screamed at me.
“I had an appointment.”
“Not from what I see. You know the rules better than anyone here, Tessa. You always block out the times you’re not here.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, well, you better, because there’s a new client here insisting he has an appointment with you.”
Come on, not today!
“Can you rebook him?”
“Girl, he’s sitting in the waiting area saying he’ll wait until you arrive. When your mother stepped in to try to get him to take someone else, he said no, but that he’d triple the normal rate for you.”
Who the hell was this guy?
“I’m fifteen minutes away.”
“Make it five.” She hung up.
I quickly called Ven and told her what was going on. She told me she’d wait in the lobby, and we’d go from there.
I skipped on the Uber and nearly ran all the way back. I managed to get there in under ten. Thankfully, the sidewalk was clear, and the atmosphere was heavy with upcoming rain. Autumn in Vegas was the best.
“You look like shit,” Rachel muttered as she tried to smooth my wild hair. “Go over there and get changed.” She pointed me toward a small changing room we rarely used, but it was good for times like this. “I’ll get him to your room.”
“Wait.” I caught the door before she left. “Where’s Ven?”
“Felicia needed her for something. She just rushed her away about three minutes ago.”
What?
I pulled my phone free, and sure as shit, there was a text.
Ven: Your f’ing mother needed me to take care of her client. Not sure if she is on to us.
The blood drained from my face and pounded in my chest.
No.
I can’t.
I won’t.
My hands shook as I did up the zipper on my corset. I flinched at the pain but quickly masked it as I tried to figure out what was about to happen.
“Tess!” my mother barked from the other side of the door. “Move it!”
I opened the door, and her cruel expression lashed through me.
“You look like shit. This man has a ton of money. You better not screw this up for me.” She pinched my cheeks painfully and rolled her eyes at the rest of me. “Why he wants you is beyond me. Go!”
“Your encouragement always does wonders, Mother.”
She snickered at my sass before she walked away.
Each step took a tremendous amount of energy and willpower. I shook like a leaf as I opened the door. He was standing in front of the window looking out at the pool area.
Kill me now.
He turned to look at me, and I nearly fell over.
***
Trigger
Brick downed the neck of the whiskey before he clinked my bottle. We were in the back of my pickup truck by the pool. We had just gotten back from dealing with my North Carolina crew and needed a breather.
“You have to understand that you come after Tess. You know I’m all about loyalty, and I have always had your back. But Tess always comes first.”
“Okay.” I understood that. Loyalty was earned over time and proven in the worst situations. Based on what I did know about Brick and Tess’s past, they had a tight bond. Still, it was time to hear the truth.
He sighed and tossed a beer bottle into the trash bin a few feet away. “Clark weaseled himself into her life when she was ten, and not the way a father would.”
My grip tightened around the neck of the bottle as his words burned my stomach lining.
“Clark is eleven years older. He saw an opportunity and took it.”
Fuck. He was only twenty-one when he met her. To be so twisted at that age was something else.
“Why?” My throat quickly became dry.
He chuckled darkly then rubbed his free hand over his jeans. “Because Tess was vulnerable and needy, but mostly because she comes from a lot of money, not that she’s seen a dime of it.”
My chest ached when I remembered all the times I’d given her shit over being a spoiled princess running from Mommy.
“Did they ever…” I cracked my neck to relieve some tension.
Brick stuck his thumb over the mouth of the bottle then looked at me with the most haunted look I’d ever seen on his face.
“Don’t make me answer questions that will flip that switch of yours, dude.”
I hated to be denied an answer to something I wanted to know, and my dark expression made it clear to him he should go on.
“Come on, Trigger.”
“Brick,” I warned.
He huffed through a sigh. “They didn’t have sex until she was eighteen.”
“Least he waited until she was legal.”
“Yeah, for sex.” My head whipped over to find his jaw locked in place. “I’m telling you, Clark sank his claws into her at an early age.”
“Then, what?” I needed to know everything now, so I could deal with it.
“It’s not a matter of what. It’s that he won over her trust, messed around with her, made her fall in love with him, then saw an opportunity to secure himself in the house and married her mother. He ripped her world out from underneath her and betrayed her.”
Wait, what?
“How old was she when he married her mother?”
Brick nodded. “Eleven.”
That’s when she tried to kill herself.
“I know Clark loves Tess in his own sick way, but he loves money just as much. That way, he got both. Only took him a few years to brainwash Tess back into submission after the wedding. Hence them sleeping together on her eighteenth birthday.”
Jesus Christ.
“Clark is the only man who paid any attention to her. Her father wasn’t around, and her mother looks right through her like she doesn’t exist. Clark stole any innocence she had. You can see why she was his target. She’s pretty, smart-mouthed, and underneath her armor, she has the biggest heart, and he fucking destroyed her.”
“So, why did she come here then run back to him?”
Brick lowered his voice when Rail brought a girl to the edge of the pool and dove in.
“Something changed six years ago, and she decided she wanted to go back to the house when I wanted to leave town. No matter how many times I begged her to come, she wouldn’t budge. Whatever it was, it was important enough to keep her there, so whatever happened after that to make her leave to come to me must have been big. She lived on the streets before we met, and I know she must be lost if she went back there. Tess has a lot of demons she keeps locked up because of that house.”
The girl with Rail screamed when he grabbed her from behind and tossed her in. I spotted Peggy watching us from across the property, and when I caught her eye, she licked her fingers and motioned for me to come over. I looked away then downed my whiskey.
“What was Tess like on the streets?”
Brick chuckled then leaned back, clearly at ease with this topic.
“She was guarded and sassy, but I earned her trust. Doesn’t take long for a girl who looks like Tess to find trouble on the streets. Every guy wanted a piece of her, and every girl wanted to hate her. You can imagine how much sleep she got.”
I shuddered at the thought.
“Did she ever take you to the house?”
He folded his arms and sighed.
“Once, she tried, but we never got through the gates. She had a full-blown panic attack, and I told her it wasn’t worth it.” He glanced at me. “I’m telling you, that is not the place for her to be.”
“Trigger?” Morgan suddenly appeared next to me. “We should talk.”
Once inside, I closed the door behind Morgan and sank into my seat at the head of the table. Morgan pulled out his phone.
“You remember Harmos?”
I thought for a moment until I placed the memory.
“Yeah, nephew skimmed off the Vegas drop, and the uncle had a hand in it?”
“Yup. Well, you remember how we let the other uncle go?”
I nodded, wondering where the fuck he was going with this.
“Well, that uncle just ran his mouth to Cray. Turns out he crossed paths with your father.”
My hands drew into fists, and I steadied myself for what was next.
“Seems your father is looking to build an army and wanted him to join.”
“That so?” I bit out. “And did he?”
“Nope, said he wasn’t going up against you. Not worth it.”
“Smart man,” I muttered and thought about what my next move would be. “Any lead on his location?”
“He wouldn’t say anything much, but that he was still posing as a priest, seems to like being called Father.” He looked at me for a reaction to that, but as ironic as it was, I let it pass. “Puts up like he’s all about selling guns, but really he’s drawing in men to recruit.”
I let the information absorb without comment then drew a heavy breath.
“Who do we have right now?”
Morgan pulled out a seat and thought for a moment. “I mean, we got Ty’s replacement.”
“I want Rich here, especially while Jace is gone. Send Cooper.”
“Your father knows our men. Why not send in Peggy?”
“For what, a handy? She’s useless. Send Moe.”
“On it.”
I leaned back and tried to piece together what the fuck my father was up to. Was he building a club? Or was it a trap?
“The first key to succeeding, boy, is making others think you’re doing one thing when really you’re doing another,” he barked at me from the corner of the ring. “People are expendable, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”
Langley stepped in front of me and rested his hand on my shoulder. I jerked back, but his hand stayed in place.
“Clear your mind, Trigger. The longer you keep him inside your head, the harder the fight will be. Focus on me, and me only.”
I nodded but eyed my father, who watched us. He was threatened by Langley, but needed him more. He was, after all, the only one who kept me in line when Gus couldn’t.
“Like I said,” my father slammed Langley hard on the back, “everyone is expendable.”