Chapter 128: She's Not Here
Alex pulled the photograph up on his screen and showed it to Luther. Indeed, Aurelia was dressed in the same black ensemble as a couple of hours ago. Someone inside Rogue had seen her and clicked a picture while she walked towards the back. Flanking on either side of her were the assistants she had picked. Trailing behind were two bulky men, clearly bouncers, making sure no one came close to the group.
“Aurelia isn’t the kind to indulge in pleasure,” Jianna interrupted. “She must have gone there for some work.”
Luther’s lips twitched. The image of repression that he had built of Aurelia in his mind had a tiny fracture in it. He knew she had visited once with Rania Sharp, but now it felt like a pattern.
“She looks really happy to be at work, then,” Alex scoffed. “What do you think, Luther?” he turned to ask.
“Let’s not speculate,” Seth piped in. “Why don’t we find out for ourselves?”
“And go to Rogue?” Alex raised his voice. “That seedy place is not worth our time. I don’t want to dirty my eyes.” He rolled his eyes.
“At least we will have an opportunity to meet Luther’s wife. We don’t need to order lap dances for that, right?”
Luther gritted his teeth. “What Aurelia does with her time is her business.”
He recalled how impatient she had been. She had left him on the road alone, and he believed her. He even felt apologetic for coming to meet Jianna.
“Seth is correct,” Jianna said loudly. “Alex, you are targeting my sister for no reason. We should go to Rogue and find out what is really happening.”
Alex scrunched his face in distaste, but the drama was too good for the others in the room to miss. Everyone chimed in, excited to meet the woman who had finally married Luther. As Luther’s power grew, his friends became more reverent of him. Except for Alex, who lived far away and didn’t care who was in power.
“Fine,” Alex grumbled. He pushed off the couch and sauntered out. Everyone shuffled out of the room and got into their cars. The ride to Rogue was filled with anticipation for gossip. The moment they were standing outside the strip club, they were stopped by bouncers and checked over.
“The cover charge is five grand per person?” someone exclaimed.
“Yes,” the bouncer said blankly. He glanced at Luther, clearly recognizing him, before turning to the others again.
“This guy is your boss’ husband,” Seth introduced.
“No exceptions.”
“Why don’t we call Aurelia out and ask her to let us in?” Jianna whispered. “Surely, we don’t have to pay… here.”
Luther retrieved his wallet and handed his card to the concierge. The woman took the offered card, bowed and led the group in.
“Don’t let your boss know we were here,” Luther grumbled.
The concierge smiled. “Rogue runs on discretion. No one will find out you were here unless another client reveals it,” she promised.
They were led to the private rooms on the second floor. The drinks came in and the dancers started their first routine. Luther turned away while Alex made it a point to nitpick everything in front of him.
“Are we really going to wait around for Aurelia to come?” someone asked.
Jianna, who had taken a seat beside Luther, leaned against Luther’s shoulder and sighed. “See? She is not here.”
“Might be getting a lap dance from a stripper in another room,” Alex remarked pointedly.
Luther glared at him. He had enough of Alex’s snide remarks. From the way he kept glancing in Jianna’s direction, Luther was sure Alex had a crush on her.
He was so wrapped up in Jianna before that he didn’t notice. Now, it was shoved down his throat. He didn’t mind anyone liking Jianna, that would happen anyway, but for Alex to contradict him at every turn because of it…
“You can leave if you’re not enjoying your time,” he replied sharply.
Alex narrowed his eyes in irritation. “When such a sleazy show is on? No chance.”
They followed Alex’s gaze and found a fight unfolding downstairs.
The girl struggled in the man’s arms. Though scantily clad, she was a waitress making the rounds of the room, making sure the patrons always had drinks and smokes in front of them. One particularly drunk man, whose face they couldn’t see from where they sat, hooked onto her waist, refusing to let her go.
“What else did you expect?” someone sighed. “Rogue doesn’t have the best reputation. People come here for fun… they don’t care how they have it.”
“Aurelia’s reputation will be ruined if others find out she was the owner…”
Luther gritted his teeth.
The girl panicked as she struggled to free herself from the drunken man. She knew he was a known face. A regular whom no one liked but couldn’t turn away because he paid a lot of money in tips. But his conduct had made every female in the club feel unsafe.
But this came with a job at Rogue.
She glanced towards one of the bouncers, motioning him to come forward. The bouncer was reluctant but walked over and pried the drunken man off her.
“Are you turning me down?” the man screamed. His voice drowned out the heavy music. The strippers on the stage stiffened and glanced their way before continuing with their routine. The show must go on.
“I will call for someone else if you like,” the girl said politely. She couldn’t offend anyone who came to Rogue. Her life was inconsequential to these people if they paid ten grand every night just to be here.
“I want you. Now sit on my lap and strip.”
Her eyes widened at the demand. She looked at the other men at the table. They looked on in anticipation, having no reason to help her out of the difficult spot.
“What seems to be the problem here?” an older man spoke up. Another server had informed the manager of a commotion and he had flown out of the meeting to resolve it.
“Who the fuck are you?” the drunken man huffed.