Page 38 of Deadly Sins

“Pleasure is mine. Mitch wasn’t lying. You’re a knockout—you look like a young Pamela Anderson. Tell me, doll, why do you want to work here?”

I used my best breathy sex-kitten voice, hinged with my fake accent. “I love men. I love to make them happy.”

Jack and Mitch lapped up my words. God, men were so easy.

Jack stared at my chest, and I arched my back to give him a better view. “Well, baby doll, you can make me happy anytime. Maybe I’ll adopt you as my personal pet. Let me show you around and introduce you to the girls. You can audition on Monday.”

Audition? What was tonight—just a meet-and-greet? And what the fuck did he mean about being his pet?

I’d drawn my line in the sand early—no sex with anyone except Grant, and I’d even managed to resist him so far. I deserved a medal for that feat. Once I’d crossed that boundary with a man other than Grant, I would never be able to respect myself again.

But this new opportunity was good, I still had a chance here. A breakthrough in the case felt so close—I was in this swanky club where at least two of the strippers who knew Tiffany worked and who might be able to provide me with much-needed clues.

Mitch squeezed my arm. “You owe me a dance. I’ll be here on Monday.”

“Thank you, Mitch. I will save the dance for you.” Mitch settled into the booth as Jack led me away.

Jack lowered his hand to my waist, his fingers tapping my ass. “We have some rules. I’m telling you now so you can choose if you want to still work here. Number one—no boyfriends allowed in this place. If you have one, he’d better not step foot in here. Your job is to entertain our clients, make small talk, dance, laugh at their jokes. We don’t want any trouble at all.”

I swallowed. Grant. I had to tell him about this job. Otherwise, he would find out for sure. I didn’t trust Mitch to keep my secret.

Or maybe…I could wait a bit. Tell him I was taking an English class, stall until I got the information I needed, and then quit before he ever found out. I had to keep Grant close as an informant, a spy in the house of SEALs. I’d royally piss him off when he found out I asked Mitch to help me get a job. Mitch was still on my radar, though at the moment, I felt deep down like he was just a jackass, not a murderer. But I couldn’t be certain.

Jack took me into the dancers’ lounge in the back of the club. Instead of secondhand lumpy couches like at Panthers, this club was filled with velvet chaises, lighted mirrors, and walls adorned with art. But I didn’t care about the ambiance. I scanned the room of girls. Autumn was applying lipstick, and Emma was chatting on her cell phone.

Remember, Mia, you don’t know Emma.

I didn’t approach either one yet. I was in a room with two women who were at the party the night Tiffany was killed. Two women who knew her. Two women who knew the men of SEAL Team Seven. And unlike the SEALs, these women loved to talk.

Jack didn’t even bother to introduce me to anyone. He just gave me a pat on my bottom and left to go back to the main club.

Autumn now glanced my way. “Ksenya! I didn’t know you were coming by. You didn’t text me or nothing.” She squealed like a schoolgirl and wrapped me in a big hug. “Are you going to work here? I told you this place was way classy. Let me introduce you to everyone.”

Score! I had to control my feet from dancing.

Autumn linked her hand around mine and took me over to Emma.

“Emma, this is that Russian girl I told you about.”

“Nice to meet with you, Emma. My name it is Ksenya. I am actually from the Ukraine.”

Emma just gave me a distracted wave and went back to chatting on her phone. When I’d met Emma in the parking lot of Panthers, she’d been so kind and welcoming—this time, not so much. Now I was a threat, competition, rather than some pathetic girl sobbing over her wayward ex-boyfriend and despondent over the loss of her brother.

Autumn continued to show me around. I loved this girl; she was so sweet to me, and I didn’t feel like it was an act. She was young, not jaded, and perhaps really wanted a friend. She seemed lonely, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much longer she would be so bubbly before the realities of life as a stripper broke her spirit.

She took me aside and led me into the bathroom. “Um, can I ask you something?”

I nodded my head.

She bit her fingernail, the crimson polish chipping at the end. “Are you still seeing Grant? I mean, that’s cool if you are and everything, I’m just curious and all.”

I swallowed. I was standing next to a girl who had been with my man on the night Tiffany was murdered, on the night that ruined my brother’s life.

“Yes, I am. But he do not know that I am here.”

She blinked rapidly. “That’s cool.” She paused, and her shoulders slumped. “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? I wanted to head out to Temecula to visit Tiffy’s family.”

Tiffany’s family—people who no doubt wanted to crucify my brother. But no way in hell would I squander the opportunity to meet them.

Autumn rattled on. “The girls won’t go with me. They’re all weirded out by it like they can’t deal with her death. I mean, everyone’s just forgotten about her. It could’ve been me, you know? So…I just wanted to do something nice for her family. I know I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but I just really don’t want to go alone. And you seem nice and all.”

God, I wanted to hug this girl. She was the first to tell me exactly where Grant was that night, eliminating him as a suspect, first to tell me about Diamond, and now she was going to bring me to meet Tiffany’s family? She was too good to be true.

“I’d love to go together with you. You have it my number, yes?”

“Oh, thank you! Have you been to Temecula? It’s beautiful and all, too! Like, they have wineries, and all the super-hot motocross guys live up there.”

Autumn rattled on about some wine-tasting event, but all I could focus on was the fact that tomorrow, I’d be meeting the family of the girl who my brother was accused of murdering.