...When in Hell Page 9

  Sometimes they accidentally tip me more than they intended to.

  And by that I mean, I find their wallet and pull some extra cash out.

  Only the real assholes, though. I’ve got to have some sort of morals.

  “Why do they call you Pers?” the client asks me as I lean back, wrapping my arm slightly around his neck as I grind my ass into his lap. We’re in the VIP room as I stand up, placing my ass directly in his face before I turn around, leaning my arms over his shoulders so he can get a better view of my tits.

  “Greek mythology, baby,” I purr into his ear, “Persephone, was the wife of Hades. She was the Queen of the underworld.” He slowly nods his head.

  “So, you’re married to Hades?” He smirks at me before I lean my head towards his letting my mouth come right to his ear.

  “Hades, Satan, The Devil, aren’t they really all the same? And he’s looking for me, at least.” I nod my head back to him. Leaning into him, catching his ear with my tongue, making his head tip backwards, his eyes close and I take it as my cue. Reaching over to where his wallet sits on the table… I’m not sure why guys always feel the need to take out their wallets. Plucking out a few bills before I grasp it into my hand and spin around again. I don’t take it all because I’m not a complete monster.

  “And you’re okay with being with a monster?” I can’t help but laugh. “Why?”

  “Because even monsters have a soft spot for something.”

  As I walk out of the room and back in the bar's direction, I can feel eyes on me, but there’s nothing new to that.

  “Let me buy you a drink.” A man grabs a hold of my arm as I spin around and look at him. In my heels, I’m taller than he is.

  “No, thank you. I’m off the clock.” I nod to him. It’s not really the truth, but it’s close enough to 3am that I am done for the night.

  “We still have a few minutes.” He smirks at me, causing me to roll my eyes before I turn around. Snatching me, my back slams into his chest and I spin around looking at him, gripping onto his crotch.

  “Take your goddamn hands off of me before I rip your worthless excuse for a dick off.” His eyes quickly widen as he holds his hands up as if he’s surrendering. I toss him one smirk before I walk in the dressing room's direction.

  As I pass by the security, he looks at me laughing, “I had a feeling you didn’t need any help.”

  “He’s just cocksure of himself right now. Just needed to be put back into his place.” I smirk at him as I walk through the door. “I’m done for tonight… I’m taking off in a second.” He nods at me before adding.

  “Let me know when you’re ready to go out.”

  “I’ll be fine.” I nod to him and he shakes his head.

  “Pers,” he pauses, “you don’t have to do everything all by yourself.”

  I can’t help but laugh, “I wish that was true.” I nod before I walk into the dressing room and change into my civilian clothes.

  “Bye,” one girl hugs me as I walk out of the back door and to my car. Hesitating, checking my surroundings as I approach the doors and unlock them, slipping quickly into the old Hyundai that I bought when I got here. Just one more way to cover my tracks. Putting my seatbelt on as I crank the car.

  Pressing the car forward as soon as I hear the door’s auto lock as I pull out onto the road. Glancing into the rearview mirror.

  I scream as I see the shadowy figure sitting behind me in the car. Then slamming on the brakes.

  “Drive.” I hear Luce’s low growl come out, demanding me.

  “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me.” I gasp out, still looking in the mirror at him sitting behind me, but I notice the smirk that pulls up on his face. “Where are we going, anyway?”

  “To your house.” He tells me.

  “Why?”

  “Why do you think?” The volume of his voice causes me to jump as he growls it right into my ear.

  “Okay.” I pause, glancing back up at him in the mirror as I come to a stop at a red light. “Am I going to be driving Ms. Daisy the entire time?”

  Calmly he nods his head, “Don’t take off,” his voice demands into my ear, “my men are watching and will follow you, so either way you’re not getting away this time.” Then he slides across the seat, opens the backdoor, slips out and into the passenger seat. “Better?” He glares over at me. I wonder if the scar on his face makes him more attractive because it makes it seem like he’s gotten even more of an edge… or if it’s just because I know I put it there. Regardless of the reason, I feel his eyes burning holes into me as I look over to him and he nods his head towards the road.

  “Yes, thank you.” I smirk back at him as I drive the shit-box car towards my apartment. I can feel his eyes on me the entire time, though. That instant sexual tension that has always been between us back in place.

  When we arrive, he looks up at the building and shakes his head. “Why are you driving this car and living here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve had my money this whole time. So why choose to live here, drive this car, and work at a strip club?”

  Smirking at him, I laugh as I get out of the car, walking up to the building. Feeling his hand on me, he spins me around and steps into me, causing me to have to crane my neck back to look at him. He glares down, demanding me to answer him. “Why do you think?” I ask him, repeating his question from earlier back to him.

  “I honestly have no idea.” He shakes his head, looking up at the building again.

  “Because it’s the last place that you’d look.” I whisper back at him as I hear a door shut from behind me as Kristen comes out of her apartment.

  “Why not, you know, actually enjoy yourself.”

  “That’s just not who I am, I guess.” I think the reality of the fact is I don’t know how to enjoy myself. I’ve always just been more focused on surviving. “Now, play along because if she thinks anything is wrong, she will call the cops.” I subtly nod in the direction of my neighbor coming down the stairs.

  ❖

  Luce

  I mull over her words for a second before I realize what she has said about her neighbor.

  “Lil.” Nyx smiles at her as I’m still standing staring at Nyx. It causes me to smirk that she’s still going by the same name. The woman is a few inches taller than Nyx, but clearly is much older than her and even myself. She openly looks me up and down before she lets her eyes return to Nyx’s. “I guess there are some exceptions to rules?” She asks, causing me to crane my neck, looking to Nyx as if to question her as well.

  What rule?

  “Yeah,” she smiles at her.

  “Okay, well I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Her neighbor looks at her and shrugs her shoulders before looking over at me and glaring as if to make sure I know she’ll be checking in on her later.

  Funny thing is, I don’t give a fuck if she checks in on her later or not… also when she does, Lilith/Nyx won’t be here. Because even if I have to drag her back to the fucking plane tied up in her own trunk, that’s exactly what I’ll fucking do. Actually, I may do that regardless of if she’s cooperative or not…

  Her neighbor drops her glare as Nyx reaches over and laces her fingers with mine. I have to hold back the urge to pull away from the warmth that her hand brings into mine, remembering her words about playing along. Then she’s dragging me behind her up the three flights of stairs until she pushes the door open and walks into an apartment.

  “You don’t keep your door locked?” I look at her, stunned.

  “Only when I’m home.” She shrugs as I walk into the living room of the small one-bedroom apartment. The entire apartment could probably fit into my bedroom. But it’s relatively empty. There’s a small TV on the floor in front of a window with a loveseat directly in front of it. The inside of the apartment fits with her car and the apartment building. Drab, bleak, nothing to it. I pull my hand away from her hand as she shuts the door
, and she catches sight of it. “There’s a sink in the kitchen if you want to wash up.” She nods at my hand, telling me she noticed how there’s some blood spatter on it, but she asks nothing about it.

  It’s kind of ironic how completely different from the house in Toronto and the apartment in Chicago that she lived in. Looking around, she laughs, shaking her head before nodding towards the bedroom. Following behind her, the bedroom is just like the rest of her life right now, minimal. It’s almost as if this time she was trying harder to not be found, but based on her reaction when she saw me she wanted to. She just wanted to make it more difficult for me.

  As she walks into the room and stands in front of the bed, memories plague me from Chicago.

  She pulls out a bag from the closet, and I lean against the wall. “You don’t have any guns hidden around here, do you?”

  “Of course I do.” She smirks back at me and I can’t help it when a laugh comes out. Her eyes widen at the sound of it as her smirk turns into a full-face smile. As fucked up as the whole situation is, I feel a weird sensation come over as it registers with me. “Don’t worry though, I think my pulling a gun on you is over.” She smirks again as I shake my head. Watching her, she walks over to the wall next to the door, and she gets down onto her hands and knees. I have to force the memory of the feeling that I had the second before I realized she pulled a gun on me, back in Toronto. She crawls over to the baseboard and, as gentle as I’ve ever seen done, she pulls it away from the wall. There at the bottom of the wall, I see the money that she stole from me years ago.

  “Why are you being so cooperative this time?” Comes out of my mouth, accidentally.

  As she places the money in the bag, she stops, looking back at me and shrugs. “I figure once a dog gets a taste of blood, right?” A small smirk pulls up on her lips as she looks up to me and I know that the slight playful look in her eyes has to do with the same images in her mind.

  “Something like that.” I mumble out, letting my hand trail down to the gun that sits underneath my jacket. I don’t trust her. I know better than to trust her. It would be much easier if her fucking looks weren’t so goddamn deceiving and that instead the money was the blood in this scenario.

  Standing up, she walks back over to me and she hands the money over in the bag. “There.” She pauses as her hand drops to her side, looking up at me, unsure of what else is about to happen. “This time, it really is all there.” She smirks.

  “I was pretty pissed off the last two times.” She smirks as she glances away. “So was your fiancé.” She grimaces before she shrugs. “Okay, did you want to pack anything to take?” I ask, trying to be nice this time around.

  “What?” She looks up at me. She can’t be fucking serious she had to have known that she was coming back with me.

  “Do you want to pack a bag or do you just want to take what you’re wearing?”

  “Um,” she mumbles before she looks up at me, licking her lips. She understands that I’m not giving her a fucking option. “Let me take a shower real quick.” She whispers as her breathing elevates.

  “Okay.” I nod my head as I glance into the bathroom making sure that there are not any escape routes, but honestly, knowing her, she may have tunneled out already and is just waiting for the moment that she’s going to need to use it. “Leave the door open.” I tell her before I hear a groan.

  “If you want to come in, all you have to do is ask.” She calls back to me as she steps into the bathroom. She’s smirking at me over her shoulder, then she lifts her shirt up over her head. I debate it for a second. Following her in to the shower, pressing her against the wall and fucking her until she collapses in my arms, but if I did that. Then we would end up in the exact position that we have every other time.

  I glance down the hallway to where the small bathroom is and catch her reflection in the full-length mirror that hangs on the wall as she stands in the water’s stream. I’m stuck staring at her and my mouth slightly salivates. As she soaps up her body, I have to fight the urge to claim her as mine. Forcing down the memories of the way she felt wrapped around me.

  Finally turning myself completely around when she catches me in the mirror.

  Chapter 9

  Nyx

  I caught him watching me showering, but I reveled in it as I planned. He may take the money, but I need to get away from him before I get on that plane.

  Wrapping the towel around me, I walk down the hallway and into the bedroom. I catch him trying to keep his gaze off of me. Quickly getting dressed and then tossing some clothes into a bag to make it look like I’m going with him by choice.

  “Let me drive.” He tells me as we walk down the stairs back to my car.

  “No, it’s my car.” I can feel his hand tugging on my hand as I pull it out of his grasp.

  He says nothing, just glares over at me until I roll my eyes and hand him my keys. I can see his jaw tick at me rolling my eyes, causing me to smirk. I’m a little surprised that he doesn’t smack me just as he did last time. I’m almost a little disappointed that he doesn’t.

  “Did you come here alone?” I can’t help but ask him as he walks me to my side and opens the door.

  “No.”

  “Then where is everyone else?” I can’t help but laugh. “Are they lurking behind the building and going to follow us out there?” I ask him.

  He just smirks, shaking his head, as he shuts my door and walks around the car, sliding into the driver’s seat. Starting the car, he backs out of the parking spot and onto the freeway before we are heading towards downtown.

  “Is it weird to drive a car that commoners drive?” I mumble over to him, which causes him to smirk again. He doesn’t answer me, just glances over, and for a second my eyes lock with his. A playful look to his eyes for a second before he looks away back at the road.

  “You know, I didn’t always have money.” He explains, barely glancing over at me.

  “You don’t say.” I contemplate what he’s telling me as he nods his head again. “How did you build it all?” I can’t help but ask him as he shakes his head, reaching over and turning up the radio.

  Rolling my eyes, I turn, facing forward in my seat. Propping my feet onto the dashboard as I strum on my leg to the beat of the song.

  “Don’t put your feet up there.” He demands, as I glance over at him, a shitty smirk in place as I lift my legs up and place them directly back onto the dash. “Seriously, if something happened, the airbag could break your legs and hips and could send your knees through your eye sockets.” He looks over at me. A smirk slowly spreads on his face. I’m sure looking at my disgusted expression that is on my face as I slowly remove them from the dash.

  I’m staring out the window as we drive through the city. The steady headlights behind me distract me as I catch a SUV staying behind us a suspicious amount of distance, but it doesn’t leave, go around, or get very far from us. “I know you said not to worry about it, but are your men following us?” I ask him, glancing over. I watch him glancing up into the rearview mirror. “The SUV has been behind us since we got on.”

  “Shit,” he mutters under his breath as he nods at me. “Come here.”

  “What?”

  “I need you to drive in case they are following us.” I want to argue with him, tell him I can take care of things. But even though I don’t really know him, I know his type-A personality well enough to know he won’t like that. I lift my leg over the center console and slip it onto the gas as he removes his foot. I have to force myself not to jump when his hands find my hips as he guides me to sit in front of him. Then feeling him press up before he slips over the console and into the passenger seat.

  “How the fuck did that even work?” I mumble as he smirks to himself. Reaching under the seat and then moving it forward so that I can actually touch the pedals.

  “Keep it the same speed. Don’t let on that we know. When I tell you to… floor it.” He looks over at me for a second
. “Can you do that?”

  “Yeah, I’m good at disappearing.” He smirks to himself as he pulls his gun out from under his suit jacket. I’m fidgeting around a bit and keep glancing into the mirror and then behind us as I see Luce glance over to me and sigh.

  “Oh yeah, Pers,” he glances over, using my stage name to me, causing me to look over at him again. “My guy said that you stole some money from him tonight.” He laughs out.

  “What?” I look at him, “The guy that got the dance?” I ask him and he laughs, nodding his head and I realize what he’s doing. He’s distracting me, trying to calm me, so I don’t let them know we know they are there.

  “Yes.” I smirk at him.

  “I’m surprised that you let someone else come in and you didn’t come in yourself.” I roll my eyes.

  “Believe me, I thought about it.” He laughs out. “But I like the dramatics sometimes and thought that was much more dramatic.” It makes me laugh out loud again.

  “Yeah, but I don’t think you pay your men enough. He had little cash.” A quiet laugh fills the car as I glance over. It surprises me the difference that this time is having from the last one.

  “He wasn’t there to get his kicks off. It’s kind of a clever ruse though. Said you licked his ear.” He smirks again. Shrugging my shoulders, I look over at him.

  “Take the next exit.” He starts before he pauses, “but don’t move over until the last second. Don’t wait. Don’t slow down. Don’t stop for any reason. Do you know where the airstrip is from here?” He asks.

  “No.” Shaking my head, he sighs.

  “Okay.” Nodding his head, he continues to glance into the side-view mirror.

  Stepping onto the pedal right before the exit, I shoot across the lanes of traffic and merge off of the freeway quickly before I’m speeding down the off ramp towards the street. “Shit, yeah they’re following us, they just sped up and are getting off.” The light at the end of the ramp is red as I approach it, but just as he said before, I speed through the intersection. “Right.” He tells me as I quickly pull the wheel to the right, taking the turn maybe too fast.