Page 64 of Champagne & Handcuffs
Cheers were hooted and hollered around the room by the pimps. The girls continued to look down at the floor. I realized this was Tony, the man who had hurt my sweet Joss and made her run away. He was the man who had beat her mother, forced her into the life too. He was the man who caused Joss’s mom to kill herself. He was the man who forced a sweet little boy into the game. And all of it was for money and power.
He was also the man who, by the end of this, would know who I really was, and I wasn’t going to go lightly on him.
“To mark our fifth year, I’ve decided to do something different. Vegas is expanding and not just with new casinos going up. People come here with a shitload of money in their pockets, and a lot of them are looking for pussy.” More cheers. “So being the businessman that I am, I came up with a way to get us more girls—more money inourpockets.” More cheers.
“Now, I know we all can’t take on a lot of tricks in our stables, so I’ve invited a few men who want to get in the game. They’re here to buy some and ship them off to Canada, Cuba, Russia, Korea and of course Mexico. Tonight, before we give out the Pimp of the Year Award, the girls will come in. When you see one—or more—who will work with your stable, claim them by taking the number they have attached to them. Each girl is five g’s.”
I quickly did the math. If Bryce was right, and there were at least two hundred girls here, Tony would make a million dollars. A million dollars for girls he’d kidnapped. A million dollars for selling what wasn’t his to sell.
A line of girls started to file in from a door off to the far side of me. None of them looked like prostitutes. They all looked scared, worried—fearful. They had a piece of paper—or something similar—attached to their bra strap, and their backs had the same number painted in black. They also looked like they hadn’t showered in days. One thing I knew about pimps was that they took care of their merchandise. They’d buy these women, get them all dolled up, and then put them out on the street corner—probably in a day.
Since having what looked like every pimp in town in one room, the plan needed to change. I needed to figure out the best course of action. All I needed to do was get all the pimps on camera paying Tony, and then Joss and the team could move in. That was the plan until I sawher…
Until I saw Cat—my Kitty Cat.
The love of my life was standing—waiting—to be bought by scum and forced to sell herself. My body went still, ice doused my veins, and I was about to go nuclear. This had just changed from a sting to a murder scene because not only had Tony taken Joss’s virtue, but he’d kidnappedmywoman.
And he was going to pay.
As I kept my gaze on Cat, I wondered if Joss could tell that it was her from the hidden camera. I had to move closer,buyher—do whatever I needed to do to protect her. I was no longer questioning what I needed to do to make it look like I was a buyer. I was going to buy Cat now, and keep her by my side the entire night. Except I didn’t have five grand on me.
I turned my body to Paul and whispered, “They have Cat.”
He blinked and then whispered low, “What?”
Then the pieces started to come together. Bryce had told us that Tony was using taxi drivers as facilitators to bring tourists to the warehouse. Just yesterday I’d put Cat in a cab, and only because I had to start this case right away and couldn’t drive her myself. I should have fucking drove her. I should have told Joss the truth and then brought Cat to the airport. It wasn’t lost on me that once again lying might potentially rip Cat from my life—this time maybe forever. However, if I had to shoot every fucker in this place, I would. I was going to do whatever it took.
“What do we do?”
I spoke low, hoping to God that Joss and the team could hear. “Joss, I need you to get me five grand. Now. They have Cat. They fucking have Cat.” Then I said to Paul, “Follow me.” I stalked to where Bryce was talking to other pimps. When he saw me, he excused himself. I didn’t blame him for cutting his conversation short and jumping to talk to me. I was on a mission. A mission that was going to end with me going to jail.
“What’s up?”
“What’s up?” I mocked. “Tell me what the fuck your sister’s best friend is doing here?”
“What?” he asked and looked at the line of girls.
“See her.” I pointed to my Kitty Cat. “Number thirty-five.”
Bryce nodded. “Yeah.”
“You used to play with her too.”
He went still. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, man. Your fucking father is trying to ruin another life that circles back to you.”
He turned to me. “What do you want me to do? I can’t go up to him and tell him, can I?”
I shook my head, closing my eyes briefly. “You’re going to go outside, get money from Joss, and bring it to me.”
“Joss?”
“She’s listening, dude. Right now, they are getting the money together.” At least I hoped that was the case. “She’ll meet you outside, and you bring in the money.”
“What if someone sees me with a fed?”
“Joss ain’t stupid,” Paul cut in.
