Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Thirteen

This is a triple update. Please make sure to read Chapter 12 first. Thanks!

The club was dimly lit, obscuring the faces of many of the men and women sitting in plush, velvet chairs, dark booths, and along the stage. The air was stale, yet no one seemed to care. Most eyes were trained on the catwalk where a young woman was twirling around a pole in sheer underwear. The music chosen was a rock number, the dancers movements coordinated perfectly to the rhythm.

Griffin only glanced at her before scanning the rest of the club. Nearly every seat was filled even though it was midday - although it was the weekend, so maybe they stayed full all day. There were two exits, including the entrance, a bouncer at both. A door behind the bar, another next to the bar, which Griff expected to be where the kitchen was. There was probably a separate exit through there.

He clocked two more doors, both guarded by men as big as him. One leading to the private showrooms that cost extra, but gave clients semi-private time with a dancer of their choice. The other leading to what he thought was a staircase. His eyes lifted, and he saw tinted glass overlooking the club. An office? Or private boxes for VIP's?

There was an empty seat at the bar, so Griffin took it, ordering a drink. He wouldn't drink it, but it would look weird if he just sat there and looked at everyone. He came here to scope out the place, not to drink too much and get a boner.

The pretty bartender flirted with him as he ordered, wanting a good tip. The cocktail waitresses made their way around the room in their own dance, smiling and teasing, owning these men in the palms of their hands. A few times he noticed a few get handsy, but what made him frown was how the bouncers didn't do anything.

The Styles family owned a burlesque club in a different name, so as to hide it from the public and keep their image pristine, but it was a moneymaker. Their rules are stated very clearly, and enforced heavily: If you touch anyone without their permission, you were blacklisted from the establishment. That was a common rule amongst most burlesque clubs, gentlemen clubs, and strip clubs.

Do not touch.

But it seems that here, they don't play by those rules. From his research, he knew that when the new owner took over, most of the staff stayed. These were women who relied on that income to stay afloat. This city was expensive, and prices weren't going down. Finding another job that paid as well would be difficult, nearly impossible. He suspected that many of the wait staff and dancers put up with a lot for their paycheck.

The music wound down, a light smattering of applause replacing it while the topless woman strutted off the stage, disappearing behind the curtain. The crowd shuffled around, a few people leaving, others taking their space. A man who had been at the front made his way to one of the doors, flashing something at the bouncer who let him in. Griffin leaned over and spotted the last dancer waiting for the man in the hallway, leading him to a private room.

The accent lights suddenly changed color, a deep red, spotlight focusing in on the middle of the stage. The music started, the word, "Cherry" whispered. Then the curtain opened, revealing a women, long, luscious dark brown hair, nearly black in the lighting. Her brown skin glowed with what he expected as some type of body shimmer. Legs accentuated by her sky-high heels and the black garter belt taunted him. When the lights faded from deep red to a golden tint, she turned around.

Griffin knew it was her before he saw her face. It was the hair that gave it away. Thick and grazing her lower back. Tawny's older sister slowly walked up the catwalk towards the pole, delicate hands gliding up her thighs and over her stomach.

When they reached her breasts, he looked away. This felt like an invasion of privacy. She might be dancing for everyone to see, but somehow he knew that if she knew he was ogling over her she would hate it. That look she gave them when she found them on her doorstop, the pleading in her voice when she asked them to stop asking speaking to her little sister was one he hadn't forgotten.