Page 55 of Twisted Prince

Get here a half hour early today. Mr. Kelly wants to meet with you about last night.

Shit. I had a feeling he was letting me off too easy. He probably heard how I mouthed off to Vinny during his private dance and changed his mind about how he wants to handle the fight. Please, god, don’t let me lose my job.

Swallowing my anxiety, I let my feet carry me more quickly down the street. I’m not going to make it quite on time. I got the text too last minute and couldn’t get Gabby ready and settled in the nursery quickly enough.

“Hey, Vik,” I greet as soon as I approach the alley, but I don’t bother being falsely cheerful today. I’m too anxious.

He barely has time to get the door open for me before I’m hopping up the step into the club. Dim red lighting envelopes me as soon as I enter, but unlike most nights, the music isn’t throbbing through the walls just yet. It’s nearly an hour before Pearl’s even opens.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I consider just how pitifully I’m willing to beg to get Keoghan to let me stay. Then I stop at Kitty’s office door and knock.

“Come in,” she calls, and I do.

Shoving the door open, I swallow my nerves as I meet her eyes. “Where is he?”

“You’re supposed to meet him in the lounge, I guess,” she says, her voice laced with a hint of strain that tells me it’s not a good thing to be called into the lounge.

That’s where his captains hang out on occasion. The girls who go in there don’t usually come out the same. Is he going to punish me for what happened? Let his men do something to me? I shudder, my stomach coiling, and I consider whether it might not be better to cut my losses. I’m still sore from my night with Gleb, and I don’t relish the idea of wiping the memory of his hands on me from my mind, replacing it with someone else’s.

“I wouldn’t recommend keeping him waiting,” Kitty warns as I stand frozen, undecided.

“Right,” I breathe, turning on my heel and racing toward the lounge.

I don’t exactly know what would happen if I broke my contract with the Kellys. Nothing in there specifically says I have to stay on with them. But it does request two weeks’ notice if I intend to leave. Then again, nothing in the paperwork would suggest I might have to service his men if he’s unhappy with me, so I don’t think he could hold me to it if I quit on the spot.

What am I thinking?

Right now, I have to decide—before I have a chance to see the monster on the other side of that door. He’s not going to let me pick once I’m in there. Would he? In truth, I don’t know Mr. Kelly well enough to be sure. He’s always treated me with respect, never insisted I do anything more than what the contract expresses explicitly. Then again, I’ve never gotten in trouble before.

Breaths coming ragged, I reach the lounge door and pause.

What’s it going to be, Mel? Leave before you have to do something you don’t want to? Or stick it out, even if it’s unsavory, because your daughter is safe and happy and has a roof over her head?

My stomach knots as I think about Gleb’s words last night. He intended to take me back to New York with him. That would have helped the conundrum I suddenly find myself in. But I have no guarantees he would have extended the same courtesy to our daughter. So it wouldn’t have solved anything, really.

Steeling my nerves, I suck up my courage and knock.

“Come in.” The voice is reedy and muted behind the door, the Irish accent thick.

And as I swing the door open, I find Vinny in the room.

Alone.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was told I had a meeting with Mr. Kelly,” I say, the hair on my neck rising as soon as our eyes meet. I try to step back out and close the door behind me.

“Yes, come in,” he states, gesturing for me to enter.

His demeanor is different today, more stiff and formal, and I wonder if that means Mr. Kelly actually stood by his word and told Vinny to leave me alone. Maybe we’re both here to meet with Keoghan and make sure it’s all water under the bridge.

Swallowing hard, I won’t get my hopes up. But I do step into the room and let the door swing closed this time.

Vinny studies me with open interest as the silence stretches between us.

“Is Mr. Kelly on his way, then?” I ask when Vinny indicates I should take a seat.

Back rigid, I settle onto the couch he gestured for me to take.

“You’re adorable, darlin’,” he says, taking a seat beside me as he unbuttons his fine suit jacket. “Don’t you know I’m Mr. Kelly as well?”

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