Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Jewels grabs a stack of the money that just got done being counted and starts to toss it into the air at Paulina.
“That was just counted!” I laugh.
“Yeah, bitch, don’t throw twenties at me. You know I’m a Benjamin girl all the way.”
“My bad, girl.” Jewels laughs, and they both keep dancing. They keep getting closer to me. I roll my chair further away from them, only making them give me an evil smirk. It’s pointless to fight this. If they want me to dance, I’m going to have to dance. Lucky me, the door opens and Karin comes strolling into the secure room. It would be easier to get into Fort Knox than it would be for anyone else to get into this room.
Her presence doesn’t stop the girls; they keep on dancing, but they have a new target now. She folds her arms over her chest. They dance around her until the song finally ends. She shakes her head, but I don’t miss the small smile she gives them.
“Shouldn’t you girls be working?“ she asks them.
“Pretty sure this is your fault,” Paulina says as she bends down to pick the money up from off the floor. “You’re the one that taught us all how to dance.”
True. Even I can dance. It’s part of the training. You never know when you might need to be a stripper for a job. These things happen. At least around here they do.
Karin lets out a bark of laughter. Her mood has been a lot better with how everything turned out with her daughter Cora. I miss her being here with all of us. It’s strange not having her here every day anymore.
“Music,” Karin says, coming over to my desk. The girls turn it down as they get back to the machines. “How is it going?”
“It’s going.” I turn my screen so she can see what I’ve come up with so far. “I’m not done, but I’m getting there.” She reads over my stuff.
“All right. Keep at it. Don’t forget tomorrow. I’d like everyone to be there.” Karin gives me a pointed look, already knowing that I normally don’t go to social functions or dip out early if I absolutely have to go. “And to stay longer than ten minutes. It’s a celebration, after all. Not only for my daughter, but with Aidon at our side it makes us all a little safer.” Well, crap.
“Okay.” I get the message.
“Good.” Karin winks at me before she’s back out the door. It shuts behind her, and a few seconds later you hear the locks being put back into place.
“Ha! You gotta hang all night.” Jewels says, wrapping a stack of money in a band.
“I hang all the time!” I do. It might be only around here, but still. I have a beautiful condo but it can be lonely so a lot of times when I’m done for the day, I’ll linger around the warehouse. A couple times a week I’ll even crash in my room here. We all have one but most also have places in the city too.
“You never come out.” Paulina plops down onto my desk. “Don’t you get horny? I mean, men are the worst most of the time, but I like the D.” She lets out a long sigh.
“I hear that,” Jewels agrees.
“Of course I get horny,” I admit, my face filling with heat. “Just never seen a man I wanted to have solve the problem for me. Plus I’m not sure they want to solve it for me.”
“You’re so full of shit. Trust me, they’d solve it.” Paulina pulls on one of my curls. “Let us doll you up. Please!” I’ll never understand their obsession with always trying to dress me up.
“Please!” Now Jewels is at my desk. “It will be so fun. Let us show you how much they will be itching to fix the problem.” They both stare at me, their eyes begging. It might be fun to try and be sexy for a night. I need to get dressed up anyway.
“Okay,” I agree, making them both let out small screams as they start dancing around again.
I already know I’m in way over my head. Still, what really could go wrong?
Chapter Three
Sov
I take a small contingent of 40 with me to the celebration. An advance team has gone ahead to scope the venue and ensure my safety. I arrive with Zero and the rest of the retinue including my butler, two valets, a secretary, press officers, military liaison, twenty-four bodyguards that work in groups of four, a personal chef, and one doctor who carries a supply of my family blood should a transfusion be necessary along with other assorted staff to assist the staff. A small crew, really.
The Palace Hotel is nice, if a little dated with its twenty-foot-deep purple velvet curtains and gold tasseled embellishments. My father would love this while my mother would take one look and haul ass to the nearest Four Seasons Presidential Suite. It’s too dark, too masculine for a woman’s sensibility. Everything about the Palace invokes the old boy’s club. The discreet reception desk is clad in mahogany. The floor is a rich cherry wood. The furniture is all over-sized and leather. If I listen closely, I can hear the creak of old bones and the snick of a match against the strike plate. The smell of stale cigar smoke filters by.