Page 2 of Champagne & Handcuffs
I’d learned from my father that if a trick was scared and knew she was under my control, she wouldn’t stray. If they did stray or try to wrong me, they were sold—trafficked to Mexico. My father was in charge of doing the smuggling, so when one of my girls wronged me, I’d let him deal with them.
Aaron and I had been best friends from the moment I’d moved to Vegas when I was fifteen. We met at school, and eventually, we both found out who my father really was, though at the time we thought he was only my mother’s boyfriend. One day in high school, Tony had called me to pick up one of his girls. Aaron was with me, and when we arrived at the warehouse, we saw that she was black and blue. Tony turned to me and said,“Take notes, Bry. When you’re a man, this is how you’ll break in the whores.”
The minute I became a pimp, Aaron told me he wanted to break them in. While I was forceful with my hand, he was forceful with his dick. We’d warn the cunts that if they tried to fuck me over, I’d tell my father we had a live one and he’d get her sold.
That was what happened withAndi.
I never asked how Jasmine knewAndiwas a good recruit because I trusted her. As long as she passed her first date and made me a shitload of money, I didn’t care. AndAndiwas good all right. So good that when I sat across from her at the restaurant, I had no idea she knew who I was. Of course, I didn’t recognize her. I was eight when I last saw her.
The momentAndisaid, “My name’s Joselyn Marquez,” it felt as though my heart stopped. My sister’s name was Joselyn, and my last name, before Tony had changed it, was Marquez. It wasn’t a coincidence.Andiwas my sister, Joss, and she was alive.
But before I could utter any words, the police had rushed in, and I was hauled away. I’d expected to be sent to jail—wouldn’t be the first time I caught a case—but instead, I sat in an unmarked car for what felt like hours, staring at mysister.
My sister.
Joss had been my best friend from the time I was born until the night she’d left. I needed to do the right thing. My heart was breaking in my chest as I watched Joss talk to the cops working the scene. I wanted her to come talk tome. I wanted her to hug me and tell me everything would be okay. I wanted her to tell me why she didn’t come back for me that night and take me with her. I wanted my sister back.
Except she was with the FBI and I was a criminal.
Eventually after my arrest, I was brought into an interrogation room. At first, Joss didn’t let on that she knew it was me, so I played along.
“Now, Martinez, let’s cut the shit. You hired me today to scare me because the other night a john in your company tried to rape me—”
“You have no proof I’m involved,” I cut her off.
“You said, and I quote, ‘What gives you the right to disobey my orders?’”
“That could mean anything, preciosa.” Yes, I’d called my sister gorgeous. I had to play my part like I didn’t know who she was.
“Don’t call me that!”
“Touchy, touchy!” I laughed.
“Your girl Jasmine and I have become close, you know. We’ve played craps at the Palazzo together.”
I leaned back in my chair, spread my legs wide and smiled. “Agent Marquez, I run an escort business similar to Saddles & Racks. It’s no different from what you do. It’s not my fault that you took a date from my company to make extra money on the side and that guy took it too far.” I looked under the table pretending to admire her body. “I don’t blame him. In fact, it’s my understanding you killed him. I was wondering why you weren’t being charged for murder. Now I know. So, Jasmine did her job. She hooked you and got you under my payroll.”
Joss laughed. “Bryce … Can I call you Bryce? I feel as if I’ve known you since the day you were born.”
I chuckled. She definitely had known me since I was born. “You can call me whatever you want.”
“Bryce, I met with your girls for drinks one night, and one mentioned her best friend, Nelly, was sold by you.”
I realized she knew more than I thought she did. But the fact was, I wasn’t selling girls. That was the other Martinez. “They’re just whores running their mouths.”
“That’s funny because I have them in my pocket ready to come forward. I told them that once I had you, I just needed them and they were quick to turn on you.”
She was trying to play me, and she could dig all she wanted, but I knew it wasn’t me she was really after. “That doesn’t make sense because they would have just led you to me.”
“See … I thought that, too. But you scared them and they thought you were going to scare me.” She laughed. “You thought you were going to scare me. Do you always set your girls up first with rape dates? Is that how it works? Rape them first so they do whatever you want, and if they don’t then you sell them?”
So maybe she knew a lot more than I thought she did. I still wasn’t the one she wanted, and so I sat there and let her accuse me further.
“How many have you sold, Bryce? How did this start? When did this start? When did you move to Vegas? Did Tony do this to you?”
At the mention of my father’s name, there was no doubt she knew it was me. His name hadn’t been uttered before that moment. My gaze darted to hers. “How do you know about Tony?”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “Have you ever wanted a Dalmatian’s plantation?” She paused a brief moment and then quoted, “But I am, just the same. I’m so hungry I could eat a … a whole elephant.”
