“Jesus, Tatum.” He waved me away. “Go. Take care of business and try to stay out of fucking trouble.”

 

* * *

 

I found Posey in the dressing room. Her eyes came straight to mine and I nodded at the regret I saw there. Taking a seat next to her, I said, “You fucked up.”

She fidgeted in her lap, but she didn’t shift her gaze. “Yeah,” she agreed on a long exhale of breath.

“I’m presuming it was Dwayne’s.” At her nod, I asked, “Why?”

Hands still fidgeting, she mumbled, “He threatened to kick me out if I didn’t score for him. The cops picked me up before I got home with it.”

I stared at her for a long moment. Posey was one of our best strippers, always in demand as well as one of the easiest girls we worked with. Nothing was ever too much of an ask for her and she never caused problems for the other girls or the customers. But she had a personal life from hell that caused her no end of issues, which then became my issues. “Fuck, Posey, we’ve talked about this before. Dwayne is a dick and you need to get your shit together where he’s concerned. If a guy loves you, he’s not going to threaten to kick you out all the time just to get what he wants from you.”

She nodded like she understood and agreed, but I knew she didn’t. Posey was too damaged to understand her own worth. I doubted her ability to stand up to Dwayne, but that never stopped me from trying to get through to her. “I know, Tatum, but you don’t understand how hard it is for me. He’s all I’ve got. I don’t have any family or friends to rely on, and I know you said you’d help, but—”

I stood and paced in front of her, angry at her woe-is-fucking-me attitude. “That’s bullshit you keep telling yourself, Posey, and I’m not interested in hearing it anymore.” I jabbed my chest. “I have one family member left in my life. Besides her, I have Billy and that’s it, so don’t give me that sob story, because you’re not the only person in the world who doesn’t have a tonne of people in their corner. You rely on yourself in this world, and if you can’t, you find a way to get through until you can.”

Her eyes widened as she took in everything I said. Swallowing hard, she whispered, “I don’t know how.”

“Do you want to try?”

She blinked as she stared up at me. “I think so.”

I shook my head. “Not good enough. It’s either a yes or a no answer. Do you want to leave Dwayne and sort your life out?”

I expected her eyes to dart away from mine, but she surprised me when she held my gaze. “Yes.” Her voice may have still had a trace of uncertainty in it, but it didn’t waver like I thought it would.

Nodding, I said, “Okay then. What time does Dwayne finish work?”

“Five this afternoon.”

“I want you to go home and pack a bag, just the essentials. Then I want you to come back here so I can take you to my cousin’s place and get you settled. I’ll organise for one of our guys to go back with you in a day or so to get whatever else you want, but for now just pack some clothes and toiletries.”

She frowned. “I’m working tonight so maybe I should just stay here until after my shift.”

“No, Dwayne will come looking for you. I’m going to get one of the other girls to fill your shift tonight. I want to give you some time away from him, somewhere he won’t find you.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“Yeah. Promise me you won’t fuck this up, Posey.”

She lost her cool then, and tears fell down her cheeks. Wiping at the tears madly, she said, “I’m gonna go to jail, aren’t I? For those drugs.”

I reached out and moved a stray piece of her hair out of her eyes. Shaking my head, I said, “No, I’ll get you a good behaviour bond.”

Staring at me in disbelief, she said, “But the cop told me they’d lock me away for this.”

I crouched in front of her. “Babe, why do you think Billy keeps me around? It’s sure as hell not to dazzle customers with my exceptionally bright smile. You concentrate on that and I’ll do what I do.”

My phone buzzed with a text.

 

Billy: Get your ass back here. Doc is on his way.

 

Standing, I looked down at Posey. “I gotta go. Text me when you get back.”

As I headed to Billy’s office, I sent a text to Duvall, my contact in the public prosecution’s office.

 

Me: Lunch is on me today.

Duvall: No.

Me: You still owe me, Duvall.

Duvall: You’re never gonna let that go, are you?

Me: No, those days are long gone.

Duvall: Fuck.

Me: Twelve at the usual place.

Duvall: Screw you, Tatum.

Me: See you then.

 

Duvall, of all people, should have known the devil always came collecting once you’d made a deal.

 

* * *

 

The busy lunch crowd hum filled my ears as I took a seat in the café Duvall and I used to meet at for lunch almost every day for two years straight.

How times change.

His eyes met mine, concerned, before he took another look at my bruises. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Let’s just say I had a difference of opinion with someone. I look like I lost, but I actually won in the end, so can we not talk about this anymore.”

The concern lingered in his expression, but he frowned. Duvall knew that when I didn’t want to have a conversation it was fruitless to pursue it. “Our friendship is slowly disintegrating, Tatum. I try like hell to be there for you, but you freeze me out and only call when you want something. I’m almost done.”

I ran my gaze over him. Times might have changed, but Duvall hadn’t. He still wore his blond hair cut close to his head, and he still wore the same dark suit he’d always worn. And he still refused to acknowledge or care that nearly every set of eyes in the café was on us, judging us, just like they always were whenever we met.

“I’m a bitch, but I’m a bitch you can’t hate, Duvall. Too much has happened between us for that. And as much as you might believe our friendship is dying, it’s simply not true.” I leaned forward. “Even after all this time, you haven’t told me you want to meet somewhere else, away from prying eyes. Why is that?”