Ruin Him (Wreck & Ruin, #2)

ONE-2

“You’ve gone quiet,” Dam said. “It’s just up the block.”

A dozen yards further on, he slowed to direct them through a covered double entrance. From beyond, she could hear music. To the left were booths where payment was supposed to be made. To the right was a coat-check place. Dam waltzed straight on past both, putting an arm around her again as he opened the internal double doors in front of them.

The music coming from a DJ booth to the far left was almost deafening. A dance floor was down a few steps and laid out in front of where the lights were flashing around the DJ. Her companion took them the opposite way, along a raised walkway that led to an area filled with booths and tables.

Dam waved at some folks as they passed, but didn’t slow in his journey to guide her to a booth in the far corner, next to the bar. That the booth was empty seemed odd, but ten was still early in a lot of circles. Except the rest of the club was busy, which led her to wonder if Dam frequented this place so much that the booth was reserved for him.

“What do you want to drink?”

He’d suggested a drink when they met, but she wasn’t ready to trust anything that he put down for her to consume. Still, she was intrigued and wanted to know more about why Dam had picked her out.

“Why don’t we share a bottle of something,” she said so as not to insult him with a flat refusal.

Their eyes met. He knew exactly what her offer implied, this guy was perceptive. “I don’t drink wine,” he said. “But I’ll get you something still in the bottle if you want.” She nodded. “Smart.”

He left the booth to cross to the end of the bar a few feet away. The whole corner was quieter than the rest of the space. A curtain hung on the wall running between the end of their booth and the short part of the bar where Dam stood. The bartender came straight over to Dam and the pair began to talk.

The curtain interested her. It didn’t seem to conceal powder rooms and didn’t fit with the more industrial feel of the rest of the decor. The sign on the lintel above the curtain said “private” in white letters that glowed under a black light, making them pop. Someone wanted to keep drunk patrons out of there.

It could just be a storeroom or an employee area. Tulsi was still thinking about it when Dam came back with their drinks. Her bottle was sealed, as promised, and he put a bottle opener down beside it.

“Least I know for sure you didn’t agree to drink with me because you wanted s*x,” he said as she opened the bottle.

“If I wanted to have s*x with you, there would’ve been no point leaving Betsy’s,” she said, tasting the wine cooler. “We both have beds there.”

“I have a bed here too,” he said, tipping his head up to indicate above them. “Few folks I know stay in the rooms upstairs… So, if you change your mind…”

He put a hand over hers, which she immediately pulled away. “And we were getting along so well,” she said without disguising her judgement.

He laughed. “No s*x, okay, I get it. I’ll make sure to tell the guys… I might know a couple of women who’d be interested, if that’s what floats your boat.”

“I can float my own boat,” she said. “I don’t need any help from you.”

Settling back in the corner of the padded seat, he considered her. Tulsi glanced his way at his narrow assessing gaze. If he was trying to be intimidating, he was failing. The lack of answers was growing tiresome. If this guy wasn’t going to help her, she could better spend her time trawling bars and clubs for work.

“Either you’ve got a guy or you’re running from one.”

“Is this what I have to look forward to?” she asked. “You going to spend the whole night tossing guesses at me?”

“If you’d just tell me—”

“The point is, I’m here,” she said, twisting to face him. “And if you want me to help you, you have to help me.”

He crooked a brow. “Ah, that’s why you came along. You need something.”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

“And that’s what makes my life so much easier. What do you need?”

“Work,” she said because it was no big secret. “I need an income.”

“That is something I can help with. What are your skills?”

“I’m dynamite in bed,” she said, keeping her tone and expression flat.

He laughed again. It was a nice sound. For almost a month, Tulsi had been alone. Even before that, she hadn’t had a chance to relax and just have fun not since… Thoughts of him made her eyes close. She couldn’t keep doing it to herself. Tulsi couldn’t let herself live in the past. Even just thinking of him distracted her from the present. Given that she never knew who could be watching her or attempting to track her down, Tulsi couldn’t take the risk of being oblivious.

That was his word. He’d said she had a nasty habit of being oblivious. It was a habit she was trying to break. While he’d been around to be aware for her, she hadn’t needed to be. But he wasn’t around. Not anymore. He never would be again.

“You don’t strike me as the kind of broad who needs a pimp,” he said, leaning forward to lay a forearm on the table, scrutinizing her again. “I can set you up if you do, but I can’t say I recommend it… Pimps don’t usually like women who think for themselves.”

“Good to know you’re not a complete idiot.”

Lifting her bottle to her lips, Tulsi tipped some alcohol into her mouth before drawing her eyes around to find he was smiling again. A friend. It was sad that she was so tempted by the idea. In Vegas, the other girls at Heaven had been nice. Most of them anyway. Some were more vocal than others and some weren’t fans of anyone they saw as a threat.

But being a server, Tulsi didn’t spend much time backstage, which was where the women really bonded. Then Darnell had put his hands on her and she’d been running… without a friend in sight.

A friend would be great. But she couldn’t trust Dam, not yet.

“I’d be happy to serve drinks,” she said. “I have some experience with that.”

“There’s no table service in here, but I know a few places that might be interested in someone of your… figure.”

“I don’t do topless.”

“Course not,” he said, smirking. “I can get you into a job that will pay your way in Betsy’s and leave you with some money at the end of the month… Places with the best tippers.”

As much as that sounded like a dream, she knew better than to accept anything that was too easy or seemed too good to be true. “In exchange for?”

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “Usual price would be something in the corporate dating world.”

“What does that mean?”

“Business men come into town, they want company… someone to show them around…”

“Didn’t we just clear that up? I’m not interested in being any kind of escort. Corporate or otherwise.”

“There are a bunch of jobs in that arena. Some women just date, some offer company for other women, some—”

“Put me down for a no,” Tulsi said, taking another drink from her bottle before putting it on the table. “If that’s all you’ve got…”

He put a hand on her leg to prevent her from sliding out of the booth. “Wait now,” he said. “Never leave after the opening offer. We’ll always be able to work something out.”

Tulsi thought of another man from her past. One who preferred to use implication than to be frank. Even though Dam hadn’t used any kind of sleazy tone, she was still suspicious.

It was on the tip of her tongue to call him out. Perhaps the sales pitch was all just some ruse, or maybe he gave women hope only to snatch it away as some kind of sick fetish. Before she could open her mouth, a shadow darkened their table. Both of them turned toward the huge guy who blocked her end of the booth.

The stranger tossed something down onto the table. “This is a piece of s**t. I want my money back!”

Dam raised a flat hand. “Calm down, Bogey. Geez, can’t you see there’s a woman present?”

“I don’t give a f**k,” the giant guy snapped. “I want my damn money! You vouched for this piece of crap. Now I have a whole f*****g box of this s**t that’s not worth dick.”

Impressive, it seemed the guy was trying to squeeze in as many curse words as possible. While Dam tried to calm the infuriated guy down, Tulsi turned her attention to the thing he’d thrown onto the table.

Picking it up, she examined the leather and metal cuff. It didn’t appear expensive. Turning it over, she discovered a mechanism on the underside, attached to a piece of sheared metal. That meant there should be another piece. Sure enough, on the table there was a blade, only about an inch and a half wide. With both pieces in front of her, Tulsi realized what she was looking at. The cuff concealed a weapon… or it was supposed to. Apparently the blade had snapped right off. It wasn’t difficult to see why when she inspected it more closely.

“The solder was weak,” she said, still examining the piece. “Looks like they used a soldering iron, which isn’t right for something of this size… You’d be better with a torch… or a laser weld.”

Silence fell over the men, which brought her attention upward. Dam’s smile was slow to rise, but it glowed with appreciation.

“There you go,” Dam said, turning back to the looming guy. “My new associate here will fix them up for you.”

Tulsi shook her head and pushed the pieces back onto the table. “Oh, no… No, I—”

“She’s modest,” Dam said, sliding along the seat to put an arm around her. “Bring them back, we’ll get them fixed for you… Free of charge.”

Bogey eyed them both, probably unsure if he could trust her or Dam, who’d provided the substandard product in the first place.

“I’ll bring them back tomorrow… I want them back fast,” Bogey said and stomped off.

She was still watching him when Dam smacked a kiss to her temple. “Think we found your calling.”

“No,” she said, pushing away from him to slide down the booth. “No, I can’t—”

“Sounds like you can.”

Doing anything that was remotely related to her previous business could spell disaster. But her skill for jewelry making was really the only one that she had. It would be more lucrative than serving drinks. Another plus? It could be done in private, so she wouldn’t have to worry about being recognized. Especially if Dam was doing all the face to face work.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll get you all the kit you need,” he said. “Make me a list… Do you know how high demand is for discreet weaponry? Talk to me about this and we’ll work up a pricelist.”

“And how much of that do you pocket?”

“Twenty-five percent,” he said. She lowered her chin to set her disapproval on him. Dam laughed. “Okay, twenty.”

“Ten.”

“Let’s split the difference and call it fifteen.”

She thought about haggling more, but Dam was going to be a valuable ally. Tulsi didn’t want to risk pushing him too far.

“Fine.”

He raised his bottle. “To the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Finally allowing herself to smile, she picked up her bottle too. She’d come out on the hunt for a job and had found one. Tulsi just hoped it wasn’t one that was going to reveal too much of her former self. If it did, termination would mean a lot more than starting over in another new city.