Vincent (10 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Day of Reckoning

Lake parked the Frankenlac at the curb. Getting out, she grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. She had to keep taking deep breaths with every step she took, not knowing if the decision she had made was the right one.

Staring at the tall glass door in front of her, she knew once she went through, there was no turning back.

She placed her palms upon the door.
Be strong.
With one push, the door swung open and she walked through.

It was her day of reckoning.

Lake’s senses heightened as the door came to a close behind her. She could hear the sound of metal clicking along with the beeping of the various machines. Looking around, she saw how huge it was, with tons of people, but she couldn’t find who she was looking for. Heading toward the escalators, she took a ride to the top, finally coming to a man dressed in a black suit at a security checkpoint. Looking down at his expensive shoes, she went up to him.

“Room key?” he said.

Lake took a deep breath. “I want to see
him.”

The scary guard blinked his eyes a couple of times before he looked her up and down. “Who is
him
?”

She looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. “The b—”

The guard grabbed her by her arm and dragged her to an elevator away from view. “Are you fucking stupid, girl? Who pranked you into this?”

“No one. My father is Paul Turner. I need to see him,” she quickly spat out the words.

She watched all the fury leave his face. “Goddammit,” he whispered.

With the wave of his hand, another guy in a suit came out and took his place at the post. Then he pressed the ‘up’ button on the elevator, and the doors slid open. Pulling her inside, he pushed a series of buttons as the doors came to a close.

“You shouldn’t have come here. Do you know what you just did?”

Lake looked at her arm which he was still holding. His hands were so big it seemed like he was squeezing her, but in fact he had only been lightly holding it as soon as he found out who she was. Her eyes moved up to his face, which had returned to fury. His voice no longer held hatred; instead, she felt he had talked to her in sympathy.

She squeezed the strap of her bag tightly. “Yes, I do.”

“I don’t think you do.”

The elevator ride seemed to last forever as it went to the top with no interruptions, and she figured he must have put in a code for it to do that.
Please open.
Thankfully, the doors finally opened right as she began to feel claustrophobic from the coming repercussions of her actions. “I hope he is in a good mood today, for your sake.”

She
took another deep breath—
me, too
—as he led her down a long hallway.

As they were about to come to the door at the end, it flew open and a woman in a sexy outfit was dragged out.

“Please, I’m sorry!
Please
! Please, I’m sorry!” the woman wailed with her makeup smearing down her cheeks.

Lake’s feet stopped moving, her mouth now running dry. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, on the verge of tears.

The guard jerked her past the screaming woman. “You act like that, and he will show no mercy.” He kept his voice low.

She regained her footing and drove her thoughts to her father, not the screams down the hall.

Be strong.

The guard opened the door and pulled her inside.

Be strong.

He continued to lead her through a dark room filled with TVs of surveillance footage.

Be strong.

The next door he came to, instead of walking through, he knocked.

Be strong.

“Come in,” she heard from a deep voice on the other side of the door.

Be strong, be strong, be strong
.

“Good luck,” he whispered as he dropped his hand. For the last time, he opened the door wide for her to enter.

Lake entered the dark, smoke-filled room, her eyes rolling over the three men inside. The boss was behind a huge desk, smoking a cigar, his ice-blue gaze freezing her in place. Another suit stood behind him, one she really wished wasn’t there to witness this. Lastly, her eyes came to the back of her father.

“Today must be my lucky day.” Dante smiled as he leaned back in his chair.

Her father quickly turned around in his seat. “Lake, what the hell are you doing here?” Standing, he went for his daughter.

“Sit down, Paul,” Dante warned.

Paul slowly sat back down in his seat, his eyes starting to glaze over.

I’m sorry, Dad.

The boss took a hit of his cigar. “Why did you come?”

Lake thought about the guard’s advice as she took a step forward. “You know why.”

Dante stared at her a moment, clearly not expecting her answer. His interest became piqued. “Do you know what he did?”

“I assume he owes you a lot of money,” she said, grabbing her bag as if it was a cane to keep her from falling over.

“Yes, he does, and he has for many years. Last night, he managed a winning streak in poker—enough to pay his debt to me—but what do you think he did?”

Lake had to avert her eyes from his icy cold stare. “He went all in, didn’t he?”

“All fucking in and lost every fucking dime. Now, please tell me what you hope to accomplish here today, because I am done with him. He has promised to pay me back every time he takes from my casino, and every fucking time I believe him. I understand he has a gambling addiction, but I like to keep my men happy. Your father is loyal to me, so that is why he has gotten away with it for so long, but last night, he proved to be loyal no longer. Not once have I taken away from his cut on a job, and we will both pay for that now,” he finished solemnly, showing what he meant by his words.

No, please, God.
Lake could only hope he couldn’t see she was no different than the screaming woman who had just left. The only thing keeping her together was that Dante had just proved she had no other option.

She dug down to any bit of courage she had left. “Hopefully, I can change your mind.”

“How the hell do you think you can do that?” Dante became amused for once, confusing Lake by showing his not-so-dark side.
If there even is one.

Lake slowly took the bag off her shoulder.
There is no other way.
Walking over to his desk, she dumped its contents out along with any of her hopes and dreams.

“Lake, no! What are you thinking?” her father screamed.

Dante held up his hand to silence him. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s my … Well, it
was
my college fund,” she confessed.

She watched the blonde man who stood behind Dante come over and stack up the money.

“Twenty,” he said after every bundle was stacked to perfection.

Dante picked up one stack of bills from the top and flipped through it with his thumb, revealing each one was a hundred dollar bill. “Your father owes me fifty, sorry.”

Lake blinked her eyes, unable to think. “
Fifty thousand
?” She wasn’t expecting he would get in debt with the boss to that degree, but she had to think of something. Their lives depended on it. “Okay … well … There must be something I can do. I can work for you. I’m sure there’s a job here in the casino hotel I can do. I can clean.” Glancing at Dante’s unconvinced face, she quickly blurted the rest out. “You can keep my whole paycheck. I’ll work for free till it’s paid.”

Dante was silent for a few moments. “What do you think, Vinny?”

The blonde man shrugged. “We
are
short a girl now, and she’ll do.”

“No, she’s still seventeen. She can’t,” her father insisted.

Lake’s eyes grew big.
Seventeen?

“How old are you, Lake?” Dante asked.

Lake stared at her father’s pleading face. Then, closing her eyes, she answered the question she feared would seal her fate. “Eighteen.”

Dante smiled, making goose bumps cover her body. “Good. You will work for me as a cocktail waitress till your father’s debt is paid. Any tips you make, I will allow you to keep. I will advise you to keep your mouth shut about the legalities of where you will be working, but I am sure you already know that.”

Paul started shaking his head. “Please, don’t make her work ther—”

“Quiet.” Dante paused, looking at him. “As for you, I believe this will be a greater punishment than what I was going to give. You will continue working for me, Paul, and I will make sure you only get the shit jobs. You will still get your cut, but anything you pay me will also come off your debt. The more you work for me, the more you can pay me back and the less she will be stuck down there. If I so much as catch you drop a quarter in my fucking slot machines, however, I will kill you. How does this sound to you, Vinny?”

Vinny gave a quick nod in agreement.

Dante looked Lake over. “You will need some work, but you’ll start immediately.”

Some work?
She didn’t like the way he had just looked at her.

“Joe, come in.” Dante’s voice had risen higher without even needing to yell, although Lake figured a man like Dante didn’t need to yell to get his point across. A second later, the guard who had showed her up entered the room. “Take her to Sadie, and tell her she will be filling that bitch’s place.”

Joe nodded and opened the door for her to leave.

“Don’t disappoint me, Lake,” Dante gave his final warning.

Lake looked the boss in the eyes one last time. “I won’t. Thank you, Mr. Caruso.” Her gaze moved over to the blonde who was the boss’
Consigliere
.
His close, trusted friend and confidant,
as Lucca liked to call it. Her father had at least taught her the names of the ones to stay the hell away from. “And thank you, Mr. Vitale.”

Chapter Twenty

Just Because You’re in the Itty-Bitty-Titty Committee, It Doesn’t Mean You Ain’t Got Great Tits

Lake entered the elevator once more with the guard, in shock that she and her father had escaped with their lives. When the doors came to a close, it hit her that the only way she had thought she was going to come down the elevator was in a body bag.

She watched the guard punch in a different series of buttons, and the elevator took off. Looking up at him, she saw the wariness in his eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him. That was the third time she had thanked someone that day, but it was the first time she had actually meant it. If it wasn’t for him, she didn’t know if she would have had the strength to keep going.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he mumbled.

Lake looked up at the numbers jumping farther and farther down through the casino floors until it passed the last floor written above a button. She didn’t think any other floor existed.

When the doors opened, she saw a very dark hallway which took her eyes quite a bit to adjust to. As they drew closer to the door at the end, she could hear music growing louder. The guard walked her to the door and knocked, and a second later, it opened.

Lake couldn’t pick her jaw up from the floor when she looked inside. It was what looked like a whole separate casino, except it was much more intimate and extravagant.
Not to mention the half-naked girls everywhere.
There were girls dressed in sexy, black and pink lingerie, just like the girl who had come out screaming from Dante’s office. As the realization they all worked there hit her, Lake’s eyes moved to the tables, seeing the dealers were all girls dressed in the sexy outfits, as well. Several more were also dancing on poles.

The guard pushed her through the door, revealing just how big the floor was. It was the same size as the casino upstairs.

Why have two casinos?
She didn’t understand why the one before her was a complete secret, either.

One thing was for sure looking around; there were no women gamblers there. There were plenty of girl workers to go around, though.

Oh, fuck no…
she thought as a woman passed her with a tray of drinks in her hand. The outfit she was wearing was one Lake wouldn’t get into for a million dollars. Probably because it wasn’t an outfit, but underwear.

She looked up at Joe, unable to form words, and when he gave her a look of sympathy, she figured he could read it on her face. She wanted to run incredibly far away since everything was starting to make sense.
I am so fucked.

Once more, she was dragged to the back of the casino until Joe pulled back some pink see-through curtains to reveal a door. He walked through it, not even knocking that time.

As she walked into a women’s dressing room, she was greeted by boobs literally everywhere.
Of all the doors we went through today, this is the one he really should’ve knocked on.

Joe took Lake up to a woman dressed in a silky robe. “Sadie, this is Lake. She will fill Amanda’s place.”

Lake watched Sadie put her hand on her hip, the motion perking up her very huge breasts. Then she gave Lake a swivel sign with her finger.

What?

“Turn.” Sadie motioned again.

She had to swallow down the bile in her throat as she slowly turned around. She wasn’t exactly given an option to do otherwise.

Looking at Sadie as she came back to her original position, Lake could see her quietly thinking as she looked her up and down. She knew exactly what was going through her mind, too:
no boobs, no butt, just a stick.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which girl didn’t belong in the room.

Lake looked down at the floor, unable to face the critic.

“She’s perfect. They will
love
her!” Sadie squealed.

Lake’s eyes quickly jumped back up at Sadie’s smiling ones.
What did she just say?

Sadie shooed Joe off with her hands. “Go on, I need to get to work now.” She grabbed Lake’s hand, taking her to a chair in front of a huge, lighted mirror.

“Um, how exactly am I perfect?” Lake didn’t understand how her plain Jane looks were going to entice anyone.

Sadie laughed, picking up some foundation on the table. “Haven’t you ever seen a porn star without makeup? Because you should really Google that.” She pointed to her flawless face. “This is what I call false advertising, honey, and you aren’t even going to need half the makeup I use. Your skin is perfect to the point where I almost want to hate you.”

Lake couldn’t help giggling at her. She knew Sadie was only joking because the woman oozed sex and confidence, showing no hint of real jealousy. Her personality matched her semi-rocker looks with the dark eye shadow and dark hair which had chunky, pale blonde streaks throughout.

She decided to take the time to ask as many questions as she could during her makeover. “So, what do you do?”

“I’m a pit boss here,” Sadie replied, beginning to cake on the makeup.

“What does that mean?” Lake wasn’t fluent in casino terms, considering it was illegal for her to even be in one until the age of twenty-one.

“I’m in charge of all the gambling tables and making sure everyone on the floor is pleased.”

“So, you’re my boss?” she asked.

“Yep, but you will do just fine,” Sadie assured her.

“I’ve never waited on tables before. Don’t you think I need to learn how to do my job before I get all dressed up?” She was definitely more concerned about doing her job properly than how she looked. She needed to keep Dante as happy as possible.

Sadie laughed. “Honey, you can spill a thousand dollar bottle of whiskey on them as long as you look sexy doing it. They don’t give a shit. I don’t expect you to be perfect at first, though you will learn the better you are, the better the tips. That is usually motivation enough for the girls to work their asses off.”

“How can I even work here and serve alcohol? I’m only eighteen.”

“All you need to know is it’s strictly high-limit. Only the high rollers are permitted down here, and everything is off the books. The men here especially love the young ones who aren’t legally allowed to serve them, so you’ll be a hot commodity around here.”

Oh, great…

While Lake let her continue her work, she slowly began to see her face and hair turn into that of a porn star, as Sadie liked to call it. Sadie even gave her a crash course in how to do smoky eyes and contouring—whatever that meant—then taught her how to tease, tease, then tease some more to get “
the big, sexy hair
.” Again, Sadie had a name for everything.

“Let me go pick out something for you to wear,” Sadie said, turning around to a rack which held the tiniest black and pink clothes imaginable.

“Um, do you have anything which will cover more of my body?” Lake gingerly asked when she watched her pull out a thong.

Sadie looked back at a now pale Lake. “Virgin, huh? That’s okay; the men will smell it on you. Let’s play that up.”

‘Let’s play that up’? Is she joking?

“This is as covered up as you can get around here. Normally, we don’t go for that look, but for you, it will drive them crazier than shit since you’re the new girl.”
Grabbing a few things off the rack, she showed them to Lake.

Something told Lake she didn’t want to be the new girl.

While looking at the clothes, she began to shake her head. “I won’t look good in that. I don’t have anything to fill it out.”

“This corset will lift those puppies up,” Sadie said, pushing up her huge boobs. “And these are shorts because we need to get you waxed before we get you into anything smaller.”

Lake began to blush. “W-waxed?”

“Everyone here gets waxed from head to toe. We have our own esthetician, and she’s a miracle worker. It’s only really painful the first few times; after that, you just become numb to the whole thing.” Sadie shrugged.

Gulping, Lake took the little bit of nothing clothes and went behind a curtain to get changed. After she asked for Sadie’s help to lace up the back of the corset, she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror.

No way in fucking Hell.
“I can’t do this.” Lake wanted to put her hoodie and jeans back on then run the hell away.

“Lake, listen to me. From the looks of it, I don’t think you have a choice. And I’m sorry for whatever must have happened, but look at yourself.” Sadie grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back toward the mirror. “Have you ever gone to the pool and worn a swimsuit?”

“Yes, but—”

“I bet you are more covered up than you were at the pool. Just because it has lace and ruffles, it doesn’t make it sexier than a tiny bathing suit.”

Lake stared at herself in the mirror. Her light brown hair which was usually pin-straight and flat actually had lift and bouncy, messy curls. Her makeup was flawless and sultry, still showing how young she was, but she no longer looked as innocent.

Her outfit was what scared her the most. The pink corset squeezed her in, giving her very little room to breathe. Her hipbones were exposed, and the tiny black bottoms, which Lake didn’t think should be called shorts, were ruffled. The final touches were high, black stockings with oversized pink bows in the front and black pumps to match. She only prayed she could walk in them.

She had to admit she was technically more covered than if she was at the pool, and Sadie really did give her a less revealing outfit than everyone else. Lake understood what she had meant about the clothes working to her advantage. It was sexy and innocent all at the same time.

It doesn’t matter; you have to.
Lake had no other option than swallowing her pride as she nodded toward her new boss.

Sadie spun her back around and gave a good tug of Lake’s corset to raise her breasts higher. “I told you so about the corset. Just because you’re in the itty-bitty-titty committee, it doesn’t mean you ain’t got great tits. Every girl here would kill for them perky mounds, and don’t you forget it.” Sadie grabbed some perfume off the table and hosed her down with it. “The men are going to take one whiff of you and pounce like a lion hunting for a bunny rabbit.”

Lake found out what true fear was.
Yep …
That was just the pep talk I needed.

“Thanks, Sadie.”