He’s avoiding me.

Whatever, I say.

He can do what he wants.

He was the one who made the little confession. He was the one who spoke. He could have kept his mouth shut, acted professional, and we’d be done with it.

I don’t care anyway.

Fuck. Who am I kidding? Yes I do.

I come to work every day dressed up the best I possibly can, radiating feminine energy in hopes he’ll notice me. I flirt with other men in front of him. I laugh a lot, throwing my head back because I like the way he stares at my throat. I do all of these things, knowing it’s bothering him, knowing he wants more. And I do all these things, because I want him. I can’t think of anything else.

I don’t want anyone else.

Just him.

And I’m becoming ... I don’t know ... obsessed.

Which is silly, and I’m trying to control it, but when I’m around him, all I want to do is be with him. I fantasize about it. I dream about it. It’s become all I think about. I know it’s not healthy, but I can’t stop it. Dammit, I don’t even want to.

I told Harper about it, I needed to vent to someone. She told me to be careful, of course, that Nicolai was basically with Yana, and it wouldn’t go down well if Yana found out. She dislikes me enough as it is, worse if she finds out that I’m interested in Nicolai. Harper makes a point, so I’ve made a point to be careful about what I’m doing. I know it’s wrong, but they’re not together, he just sleeps with her.

That thought makes me wild with jealousy.

I hate it.

Despise it.

“Shania!”

I turn and snap out of my daydream to see Yana coming toward me, just finished up with her dance on stage. She looks gorgeous, as she always does, her slick body so much curvier than mine, more filled out, more womanly. Maybe that’s why Nicolai avoids me, because I’m not womanly enough, maybe he thinks I look too much like a girl and not enough like a woman.

“What?” I mutter, leaning forward to complete my makeup.

“Lucy is here, room three, wants to see you.”

Lucy is here? She never comes to the club. Something must be wrong. I stand immediately and walk out and through the back doors into the rooms. The rooms are for private dances, those of which I refuse to do. This room is obviously not being used, so they’ve let Lucy wait in it. When I step in, I glance around. I can’t see anyone. I move further into the room, and see a man standing in it, not Lucy. She did say room three, right?

I glance back at the door. Definitely room three.

“Oh, sorry, I must have the wrong room,” I say, turning to walk off.

“No, you have the right room. Stop.”

I stop, even though my body is already telling me to move, fast. I turn back and face the man. Middle aged, quite handsome, wearing a suit, looks like he has a great deal of money to throw around this place. “I’m sorry, I’m confused. I must have the wrong room,” I say again.

“No, you’re what I’ve paid for. The girl on stage guided me here, took the money.”

Yana.

That bitch.

“Sorry, I don’t do private dances and—”

“I paid,” he growls, stepping toward me and curling a hand around my upper arm. “And when I pay, I want delivery.”

My heart races, and I try to jerk my arm back but he holds on too tightly. “I don’t do private dances. This is a misunderstanding, I’ll get your money back.”

“Don’t want my money back, I want you to dance, now dance!”

“No,” I growl, trying to jerk my arm again. “I’ll call security.”

He laughs. “Fine. If you won’t dance, then I’ll take something else for my money. Virgin, they say? I guess we’ll find out.”

My blood is pumping so hard I can feel it in my ears, my heart is racing, my body is on high alert. I know I need to get out of here and fast. But for a second, I’m unable to move as he grabs me closer, handling me roughly, trying to touch my body. I don’t know what to do. What do I do? I squirm again, telling him to stop, pleading with him.

Then, I know I’m left with only one option.

Scream.

So I do. I take a deep breath in, and I scream so loudly that the man lets me go and steps back, shoving his hands over his ears and barking at me to shut the hell up. I scream and scream as I back toward the door, just as it opens and Eddie comes rushing in. His dark eyes move to the man, then to me, and he growls, “Get the fuck back.”

The man steps back, putting his hands up. “Didn’t do anything wrong. Paid for this dance. Girl led me in here, told me to wait. Just expecting what I paid for.”

Eddie looks to me. “Did you lead him in here?”

I shake my head. “No, Yana told me my sister was in here. I came in and this man was waiting, she’d already taken his money and promised him I’d dance. When I said no, he was going to take what he wanted anyway.”

The man glares at me, then looks to Eddie. “Yeah. That’s her. Yana. I got told she was waiting. Paid my money. Did nothin’ fucking wrong.”

“Get out of this club, right fucking now,” Eddie growls.

“I want a fucking refund!” the man barks. “I paid for a dance!”

“Get out before I make you fuckin’ wish you weren’t born!” Eddie seethes. “Three seconds.”

The man’s face goes red, he glares at me once more, and then he turns and disappears. A few minutes after he does, the door comes flying open and Nicolai steps in. His face is red and angry, and he looks to me, “What the fuck is happening?”

“Don’t get angry at her, boss,” Eddie tells him, still looking like he wants to break something. “Yana set this up.”

“What?” Nicolai seethes.

“Yeah, took money from the guy, told him his dance was in this room, told Shania her sister was here to see her, and well, here the fuck we are.”

“Fuck me,” Nicolai growls. “Fuck. Is this true?” he asks me.

I nod, rubbing my hands over my arms.

His eyes soften just a touch. “You okay?”

I shrug, because honestly, I don’t know. That’s twice now something bad has nearly happened to me. Maybe ... maybe this job isn’t as safe as I first thought. That, or Yana is determined to have me hurt, she hates me far more than I could have even begun to realize.

“Shania, go wait in my office. Eddie, find Yana. We’re sortin’ this out once and for all.”

I shiver.

This isn’t going to end well.

I can just feel it.