Lotus waits for me in her office as I enter, and she gestures for me to close the door. I do.
“The other day, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d have you doing my books,” she says, going straight in for the kill. “I have enough on my plate, and you’d be doing me a huge favor. I’ll pay you, of course, for all the extra stuff you’re doing around here.”
I rock back on my heels, mulling over her proposal. “You barely know me.” I’m not doing myself any favors, but I need to know why she’d trust me with her books after such a short amount of time.
“I know enough,” she counters, opening her desk drawer and lighting a cigarette. “So whatcha say?”
I have no idea why she’s putting her faith in me, but I eventually nod. “Okay.”
She grins, blowing a ring of smoke. “Great. I don’t suppose you’d want to start now?”
Arching a brow, I wonder why she’s in such a rush. Alarm bells sound, but for some reason, I don’t see Lotus as a threat. “Just tell me what you need.”
She pushes back from her desk, the wheels of her chair whining across the floor. “I want it all,” she replies, sealing this partnership with four simple words.
I’ve been stuck at this desk for hours, checking over everything twice. Lotus left me alone because the reason Tiger was in today is because the club is closed for a private event—Lotus’s fortieth birthday.
She’s invited everyone and anyone, which is another reason she wanted to call me before I came in. She wanted to give me the heads-up that I wouldn’t be working tonight per se. But it seems that even though I’m not needed as a bouncer, Lotus has put me to work doing her books. And after looking over them, I can see why she needs another set of eyes to tell her what she knows to be true.
Things weren’t adding up because she didn’t want them to. But there is no sugarcoating the truth—Lotus is broke.
The money she makes barely covers her bills. The girls pay her a lousy house fee to dance there, and she doesn’t bother with an offstage fee. The girls can pretty much do what they want. She also pays them an hourly rate, which is unheard of in this industry, unless you’re a porn star or well-known dancer.
To make a profit, she will have to cut back on everything.
The music blares in the club along with the lively voices of the patrons. There is way too much pep for my liking, hence the reason Lotus wanted to call me. People, socializing, and pop music are so not my scene. I’m glad to be hidden away from the festivities and plan on leaving soon.
I’m hunched over the desk, writing everything down when the door opens and in sways Lotus with a bottle of vodka hanging from her fingers. After two attempts, she finally gets the door closed. Leaning back in my seat, I wait for her to speak.
She hiccups before slumping into the chair in front of me. “How bad is it?”
Sighing, I toss the pen onto the desk and shrug. “It’s bad, but I have a feeling you already knew that.”
She touches her nose, pointing her finger my way. “You got me.”
“If you knew how bad things were, why would you bother asking me to look over your books?” I’m curious about her motives.
She takes a long sip of vodka, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. When the bottle is empty, she rolls it across the floor. “Because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, and when I saw how good you were with figures, I thought you’d be able to see something I didn’t. But it seems I wasn’t missing anything at all. I’m broke, right?”
“Yes,” I reply without pause. If she wanted me to soften the blow, she chose the wrong man.
A small laugh leaves her, but it’s filled with sadness. “Oh, Bull, what am I going to do?” She places her face in her hands.
If I had a heart, this would be the moment when I say some bullshit line to make her feel better. But I merely stare into thin air.
“I can’t sell this place. No one would buy it. It’s barely standing. You’ve seen the condition it’s in. How can I compete with Blue Bloods? They’ve got a ping pong show, for Christ’s sake!” She sits upright, shaking her head in defeat.
“What’s so special about Blue Bloods?” I ask, making a mental note to scope the place out.
“For starters, the place isn’t falling apart. However, Carlos has so many girls working for him, they will do anything, and I mean anything, for tips. The competition is tough. They gaslight as a gentlemen’s club, but it’s no secret if you wanted your dick sucked or wanted to rough one of the girls up, the management would happily turn a blind eye.”
I grip the arms of the chair beneath me. Sounds like a place where Jaws would thrive. “Why the fuck would anyone want to work there?”
“Because they’re too afraid to leave,” Lotus explains. “This business is filled with sick, dangerous perverts, in case you haven’t noticed. But I wanted my club to be different. I wanted my girls to be empowered while working here, not enslaved to the sexist bullshit we have to endure because we have a pussy and tits.”
Amen.
“But I don’t think I have a choice. If I don’t come up with—” She looks at me, waiting for me to fill in the blanks.
Peering down at the scribbled notes beside me, I say, “Twenty-one thousand three hundred and seventy-two dollars and six cents.”
She sighs. “If I don’t come up with twenty-one thousand three hundred and seventy-two dollars and six cents, then I can kiss my dreams goodbye. Not to mention, my girls will be unemployed. That asshole Carlos is circling this place like a shark. He can smell blood, or more specifically, he can smell Tigerlily.”
My spine stiffens like a rod. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Lotus tilts her head slightly, clearly stunned by my sudden need to punch something. I can’t help it. Everything about this fuckstick Carlos leaves me itching for a fight.
“He wants Lily to work for him and has for a while now. He’s promised to pay her a ridiculously high fee for dancing there, and he won’t touch her tips. He won’t charge her a house fee or an offstage fee. And doesn’t expect her to tip-out. She’ll have her own dressing room. Anything to sweeten the deal. Essentially, he’s offering to pay her a shitload of money to work there.
“She won’t go because she’s loyal. But if I’m forced to sell or close this place down, she won’t have a choice. Finding work in this town that pays enough to survive is close to impossible.”
“You could change your liquor supplier. Increase the house fee. Stop paying the girls an hourly rate and just let them survive off their tips, which is what most strip clubs do. Take a profit from their tips,” I offer, flicking through the notepad. “I’ve written out a list of things you could do to help lessen the debt.”
“I can’t do that to my girls. Besides, if I do all that, will I be able to keep this place afloat?”
With the money that’s currently coming in and what’s going out to expenses, it may help pay back some of what she owes, but in regard to profit, she won’t be seeing that anytime soon.
“Thought so,” Lotus says, reading my expression. “I either sell or—”