You could tell Stone wasn’t too happy about that; and a frown made his face look uglier. Stone approached Suzy.
“Hey Suze, come heah!”
Suzy didn’t hear him. She was inquiring of another girl about a missing dance outfit. Stone grabbed her right arm, which was slanted upward, in a strong gesture of emphasis, and snappily, he beckoned her to him.
“Hey Suze, gotta talk to ya!”
Suzy had never fancied getting cut short on anything; but because it was Stone, she paused a rollout of crude insults before it got out her mouth.
Instead, she said to him, “Look, I can’t find one of my outfits… And it’s the third one in two months.”
In response, Stone simply waved the arraigned girl away. She tootled off, scoffing behind Suzy’s back. Suzy didn’t like it and complained to Stone, “This stuff costs me money and you’ve got to do something ––”
“Ah’ma get yuh ‘nuther outfit outta my pocket –– now shut up an’ listen!”
Her mouth was still open, but she was definitely shut up.
“I need yuh to do sumethin’ for me, understand?” Suzy’s face momentarily took on a cagey expression as she listened. “Gotta customer waitin’ for you right now in the special room…”
“A customer?” Suzy repeated, confused. “But we’re not even open yet.”
Stone pulled her a couple feet away from earshot and said, “Yeah, Ah see we ain’t open… But he’s heah and he’s waitin’ right now. So I need yuh to get your ass in there, put on a private show an’ do whutevah he asks you to do…”
“What do you mean whatever he asks me to do?”
Her blond hair was pulled up into ponytails. Stone started caressing it, the hank of the tail feeling like silk between his rugged fingers.
Smiling like a devil, he said, “Do Ah really need to paint a picture? If dat sunavabitch wants you to fuck his ass, then dat’s what you need to do. Ah think dat’s in yuh ropes, right?”
With her right palm, Suzy angrily slapped Stone’s fingers off her hair, and his arm dropped limply to his side. She stared at him, eyes seething with outrage. But Stone wasn’t even remotely moved or anything; he said with the same devil smile,
“Dat a problem? It ain’t like yuh never done dis before.”
“Stone –– stop it!” Suzy said. “You promised me –– you promised I wouldn’t have to entertain your VIPs if I didn’t want to…”
“Yuh worried ‘bout your boyfriend, s’dat it? But he ain’t have to know squat about it, girl.”
“He won’t know squat about it because I’m not gonna do it!” She added decisively. “I’m not doing it, Stone.”
“It’s the way it is now, huh?” Stone said, grinning. “Nobody can touch your merchandise but your goodie two-shoe boyfriend? Hope he knows how lucky he is!”
“Are we done here?”
“Not so long ago that ass of yours was in high demand. But now it gets to be all his.”
Suzy pouted at Stone’s disparaging comment. It was not surprising coming from him. She had to walk out of the conversation.
Stone said again, “Yuh can play hardball all yuh want, Suze, for appearances. It don’t matter to me if yuh boyfriend is too stupid to fall for dat. But tell me somethin’: is he at least worth it? Is he any good? Ah mean, is he huge?”
On that question, the outrage which was in her eyes a second ago suddenly blinked out, and Suzy found herself anxious to probe into Stone’s head, to see for herself whether the man was just being a foul-mouthed dick to her, or a very fiendish pervert – which he was most of the time.
“That’s none of your fucking business,” Suzy said. She speared Stone with a long dirty look, and added fearlessly, “You know what? Screw you!”
And as she was starting off, Stone quickly shifted his imposing weight to restrain her movement. Then, shoehorning her into a corner, he said, dropping all smiles,
“Watcha fuckin’ mouth! Never forget who yuh talkin to heah. When Ah found your ass, it wasn’t inna best o’ shape, remember? And Ah took care of it––” His forefinger began trailing up and down her cheek, in a sort of affectionate way. “Now lookacha: so pretty, indeed! Ah bet dat fucking stud of yours get off just by looking at it, huh, your pretty face.” He seized her by the chin. “Wonder what he’d do to it if he knew every motherfucking thing Ah know ‘bout you, ‘bout the extras you gave behind closed doors to keep our special customers happy and coming back ––”
Sonavabitch, Suzy thought, looking Stone right in the eye.
“He thinks yuh too good for this place, ain’t he?” Stone went on. “But yuh and Ah both know he couldn’t be more wrong.”
“He loves me ––” Suzy said patiently, managing to sound unworried of Greco’s predictable reaction upon learning about some undisclosed details of her history at the Penthouse.
“What’s not to love? Yuh’re a good gal; that is, when yuh’re bad,” Stone said, the devilish smile returning to his face. “Ah gotta meet him later on today.”
He released her chin and she let him go on, even though she wanted to interrupt with, ‘Meet him about what?’
“He just called up here,” Stone said. “Thought I’d be innarested to hear a business proposition or somethin’. Dat’s rite –– your man wanna do business with me; says he’s putting stocks of his dumb record label up for sale. So Ah figure since trust is important in any partnership, Ah might as well have a little heart-to-heart talk with him, yuh know, ‘bout those fiery nights when you put that ass to work for some extra cash.”
Suzy bit her lip. A million contradictory thoughts flashed through her mind. And from her head down, she immediately felt a steep dizziness affect not only the balance of her body, but the peaceful ground in her heart, as well.
Did Greco really want to do business with Stone? She was finding it hard to believe. As she was finding hard to believe Stone’s attempt to blackmail her into doing the escort thing again.
And yet he’d promised to keep her out of it…
Because their heads were just a few inches apart, it was difficult to hold Stone’s overbearing eyes, as they were at work, conspicuously studying the twitches on Suzy’s face. Suzy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, maybe by intimidation.
“Dat’s my girl,” Stone said happily, pulling back a little. “Yuh always been my favorite, if yuh wanna know the truth...”
He started off, and Suzy finally worked up the nerve to oppose him.
“Do what you want, Stone. But I’m not doing this.” She added, “How hard is it to get someone else to do your dirty work?”
“Now listen heah,” Stone said, getting all riled up and drawing closer again. “Dat asshole wants you. And he got something Ah want.”
“I don’t do this kind of thing anymore –– and you know it.”
Stone looked at Suzy, calmly. Though she couldn’t tell if it was the calm just before the storm. He’s never hit you before, she told herself. And he’s not about to start now. However, by the look in his eyes, all bets could be off.
Suddenly, the dimple on Stone’s mouth softened.
“Aight, Ah can appreciate that,” he said. “Yuh wanna take it easy, huh? Do somethin’ a bit more respectable? Well, Ah got just de thin’, sweetheart. But you gotta first do this for me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout recommending you to a bigwig fellow o’ mine who’s ‘bout to go on a long vacation trip overseas with his crippled old man and is lookin’ for someone to take care of him 24/7 over there.”
Suzy tried to keep calm, even though a warm thrill was making her eyes gleam brighter. She definitely liked the sound of Stone’s pitch.
He said, “Yuh went to college for sumething like dat, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, there yuh go: your ticket to a respectable job. And from what Ah know, it pays handsomely, as well. And who knows –– maybe you’ll like it overseas and stay
there, that is if yuh don’t miss us too much.”
He broke out a hoarse laughter, which made his cheeks look fatter, and his eyes thinner.
Suzy looked at those eyes, trying to detect whether some truth was in them. It was too good an opportunity to pass up; and too foolhardy to just jump on it.
Going overseas had never even crossed her mind, and for good reason. It was way beyond her economic reality. But really, hearing this offer had suddenly reignited her deep-seated passion for assisting the disabled, and helping them achieve wellness regardless of physical restrictions or limitations.
“How do I know you’re not making this up?” Suzy said, trying to exercise caution.
“Yuh got my word, Suze,” Stone replied. “And a good word from me is all dat’s needed if yuh want this gig.” Stone gave her fifteen seconds to make up her mind. Then, almost with hostile levity, he pressed her for an answer. “So yuh want this gig, yes or no?”
Chapter XXIV
SEXY ONE ON ONE IN THE SPECIAL ROOM