Chapter 2 karma

Adriana’s POV

The dressing room was suffocating and filled with thick clouds of cheap perfume and sweat with the overhead lights casting harsh glow on the women that moved around me with practiced ease. My hands trembled as I adjusted the thin straps of the red lace lingerie the club provided, tugging at the hem as if that would make a difference. It didn’t. Nothing could hide how exposed I felt.

"You'll get used to it." a voice said from beside me and I startled at the sound of it. It’s definitely feminine but it’s also husky like she’s been smoking for a while.

I turned to see a blonde adjusting her lipstick in the mirror. She was beautiful in a way that made me instantly aware of how out of place I was. Her confidence and the way she owned her barely-there outfit was effortless. Meanwhile, I could barely stand to look at myself in the mirror without cringing seven ways to Sunday.

"V said to make sure you’re ready and told me to help you out since today is your first day.” She continued in that husky voice, her eyes flicking to my reflection as if assessing me if I was with her time.

I swallowe at what she said. Wince had fucking stared at me like I was a piece of meat when I asked him if I could dance for one night. He hadn’t hesitated to say yes but there was an underlying threat in his words. If this worked, I wouldn’t be allowed to stop. I’d become a regular like this girl whoever she is.

"Any tips before I go out there?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay steady when I’m trembling all over. I’m not saying stripping is a bad thing but it’s just not for someone like me. How the mighty have fallen.

"Don’t fall in love with the money too fast. And don’t make eye contact with the ones who think they own you. They take that as an invitation to do more." She smirked, capping her lipstick before tossing it into her bag carelessly. She’s an expert.

I gave a tight nod, ignoring the way my stomach twisted. The door to the dressing room swung open and the music from the main floor pulsed into the space like a second heartbeat. Someone called my name. And he had the nerve to fucking name me Ginger as a stage name. Fucking James. Well It was time.

With a final breath, i stepped out into the blinding lights of the club. The heat of the room hit me first. The scent of alcohol and expensive cologne mixed together and clinging to my skin as I walked toward the stage. I’m very sure there are many husbands who abandoned their wives to come here and unwind. I know because my husband used to be ones of them.

My red heels clicked against the floor, my legs shaky despite the hours I had spent practicing. I forced myself to keep going while gripping the pole with clammy fingers as the music changed to something slow and sultry. I used to dance like this in highschool and that is how i attracted my… i stopped the thought instantly.

And then I moved. I arched my back while rolling my hips in time with the beat and letting the music dictate my movements. The first few seconds were the hardest as I was forcing my body to keep going, ignoring the way the men leaned forward with their gazes predatory and assessing. I shut them out. I had to.

The money started coming in, tossed carelessly onto the stage like water. Some bills fluttering against my ankle before settling on the ground. It was working faster than i had imagined. It wasn’t much but it was something. I could do this. This is my first night, I’m sure I’ll make more before the end of the week.

But then, reality crashed back right before I started thinking about how to use the money. A hand grabbed my thigh so suddenly and shockingly that I didn’t even see it coming from the dark audience. I was watching anyone like my coach had asked me not to so I wasn’t aware of my surroundings.

I jolted, my entire body stiffening at the unexpected touch. The man smirked with his fingers tracing higher like he had every right to. My stomach twisted but I forced myself to move out of reach. His grip tightened around my thighs instead and fear started in my throat.

"Relax, Ginger sweetheart. You’re on the wrong stage if you don’t want to be touched." he murmured or more like slurred because voice thick with alcohol. The expensive kind I used to serve at the bar.

His friends chuckled from their seats while watching like this was a game. I pushed at his hand but another one grabbed my wrist, yanking me forward. A gasp ripped from my throat as I stumbled into his lap my heart hammering in my chest. What the fuck? This is my first freaking night.

"Stay right here and make me feel good. We’re just getting started." He said again with his breath hot and disgusting against my ear.

Panic flooded my veins and my skin felt like something was crawling on it. The rules here were different. There were no boundaries and no security guards rushing in to stop him. I realized too late that strippers weren’t untouchable in this club. I hadn’t asked that piece of information. No. I couldn’t do this.

I felt him hardness beneath my butt and more panic almost made me hyperventilate. My elbow shot back catching him in the ribs. It wasn’t much but it was enough. His grip loosened for half a second and I yanked myself free, stumbling off his lap and onto shaky legs and those fucking heels.

The room was still spinning as I scrambled off the stage but I made a wise decision even though my hands were shaking, I still snatched a few crumpled bills from the floor. I didn’t care how much it was. I just needed enough to cover Isabella’s next round of medication and find another freaking job.

Ignoring the eyes on me as tears rushed down my face, I rushed toward the back, my breath coming in uneven gasps as I shoved through the dressing room doors. I had made a mistake. A terrible, irreversible mistake. And I didn’t know how to fix it. Then I heard the commotion and stepped out to check.

It was Vince striding towards me without his usual confidence. He looks like he is about to drop dead in front of me and looks like he had seen a ghost at the same time. I have never seen him looking this petrified the whole six months I’ve been working here. He is always smug and annoying.

“Someone wants to see you in the VIP room.” He said like a robot. He wasn’t even really seeing me with the way his eyes are unfocused.

“I’m not going to any VIP room. I never agreed to give special service and after what happened at the stage? I don’t think I want this job any more.” I ground out through gritted teeth while hiding the hundred dollar bills behind me.

“Listen here Adriana, you have no other fucking choice because if you don’t come with me right now he will send his guards and they are not friendly at all. He is the owner of the fucking club.” He snapped finally returning his focused eyes on me.

I don’t care who he is. But Before I could argue some more, Vince is already dragging me down the hall to the VIP section of the club. I tried to claw away from him. I didn’t ask for this. Am I going to be forced to give a special service even though I said no? Then I’m going to quit cause no one is going to do this to me.

We made it outside a door and instead of entering with me, he pushed me inside. I fell on my knees as he closed the door behind him firmly. I wince before slowly raising my head realizing it wasn’t one person in the room. There are two huge men standing by the door and true to Vince’s words, they don’t look friendly at all.

My eyes trailed to the shoes in front of me up to the face of the man wearing a tailored expensive suit. My breath catches as A shiver ran down my spine as the face started to register in my face then I saw the trace of that tattoo he did years ago in highschool peeking through his unbuttoned shirt. It was the tattoo of my eyes.

Rafael Romano… my highschool boyfriend that I dumped for his rival and the father of my daughter. Those gray eyes that used to stare at me like I was the center of his world are now dark, emotionless and dispassionate. The boy that used to wear cheap clothes is wearing a suit that could pay my daughter’s entire hospital bills.

Like I said, karma.

I turned my head to the side and gasped when I saw the man that was trying to grope me earlier all bloody. The other men that stood by the side were like robots. I have a bad feeling that I know what this looks like but I don’t want to believe Rafael became that kind of person.

He was a sweet boy helping his aunt back then even though the bitch never deserved him. And I never deserved him either. I trampled over what we had and killed the boy that only wanted to love me. Right now, that boy seem to have never existed.

What does he want with me now?