Page 8 of The Senator: Raphael

“Give me some straight vodka.” She winks at me.

“Are you sure? I can call security, he’s drunk,” I suggest. I don’t want her to get hurt.

She waves a hand at me and smiles. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll give him some vodka, he’ll pass out drunk and when I wake him up in his car after he’s sobered up, I’ll tell him it was the best sex of my life. Works every time.” She winks at me, and I smile.

“Thank you.” I push the glass in front of her.

“Don’t thank me. You gave me easy money tonight.” She grins and strolls to the couch where the guy is waiting for her, then they disappear down the stairs.

I look around to check if anyone called security, but nothing seems out of the ordinary, and I sigh with relief.

***

I change back into my comfy leggings and t-shirt and put the lingerie in my bag.

“Was it okay with the drunk asshole?” I ask Elvira when she come into the dressing room and takes off her high heels.

She smiles at me and nods. “Like I told you, I gave him some vodka, he passed out, and when I woke him up an hour later, I thanked him for the best ride of my life. He was so drunk he paid me double for my services.”

I chuckle. “God, he is so dumb. I wonder why Seb let him in? He was really out of his mind tonight.”

Elvira shrugs. “I heard he’s Ice’s friend and he lets him get away with way too much. Seb just didn’t want to piss off the big boss.”

“That explains a lot.”

Elvira is about to reply when the door swings open and Ice furiously storms in. “Out!” he shouts toward the barista and the girl scurries out, shrinking a bit.

I freeze on the bench where I’m seated. This is why I didn’t call security, but it’s obvious someone did, or at least they told Ice what happened. Now I’m in a lot of trouble.

“When a client asks you to do something, you shut your mouth and do it!”

I flinch slightly and I hate myself for that. I don’t want to give him the impression he can intimidate me. “I am a bartender and he asked for sex. I don’t do that,” I counter firmly.

He scoffs. “I think we can change that. What do you think?”

“You want to force me into prostitution? Every girl in here is willingly doing this job. Do you really want to cross that thin line with me?” I hiss and see that it shocks him.

Ice is a big, sturdy man in his sixties with salt-and-pepper hair and a scar across his tanned face. He is terrifying and he knows he can get what he wants.

“Don’t push your luck, sweetheart. You don’t want me to start digging around in what you’re hiding. Do you really think I don’t know you came out of nowhere, with no past, no relationship, no family? There’s no information anywhere about you prior to seven years ago. How do you explain that?”

His threat makes my stomach quiver. I have to go away, leave Los Angeles and start new somewhere else. But I need money, lots of it, because I won’t be able to get a well-paid job in the future so I need to save as much as I can now while I can count on my body to earn big tips.

I stand up, facing him, though he towers above me. “Remember that we call the people that come to this place ‘sweetheart’ or ‘honey,’ but we know their real names. To be precise, I have a list ready to send to every single newspaper in the country, with every extra service they require of your baristas, every kink they have, and every drug they take, if anything happens to me or one of the girls. Sure, you can fire us, or even hurt us, but you won’t survive long enough to see another day. Do you think those clients will be happy to see their faces all over the news? Think carefully about every single one of them, and then think even more deeply about what every one of them can do to you.”

“Don’t threaten me,” he spits.

“Or what? Are you willing to find out what happen if those newspapers get a tip-off about what’s really happening in here? About the escorts you let in to offer extra fun for the customers, or the drugs you let your men sell here? Yes, I know that some of your bouncers have a side hustle.” I grab my bag and shoulder him while I walk past him and out of the dressing room.

My heart is hammering in my chest as I make my way out of this place. Sure, I desperately need this job, but I don’t know if it’s worth going up against a man who runs a shady business that’s no doubt darker and deeper than I even know.

The sun kisses my skin. I close my eyes and enjoy the warmth on my face. It’s still the end of February, but Los Angeles weather is nothing like the freezing temperatures of the Midwest where I grew up. I take in the peace of this place, the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks of the cliff I’m standing on. A slight breeze carries with it the scent of the surrounding greenery.

“I don’t know what you’re going through, but I’m here to listen to you, if you want.” A soft female voice comes from behind me.

I open my eyes, turn around, and study her. She’s approaching cautiously, like I’m some sort of wild animal. “What?”

She points to the cliff. “I know sometimes life seems difficult, but I’m here to listen, if you want to talk.”

---