tabby

myself in my new persona—I recovered to finish the dance without another mistake. Something that only two days ago I would have never been able to do. But the moment Bae told me he believed in me, something shifted inside me. Confidence I’d never had before filled me.
What I hadn’t been prepared for was the rush of adrenalin that raced through my veins. Between it and the release of my nerves, I wanted to throw up.
Ensuring my back faced them, I stood and rushed off the stage, where Arin waited with a dressing gown. “You were fabulous, blueberry.” He pecked the upper corner of my forehead before ushering me back to the dressing room. “Get dressed and then we’ll go out and celebrate.”
Going out wasn’t exactly what I wanted. Not after putting myself on display like that, but I nodded.
“Good girl.” He slapped me on the ass while handing me my clothes.
I used the time alone in the bathroom to calm my racing heart. The coolness of the bathroom floor against my overheated skin took away my urge to revisit my lunch.
I did it! A large smile stretched across my face. I danced, no stripped, in front of people. Even made a mistake. And I survived. That wasn’t to say all my issues were resolved. Or that I looked forward to dancing night after night, but now I wasn’t frightened of making a fool of myself and failing. The idea of making a mistake didn’t make me freeze and bring on a panic attack.
A knock sounded on the door, vibrating against my back, before Arin asked if I was okay.
“Yup. I’ll be out in a minute.” I heard him move away from the door, and the minute I judged him to be far enough away, I scrambled to put my clothes on.
The heavy makeup itched from the sweat, and I eyed the sink, wanting to wash it off. But until I left the club, I’d keep it on. It had taken me two hours to apply it through trial and error, but once it was done, I looked nothing like myself. Just the way I wanted.
Poking my head out the door, I searched the room for Arin or even Bae. Even though the club was still closed for the day, the possibility of running into someone without one of them by my side made me uneasy. While most people would think that this was the perfect time to go nosing around, it wasn’t. To be caught in an area that I wasn’t supposed to be in when no one was around would raise suspicions, and all three of them had hammered into me that my job was to dance and draw attention while they searched for the computer with the files I would need to access.
Arin stepped out from behind one of the wardrobe walls and shook his head.
My hand went to my hair, smoothing it down. “What?” I stepped out of the room, carrying my dressing gown in my hands.
He rushed forward, grabbing it from me. “Nothing, I just don’t like the way you look with this on.” He pointed to my makeup. “You don’t look like you, and I like you.” His words made me smile. The look I’d copied came from a magazine, and it was something my stepmother and stepsisters kept suggesting I do, telling me how it would make me so beautiful. And to be honest, I thought it did make me beautiful, so hearing that he preferred the normal me was like being on the receiving end of a Kasim hug.
With his free hand, he interlaced his fingers with mine and pulled me toward the front of the club. “Let’s go find Bae and blow this Popsicle stand.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
“Miss Kitty.” I wanted to roll my eyes at the horrible name the guys decided I should use for my stage name, but instead, I plastered on a smile for Ed. “I just wanted to tell you that you are phenomenal. I’m so glad you needed a change and decided to come dance for me. I can guarantee you’ll make a fortune here and develop a huge following.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait.” Saying the words sent my stomach roiling. If I hadn’t been wearing the thick makeup, I’m sure they all would have seen how green my skin looked. Thankfully, Bae must have noticed, as he stepped to my side and took over the conversation, while both he and Arin placed a soothing hand on my back.
“I’m just happy we could come to an agreement that I’m sure Miss Kitty is very pleased with. But unfortunately, she has a prior engagement that she really must get to. Until tomorrow night then?”
Ed shook Bae’s hand, but his gaze never left me, roaming over my body as if he was remembering what each part looked like without clothing. I worked hard to suppress a shiver but didn’t think I succeeded since his eyes narrowed a fraction. From all the evidence they’d gathered, Ed was human, but I wasn’t convinced. There was definitely something strange about him, and it wasn’t just the fact that he owned a high-end strip club.
But before I could do anything else to raise suspicion, Bae whisked Arin and me from the premises.
Once we were inside the car and on the way back to the den, Arin broke the silence. “So, what did you discover?”
Bae glanced back at me before returning his focus to the windy mountain road. “Don’t we want to wait for Kasim before we start?”
“No. He was going to follow Ed to see if he contacts anyone to tell them about”—his eyes twinkled—“Miss Kitty here.”
Grrrr. The soft rumble sound came from the centre of my chest, drawing a laugh from Bae and Arin.
“Oh my gosh, Bae. Have you ever heard something so cute?”
“Nope. Maybe she needs to spend some time with Kasim learning how to roar because that’s not going to scare anyone. Unless she also has some sharp