My hips moved from side to side as I held onto the pole in the middle of the stage. I saw that one of the guards had brought the girls to the edge of the stage so they could all watch my dance. As I turned around, I caught a glimpse of Nate and Chase as they watched the stage, they were only a few seats away from Stephano, but I tried my best not to look at them again. Nate looked like he was about to jump out of his seat and join me, while Chase was half covering his eyes.
The first night when Chase and Jackson had come to the club to watch me dance, I remembered seeing them. The two of them were wide eyed and fascinated by me. They didn’t look away at all during my whole dance.
Having a handsome guy like Jackson ask for one on one time with me was something I liked. As a dancer, it made me feel special and like what I was doing was actually good. I didn’t even mind that he just had questions about Ana that night, I was happy to answer them as long as he paid for his private dance.
Now, only a few days away from that night, there I was dancing for Chase and Nate. It seemed like déjà vu because Nate reminded me so much of Jackson. But this time, I knew so much more about the world and about those two men. I knew I had to do a job and I couldn’t be embarrassed or Stephano would know that something was strange.
The longer I danced, the more I got into the character and soon I had stripped off my bra and threw it right at Nate. He grabbed it like a pro and held onto it while I finished my dance. It was only about two minutes on the stage, which was short for me, but it was going to seem like forever to the girls who had never been on the stage.
Stephano clapped when I was done dancing and that made the rest of the men in the lobby clap. I looked over at Nate and Chase as they smiled and clapped. Then I looked toward the back of the club and saw the same goon who had strangled me the other evening and he was clapping, as well.
That whole situation still bothered me. Why would one of his goons take it upon themselves to do that to me? My gut thought that Stephano probably told him to make me understand that I needed to listen to him or something like that and the goon just took things way too far.
As the music ended and the lights died down, I walked off the stage. I was proud of my dance and felt like I did a good job. It would hopefully be the last time I ever danced on a stage. At least, if I had any say in it. So, the dance was like a going away gift to myself – the last time I would be seducing a man from the brightly lit stage.
I hoped that in the future I would only be doing a dance for my man in the privacy of my own home. Someday, that would be the future I would have. Maybe it would be with Jackson, or maybe it would be with someone else entirely. All I knew was that I didn’t intend to ever go back to the life I used to have. There was so much more in my future, and I was going to go after it with everything I had. I wasn’t going to settle for a life I hated anymore.
Life was too short to live without following your dreams and I knew that. When this job was done, I was going after what I wanted in life.
I saw Ana first in line and gave her a hug. She certainly didn’t look like she was ready to take on the stage. But at least she had done it before and knew what to expect.
“Good luck,” I said.
“Thanks,” she slurred as she walked very unsteadily out to the stage.
It was clear she had taken way too many drugs and I was afraid what her dance was going to look like to Stephano. I just hoped that she could hold herself together.
I stayed close to the stage to watch as she did her dance for Stephano. He seemed particularly fond of her and his eyes intently latched onto her every move. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought that Stephano really did want to keep Ana for himself.
Chapter Twenty-One
JACKSON
Watching Roxanne slap PJ was an eye opener for me. I saw that Stephano was coming and that PJ had been talking like she wasn’t supposed to have been doing. It was a good thing that Roxanne had slapped her. I had to wonder what PJ would have been doing if Roxanne wasn’t there. She probably would have been talking to the girls and given herself away, but I hoped she wouldn’t have. I also hoped she would be able to keep herself together to finish out the rest of the job. She had to play her part or nothing was going to work out the
way we needed it to.
As Roxanne danced on stage, I could see bits and pieces of it through PJ’s camera. It made me feel dirty to watch Roxanne up on that stage, but I also wanted her more than I had the last time I saw her dance. She was such a beautiful woman, inside and out, and I couldn’t wait to make up with her when this was all over.
This time, as she danced, all I could think about was how that was going to be the last time she ever had to dance for men. I would make sure that she wouldn’t have to dance for anyone else ever again. Unless she wanted to dance for me in private, of course.
I wanted her off the stage and it killed me that Chase and Nate got to see her. They were probably loving that they got to see every inch of her, especially Nate. It killed me to think of all the things I knew he was imaging doing with Roxanne.
When Roxanne left the stage, Ana went up. I still didn’t really know why Ana had to dance again, but I could only imagine that maybe her buyer wanted additional footage before he flew over from overseas. Or perhaps the original buyer had backed out and they were trying to sell her to someone else? What I did know was that she was snowed with drugs and could hardly walk.
PJ made sure to look right at Ana during her whole dance and I got to watch much more of it than I had seen of Roxanne. PJ looked into the audience and I noticed both Chase and Nate looked really concerned as they watched. If it had been up to them, I know they would have run up to the stage and rescued her right then and there.
Ana held herself together fairly well as she danced to the music, but she didn’t take any of her clothing off. Perhaps that was what her buyer wanted? I wasn’t sure, but when she finished her dance and walked back past PJ, I saw that her eyes were barely open and she looked like she was going to fall over.
PJ looked back briefly and I saw Roxanne helping Ana down the stairs behind the stage. It made me feel much better to see that Ana was being taken care of by Roxanne. Again, I was happy that Roxanne was there. It was a really good thing and I just wished we had discussed it in person before she had decided to just leave.
As a few other girls took the stage, PJ made a point to look around the back of the club and other areas behind the stage. She did a great job of letting me see what was all around her. I didn’t expect that we were going to be able to get the girls out while they were at the club, though. There were clearly too many security guards around and I suspected they were all carrying guns.
For the time being, Nate and Chase would just have to sell PJ to Stephano and we would have to figure out our next best step. At least once PJ was at Stephano’s house, we would have video of the inside and be able to see who was around. Plus, PJ and Roxanne could talk to us through the video, though we couldn’t talk to them. It was too dangerous to give PJ an ear piece, so we would just have to deal with the one-way video and audio that we had.
The stage went dark, and I watched closely as PJ made her way onto the stage. She set her glasses right in front and pointed them toward Stephano, although I could also see Nate and Chase, as well. A little part of me wished she would have turned them around so I could see her dance, but that was just the guy in me. Professionally, it was much better to see Stephano.
When the music started, I saw Nate’s face brighten up. He leaned forward in his seat as he watched the show that PJ was putting on for them. Chase also seemed interested in the show this time and wasn’t hiding his face like he had done when Roxanne was dancing.