The Cunning

33

Adam's fists clenched, watching Madison cosy up with the new girls. She kept looking at him, rubbing it in his face. She thought she was above him because Jase had told Benny not to cut her and now she was rubbing it in his face. He gritted his teeth. This is what happened when they weren't hard enough on the girls. Adam had stopped listening to the conversation he was involved in ages ago. Once his knee started bobbing up and down, he had to excuse himself.

"You ought to have a word with Madison. She's getting a little too big for her boots," he said, interrupting Jase's conversation in the kitchen. Adam relayed how Madison was having an all too friendly chat with the new girls. Jase grumbled disapprovingly, leaving the table. He called her from the living room, taking her into the hallway and out of earshot.

"Have I done something?" she asked, feigning confusion, peppering it with just the right amount of fear.

"What are you playing at?" Jase asked. He was annoyed at her but not angry, which was a relief. Her brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"You were in there talking to the new girls. You know you're not allowed to talk to anyone here, so what are you doing? Right in front of Adam as well, you're not stupid, Madison." He was suspicious, and she didn't blame him. This had played out so perfectly.

"When Lily came into my room, it was more insulting than anything to have her suggest she was my friend. She certainly didn't make me want to be on my best behaviour. I figured it would sound better coming from someone in the same shoes as them. You know, telling them how to act. Lily does it for her benefit, I'm doing it for theirs." He looked over her shoulder into the living room, where he could see the girls half smiling at one of the punters talking to them. It wasn't a genuine smile, obviously, but it seemed that whatever Madison had said worked. She shrugged when he didn't reply, "They'll be more inclined to listen if they think I'm doing them a favour."

"Cut it out. I don't want the other girls trying to follow in your footsteps."

She sucked in her lips, bobbing her head like a child being warned.

"I won't do it again. I was just trying to save them from trouble." Jase wasn't mad at her. It wasn't like she was conspiring with them, but he had to enforce at least one rule before she really did start taking the piss. And before everyone else started taking notice. Fortunately for her, tonight wouldn't be the night. She'd done their work for them. As far as he was concerned, the less hassle the girls were, the better. He couldn't have Madison so openly breaking rules though.

"They won't be here for long. Save yourself the trouble of trying to save everyone else." Madison's heart sank. Again, she pushed the guilt to the side, hanging her head.

"Noted." Satisfied with the conversation's outcome, Jase went to step past her when she placed a hand on his forearm, stopping him. His eyes looked down at her fingers, cold on his warm skin. "Thank you, by the way," she said, looking up at him, inches between them. His brows knitted together,

"What for?" She looked to the kitchen door, then back.

"For getting that man to leave me alone." He poked his tongue in his cheek, deciding it was best if he didn't reply, slipping away from her hand and back to the others.

Jase liked Mike about as much as he liked Charlie - he didn't. He didn't like any of the punters. There was a characteristic in people that paid for sex, with girls that didn't want it, that he wasn't a fan of, regardless of how hypocritical it made him look.

They were dogs. Dogs that reeked of desperation, which he only saw as a weakness. He didn't like weak people either. At least he could justify his position because he was making money, and he could hold his hands up to the things he did. They were throwing cash away for thirty minutes of sex and it was rare they even stayed the half-hour, shamefully picking up their trousers, leaving the room without being able to turn back and look the girl in the eye. Punters were a breed of people that Jase didn't associate himself with on a personal level.

He stayed off the cocaine during the showing, always on the lookout if someone got rowdy. However, the night went on without another hitch, the crowd thinning by three. Five men sat around the table in the kitchen. They'd taken out a deck of cards and were playing poker.

"What did Madison have to say earlier?" Sam asked. Jase looked at his hand, slouching slightly to peek at his cards by lifting the corner. Two Aces. The pot was well over £100 now, a pile of tens and twenties in the middle. He slid another twenty in and shook his head,

"Nothing, she was letting the girls know how things work in this place."

"That's what Lily's for," Adam replied, annoyed that once again, nothing had come of Madison's actions. Jase shrugged.

"I know, but as Madison stated, they're more likely to listen when it comes from someone in the same boat, and as much as I hate to agree with her-"

"Do you?" Adam interjected. Jase's brows furrowed, and the game was put on hold. An icy tension frosted over the previously tranquil atmosphere. Everyone averted their eyes but Adam continued to stare at Jase.

"Do I what?" Jase tested, knowing exactly what Adam meant. Adam frowned, folding his arms and sitting back in his chair.

"Hate to agree with her?" he said. Jase tilted his head in a way that would let Adam know, that whilst he was invited to speak his mind, it was probably best if he didn't.

"If you've got something to say, then say it." He raised a brow, waiting patiently, but Adam looked away, retreating from the argument. He wasn't quite that brave yet, but Jase could tell he was edging towards it. From Adam's point of view, he had every right to be angry with Madison. She was meddling with how things had worked for years and it seemed he was the only one noticing it.

"Fold," Sam said.

"Madison has a point," Jase continued, not wanting the boys to think he was covering for her again. He couldn't be too mad at Adam. Jase was just as suspicious of her when she did anything but he could curb his temper, Adam couldn't. It was likely she was up to something, however, until that something came to light, Jase had other things that required his focus. "The new girls did as she said. I'm not punishing her when only good came out of her actions." No one said anything, either unbothered by Madison's entire presence or not willing to speak up against Jase.

Realistically, they all knew she had done them a favour. They were prepping the girls before they were sent off to Ramon. He wouldn't appreciate them turning up and causing a disturbance because they hadn't listened to Lily. Madison was cooperating, which was what they had asked her to do. Albeit, in her own way, but the outcome was still the same.

Adam played his hand, lost, and showed himself to bed. Tommy and Reece left an hour later, leaving Sam and Jase in the kitchen. The clock ticked over to quarter past four. Sam lit a cigarette, Jase did the same.

"Do you genuinely believe Madison was trying to do us a favour by talking to those new girls?" Sam asked. Jase blew smoke up at the ceiling in thought.

"I think that's what she wanted it to look like," he said, looking at Sam again then tapping ash in the tray as he spoke again. "But Madison is cunning-" Sam raised his brows. He'd never heard Jase speak about a girl's intelligence. "I don't trust her if that's what you're really asking but those girls go in a few weeks and there's someone in the house at all times after she got out, so I'm not worried about whatever it is she's really up to." This was a lie.

*

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