126. Dangerous reasons
Rockford never meant to stay in the city for too long. But there he was three years later feeling too comfortable with his life.
He kept himself aware and distanced himself from people. He thought his grumpy attitude would scare people away, but apparently at Babes, he was considered normal. Okay, he was better than Elvis the bouncer, according to Jojo the floor manager slashed his landlord.
Yup, Rockford was so deep in hiding that he didn’t want a paper trail that could be traced back to him. When the infamous Russian mob boss, Max took him from the biker club, he had let him stay in one of the empty rooms on the second floor. There was nothing much there when he first moved in. But Markov said he could renovate and do anything he’d like on the second floor of Babes. Max told Rockford that he only required half of the space for additional storage. And when Max sold the club to Gage, the new owner had let Rockford stay. Max must’ve told him to let him stay because Rockford was stunned when he still could keep his place and his job.
Money was never an issue with him, since he was once the VP of his biker club until people started saying shit and when the Prez got killed. Rockford was accused of orchestrating everything when in reality he was the one who was being cast away. A hit was ordered, and since then he had been living under the radar.
“Rockford, I need you to go check out booth three. The alarm switch had been pressed, I don’t know if it was triggered accidentally or not.” It was Jojo who called him and his instinct played out immediately. Shit, he cursed when he remembered seeing Dee enter booth three. She winked at him and shook her hips seductively when she saw him watching her.
“Get your hands off me, dude! Don’t you understand what it means by no touching?!”
Fuck. Rockford let out another curse. He knew what these women deal with every day. He still couldn’t get why they would want to put up with this kind of treatment. Granted they needed money and they all come and go, but Dee had been here the longest. At least that was what Rockford thought. He never asked, he had never been a nosy person. Nope, he was just very observant of his surroundings.
When he heard her scream Rockford was done walking, he ran and quickly grab the horny bastard by his collar and drag him out of the booth. “You okay, Dee? Go to the changing room, I’ll get Rocco to check on you.”
Dee looked shaken but she nodded and though he wanted to escort her to the lounge slash changing room, Rockford still needed to deal with the sleazy man currently struggling to break free of his hold. The man looked like he was in his late forties supporting a beer belly and bald head. Rockford knew Babes had high-end customers, but sometimes the sleazy kinds did slip and made the girls nervous.
They knew working at Babes would always be safe for them, and the strip club implemented several security measures. But when these things happened they would still be shaken.
“Come on, you are done.” Rockford spat at the guy.
“The fuck? I am not done! I paid. Who the fuck are you telling me that I’m done? She hadn’t even shown me her titties. It was barely a graze.”
“You can call management and plead your case and get a refund.” Rockford slipped him Jojo’s card. This was one way Babes weed out the touchy bastards. They rather let them go than let them in causing more problems. There are other shady establishments that’d take their money.
Rockford’s knuckles rapped on the bar’s surface before he said with a stern voice. “Rocco! Dee’s in the lounge. Go to her.” The bartender looked at him and the guy that Rockford was dragging out of the club. When the realization hits, Rockford hears Dee’s boyfriend curse and tells the other bartender to hold the fort for him.
It took him less than fifteen minutes to get the guy out of the building. It helped that Elvis was one of the guys that was guarding the door. The man looked scary as fuck with the big scar on his face. Nothing on him screams Elvis, maybe he was just born with the name. Again, Rockford never asks. Always kept everything to himself.
“Who?” He didn’t have to think about the question, Rockford knew exactly what Elvis was asking. The man cares for the girls.
“Dee.”
“Fuck… is she okay?”
“Physically yes.” That was all Rockford could say, knowing he wanted nothing but to check in on her.
“Go, I got him.”
“Thanks, man, I gave him Jojo’s card already.”
When Elvis took over his duty, he got the other bouncer to guard the door while he took the man back to his car and waited until he left the premises.
“How is she?” Rockford asked Rocco who was back behind the bar, apparently, he was getting Dee a drink to calm her nerves.
“You know Dee. She always says it’s fine, but we’re kind of swamped here. Do you mind giving this to her?” Rocco placed the glass on the bar. “It’s rum and coke. For her nerves.”
“Right, okay.” Rockford didn’t ask again, he was just glad that he had an excuse to see her. Since their little encounter, Rockford had been shamelessly thinking about the couple. He knew he shouldn’t, but he just couldn’t help it. Those two were sexy as fuck and he wanted to be included badly though he did bailed the last minute when Rocco invited him for another threesome, the day after it happened for the first time.
Rockford wanted nothing but to distance himself from them. He was dangerous. He has a target on his back. He should’ve been dead years ago and Rockford didn’t want anyone to target people close to him. Nope, nothing intimate for him, a relationship was not going to be in his future. Not if he wanted to value other people’s lives.
But there he was slipping into the lounge with a drink in his hand. “Hey, Rocco sent me to give you this. How are you feeling?”
“Pfft… I’m fine, Rocco always exaggerates stuff.”
She might act fine, but her voice and the little tremble on her hand told Rockford otherwise. “You don’t look fine, stop lying. You think you can lie to Rocco. But you’re not fooling me.”
Rockford watched as Dee was taken aback by his words. She took the drink and took a big gulp of the sweetness before taking in the alcohol burn. Yep, he saw how her hand slightly trembled again as she took the glass to her lips.
“Did he hurt you? I need to tell Jojo if the guy decides to file a complaint.”
“I… I don’t think so. It all happened too fast, I was focusing on when to start pressing the alarm ever since he was giving me the look. You can always tell… you know…”
No, Rockford didn’t know. He was a man. He can certainly defend himself and he was not parading half-naked like she was and dancing seductively for money. But he didn’t tell her that. Instead, the man nodded and he told her to get up and change to her normal clothes.NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.
“I still have another hour.”
“Nope, you’re done. I’ll tell Jojo, later. But you’re not in a condition to dance.” There was a hint of sternness that Dee never heard from anyone. Not even from Rocco. Rockford realized this, but he was not budging. He knew about Rocco and Dee, the couple was as sweet as a married couple who gossiped too much. His boyfriend loves her to the moon and back that she thinks of him as the cuddly teddy bear that would always go with anything she says. But Rockford was not letting her work her last hour and the man relaxed when Dee looked at him behind her glass before she nodded and continued to drink.
“I’m going to get you something from the vending machine. Stay here. Go wear a jacket and get yourself warm.”
Rockford went straight to Jojo’s office and reported to her about the incident and how Dee was handling it. “Okay, it’s good that you told her to take a break. That woman is always too stubborn for her own good and Rocco always gives into her words.”
They talked for a couple of more minutes before Jojo let him go then he went to get some chocolate bars for Dee. Rockford shouldn’t be this attentive, but he just couldn’t help himself. He saw Dee and she looked nothing like fine. She looked shaken and it took all of Rockford not to put her in his arms and keep her safe.