Private Property Read online

  “Lies. You’re small. You don’t know what us thick chicks go through. You haven’t been told, oh, you’re pretty, for a big girl. Or, you’d be sexy if you were slimmer. Or my favorite, you’re so cool, I just don’t date big girls. No offense. You cool as hell.”

  “Those are men outside the club. The ones who care about what others think about them and their choices. The ones who meet you, like you, want you, but are afraid to be judged for their dating preference. Outside these walls, men have to live up to a certain social standard. Unfortunately, that standard is bias and unfair. And no one seems willing to change it.”

  “How does that help me get tips?”

  Lina smiled and tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder. “Inside these walls, those worldly standards don’t apply.”

  “Really? Then why are there only slender white females working here?”

  “Because only slender white females have been applying. Other women haven’t. I even heard Jeff say that this club needed a variety of women to make it stand out more and up their clientele. And that’s where you come in.”

  “Me? How?”

  “Right now, you’re getting tips because the guys think you’re cute. They don’t give a fuck about your songs. Your songs are boring and bland. Sorry.”

  “Hey, those songs are classics.”

  “Exactly. You need to step into this century. Start singing newer songs. Sexier songs. Songs that make these already horny fools even hornier.”

  Cristal thought for a moment. What Lina was saying made sense. She hated to admit it, but it did. “I can do that.”

  “Of course, you can. And you need to dress sexier. Not naked, just sexier.”

  “I don’t want men to think I’m easy.”

  “Do I look easy?”

  “Yes.”

  Lina burst out laughing. “Fuck you.”

  Smiling Cristal said, “You look it, but I know you’re not. I don’t want to look it. That’s not me.”

  “Then dress classy sexy.”

  Classy sexy? She thought she was dressed classy sexy. This was probably one of her sexier outfits.

  “Criss, I have to go. Jeff is waving me over. Look, you’re off tomorrow, right?”

  “Yeah, but I have to take my granny to church.”

  “Okay, next week, before you come back to work Friday, we’re going shopping.”

  “I don’t know, Lina.”

  “We’re going. You need tips. The holidays will be here soon.”

  True. And her niece, Ashley, had a long list for Santa. “I’ll go, but it has to be somewhere reasonably priced.”

  “I got you. I’ll text you next week. I’m going to help you pick out some classy sexy outfits that are guaranteed to get you tips. By the way, do you need me to wait outside for you?”

  Lina asked her that every Friday and Saturday night. And every Friday and Saturday night, Cristal turned the offer down.

  “Nah, when I leave, Constantine and his guard usually follow me home.”

  Lina sighed. “That’s so sweet. You’ve been here a little over a month and you’re just now telling me that.”

  Cristal shrugged. “I didn’t think it was important.”

  Lina shook her head as she walked from around the bar to go meet Jeff. “Not important! That’s very important. We’ll talk about this next week. I can’t believe you’ve been keeping that from me.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Cristal said as she watched Lina walk away.

  Alone behind the bar, she leaned against the counter and waited to be called to the back. She was still waiting, long after Lina and Jeff came out of the Cashier’s Room and left to go home for the night.

  She didn’t know what Constantine did in that back office until the wee hours of the morning, but she was getting tired of waiting up on him. Just as she was about to dose off against the bar, his guard, Yury, called her name.

  Rubbing her eyes, she raised her head from the bar counter to stare at Yury. He was a big Hulk-sized man with long hair that he kept pulled back into a ponytail. He rarely talked, unless he absolutely had to.

  “The boss is ready for you now.”

  It’s about damn time. Cristal couldn’t deny that she always felt a little excited when she began her trek to the back office. She felt even more excited whenever she stared at Constantine. That excitement always evaporated when he spoke to her.

  He was nice to look at, not so nice to talk to. Cristal stepped from behind the bar and followed Yury to the back room. As they neared the office, her excitement grew. She straightened her shirt on her.

  Now that Lina had pointed out how outdated her style was, she felt self-conscious about her attire. Screw that. It wasn’t like she was trying to impress Constantine, the jackass, anyway. When they made it to the backroom, Yury stopped outside the door.

  “You can go inside,” he told her. “First, take off your shoes.”

  He never went in with her. He always waited outside until Constantine escorted her from the room. Cristal slid her heels off then took a deep breath and gripped the door handle. Slowly releasing the breath, she twisted the knob and stepped into Con’s first-floor office.

  As usual, the room was dimly lit. The walls on the left and right side of the room were decorated with bookshelves that were the home to all types of books. She moved into the room, stepping onto the plush black carpet.

  She could understand why he didn’t like having people walk on his carpet with their shoes on. The carpet was beautiful. So was the entire office. So was the man who owned the office.

  Speaking of the owner, her eyes drifted to the back of the room. There he was, Constantine Novinkoff, seated behind a large mahogany desk. Those broad shoulders of his were begging her to put her legs over them.

  Too bad an idiot like him couldn’t handle a thick chick like her. It was a shame because there were so many things she could do to those sexy lips of his. They always seemed to scream ride me.

  Those dark eyes of his seemed able to peer into her soul. In his hand was a glass of bourbon, that he was slowly sipping as he glared at her. Cristal sighed. He was always glaring at her.

  It was hard to fantasize about him when he had a scowl on his face. Oh well, she would just wait until she fell asleep to dream about all the wild things she could do to Constantine if he wasn’t a prick.

  “Cristal, are you just going to stand there all night, staring at me?”

  His deep voice pulled her away from her fantasies. Swallowing, she nervously moved closer to his desk. She held his gaze as she walked. Though he was an intimidating jerk, she refused to show him just how much he intimidated her.

  When she reached the desk, she went to sit down in the chair across from him. She froze mid-squat when she remembered he didn’t like for her to sit down without being told to do so. Jerk.

  She stood in front of his desk, watching him as he watched her. Why did the devil incarnate have to be so wickedly handsome? Then again, even Lucifer was said to be the most beautiful angel created.

  The devil before her always kept his black hair cut low. His goatee was always trimmed. Normally, she didn’t like facial hair. On him, it worked. She was pretty sure there was a muscular form underneath that tailored black suit he wore.

  She could tell by the way it fit his frame. The man exuded ‘Big Dick Swag’. And there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, unlike her. But, like her granny always said, a few extra pounds never hurt anyone. Criss had more than a few. Still, they weren’t hurting anyone.

  “You may sit down.”

  His deep voice pulled her thoughts back to the present. She sat down. He took another sip of his drink as he watched her. For a long time, they just sat there, staring at each other. Criss was the first to look away. Her doing so prompted him to start talking.

  “Please tell me you made over a hundred tonight,” Con said.

  Cristal stared at the back wall.

  “Tell me,” he said again.

  Remaining silent, she
resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

  “Cristal, tell me you made...”

  “I can’t, because I didn’t,” she yelled, gaze meeting his.

  He slammed his glass down, causing some of the liquid to splash onto his desk.

  “Look what you made me do.” He glared at her as he pulled a handkerchief from his drawer and began cleaning his desk.

  “I’m pretty sure I had nothing to do with that.”

  He stopped wiping the desk. Damn her smart mouth. One day it was going to get her into a situation she couldn’t get out of.

  “Here.” He raised the handkerchief. “Since you made me spill my drink, you clean it up.”

  She so wanted to argue her point. There was no way the spill could be her fault. She hadn’t been the one to slam the glass. Considering it was late and she wanted to get home, she kept that argument to herself. Instead, she got up and walked around the desk. She snatched the cloth from him.

  “Careful,” he warned.

  Right. Careful.

  Sometimes she forgot she was dealing with the leader of a mob. He leaned back in his chair so she could lean forward and wipe the liquor up. It would’ve been easier if he would’ve simply scooted away from the desk so she could clean up the spill.

  Since that would’ve been the polite thing to do, of course, he didn’t do it. It was like he enjoyed making things difficult for her. Since he didn’t move his chair out the way, she had to lean over the arm of it to wipe the desk.

  That caused her breasts to rub against his hand which was resting on the chair’s armrest. Embarrassment flooded her system, but she refused to change her position. She refused to let him know she was uncomfortable.

  If he could be a jerk, so could she. Pretending they weren’t touching, she quickly wiped up the spill. Underneath her breast, his hand clutched the armrest. Cristal grit her teeth. She was a fool for letting her thoughts take a trip down naughty lane.

  She was a fool for imagining him turning his large hand over and cupping her breast. Yeah, she was a big ass fool for thinking about that. Especially since he was probably irritated by the fact that she was touching him.

  Give me a second jerk and I’ll be finished, Criss thought. Finally done with her task, she left the cloth on the desk and raised up. Unwilling to make eye contact with him, she stared down at the desk as she spoke.

  “There, it’s all nice and shiny again. You’re welcome.” That said, she returned to her seat and folded her hands, that were shaking slightly, together in her lap. Still unable to meet his gaze, she focused all of her attention on his tie.

  “Cristal.” His voice was deep, sultry.

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  “Look at me.”

  “I am.” Nice tie.

  “Look into my eyes.”

  Why? Obeying, she raised her gaze to his. The look in his dark depths damn near stole her breath.

  “If you ever press your body against me like that again, I’m going to fuck you until you can’t remember your name. Do you understand me?”

  Chapter Two

  He watched her mouth drop open.

  “Close your mouth,” Constantine told his very thick, very sexy employee. As always, she was slow to obey his orders. “Close your mouth now, Cristal, before I slide something in it.”

  Her mouth immediately snapped shut. What a pity. He would’ve liked for her to challenge him as she often did. Too often for his liking. However, this would’ve been one of those times when he welcomed it.

  She took a deep breath, composed herself and then said, “That’s a very inappropriate thing to say to your employee.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says everyone.”

  “Do I look like I give a damn about what everyone says?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “What did I tell you about rolling your eyes at me?” For some reason, that shit turned him on.

  “Considering what you just said, I feel like a little eye-rolling is called for. If you can be inappropriate, so can I. I guess I have to be the adult in the room and get this conversation back on track.”

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out some folded bills. He didn’t want the money, he wanted her. Why the hell couldn’t she see that? She placed the money on the desk and slid it over to him. When she leaned back in her seat, she folded her arms over her chest.

  “I made ninety dollars.”

  Con stared down at the money. What the hell was he supposed to do with ninety dollars, other than put it in his god daughter’s piggy bank? He stared at the money for so long that she spoke about it.

  “You can pick it up. It’s not going to bite.”

  Con held his grin in. It was something about that sassy mouth of hers that made him want to fuck it. He grabbed the money and started counting it.

  “It’s all there. All ninety dollars.”

  Ignoring her, he counted the money. It was ninety dollars. He pulled an envelope from his desk drawer and slid the money into it. After sealing it shut, he signed his name on the envelope and set it aside.

  Tonight, before he went home, he’d stop by Delilah’s house and drop the entire envelope into little Azariah’s piggy bank. He stared up at Cristal. Her gaze wavered briefly before returning to his and staying there.

  He admired her false bravado. At least she tried to pretend she wasn’t afraid of him. Unlike some people who sat in the chair across from him. Most couldn’t hide their fear. They trembled at the sound of his voice.

  They refused to make eye contact with him. They pretended to be reading whatever document they’d brought for him to look over. Not her though. Con liked for people to be afraid of him.

  Sometimes, fear cemented a bond better than love or loyalty did. Cristal felt neither love nor loyalty for him. He had a feeling she didn’t fear him at all. Yet, there was always a look of fear in her eyes.

  She was running from something or someone. He hadn’t figured out which yet. Whatever she was running from had her afraid of the law. That fear was the reason she’d never go to cops about the shit she’d seen go down at the club.

  That fear was also the only thing keeping her alive. She’d seen too much. If he didn’t believe she’d keep quiet, he’d have to end her. Lucky for her, he knew she wouldn’t run to the authorities.

  She had stuff to hide, just as he did. A simple background check had helped him discover some of the secrets she was trying to keep hidden. However, he was having a hard time figuring out the rest.

  And he really needed to figure Cristal Dawson out. Before she came to his club, he rarely stared at the security screen on his computer. It was security’s job to monitor the club, not his.

  He paid them well to keep an eye on the club and club-goers. However, now that Cristal worked for him, he found himself staring at whatever screen held her image. Sometimes for hours.

  He watched her when she sang on stage. He watched her when she chatted with Angelina at the bar. Most importantly, he watched her when she stepped outside for a breath of fresh air.

  It was during those breaks that he got to see the real her. During those times, she didn’t wear that fake smile of hers that she shared with the patrons of the bar. She also didn’t wear the defiant glare she always cast in his direction.

  It was during those times, when she thought no one was watching, that he saw the sadness in her eyes. Even if she sat with her back to both cameras, he could still tell she was sad by the way she sat with her head hung low and her shoulders hunched over.

  During those times, she looked defeated. And that pissed him off. She was too beautiful to look defeated. She was too smart, too calculating, too confident in herself to look defeated.

  His gut told him that whatever she was running from was the cause of that look. All he had to do was figure out what or who she was running from and eliminate that element from her life.

  Then she would no longer look sad and defeated. She’d look like his smart mouth, sexy as sin employe
e that drove him crazy. An employee who always looked at him with disdain, even though her background was just as shady as his.

  “Soooo, are we done?” She asked, before tapping on the desk to get his attention.

  “Did I say we were done?”

  “You have that done look on your face.”

  “I don’t have a done look.”

  “Yeah, you do.”

  “Do not.”

  “Do too.”

  “Do not, Cristal.”

  “Do too, Constantine.”

  He grit his teeth. He was not about to do this with her tonight. “You’re not making enough money to repay me.”

  “Um, sorry.”

  “Sorry doesn’t repay me. I need more money from you.”

  “You can’t get blood from a turnip.”

  “What?”

  “Sorry, it’s a country saying my grandma likes to use. Bottom line is, if the patrons of your club paid me more, I’d be able to pay you more.”

  “I can’t force them to pay you more.”

  “Neither can I.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  He’d hoped she’d say that. “I know a way you can make more money.”

  “I’m not shaking my ass for those rich pervs.”

  “No, not for the rich pervs. For me.”

  Her mouth dropped open again.

  “I’m serious about sliding something between those lips.”

  Like before, her mouth snapped shut. He watched her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath then said, “Is this a prank? Are you spanking me? I mean, pranking me? Forget I said spank. I didn’t mean to say that. I meant to say prank. I swear.” She stared around the room. “Are there hidden cameras on those bookshelves?”

  “Why the hell would I be pranking you?”

  “Because what you just said made no sense.”

  “I’m offering you a promotion?”

  “No, you’re offering me prostitution.”

  “Prostitutes have sex for money. I don’t pay for sex. All I’m asking you to do is dance for me. And strip.”

  “Prostitution.”

  “Not even close.”