Life of Sin Book 1

Chapter Three

As soon as I walked in, I heard my boss yelling at his nephew, Eli. DelMar Ducati ran this place like a tight ship. Everything from the dancers to the clean up crew to the amount of liquor being poured had to exceed his expectations. With that being said, it wasn't easy getting hired here. He told me I looked too much like a sweetheart to be one of his dancers. He was looking for someone who portrayed dominance and had just enough attitude to finesse the money out of a man's pockets but the sexiness to turn his brain to mush so that he’d think nothing of it. I had the sexiness down but he needed me to show my dominance. So instead of begging for the job, I stripped down to nothing but my panties and hopped on stage, interrupting one girl's set. Her name was Chasity and she was livid! The men who sat around watching her with tight grips around their cash immediately stood up to throw their dollars at me. From that point on, I was known to Ducati as the “fan favorite” and to him, that meant dollar signs. When I finished my dance, DelMar rushed me to the back and begged me to sign the contract. However, enough about that and back to why Eli was getting cursed out by his uncle. There’s more to Ducati’s than pretty girls shaking their asses. The back area's for VIP. Usually guys with big money, rappers, and NBA players from out of state who want to get nude dances from their favorite girls. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But underground there’s an entire operation for importing and exporting “goods.” Weapons, drugs, counterfeit merchandise and counterfeit cash. If it's illegal, most likely DelMar's stamp is all over it. All the money he made through illicit deals and activities was laundered through the club. It was the perfect setup. Of course DelMar ran things but when he wasn’t around to do so, Eli stepped in. He didn’t quite instill the same fear in people like his uncle did but that didn’t mean he was naïve or someone to play with. It just meant he wasn’t DelMar. He was street smart, he learned everything about the underworld from DelMar and The Family, or La Familia as they call it. They taught him the mathematics of drugs and how to earn a profit. To him, that was all he needed to know. He rose through the ranks by making important drug deals, pissing off a lot of big names, and silencing anyone who had anything to say about it. Eli made sure people respected him and the family name and that was the kind of initiative Ducati was looking for. It didn’t take long for him to rise from a lowly thug to DelMar's right-hand man.

“How the fuck does two boxes full of white just disappear, Elijah? You were here all night and you're telling me you didn’t see anything out of the norm?”

“With all due respect Tío, I only loaded the truck like you told me to. Whatever went missing must have been missing before I got here.” Ducati yanked Eli further into the corner and said some things that I couldn’t make out. Minding my business, I stopped by the bar for a shot before heading to the locker room.

“Hey Devyn, you look stressed.” Kiana poured me my usual shot of Patrón and proceeded to wipe down the bar. She wasn’t the only bartender but she was the best one in my opinion and a good friend to have. Kiana was so charismatic and gorgeous that nearly everyone she served asked why she wasn’t a dancer. Apparently it wasn’t her thing.

“Girl, that’s an understatement.” I downed the shot and sighed, resting my head on the counter.

“Better not let DelMar see you, he is not in the best mood.” She said, pouring me one more shot.

“Any idea why?” I obviously knew why but I was just one of the few people here who knew about the underground dealings. I only stumbled upon it by accident which then caused DelMar to hold a gun to my head and make me swear with my life that I wouldn’t say a word to anyone.

“I heard him mumbling something about some missing crates earlier. Maybe a liquor shipment got lost, I don’t know. I don’t get paid to ask questions.” She laughed. If only you knew. I paid for my drinks and headed to the back. All the girls were in a frenzy, applying makeup and styling their hair. It was a little more chaotic than usual. Undressing, I ask out loud,

“What’s going on? Why’s everyone in such a hurry?”

“Girl, some QC members gone be in the building tonight! It was all over the ‘gram.” One of the girls showed me the flyer on her phone.

“You know we gotta be on our worst behavior! I’m talking sparklers, money guns, all that good shit! Maybe one of us will get lucky and—”

“And what?” Chasity interrupted, shouting above the noise. One by one, everyone in the room stopped talking.

“Become a nut rag? Because that’s really all you can expect from rappers these days. These niggas flex like they really got it but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“Is this about the last incident? You thought you’d fuck ‘em and make ‘em pay your rent?” One girl asked. A few other girls giggled but most of them stayed silent. Chasity turned to the girl.

“You must be one of the new ones,” she said with a disgusted look on her face.

“I don’t know who you think you are or what you think you know, but you'd better ask around.” She cut her eyes at me before continuing.

“I’m not the one you wanna fuck with hoe. Keep it up, I’ll make tonight your last night.” Looking around and sensing the tension in the room, the poor girl stormed out. After a while everyone went back to prepping. Chasity let out an alarmingly loud laugh.

“Did y’all see her face!? She don’t want no smoke.” She took a swig of liquor and strutted out, somewhat wobbling. It didn’t make a difference if she was drunk or sober, Chasity gave no fucks about what left her mouth and the night I interrupted her dance, I was on the receiving end of it. She called me all kinds of “bum ass hoes” and “dusty bitches” but none of that mattered to me. I was never here to make friends. After getting dressed, I walked out and started making my rounds until it was time for me to get on stage. When I was up there, the only thing I cared about was getting paper. The events of the day didn’t matter anymore and I was at peace. All the sounds around me faded into nothingness. I was aware but I really wasn’t there. Every so often, dudes grabbed at me, trying to sneak a peek as they stuffed 10s and 20s into my outfit. They were like dogs in heat when their wives and girlfriends weren’t around. Time carried on, and I ended the night with more than my fair share of cash. I wouldn’t know the exact amount until I got home to my money counter. I slipped back into my clothes and headed for the exit.

“Onyx hold up!” Rolling my eyes, I stopped and let Chasity catch up to me.

“It's late, what do you want?”

“Damn, I came over here to say you did a good job tonight. Even I was impressed, given our little situation.”

“Yeah? Thanks.” I turned to walk away but she latched onto my arm.

“You wanna know how you can make some extra cash? No funny shit.” A devilish grin appeared on her face. I didn’t say anything but I allowed her to explain.

“Some rich Arab niggas are throwing a party at the Westin Saturday. They need some dancers to come turn up and I think you’d be a good fit.” I peeled her hand from my arm and stepped back.

“Don’t think I don’t know what y’all do at these parties. I am not that type.” I got in my car before she had a chance to say another word.