“Hey, Mark.”
“What’s this about my daughter dating some rock singer guy?” he asks.
I rub my forehead. “Hey, Chris. How’s things?”
Mark sighs. “Hey, Chris. How’s things? And what’s this about my daughter dating some rock singer guy?”
“She didn’t. I’ll explain when you’re home. It’s…” I frown. “Hang on. How did you hear about that?”
“Same way I heard about you breaking a window in the house I pay for…”
I slump against the fridge. “Fuck’s sake, Mark. You have someone else stalking her?”
“Stalking is a bit strong. But yeah, I do.” An awkward silence crackles between us, and I bite my fist. “So I take it you just realized Ialso heard the stuff she wrote in her diary about you?”
This shit is starting to bug me.
“Wasn’t true,” I lie. “Some bitchy girls were just doing what sorority girls do. They made it up.” He seems unconvinced, so I raise the stakes. “Listen, I’m doing this as a favor to you, Mark.
But if you want me to pack up and leave, then say the word. This is more hassle than it’s worth.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down. I was only messing. She’s half your age.”
Not quite. “I trust you. How is she?”
The memory of her handcuffed wrist catches me off guard. So does the way her nipples pressed against her pink T-shirt. “Hot.”
“What was that?” Mark gasps.
Fuck. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Hotheaded,” I say. “She’s hotheaded. No idea where she gets that from.”
“Her mother.” Mark chuckles. “Anyway, my tracker isn’t working here, and my inside guy hasn’t seen her today. Do you know where she is? She should have been back from class hours ago.”
“Why? Do you actually want totalk to her?” I mumble.
“Huh?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know where she is, Mark. I don’t keep tabs on her every second. You need to lay off with that shit too. She’s struggling to make friends. College is already hard enough for her as it is.”
“Appreciate your concern,” he says, which is code formind your own business.
I exhale. “Fine. Send me the tracking link for her phone and I’ll see what I can do. But if she’s just hanging out with Maria, then I’m not dragging her home.”
“Will do,” he says, his heavy breath crackling down the line. “Listen, Chris… You haven’t told her about her mother, have you?”
My jaw tenses. “No.”
“Good,” he sighs with relief. “No sense in digging up the past. It’ll just upset her.”
That’s not the reason he doesn’t want me to say anything…
Ending the call, I glance out the window. It’s getting dark now, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned. That Bryan loser is still out there somewhere. My phone vibrates with a text, and I click the tracker link.
“What the hell?” I mumble, zooming in on the address.
She’s on the same street as one of my clubs?
There’s nothing there for twenty-two-year-old girls. Except…
“She wouldn’t be that stupid, would she?” I grab my car keys and jog through the hallway. “You better have a fucking good excuse for this, Harper…”
Jumping out of my car, I slam the door shut and stare down at my phone. Fuck! I was hoping this was some technical error, but the tracker beacon is flashing, so Harper is definitely inside the building.
“You looking for a good time tonight, sexy?” I lift my head to the half-naked woman in the doorway. “Oooh. Mr. Collins? I’ll give you a free lap dance any day.”
I glance at the red neon sign above her head.
“Tell me I’m dreaming,” I mutter. “Her dad wants me to keep her safe and she ends up in a fucking strip club?”
Ignoring another proposition from the dancer, I walk past her and pull open the door.
“Hey! That’s a paid member’s area!” A huge security guard grabs my arm. “You need to leave, sir. We can do this the easy way or the hard…” He stops talking when I glare up at him.
“Shit. Sorry,” he stammers, stepping backward. “I didn’t realize it was you, sir.”
“You know my business partner? Mark Reeves?” He gulps and nods. “His daughter is here somewhere. I know none of youwould be stupid enough to give her a gig, so you need to tell me where she is. Now.”
“There are privacy laws, sir,” he says, not looking me in the eye. “I can’t just?-“
“Here’s the deal,” I state. “You tell me where she is and Mark never finds out. If you don’t, I’ll make one call and this grimy shithole of a business will be closed before your next shift. Your choice.”
He glances over at the reception area and sighs. “Back room, next to the bar. But it’s locked.”
“I have a master key,” I say, pulling open the door.
The dark, dusty room consists of nine tables. And each one has a naked woman grinding on the laps of overweight, middle-aged men. The guys are not even paying the girls any attention. They’re all staring at the pole dancer in the middle of the room.
No wonder Harper has such a cynical view of men, I think, glancing at each table.
These guys aren’t even hiding their wedding rings.
Shrugging off the girl stroking my chest, I storm over to the bar and approach a black door.
“You can’t go in there,” the bartender says.
“Shame,” I say, shoulder barging the hinges.
“Hey!” someone else shouts. I turn to find a girl jogging over to me. “You can’t go in there.”
“Yeah. I’ve been told,” I say, once again ramming my shoulder against the door. It doesn’t budge. “Fucking thing!”
“We’re filming in there!” the girl yells.
Snapping my head to her, I recognize her mousy hair. “You’re Maria, right?”
“Yeah. How’d you know me?”
I sigh. “I don’t have time for this. What the fuck do you mean ‘filming’? Filming what?”
“Somereal hot stuff, Grandpa,” she teases. “No pensioners allowed. Go find a room somewhere else.”
“Okay. I’ll leave.” I turn and kick the handle, and the door smashes open. “But I’ll be taking Harper with me.”
I step inside the room.
“What the…” Wearing a batwing mask and revealing black lingerie, some girl is crawling on the floor toward a frat boy in a chair. “What in God’s name is going on?”
The jock lowers his camera and swallows hard.
The girl jumps to her feet and pulls off her mask. “You shouldn’t be here!”
“Harper?” I ask, lost for words. She looks incredible. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” she snaps. “I’m having fun! Do you know what that word means,
Mr. Collins?”
Maria gasps behind me. “Is this the silver fox who set fire to Christina and Becca?”
“What?”
“College gossip,” Maria says, walking up to Harper. Now she’s looking me up and down. “They said you were hot, but I never expected you to look like…this. Got any spare handcuffs for me?”
Harper nudges her best friend’s arm.
“Oops,” Maria giggles. “Sorry. Forget I said that.”
“Listen, man,” the frat boy says. “It wasn’t anything…you know. I mean?-“
“Zip it,” I tell him.
“Hey!” Harper shouts, almost stumbling.
Great. She’s wasted. This is all I need. “Don’t be mean to Aaron, you big mean meanie. We’re doing a project for his art class. Aaron was just taking some photos.”
“I bet he was,” I snarl, striding over to him. Aaron flinches when I snatch the camera from his hands. “Class, my ass.”
Maria giggles. “He’s a poet as well as a hunk.”
“Is that how you tricked her into doing this? I’m going to shove this camera up your?-“
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.