Page 38 of Twisted Knight

She does a little shimmy with her hips, her free hand accidentally bumping against his cock. “Let’s go, honey.”

Rhett eyes me, and for the first time ever I see distrust. My smile is taunting at best as he walks away, looking over his shoulder several times.

When he disappears into the back room, I shift to stare Chad squarely in the eyes.

“So,” he says and takes a long pull on his drink.

I make him nervous. Good. Maybe that’s why this is the first and only time he’s been alone with me.

“So,” I repeat back to him and offer another disingenuous smile.

“You’re new here,” Chad says.

“Can’t say I’ve ever been to this strip club before, no.” I glance around at all that the darkened room and red-hued lights hide. The desperate. The dejected. The feckless.

“I meant to Westmore.”

“I knew what you meant,” I say.

“Don’t know the lay of the land quite yet, do you?”

“Why, Chad, are you offering to show it to me?”

“No. I think you’re more than capable of figuring it all out for yourself.”

“Appreciate the vote of confidence.” I lift my glass and take a sip.

“My—uh—family…”

“What about them?” Where is he going with this?

“They run the sheriff’s department. Head the circuit solicitor’s office.”

The fuck? “Should I be worried that I’m going to be arrested?”

He laughs nervously. “No. That’s not what—I mean … I just … in case you need anything, they can help.”

I angle my head to the side and study him. Why, Chadwick Williams, I do believe you just tried to posture yourself in my favor.

I grin. He truly has no idea who I am or that I know just how fucking corrupt his family is. Wow.

I feign innocence. “Help? Meaning what?”

“Nothing.” An anxious smile. A quick look over his shoulder to where Rhett disappeared. “I just thought you should know. Things happen sometimes. Rules need to be bent.” He shrugs. “I could possibly get them bent for you or find a way to work around them.”

“Ah. Got it.” You know all about bending rules, don’t you, you fucker? “He’s still preoccupied,” I say when he glances again to the lap dance room. “Is there a reason you’re nervous to be alone with me?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Hmm.” I pause and let him worry about what that sound means. “Tell me, Chad. What are your thoughts on the buyout? It seems you’re always standing right beside Rhett so I don’t know what your individual opinions are.”

“On what?”

“On why the company is bleeding money. You wouldn’t have any insight on why that would be, do you?”

Are you going to throw your best buddy under the bus? Save yourself and throw him to the wolves? Is this where the two of you finally turn on each other and point fingers? Or are those secrets you’ve hidden this long going to follow you to the grave?

Chad shifts in his seat and glances around. “Raw material input costs have risen. Insurance has risen. The labor market is in the employees’ favor. We’re getting hit with fines in our current distribution center location, which is why we’re looking to build and own a new one. It’s not just one thing.”