Tough Guy: A Hero Club Novel by Jamie Schmidt (the reading list .TXT) 📗

before I could say anything. “He’s fantastic in bed, in case you were wondering.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I groaned.

The other girls whooped it up, but Ginny’s lips tightened, then she flounced out.

“Sorry about that,” I said, jerking a thumb in Ginny’s direction.

“She’s a nosy bitch.”

“And a nasty one too,” Mina said, reapplying her lipstick in the mirror.

“So what am I doing back here? The security guy said you wanted me in the dressing room. I had all sorts of kinky ideas, but it’s a pretty busy place.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Betty said. “I’d throw some tips to see Miles in action.”

I pointed at the door. “You’re supposed to be on stage.”

“Do you want me to dance too?” Jackie batted her eyelashes at me. “I thought I wasn’t working here anymore.”

“You’re not. There’s some dangerous gang members in the bar tonight and I didn’t want them to see that you’re with me.” I took her by the elbow and walked out the back door with her. “I sent you a text.”

“My phone’s dead. I forgot to charge it.”

“I’ve got some serious shit going down right now. I can’t have you here. You’re a distraction.” I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. “In a good way, but I need to keep my head on straight.”

“That sounds pretty serious,” she said. “I’m worried.”

“Don’t be. It’ll all be all right.” I pulled her tight against me in a hug. No one worried about me. It was kind of cute. I whispered in her ear. “My security team is top-notch and Grier is here. I need to know that you’re safe at the Wynn tonight. I’ll come by and join you later, if that’s okay?”

“More than okay.” She kissed me and I wanted to linger, but I didn’t want to risk any of the Rivs seeing us together.

“Go straight to the Wynn and stay there.”

“I don’t care what time you get through, come to me.”

I nodded. “How did the audition go?”

Jackie sagged against me. “There’s too much. I’ll tell you later.”

“You can’t keep me hanging,” I said. “Thumbs-up or thumbs-down?”

Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs. “I’ll tell you later.” When she got to the sidewalk, she turned back to me. “Thank you. I’ve had the best time of my life this week. But mostly I want to let you know how much it’s meant to me that you helped me find Lisa.”

“Why does this sound like goodbye?” I asked, my gut clenching.

“Not yet, it’s not. But I don’t know what’s going to happen with Lisa tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt.”

I didn’t want to do this in a back alley over bags of garbage that had been stewing in the hot sun. And I sure as shit didn’t want to do this when I wasn’t anywhere near her. But I had to know.

“Is that all you feel?” I asked hoarsely.

“I’ll tell you later.” She gave me a seductive smile and walked away.

“Highway, send a few guys around the corner and make sure Jackie gets in her car okay,” I said over the Bluetooth.

“Got it.”

Going back inside, I made sure the two guards on the dressing room door knew that no one but me and the dancers were allowed back there tonight.

“If anyone has a problem with that, they can come to me,” I said.

The club was picking up. All three stages had dancers on them, each woman writhing to hard core electronica. Javi had a light show going on that was almost as entertaining at the girls. Leonidas wasn’t in his seat, but the three goons were enjoying the show. I didn’t see Grier. Checking my phone, I saw he hadn’t called either.

I went back to my office for a bit of peace and quiet while I thought about what I was going to do next. Grier was lying on the couch with a porno mag covering his face. I locked the door. “You’re taking a risk coming into my office during prime business hours.”

Grier sat up and tossed the magazine on my desk. “With the light show and those gorgeous dancers, if anyone saw me get up, they’d assume I was taking a piss instead of coming in here.”

“I’m surprised security allowed you to get this far.” When this was all over, I’d have a word with them.

“They didn’t see me either. And since you gave me the key, it’s all good.”

I flipped through the VIP rooms’ channels on my headset, but I didn’t hear anything but music. “I think Ginny and Leonidas are in room three, but I don’t hear any chatter. Did you catch Leonidas shaking me down?”

“Are you willing to wear a wire tomorrow when you give him the money?”

I nodded. “What if he’s lying about knowing who killed my uncle?”

“It could be he’s hoping you’ll be hotheaded enough that you’d off one of his rivals. But he didn’t say kill the men responsible. He said get them out of the picture. For all he knows, you would turn them over to the police after you roughed them up.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Grier thought about it. “You know Ginny’s a spy for him, right?”

I thought briefly about Ginny’s sudden interest that Jackie and I were together. I was glad that I’d sent Jackie back to the Wynn and she wouldn’t be in danger. The last thing I wanted was for Jackie to get hurt if they thought they could use her against me. It should be all right. She was safe in her hotel room, and tomorrow she was flying again to Carson City. By the time she got back here tomorrow night, it would all be over. I hoped.

Chapter Nineteen

Jackie Mitchell

Lisa called around midnight.

“Holy shit,” I said. “You do have my number.”

“If you had sent Chance fucking Bateman a month ago, I would have called you back.”

I sighed. “Are you going to call Mom tomorrow?”

“Probably not.”

“Are you all right?”

“Let’s go down Mom’s list. I haven’t lost my