King's Passion. Adrianne Byrd

venom into the phone.

      “HE WHAT?” her father roared.

      Undoubtedly Marcus heard her father’s roar because suddenly he developed a stuttering problem. “S-see. Wh-what had h-happened was…D-Delicious and I—”

      “DELICIOUS? You’re dumping me at the altar for some trick named Delicious? Have you lost your damn mind?”

      “WHAT?” her father continued to thunder. “Give me that phone.”

      Before Victoria could really unload on her second-rate Urkel-wannabe fiancé, her father successfully grabbed the phone from her.

      “NOW, LOOK HERE, MARCUS! Clearly you’ve either had too much to drink or you’ve smoked something that has cooked your brain. You must have forgotten who you’re dealing with. From now until you’re six feet under, I will take great pleasure in personally destroying you. Do you hear me, young man?”

      Trembling with anger and humiliation, Victoria turned and stormed out of the master bedroom and went in search of a good stiff drink—or a whole bottle. At this point, it didn’t matter.

      The twins and her mother shuffled behind her. Each of them told her to calm down and tried to assure her that everything was going to be all right, while her father continued to rant and rave into the phone. Three quick shots of Jack Daniels later, her nerves started to settle down, but her fury was just getting started.

      Chapter 4

      One week later…

      Quentin Dewayne Hinton was rocking Eamon’s last nerve. This simple babysitting project was backfiring more rapidly than he’d anticipated. Sure, he knew that his older cousin was a spoiled rich kid, but he was unprepared for Q’s total disregard for reality. The man had managed to arrange his life to be one giant party. Since he’d arrived, he’d basically hired most of The Dollhouse’s dancers to perform at his over-the-top private parties on the top floor of the Bellagio. Who in the hell rents the entire top floor of a casino?

      Now Eamon was up to his ears with complaints from customers, because he didn’t have enough women working the floor or the upcoming slew of bachelor parties. And where were his two brothers? Apparently nowhere since they were clearly dodging the fifty calls he made to each of them a day.

      “I know that you’re screening your calls,” Eamon barked into the phone. “Call me back!” He slammed the phone down and then ground his back teeth together until he swore that he could taste powder.

      Knock! Knock!

      “What do you want?” he barked and then immediately regretted it.

      The door slowly cracked open, but then just enough for Hayley to stick her head through. “Sorry to disturb you, but we have all the new girls ready to audition.”

      “You have their applications and had them fill out the questionnaires?” he asked.

      Hayley bobbed her head and tried to flash a smile.

      Sighing, Eamon climbed out of his chair and headed toward the door. “I guess the faster I do this, the faster it’ll all be over with.”

      Hayley handed him a thick folder and then patted him on the arm. “See. That’s the spirit, Boy Toy.”

      The meek smile that he was trying to force died as he cut her a look.

      She just laughed.

      The permanent marker that had been used on him at the Hendersons’ bachelor party had been scrubbed with everything from soap, alcohol, makeup remover and at one point a few cotton balls of bleach. The lettering had faded significantly, but if anyone was to look real close, they would still be able to make out the words.

      “It’s not funny,” he grumbled when Hayley’s laughter refused to die out.

      “I think that depends on who you ask,” she volleyed back.

      Sighing, Eamon picked up his pace. He had enough of everyone’s cackling.

      It being just a little past noon, there were just a few people scattered about cleaning and stocking up the club. At the main stage in the center of the club were approximately fifty new girls, ready to audition. At first glance, the women were all very beautiful and their dancing outfits ranged from everything like the naughty nurse to the dominatrix police officer.

      Pretty much the typical stuff.

      Drawing in a deep breath, he pulled out a chair and plopped down. “Good afternoon, ladies.”

      “Good afternoon, Mr. King,” they chimed back as though they had been practicing all afternoon.

      Eamon smiled and opened the folder Hayley had handed him and immediately started delving into the women’s head shots and applications. “Okay. First up, Regina Bailey?”

      “That’s me.” Regina stepped forward, showcasing a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

      Eamon looked her over. “Like the smile. Like the legs…” His eyes parked on her flat chest and then hesitated. “So how long have you been dancing?” he asked while he read her information as she answered him.

      “Since I was six,” Regina said, remaining chipper.

      “Professionally?” he asked, even though he’d already made up his mind that she wasn’t right for the club.

      “No. Actually, I just moved out here from Madison, Wisconsin. It’s always been my dream to become a showgirl.”

      Eamon arched a brow and eased back into his chair. “A showgirl? You know The Dollhouse is a gentlemen’s club. This isn’t casino work.”

      Regina fidgeted a bit, but her smile never faltered. “Yeah. I know, but…I haven’t been able to land anything yet. And—” she snuck a quick glance at the other women behind her “—well…I sort of really need a job.”

      Eamon stared at the young girl for a long moment before he then glanced back down to see that she was just twenty-one. An innocent. “Have you ever done any waitressing?”

      “Yeah. Actually, my daddy owns a restaurant back home. I grew up helping wait tables. Problem is that it’s just as hard trying to find a waitressing job out here as it is trying to land a dancing gig.” Her smile finally started to falter.

      “Well, today is your lucky day. I just happen to have an opening. It’s yours if you’re interested.”

      Eamon watched as if he’d just lifted the world off her shoulders.

      “Really?”

      He nodded. “I’m sure as long as you keep flashing that pretty smile of yours. You’ll rake in a lot of money in tips.”

      “Oh, thank you so much.” She blew him a kiss and started bouncing up and down. “You just don’t know how much that means to me. I thought I was going to have to go back home with my tail tucked between my legs. Thank you. Thank you.”

      “All right. All right. You’re more than welcome.” He turned toward Hayley and handed her Regina’s picture and profile. “Will you take Regina here and make sure that she fills out all the necessary paperwork?”

      Her eyes danced with amusement as she whispered, “I didn’t know we had a position available. I would’ve had my cousin Gwen apply.”

      “When Gwen learns to walk and chew gum at the same time, you do that.”

      Hayley laughed and then escorted Regina to the back office.

      For the next two hours, Eamon watched the rest of the girls audition. There were a few potentials, maybe one or two break-out stars, but the majority of them were rhythm and balance challenged. Just when he and the DJ were getting down to the last dozen women, the front door swung open.

      Eamon glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry, but auditions are closed right now.” He shook his head. Tardiness