Roxie nodded. “Especially whenever Vic or Pauly were around.”
A wave of nausea rolled through Scarlett’s gut. Though she was terrified to hear the answer, she had to ask, “Did they ever hurt her?”
“Not that I saw. But they’ve gotten rough in the past.” She gave a small shrug. “With some of the others.”
“Any of those women still work here?”
“No.” Roxie shook her head. “They haven’t been here for a while, actually. Not since right before…”
“Right before what?”
“Before Cinnamon left.”
“Roxie!”
A booming male voice made both women jump. Their eyes flew to the door where a pissed-off Pauly now stood.
Shit, shit, shit.
How long had he been standing there? Long enough to hear what they’d been discussing?
“H-hey, Pauly!” Roxie stuttered slightly, but thankfully the woman recovered quickly. “Damn, man. You scared us. What’s up?”
“You’re late.”
“What?”
“You booked a private room for the next hour. The guy’s already been waiting nearly ten minutes.”
“Oh, shit!” Roxie tossed her stuff back into her locker and slammed the door shut. “I completely forgot.” Turning away from the bulking man, she gave Scarlett a wide-eyed stare but sounded as cheery as ever when she said, “Gotta run. Great job again tonight.” She pulled Scarlett in for an unexpected hug. “Good luck finding your sister. And…be careful with him.”
“Thanks.” Scarlett purposely kept her voice loud enough for Pauly to hear. “You, did great, too.”
In more ways than one.
Roxie pulled back and headed for the door. Despite Pauly’s rush to get the woman out to her awaiting customer, he continued to block the path with a scowl.
“Oh, don’t worry, big guy.” The blonde rose up and planted a kiss on the guy’s square jaw. “Making them wait is half the fun.”
The club’s head of security stared down at Roxie a beat longer before taking a step to his right and letting her pass.
“She’s right, you know.” Scarlett opened her locker and retrieved her bag. Pretending to be checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, she used small talk to try to ease some of the tension still brewing in the open room. “I used to work at this one club just outside Cincinnati. And I swear, the longer the men waited in those rooms, the more willing they were to throw money our?—”
A loud bang had her jumping for the second time in as many minutes. Scarlett swung her gaze around, only then realizing Pauly had just slammed the door shut. The same door she’d been told was always,alwayskept open.
And then…he locked it.
Scarlett’s heart flew into her throat, but she did her very best not to give anything away. “Pauly? Wha…what are you?—”
“What were you two talking about?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You and Roxie. What where you whispering about?”
Okay, so he’d heard them talking, but not necessarily about Rose. Taking a chance, Scarlett slid her backpack up over her shoulder and smiled up at him. “Just girl talk. Trust me, it wasn’t that interesting.”
She tried to go around him, but the big jerk slid in her way. “I asked you a question.”