Angel (Club Nymph Book 2) Read online

  My hand touched my neck without my permission. The memory of his fingers -and then the belt- wrapped around my neck was arousing while his expression sent a chill through my spine. Goosebumps covered my skin from both the cold and the feeling of unknown fear.

  He ruined the last girl and his eyes already found another target.

  Patient name: Michael Harrison

  What could he have done to be at an asylum? It might have been depression or a very serious psychotic illness.

  The question was: Did I just let a psycho fuck me? And worse, I liked it… what would that make me?

  “Beautiful.”

  I startled and turned my back in panic. There was a handsome guy I saw a few times as I served drinks at the VIP section.

  “How can I help you?” I said, trying to put aside my anxiety.

  “You can help me just by standing like that, with less clothes, though,” he answered with an easy smile on his face.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m Alex and I’m a photographer. Would you like to do modeling for me?” he asked out of the blue.

  “Me? Photos? No,” I shook my head.

  I was an anti-photo person if there was a term like that. All my life, my photo count wouldn’t be over twenty if we didn’t count my baby photos my parents took of me.

  “Hear me out first. I’m a sensual photographer. I focus on the woman’s body and its beauty while trying to capture the expressions. In my photographs the model has to be someone expressive and someone who is capable of the depths of emotions. You really have a great face, it is so open. I could see you were scared, excited, aroused and also hesitant before I came in. That is someone I should have in my photos,” Alex said. I liked the way he talked about his job. It was clearly his passion, but unfortunately not mine.

  “Thank you for the offer Alex, but my answer is still the same. No.”

  “Can’t I convince you?” he quickly passed the distance between us. I laughed at his eagerness, “No.”

  “Too bad. Well, maybe you can let me write my number anyway. In case you change your mind?” He took out a pen from his blazer’s pocket and touched the swell of my breast with it.

  “You won’t get a call but sure… go ahead,” I shrugged and straightened my back.

  He came closer to me till I felt his breath on my skin as he wrote the numbers. He was classy enough to not make any inappropriate moves even though he was that close to my boobs. I gave him credit for that. He was a flirt, a player for sure but, he was doing it in a gentlemanly manner. He was the type of guy Dawn would be drawn to, I needed danger, it seemed.

  “Well, I won’t bother you anymore, then. But I really hope you’ll consider my offer. Goodnight, Beautiful,” he said, turned his back and left; leaving me alone with my thoughts.

  I was glad Alex distracted me. After talking to him, I knew what I had to do.

  I was looking for a story when I came here and Mike could give me that story, there was no way in hell I would miss it. I was going to find a way to get that file and until then, I was going to spend my time with him.

  Would it be like dancing with the devil or chasing the rainbow?

  January 2, 2014

  “Angel?” Dawn asked in a sleepy tone when my purse fell from the dresser in the hallway.

  “Yeah. It’s me, Dawn. Why are you sleeping on the couch?”

  “I was reading… fell asleep,” she murmured and tried to wipe away the sleep from her eyes.

  “Okay. I’m heading to bed,” I said, trying not to make much eye contact with her.

  “Wait,” she called out for me as I walked towards my room.

  “Are you okay? You seem…off.”

  She looked kind of funny with her head crooked to one side, her eyes trying to focus on me while sleep was calling for them to close.

  “I’m fine,” I said and turned my back at her again.

  “Wait.”

  “What?” I sighed.

  “You’re not fine. What’s wrong? Why don’t you talk to me like you always do?”

  “I’m a grown woman, Dawn. I don’t have to tell you everything. Now, will you quit being a baby about it and go to sleep?” I snapped at her. As soon as I did, I regretted it, but I didn’t want to tell her about Mike or about the files I found in Will’s office.

  Without a second glance to her, I got into my bedroom, closed the door behind me and headed to the bathroom. I noticed the black ink on the swell of my breast when I took of my tee. I was about to wipe it off but something in my gut forced me to do otherwise and I noted the number on a small paper I found on the bathroom counter.

  As I stood under the warm spray of water, I felt guiltier with each passing second. I shouldn’t have snapped at Dawn and I surely shouldn’t have shut her out like that. It wasn’t her fault that I was crazy enough to chase a story.

  Most people wouldn’t have wanted to learn about drug dealing. They wouldn’t have been excited by the possibility of illegal shit. They surely wouldn’t have gotten close to anyone who had a report from an asylum, yet alone fucked him.

  But I wasn’t most people.

  I was an adventure junky, I obsessed over a good story, and a passionate writer-to-be.

  I was Angela, a girl who loved walking near the fire, a girl who wasn’t afraid of getting close to the edge.

  I was Angel, a stripper, a woman who lived dangerously and chased pleasure, a woman with a twisted mind.

  And I deserved all that happened…

  January 3, 2014

  I walked around the chair, one hand caressing its back and swayed my hips to the rhythm that played in my mind.

  “That ass…” I heard Mike say behind me. He was clearly enjoying the show.

  “You know I like dancing with the music on, right? This silence doesn’t motivate me.” I said, not giving him a glance.

  “The music is in your head.”

  I didn’t say anything back after his reply. I only focused on my movements. As my phantom music reached its crescendo I sat on the chair and spread my legs open. I felt Mike’s gaze on my body, but didn’t let it distract me. Leaning back on the chair as my hair fell behind me, I let my fingertips graze the length of my neck and move all the way to the hollow between my breasts. Then, I stopped.

  “Tease,” Mike said. I look at his eyes just then and kept his gaze with mine as he strode toward me. The air crackled between us; it was magnetic, palpable, and also, dangerous, and blinding… like lightning.

  He caged me by putting his arms on the back of my chair and leaned into me till his face was mere inches from my breasts. I waited for his move, I loved the thrill. But I said “Don’t” when his tongue touched my collarbone. He clearly ignored me and continued to lick the sensitive skin.

  “Don’t,” I said, louder this time and he bit me as an answer to my protest. I felt his anger with the broken skin on my sensitive flesh. I grunted with the pain, but it only replaced a new one when he pulled my hair harshly, “I will not tell you again, whore. You. Will. Not. Tell. Me. What. To. Do.”

  “Enough of this shit. You listen to me, asshole!” I slapped his hand away and stood up, “I’m not your whore, or your slut, or your anything. We had sex and I will not tolerate your douche bag act just because you fucked me.”

  My voice was loud enough to draw attention but no one was near us. Harley was the only one in the club and she was arranging the closets.

  I waited for him to yell at me, but instead, he pulled me toward him just to push me against the wall, causing me to hit my forehead; thankfully, not hard enough to cause damage. He was behind me before I could move a muscle. His front was behind me, pushing me harder against the wall.

  “I warned you, Angel. Much more than to my liking. Once I had you, once I had a taste, you were mine. My slut, my whore…you wanted to know about me –here is the thing you should know: I’m an obsessive man and you are my new obsession,” he hissed to my ear.

  “Get off me!”

 
“Angel? You okay?”

  I sighed in relief when I heard Sage’s voice. Mike immediately let me go with her arrival.

  “Stay away from me,” I hissed at Mike and grabbed Sage’s elbow while heading to the dressing room.

  “Angel?”

  “That was nothing important, Sage. Can we please let it go?” I held her gaze and watched her sigh in defeat as she nodded her head.

  I finally came to terms not to mess with Michael Lane or Michael Harrison. I made up my mind to stay away from him.

  I was too late…

  January 14, 2014

  “Let’s go out. Kasey invited us to her party. She planned a big event for her return from England. We can stop by,” Dawn suggested. I was picking up my salad as I answered simply, “I’ll pass.”

  “Why? It will be fun. It’s been so long since we partied with the guys from college.”

  “It’s been a month, Dawn. And I’m tired. I’ll use my day-off to stay home. You go,” I said, throwing my barely eaten salad into the trash.

  “Okay, what about a movie night? C’mon, sis! You used to be fun,” she giggled. I could see her worry behind her effort, though. But I didn’t want her to be involved in anything that was club related. If I opened up to her, just even a little bit, she would have looked deeper into this club.

  “I’m really tired, sis. Rain check?” I forced a smile. She finally sighed and let it go, “Okay. I’ll work, then.”

  “Good luck,” I called out, heading to my bedroom.

  I was smart enough to try and protect Dawn from the danger of the club, but why didn’t I think about my safety?

  What if something happened to me? Didn’t Dawn deserve to know where to look for answers?

  I made up my mind to find a way so I could give Dawn a chance to understand what happened to me –if something happens, of course.

  What a silly though that was…

  And most of all…why did I keep following the danger?

  January 15, 2014

  “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Alex,” I shook hands with him.

  “You’re welcome. You’re lucky I accepted to take your photos like a street photographer.” Even though his words were grumpy, his tone was easy-going.

  “I wouldn’t ask that if it wasn’t so important. Really.”

  “Will you tell me what is so important?” he asked, signaling the waitress to come over.

  “A cup of coffee, please,” he said to the waitress and turned to me, waiting for my answer as I sipped my coffee.

  “Nope. It’s not of your concern.”

  After thinking the whole night on how to find a way to warn Dawn, I came up with this one. I was planning on hiding a message in my photos. She would figure out something was wrong since I was never a fan of taking photos of myself. I didn’t know if she would be able to catch the message, though. It’d been so long since I sent her something like that. But that was why I’d chosen this way; I didn’t know if I was really in danger –since the last incident with Mike, he didn’t make any inappropriate moves toward me. And if I wasn’t in danger then I could destroy these photos before Dawn could make some sense of them. If I was in danger… well, then I hoped Dawn can solve the hidden words:

  FIND MICHAEL HARRISON

  And if something happened to me, something really bad, then my last thought would be a prayer for Dawn to stay away from the club, and mostly Mike.

  I wished I had gotten a clue if I was really in danger or how serious the Mike situation would have been. Then I would have written or just simply talked to Dawn about it. But unfortunately, I didn’t know anything and I was too stupid to sense the right time to throw in the towel.

  I was still trying to get Mike’s file from Will’s office, but Will had been cautious lately; he always locked his door before going somewhere. And Mike’s report could be the only thing that could have possibly let me know if I was in danger.

  You’re my new obsession.

  Mike’s words were still ringing in my ears. If he was really the obsessive type like he told me, would he let me go that easily? Or was I being paranoid?

  All I had was my what ifs, and the possibilities.

  “Suit yourself,” Alex said, bringing me back to the reality.

  “Shit,” I cursed when my bracelet broke. I didn’t even notice I was playing with it.

  “You look nervous,” Alex observed. He wasn’t asking, only stating the fact and I didn’t deny his statement. Instead, I stood up and straightened my back like I was preparing myself for a war.

  “Let’s start.”

  He looked me up and down lazily, but he was serious while doing it, “Okay, let’s hope I won’t regret letting you boss me around,” he huffed.

  “C’mon! I need you to make me look beautiful,” I tried to cheer him up, even though I was nothing but cheerful.

  “Are you fishing for compliments now? You damn well know you’re beautiful, effortlessly,” he said even though he wasn’t happy with me. He was a cutie, to be honest. I wished I didn’t have to force him to do this photoshoot. But his number was sitting on my nightstand, how could I resist?

  “Wow, is that your car?”

  I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of his flawless dark blue Porsche, looking like a brand new beautiful machine.

  “Nope, I stole it on my way here,” Alex said as he rounded around the car to get into the driver side.

  “Don’t try to make jokes, okay, please?” I groaned, but my smile was in its place even when we took off the road.

  I saw Alex look at me from the corner of his eye before saying, “Jeez, that smile is a curse for our kind, you know?”

  “Your kind?”

  “Yeah. Us, the poor male population.”

  I fully turned to look at him as we waited on the red light, “Was that a compliment?”

  “The truth. Now, don’t try to look cute and tell me where to go,” he said to me. He was very attractive, especially with that easy grin and outstanding sapphire eyes of his. Not my type, but I couldn’t stop myself from imagining him with Dawn. They would be perfect together, I thought before bringing myself back to the matter.

  “Somewhere that starts with F,” I murmured, thinking about the places I could use for the messages in the photos.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, nothing… just drive.”

  I thought I had a good plan.

  I thought everything would have worked the way it should.

  My attempt would make a person cry or laugh, like a bad camera joke. Yet, I’d chosen that way, out of every other logical one.

  I was stupid.

  And because of my stupidity, I’d lost two years of my life… and my heart.

  Doctor’s Office–December 1, 2015

  “Did you ever sense anything bad could happen at the club, Angel?”

  “Yes,” my answer was clear, my mind wasn’t.

  “When did you first notice that?” CC asked, taking notes on her tablet. Her voice was soft like she was afraid of scaring me but also in control like she was trying to reassure me that no one could hurt me. She didn’t know I was the one hurting myself…

  “When I realized there was more going on in the club.”

  She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk. “What do you mean by more?”

  “Drug dealing… I heard William talk about that and I knew it was dangerous.”

  “But it wasn’t the only danger that was waiting for you, was it?”

  I lifted my head to look at her dead in the eyes before answering, “No.”

  “Did you ever consider quitting your job and ending all your connections with the club?” she asked while twirling an expensive looking pen between her slender fingers.

  “No,” I answered. My voice was quieter.

  “Let me understand this, Angel. You knew that place was dangerous even before everything. Then why didn’t you thought about leaving that place?”

  Her focus was totally o
n me, then. She really wanted to understand me, but also a part of her accusing me, making me feel like I was in a court, giving my statement… like I had to make her understand me if I wanted to be acquitted, to be proved innocent.

  But how could I make her understand me when even I couldn’t figure out myself?

  I took a deep breath before I gave her my usual answer, “I don’t know.”

  January 16, 2014

  I was walking on the streets without any purpose other than clearing my head. The weather wasn’t as cold as it used to be, the sun was showing its face and coloring the sky with a faded orange as it was about to set soon. I took out my phone from my purse, wanting to listen to music and maybe take a photo of the sky, but I didn’t get to do either because there was a message… from Mike.

  I touched the screen and the message was clear:

  *We need to talk. Call me, let me know where you are, I’ll pick you up and then take you somewhere.

  Please, Angel.*

  If I didn’t felt any attraction toward him I would’ve deleted the message and moved on. But I was attracted and I wanted him to apologize for the way he treated me. Also, I couldn’t lie to myself, I was touched by the last line of the message –I could hear his Southern accent caressed my name on his tongue, a raspy but soft tone of his voice… and I was sold.

  *Pick me up in front of the Pike Market.*

  After I hit the send button, I considered the idea of letting Dawn know my whereabouts, but she would’ve asked for a long explanation; I decided against it.