Page 6 of Cold Foot Revenge
“Independent.”
“Says the coyote who tethered herself to the Alpha.”
“That was a long time ago,” she uttered easily as she lifted the shot Nick had set in front of her. “Now I get to pay for it forever.”
Leech tinked his full shot glass against hers. “Same.”
It wasn’t Leech’s fault though. He hadn’t tethered himself to Grave on purpose. He was born into this mess. Grave was his older brother. Leech had been screwed from conception. Roxy though? She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for the mess she was in.
“Get your ass up there and dance,” Leech said as he slammed the glass down on the bar top. “No more lost customers this week or I’ll freeze your drinks.”
He said it like a threat, but honestly, Roxy didn’t give a shit if she couldn’t get free drinks from the bar anymore. Sober or tipsy, this job sucked either way. She watched him walk away and then hung her head in relief when the other Crew members at Leech’s table gave her their backs and stopped paying attention.
She hoped Dylan had listened to her and stayed away from the cameras in the alley.
Dylan. Dylan Hoffman. Brother to Garret Hoffman. Had he figured out who had Turned him? Was that why Dylan was here? Had Garret died via the bear? Sometimes that happened with forced Turns.
Bile crawled up the back of her throat as that thought scratched at memories she was working hard to lock away.
Fuck, everything had gone so wrong.
She looked around this place and shook her head. Roxy wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be living in a nice neighborhood with a white picket fence and classy friends who did brunch on Sundays.
“Roxy!” Trinity screeched from the mouth of the hallway. “There’s an empty stage!”
Roxy blew out a steadying breath and pushed off the bar, pressed the back of her hand against her lips to make sure no tequila remained, and then she climbed the stairs at the back of the stage and took a running start at the pole. On beat with the chorus, she spun around the pole upside down, one leg extended, watching the spinning room upside down. Each turn around, she could see Leech and the guys talking, leaning close to each other.
Please be talking about anything but Dylan Hoffman.
Donnie twisted in his seat and threw her a troubled look, and that was her cue to distract. She gestured to Reeves, who was over at the DJ table. He always looked for cues, and when she nodded at him, he scratched the record, and slowed it down, then transitioned like a pro to one of her songs.
She offered him a wink and then slid from the pole and strutted up to the front stage, eyes on Donnie. She offered a wicked smile and moved with the music. She was good when she felt like it. The guys were starting to pay attention to her one-by-one. There were paying customers here, and two of them drifted to the tables that were right in front of the stage. One tossed a couple of dollar bills up on the stage, and okay. Here she went.
There was a ledge that was easy-to-grip around the stage, and she grabbed it and twisted off the stage gracefully, let go of the edge and sauntered toward the Grit-Bron table. Twice, she stopped to dance at parts of the song that would hold their attention.
“What are you doing?” Leech asked as she made her way closer. He looked at the door and back to her.
“Hanging with my Crew,” she said easily. None of them were fooled.
“You hate our Crew,” Donnie said in a deep voice as he relaxed back into his seat.
“Can you blame me?” she asked as she spun around and bent over, ran her fingertips up her legs, and stood. She played seductively with her hair and swished her hips near Donnie.
“So, the plan is to get us all killed by Grave?” Leech asked nervously.
“He doesn’t own me.”
“Yes he does,” Donnie pointed out.
“No one owns me.”
She hated the way the guys chuckled and shook their heads like she was delusional. Hated it with all of her heart and soul. They knew just as well as her how trapped she was.
Her life wasn’t supposed to end up like this.
A wave of shame washed through her as she felt Donnie’s hand on her waist while she danced near him.
She hated men. Hated them. They were disgusting creatures and served no purpose but to bully weaker creatures like her into submission. They did it for fun.
