Mason
We got to Khloe’s a little after lunchtime. Cassie was overwhelmed by the location of the house and the kind of place it was.
“Oh, my God,” she muttered as we walked through the door of the brothel.
“You’re fine,” I told her.
“This place, is it…?” her voice trailed off for a second and she cleared her throat. “What is this place?”
I smirked, hiding a laugh from her as I closed the door behind us.
“Why don’t you tell me what kind of place you think this is.”
She knew the answer. I just wanted to hear her say it.
“Is this where men come for sex?” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “As in, paying for sex?”
“Yes,” I whispered back in her ear.
She shivered.
“And it is a high-class establishment too. The owner is a good friend of mine.”
I saw Cassie’s eyes widen and look at me as if to say, ‘you’re disgusting’. I shut the look down though with a glare.
“Something to say?” I asked her.
“Nope.” She popped the ‘P’. “I wasn’t saying or thinking anything.”
“Good. Now, remember what I said about being on your best behavior, because I won’t be telling you again. Got it?”
She nodded, rolled her eyes, and sighed.
“Uh-huh, yeah, I got it. You have been understood loud and clear.”
I rolled my eyes and headed up the stairs with her trailing close to my heels.
“And don’t sound so fucking robotic. It’s irritating,” I told her.
“And half the things you do and say aren’t?” she retorted.
I stopped walking, making her run straight into my back.
“Cassie, what did I say?”
“Jeez, alright. I’m sorry, okay?”
Her reply was harsher than I’d expected, and I was about to ask what was wrong with her when she continued.
“I’m tired, sore, and hungry. And I’d really like some clean clothes. When this happens, I swear I’ll be nicer. I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
“I want you to stop being so dramatic. You’ll be comfortable soon.”
Barbie!
We made the rest of the way up the stairs and into the private area. Khloe hove into view.
“About time you arrived.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“How’s she doing?” Khloe nodded toward Cassie.
“She’s fine,” I shrugged. “Anywhere I can leave her for now? I need to see the boys and get everyone updated.”
“Yeah. I’ve put the boys in the guest house downstairs. It’s not much, and it’s pretty cramped, but that’s all I have for now. I don’t think most of the boys are staying here, but there is a room that’s been left for you and your woman.”
I gave Khloe a hard look.
“She’s not my woman.”
“Go see the club now, because you and I have business to talk.”
Khloe walked off quickly, not bothering to wait for a response or to spare a glance in Cassie’s direction. I didn’t take her coldness to heart. She was clearly stressed out over this whole thing with the Cartel, and no one was blaming her for that. I’d talk to her later and see what she wanted, even though I already had a feeling about what she was going to ask, to which the answer would be no.
“Who was that?” Cassie asked as we made our way to the back stairs.
The house was a large, renovated old-style mansion. It was dark, sleek and modern throughout, boasting three stories and a basement level. Upstairs were ten large suites, three larger ones on the ground floor, and a large bar/sitting area with private viewing rooms, also on the ground floor. The entire third floor was Khloe’s private apartments, and no one went up there aside from her and her girls. The basement was a private area for her top clientele. I had never been down there.
I was familiar with the guest house. It looked much like a townhouse. It had two floors and was semi-attached to the main mansion. Khloe’d had it built onto the mansion, and in no way did it match the grandeur of the rest of the property. But it served its purpose well.
“Is she okay?” Cassie asked.
I didn’t bother replying.
I’d known Khloe for a long time. She’d always been a good friend, but we were also professionals and that was the way I wanted our relationship to stay. Why I was here now, regrouping with the club at one of her establishments, I didn’t know. It had seemed the best option at the time.
“Mason?”
I’d hoped she’d dropped the conversation, but I was very wrong.
“That was Khloe. She runs the brothel,” I answered Cassie’s original question.
We headed down a back stairwell that went out the back of the property. I pushed the heavy fire door open and held it for Cassie. She jumped when I let the door slam shut behind us, but kept walking anyway.
“So, where is this place?”
“Just outside of Eden. Depending on which direction you were coming from, you would pass the main gate on your way into town.”
Cassie opened her mouth to say something, then stopped when several of the boys came bursting out of the house we were heading for.
“Who are they?”
I didn’t answer the question. It was obvious from the patches on their vests they were part of the club. Diesel, Reid, and Joey walked over.
“About time,” Diesel nodded.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Any news?”
“Nah, but the boys are asking questions,” Diesel said with a nod to Cassie.
I sighed. I knew they would have questions and be demanding answers. I just hoped Cassie wouldn’t cause too much of a problem. She was the reason the Cartel had been at the club last night, and the reason the place was burned to a crisp.
“She with you?” Joey asked, his usually hard and rigid jaw even stiffer.
He wasn’t happy about the situation.
“I own her, and that’s it. Ruiz wants her, and he’s not getting her.”
The boys all nodded, each stealing a glimpse of Cassie as we walked into the temporary clubhouse.
The casual talking, chatter, and laughter stopped when I walked into the room. I had everyone’s full attention. Cassie stiffened and took a hesitant step behind me.
Telling the boys why the Cartel had struck us last night, and what they were after, drove a wave of anger through me. But they were all in agreement about not giving into the Cartel’s demands. The conversation was left there, and I took Cassie up to a room where she could entertain herself while I caught up with the boy’s downstairs.
“You got the things?” I whispered to Diesel.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. “I got what you asked for. I left it in a bag upstairs, in the room. Bottom of the wardrobe.
“Thanks.”
“No problemo,” Diesel waved me off.
I pushed the door open and made straight to the wardrobe. The bag had everything I’d asked for: four pairs of jeans, four shirts, couple bras, couple sets of panties, shoes, socks, jacket, and hygiene items.
“Here,” I said, holding the bag out to Cassie. “It’s the best I could do in the time I had. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Cassie cautiously took the bag out of my hands and blushed when she peeked inside.
“Thank you,” she whispered. A small fleeting smile graced her face before it was gone again.
“I’ll bring food up, but come out when you’re ready to.”
I closed the door behind me, not waiting for a reply.
Back downstairs, relief flooded my body when the room didn’t fall silent at my presence again. I sat for the next half hour, eating and drinking a couple of beers, as I caught up with the boys before heading over to see Khloe.
I made my way through the back door and into the bar area, knowing Khloe would likely be having a few drinks of whatever to help de-stress after the recent events. She was probably glad she hadn’t bought Cassie now. Or so I hoped.
I walked in to see two of the girls from the previous night’s auction being led in with their hands tied in front. They looked different now to what they did when I’d brought them in.
The blonde, I couldn’t remember her name, had sold for almost $5000. I’d picked the bubbly girl up at a club in town, and she was all too eager to go home with me. Picking her up had been almost too easy. I’d slipped something into her drink without her knowing. The raven-haired beauty had sold for $7500. She was barely twenty-one, and I’d had her picked up by one of the boys in a carpark the other day. She had been on vacation from the UK, so there was no one here to report her missing. And by the time we have them, it’s too late to save them anyway.
They both looked stunning in the lingerie the auction house had dressed them up in, and they both looked terrified. It had been their first night, and if they were still bound it was because they’d put up a fight.
“Nice looking girls you got there,” I said to Khloe, keeping my eyes on the girls, watching for a reaction to see if they recognized my voice at all.
The blonde did, and she paled instantly. The raven-haired didn’t though. I hadn’t been around her for more than a few minutes, and even then I hadn’t talked much. I winked at the blonde and watched her cringe before bursting into tears.
“Seriously?” Khloe glared at me before she looked at the girl and chuckled a dark laugh.
One thing I liked about Khloe was that she was a tough woman, and very strict regarding her business and who she let close to her. But she was also funny, with a rather dark sense of humor. So she at least could see the slightly funny side to me scaring the new recruit.
“Get four of the girls to help clean them up and get them ready for tonight. I want security outside the doors the entire time,” she added with a sigh. “I don’t need any more trouble from the little rebel.”
I waited until the girls and the guard were out of the room before asking who the rebel was.
“Dark-haired one,” Khloe sighed again. “She’s got a nasty little temper on her. Scratched Juliette last night when I brought her in. And then the blonde tried to do a runner at the same time, so I put them both in a padded room for the night.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. They give you any more trouble since?”
“No, they have been very good and compliant through the entire process. And the dark-haired one is even a virgin, so she will fetch a very nice price tonight.”
“Good,” I grinned.
I was always pleased to hear that the goods I sold met buyer expectations. The Ghost Riders MC had a good name for supplying quality girls, and the ones I’d brought in the previous night had more than met the highest expectations and produced a tidy little profit. If I had just sold Cassie, things would be running a whole lot smoother for me and everyone else now.
“So, your girl… What’s the plan for her?” Khloe asked, not wasting any more time or tip-toeing around what I knew was a pending topic.
I should have just sold her.
“Not sure,” I shrugged.
“She a virgin?”
“She was.”
“You had sex with her?” Khloe’s eyebrows rose in shock.
“Yes, Khloe, I had sex with her. I bought her, I can fuck her.”
Khloe shrugged and waved off my answer.
“Okay,” she replied. “And do you know anything about seven shot dead last night?”
I shook my head.
“No,” I lied. “What happened?”.
Khloe gave me a hard look.
“Did you have sex with her before or after she hightailed it out of the auction house?”
I looked at her curiously, trying to read her face before replying. I knew this was going to be a problem, for more reasons than one.
“You saw her leave?”
“Yes, I saw her run out of there faster than light. And then you chased after her a few minutes later on your bike.” She grinned. “And you looked a little sore too. I would have to say that you were almost kind of limping.”
I purposely ignored the snippy remark.
“Yeah, I caught up with her.”
“Look,” Khloe gave me a hard look. “I don’t know anything, and I won’t say anything. But be careful.”
“Always careful,” I told her. “What did you want to talk about?”
Khloe’s phone beeped.
“Your girls are trouble,” she shook her head. “I’m tempted to ask for a refund.”
I chuckled.
“No refunds. You’ll just have to break them in.”
Khloe smiled at me and gave a short laugh.
“You look tired. Come in later tonight. Bring the club and have some drinks. We’ll talk more then.”
Khloe stood up.
“And one more thing,” she added. “Get your arm looked at. Diesel told me you were shot. Help yourself to any supplies you need.”
I grunted in reply and stood.
“Maybe your pretty little doc can fix you up,” Khloe grinned.
How the hell did she know about Cassie?
“She’s a nurse, not a doctor.”
And why the hell was I clarifying this?
Khloe didn’t say anything as she walked out of the room.
I groaned and knew she was going to ask to buy Cassie. She would be wasting her time though, because the answer was already ‘No’.