“There’ll be so many nice young ladies at this event,” she cries.
I pause at my door and throw her an incredulous look. “The Vieth Orphans are known for taking everything a man has.”
“You can go far with a smart woman by your side,” she says.
“I’d rather die a virgin than dip my wick into that poisonous pool.” I wrench open my door and slam it shut. A Vieth Orphan? She’d probably murder me in my sleep. I heard a rumor that one of Aidon’s men got shot in the head after a round with one of Karin Vieth’s women, which is likely why he wanted to have the alliance, but I don’t need someone from the outside to hold on to this kingdom. I need to convince everyone that their prince is worthy of being a king.
Chapter Two Mackenzie
The hum of bill counters is loud in the room today for some reason. I try to focus my attention back to the spreadsheet I’ve created. I should be lost in my work. Especially with the project Karin has me working on. It’s not my normal bookkeeping I usually do. Karin thinks someone is skimming money off the top, and she’s designated me to figure out who that might be.
I’m to assess past profits along with some of these businesses' popularity for the past few months. Right now I’m looking at a man who owns a handful of clubs. One of his clubs is at max capacity almost every night now. The Vieth organization gets a percentage of the profits netted. It’s the cost if you want to open a business in the Vieth territory. There are a lot of perks to being under their protection.
Interesting thing is that neither the profit nor our cut has gone up even though the volume has. That in itself is a red flag. One which I plan on getting to the bottom of.
It’s no shock to me that Karin keeps track of how busy some of these businesses are. I know their explanation has been that even though they might be busier, people aren’t spending like they used to. That seems odd to me because I have gone over their paperwork, including the liquor orders with distributors. They have almost doubled. All the distributors were more than willing to share that information to Karin, wanting to be on her good side.
You have to be real freaking stupid to try and undercut us. I think some think they can get away with it because this organization is made up of all women. With Karin as our boss.
Karin is a fair woman. If you ask me I’d say she is more than fair. The woman is an angel. An angel of death, but still an angel in my eyes. Of course I’m biased. She saved me and offered me a new future. One that gave me a home, money, and security. Things I hadn’t had at that time in my life.
Paulina starts to sing softly to herself as she pulls out the cash that one of the machines just got done running before dropping in more money to be counted.
I’m happy I get to help out in some way with the outer workings that happen here. I’m just doing it in my own dorky way. I’m the odd one when it comes to being one of the Vieth Orphans. Not that any of them ever make me feel that way on purpose. It’s me that puts that on myself.
“There's a place downtown where the freaks all come around. It's a hole in the wall, it's a dirty free-for-all when they—” I snort a laugh at her song choice.
“There's a place I know if you're lookin' for a show.” Jewels jumps in and starts to sway her hips. “Where they go hardcore and there's glitter on the floor.”
“There is glitter everywhere you guys go.” I push my glasses up my nose.
“Yes, girl,” Paulina says, starting to dance with her. Jewels flicks on some music. Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance fills the room. I’m not even in to women, and I can’t stop watching them dance around the concrete room where they’re working the money counting machine. That is, after all, what Vieth Orphans do best. Seduction. They have a way of drawing your eyes to them. They can be the center of your world if they want.
Jewels grabs a stack of the money that just got done being counted and starts to toss it into the air at Paulina.
“That was just counted!” I laugh.
“Yeah, bitch, don’t throw twenties at me. You know I’m a Benjamin girl all the way.”
“My bad, girl.” Jewels laughs, and they both keep dancing. They keep getting closer to me. I roll my chair further away from them, only making them give me an evil smirk. It’s pointless to fight this. If they want me to dance, I’m going to have to dance. Lucky me, the door opens and Karin comes strolling into the secure room. It would be easier to get into Fort Knox than it would be for anyone else to get into this room.
Her presence doesn’t stop the girls; they keep on dancing, but they have a new target now. She folds her arms over her chest. They dance around her until the song finally ends. She shakes her head, but I don’t miss the small smile she gives them.
“Shouldn’t you girls be working?“ she asks them.
“Pretty sure this is your fault,” Paulina says as she bends down to pick the money up from off the floor. “You’re the one that taught us all how to dance.”
True. Even I can dance. It’s part of the training. You never know when you might need to be a stripper for a job. These things happen. At least around here they do.
Karin lets out a bark of laughter. Her mood has been a lot better with how everything turned out with
