This also sucked because this place was a very famous point in the city and some people knew who I was because of my father, his clients attended the strip club like it was weekend golf.
I never tried to hide my face to shy away from anything. I had nothing to be afraid of, I wasn't like Cleo... only a handful of people knew what she looked like because she worked silently and she didn't draw attention to herself, but she left a nice trail of corpses behind. They knew her name, that was for sure. And that was enough.
She was very reserved, it took me two fucking years to run into her again, not even Zayn had seen her before.
Yeah, I was still thinking about her more than I should, that hadn't changed.
I was on my second bottle of vodka, smoking a bit of weed before I decided to move on to something stronger. It was my birthday and I planned on getting very much wasted so I could have another reason to avoid my father's calls in the morning.
He was supposed to be back tomorrow from England, and he had already called me asking if I started the job, to which I said yes and didn't elaborate much. I'd only focus on this tomorrow, it was hard for me to think about anything else lately, other than a certain viper.
"Hey! Do you want anything else?" Zayn's voice made me snap out of my thoughts and I turned to look at him. He was wearing a black button-down shirt with a few white patterns, along with white trousers.
It was a contrast to my all-black outfit, the only colorful thing was the yellow flower on the collar of my black shirt.
"I'm fine." I sighed, leaning back on the red chair I was sitting on, the color of the leather matched the walls of the strip club, the lights were dim and it gave the place an old-school aesthetic to match the other furniture.
Even the strip club was crowded, but at least we had places to sit and fewer people to annoy us. I was doing my best not to lose my temper tonight because it would only draw attention and I didn't want to deal with the consequences involving my father.
I made a mistake picking this club, I should've planned something in my house and called the strippers there.
I looked around the club, watching as the women danced around the poles or simply performed by themselves on small elevated stages scattered across the place. Money was flying around tonight, every dancer was busy except for the few waitresses.
"You don't seem like you're enjoying yourself." Zayn chuckled under his breath, taking a seat on the chair next to mine as my other not so close friends decided to go watch the show from a spot closer to the dancers.
Zayn was the only one I truly considered a friend, the others simply got drunk with me sometimes and hung out by the tattoo parlor, nothing else. I wasn't one to have many friends, I knew people were scared of me.
They should be.
"I'm not enjoying myself." I sighed, taking another sip from the bottle before I placed it over the glass table in front of me. At least the music in this place wasn't shitty or too electronic, it was a slower beat that matched the strippers' routines perfectly, or maybe I was overanalyzing things because I was a bit high. "Here's to being 24."
"Come on, I'm glad you were born, even though you piss me the fuck off sometimes." Zayn nudged me with his elbow and I rolled my eyes at him, focusing my attention on a certain someone that had walked closer to the bar across the room.
Her blonde hair was shiny, falling in delicate waves down her back... and fuck me, the corset she had on valued her hour-glass body and made her ass look perfectly round, especially with the black stockings and heels. The tiny thong she had on left little to my imagination and I was glad my cock wasn't completely in a coma, maybe we could end the night on a different note.
Her back was turned to me but I just knew she was hot, I mean, her body was enough to make my heart race... and then she slowly turned on her side, which was enough for me to see a black inked design on her hip.
A snake.
My eyes slowly traveled up her stomach, stopping momentarily on her full tits being pushed together by the corset, and I finally looked at her face just when she decided to completely turn in my direction.
Oh, my fucking god.
Happy birthday to me.
Everything around me seemed to disappear and her blue eyes finally met mine, as if she could feel my shameless staring from across the room. And the completely shocked expression on her face confused me very much because I assumed she had followed me here to kill me.
Well, our little Cleo clearly wasn't expecting to see me here tonight... so what the fuck was she doing here?
This felt like a hallucination and I still wasn't sure if my brain was playing tricks on me, but she didn't look away and we just stared at each other, probably trying to process whatever the fuck was going on.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed that she hadn't come here to find me... I knew we'd both play this 'tag you're it game' until one of us finally died.
And of course she would be the one making her way to hell, this was the best fucking birthday present ever.
Because I was going to kill her tonight.
But, of course, I was going to have my fun before that... she was dressed like a stripper, so the only explanation as to why she was in a club that she knew was full of my father's clients, had to be because she was working.
And if she was working, she couldn't blow her cover... and there was only one way to prove that.
"Hey, love. Yes, you." I called the waitress that was standing just a few steps away from me, never taking my eyes off Cleo. "I want a special dance from the blonde one over there... you know it's my birthday."
"Anything you want, Mr. Styles." She replied, but I was still too busy raking my eyes down Cleo's body... and fuck me, my memory of her in that red dress didn't do justice to what I was seeing.
She looked away from me, her eyes scanned the place as if she was looking for a way out, but then she grimaced and clenched her fists by the side of her body, as if she had remembered something important.
If she had a job to finish, then she couldn't simply leave... she'd draw unnecessary attention. And if she refused to give me a dance, the securities would notice there was something wrong with her and that she didn't actually work here.
This had to be something schemed with the other dancers, there was no fucking way the owner of this place or the securities were involved... and I was proved right when the waitress finally walked up to Cleo, whispering in her ear.
Her eyes widened even more and her jaw clenched, even with the bit of distance between us I could tell she was fucking pissed and conflicted. It was hard for me to contain my smile, I crossed my arms and brought my uninjured hand up to my mouth, pinching my bottom lip between my thumb and index finger.
"Why are you smiling? Who's the blonde chick with the snake tattoo?" I heard Zayn asking me but I didn't look at him, I watched as Cleo finally looked at me again.
"No idea who she is... she's hot though," I smirked, running my fingers through my hair and enjoying the delicious thrill running through my veins as she finally started to walk towards me.
I wondered what exactly her job was tonight... she seemed on edge about it, and desperate not to fuck things up. Probably because she could ruin everything if anyone in this club knew who she was... I had her wrapped around my fingers.
"You asked for a dance?" She stopped when she was right in front of me, and I had to look up to meet her gaze, even though it was very hard not to get distracted by her body and what she was wearing.
"There are other dancers with more free time tonight, I could get them for you."
Fuck me, she thought she was smart.
"Yes, I did. But I asked for you... you look so bloody similar to a girl I know. Her name starts with a C... I'll tell you when I remember." I gave her my best smile and I noticed she was clenching her fists so hard that her nails were probably digging into her palms until they broke her skin.
I leaned back on the chair, spreading my legs slightly as I tried not to laugh. This was fantastic... what an amazing day to be alive. Nothing else around me mattered anymore, it felt like we were lost inside our own bubble.
And she was fucked.
"I have another client soon, this is gonna be quick." She snapped, making Zayn chuckle right next to me, completely oblivious.
"But it's my birthday." I pouted at her, making sure she could hear the sarcasm in my voice.
And dear Cleo surprised the fuck out of me when she placed her hands on my thighs, slowly leaning forward so she could whisper her next words in my ear.
"You should enjoy it then." Her warm breath sent chills down my spine and I swallowed, her sweet perfume was intoxicating and this was way too exciting, mostly because no one had any clue about what was going on... we were both playing with fire, eager to get burned.
"Why's that, baby?" I whispered back, making sure not even Zayn could hear as I leaned closer to her, allowing my lips to brush on her earlobe as her entire body tensed.
"Because it's your last." She whispered again, making sure to let her mouth tease my neck before she pulled away, her death threat seemed like a great invitation considering her seductive behavior, I knew this was how she played.
Cleo pulled away, this time turning her back to me before she straddled my lap all of a sudden... and I shamelessly looked down at her ass, noticing thin scars on the side of her hips, almost getting lost among her faint stretch marks.
"Happy birthday." Zayn laughed, and I noticed he stood up from the chair before he winked at me, walking closer to the main stage to meet the other guys... leaving me alone with the snake.
She started moving her hips, not holding back at all as she ground her ass on my crotch and it instantly made me get harder. The adrenaline only made this better, we both wanted to kill each other right this second but we were in public... and the fact we couldn't do anything at this moment was frustrating in a very invigorating way.
It was a shame she was going to die, I wouldn't mind watching her circle her hips on my lap as many times as she wanted to. I kept my hands on the sides of my body though, knowing about the rule of seeing but no touching, but I didn't mind.
She knew how to move, that was for sure, I couldn't help but picture how well she'd ride my cock-
Focus, Styles.
I was glad she was going to be dead soon, then my brain could finally have a break from thinking about her.
She caught me off guard when she leaned her back against my chest, pressing her ass on my erection. I had to bite my lower lip to suppress a pathetic moan, she knew what she was doing and she was as brazen as I was. Maybe I had a new kink for sociopaths I wanted to kill very slowly. Maybe I could ask her what the fuck she was doing here in the first place before I shot her. So many options...
I looked down to watch the way her tits jiggled as she moved, resting my chin over her shoulder when she slowed down her movements... I wondered if deep down she was enjoying this as much as I was.
There was something incredibly tempting in being so close to your prey, considering we could both be the predators. But she was out of luck tonight.
Something shiny caught my attention on the side of her corset, and that's when I noticed a hidden knife.
Of course...
This time I broke the rules and reached out my hand to touch the blade, letting her know I knew about it. But she moved too fast, grabbing my bandaged hand roughly and pressing her fingers over my wound.
"Hmm... just like that," I whispered in her ear, the sharp pain only made me get harder and I was breathing heavily already, allowing my free hand to grab her hip and pull her closer-
"Your client is gonna be ready in ten minutes, honey." I was forcefully snapped out of the trance she had me in, pulling my hand away from her when I noticed the redhead standing right in front of us, with a very confused look on her face.
Cleo practically jumped off my lap, smoothing her hands over her corset and ignoring the woman's questioning gaze as she stormed off and walked towards the private VIP rooms, not daring to look back.
And of course, I followed.