Oh, crappy doodles.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man with dark blond hair walk through the front door. Unlike all the other men who had entered the club, he waited next to the bouncer. Heart in my throat, I turned slightly, nearly gasping when I realized it was Mason.

“I see you’ve met Ruby,” Mud said from behind me, and I wasn’t sure whether I’d earned a reprieve, or if I was in even deeper trouble. I could only imagine what Mason would do if he knew what I was up to, and it wouldn’t be good for either of us.

Rich’s eyes remained on me, a smile tugging the corners of his lips. “Ruby and I were just getting acquainted.”

“I knew you’d like her, but she’ll have to wait until after business. He’s here.”

Rich’s eyes turned dark. “Already?”

Mud tilted his head toward the door. “Yes.” Then he walked toward his new guest.

Rich pulled me closer and lifted the hem of my tank top, running his rough hand over my stomach before looking up at my face. “Wait for me, Ruby. I’m looking forward to really getting to know you.”

My breath stuck in my throat as I waited for Mason to storm over and possibly get us both killed. My only hope was twofold—one, that my back was to him and he wouldn’t recognize me, and two, that this would the last place Mason would expect to see me.

I didn’t say anything as Rich got to his feet, still staring into my face. For one horrified second I thought he was going to kiss me, but he bent his mouth to my ear.

“I’m looking forward to later.”

I shivered from fear, but he laughed as he lifted his head. “McDonald, keep an eye on her.”

“Got it,” his friend said.

I watched Rich strut to the door that led to the office and the entrance to the girls’ dressing room, trailing behind Mason and the club’s manager.

I hurried back behind the bar, trying to gather my wits together, torn between running as far from this place as possible and figuring out a way to find out where the three of them went and what they were discussing.

“Lowry’s comin’ on strong,” Kip said, “even for him. Mud was right.”

I looked up at him, stuffing down my panic. “Right about what?”

“Rich likes a certain type of girl, and you fit the bill.”

“What? Brown hair?”

He laughed. “Actually, yeah, that’s part of it. Long brown hair, not too skinny but not too stacked either. But it’s more than that. He likes ’em a little classy but not overly done up.”

“Girl next door,” I finished.

“Yeah.”

“And he always gets what he wants, right?”

“Anything he wants. The sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be—financially and otherwise.”

Now it made sense why Mud had been so interested in hiring me. “We got interrupted. He had to go meet someone. Why didn’t his friend go with him?”

“His friend isn’t important enough to meet the owner.”

Mason was meeting the owner. That couldn’t be good. “The owner?”

“They meet every Friday night, and then Lowry meets men in the VIP rooms later. But something different’s going on tonight. That guy at the front door is new.”

I shot a look of surprise up at him. I’d been peppering him with questions, forgetting his rule about smart girls. So what did it mean that he was actually answering me?

He shrugged, guessing the source of my confusion. “Lowry picked you. That means you’re in. The way he’s taken with you, he’ll probably have you with him for some of his meetings.”

“Did Sapphire sit in on some of his meetings?”

“Only the last night she was here. Lowry didn’t like her as much as he seems to like you.”

“Because she wasn’t his usual type?” I asked.

“Plus, she was a little bit too eager to suit him. But the man has his needs, and he couldn’t have Diamond because she belongs to the owner.”

I hated the way he talked about us like we were property. But I had more pressing concerns than his misogynistic attitude.

I had to figure out how to get Mason out of here.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I said.

“Now?” Kip groaned.

“Yes.”

He pointed to the door Mason had just disappeared through. “It’s in that hallway. Hurry.”

I circled the counter, and Rich’s friend, McDonald, watched as I went through the door to the backstage area.

The second door on the left was marked “Ladies.” I ducked inside the single bathroom and pulled out my phone. There was a text from Skeeter.

Get the hell out of there.

I wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I called my best friend. “He’s here, Neely Kate.”

“Mason?”

“Yeah.” My voice broke as it finally sank in why he was here.

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”

“He’s somewhere in the back with Mud, one of Skeeter’s guys, and the owner. I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s nothing to do. You can’t stop him. Just walk out the back door and let’s go home.”

“I can’t, Neely Kate. It’s Mason!”

“Rose . . .”

“No! Something doesn’t make sense. If the owner of Gems is meeting with Mason right now, and Mason is taking bribes from him, why were Skeeter’s guys trying to kill him?”