I give Peter my back and turn to look at her. I pin her with a glare that says, Shut the fuck up, and her mouth slams closed.
“Let’s go,” I say to her firmly, and she starts walking toward me. When she gets near enough, I reach out to grasp her arm and push her toward the door. Looking back at Peter, I say, “I’ll send another girl up.”
Peter opens his mouth to argue, so I continue, “In fact, I’ll send two girls up, and it will be on the house. You can have them all night.”
He’s no dummy, and from what I understand, quite the savvy businessman, so I’m not surprised when his mouth closes and he gives me a nod of acquiescence.
“I’ll send up a bottle of Chivas for you as well. That’s your favorite, right?”
Again, he nods, and I exhale a quiet breath of relief as I pull out my phone and dial. Leon picks up. “Send Misty and Layla up to VIP 5 as well a bottle of Chivas. Charge it to the house.”
I don’t even wait for Leon’s answer, disconnecting and pushing Andrea out of the door. When I close it behind me, I turn my back on her.
“Get dressed,” I tell her.
I hear her rustling into her clothing and after a few minutes, she steps around me and looks at me with censure. “You didn’t have to do that. You could have jeopardized—”
“Not another word,” I growl at her as I take her by the arm again.
I escort her firmly toward the staircase that leads down into the club but before we can start our descent, I see Lance walking up toward us.
“What’s going on?” he asks in a tight voice as his eyes flick back and forth between Andrea and me. “Manny said that Peter was in VIP 5 and had a complaint.”
“I took care of it,” I say as I watch Lance continue to walk up toward us.
“I won’t ask again,” Lance says in a dangerous snarl right to my face. “What the fuck was the problem?”
Andrea tenses up beside me, and I stroke my thumb on the inside of her upper arm in reassurance. “Peter paid her money and wanted to fuck her. She said no, and he got pissed. I told him she wasn’t a part of the—”
I’m cut off as Lance lunges past me and grabs ahold of Andrea’s other arm. “Fucking snooty-ass bitch thinks she’s too good. Is that it?”
Lance rips Andrea away from my grasp and starts pulling her down the stairs. “Send someone else up to Peter,” he calls out over his shoulder.
I bound down the stairs quickly behind them. “I already did,” I say hastily, hoping to quell his sudden burst of fury.
“Then it’s time this cunt learned her place,” Lance snarls as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.
Fear and anger surge through me as I watch Lance haul her through the club. Other dancers watch in interest… some with amused smirks, others with a look of pity in their eyes.
My eyes catch Leon’s across the room, and he raises his eyebrows at me in a silent question, Do you need help?
I give a shake of my head and lengthen my stride to keep up with Lance. He pulls her down the back hallway to the left of the stage, straight toward Simon’s office, and then he’s pushing her through so roughly that she stumbles and almost falls. Luckily, she catches herself on the corner of Simon’s desk and rights herself.
I grab ahold of Lance’s arm and pull him around so he faces me. “What the fuck are you doing?” I whisper urgently. “Peter’s taken care of. He’s not mad anymore.”
The fucker gives me a wink in return. “I know. He’s satisfied with any pussy.”
“Then what are you doing to Nikki? You know she’s not part of the prostitution… She didn’t do anything wrong.”
Lance steps in closer to me, a maniacal smile on his face. “I know. But I’m not about to waste a chance to beat this bitch down into submission a bit. Make her a little easier for us to handle tomorrow. I want to see what kind of fighter she is.”
“You are not going to—?” I start to say, intent on blowing this whole operation out of the water if I have to save Andrea from being raped by Lance.
“Relax, dude,” he says with a chuckle. “I like my women willing. But I am going to test her.”
With that, Lance turns away from me and walks into Simon’s office. I follow him in and watch as Andrea raises her head and pushes her hair out of her face. I don’t know if it’s an act or not, but she looks scared. This causes my own fear and anger to surge again.
Lance stalks up to her and wraps his large hand around her throat, pulling her up straighter. Leaning his face in, he hisses at her, “You think you call the shots around here, Nikki?”
“No,” she whispers fearfully, now standing on her tiptoes to try to keep balance with the way Lance is holding her up by her throat.
I stand poised… ready to attack if Lance makes a move to hurt her. The fear in her voice has me on edge, and every protective instinct I have as a man rears up inside of me. Andrea’s eyes are flared wide, her bottom lip quivering. I take a step toward Lance to put an end to this, but then I look down at Andrea’s hands. Both of her arms hang loose beside her body, but her fists are balled up tight. I watch as she opens her hands, and then curls her fingers inward again in tight reflex.
Open… close. Open… close.
She’s not scared.
She’s pissed, yet she’s still maintaining an act.
Immediately, my pulse calms somewhat, because her body language is telling me that she has a grip on the situation and she is not fearful as to where she’s at right now.