get comfortable, you guys are in for a long chapter ;)
___

Penny

He didn't mention that my first night working was going to be a masquerade.

A groan leaves my lips when I open the box revealing a glittering mask, with swirls of silver that are layered against an onyx black fabric that wraps around the mask.

When he said 'escort' I was shocked but honestly, it wasn't the worst thing I'd imagine when employed and basically owned by someone like Enzo Bridger. I think I can manage that aspect, but I'm not sure how to feel about having to go back to The Den only a week after everything happened, it seems rushed, and I'm still uncomfortable with it but there isn't really a choice in the matter.

Brooke has been questioning me these past few days after my meeting with Mr. Bridger. I told her that I applied online to a couple of jobs since I need to start making money before the month's rent is up in a couple of weeks. Which wasn't a complete lie since I'm in desperate need of a job and technically I do have a job—it's just not the job she thinks I have.

I should be fine as long as I keep up this charade that I work at some stingy diner further uptown, which should limit the number of questions she asks when she sees me later. As for the outfit u need to wear tonight, I'm planning to sneak out before she can see me in it. I think it'd be pretty weird if she saw me tiptoeing down the hallway in a night club dress all glammed up for my 'job' at a dingy diner.

Opening the door to my closet, my eyes narrow in on the one dress that stands apart from the rest. I pull it out and run my hands down the red satin fabric, bringing it over to my bed and laying it down.

My mind is buzzing and flustered at this entire situation and the role I need to play tonight in order to gather his information. The pressure is insurmountable, but wearing this dress I'll keep some sense of dignity, some part of me that doesn't feel owned.

Although my nerves are on high alert, I still need to schedule my new training at the New York Ballet Institute which begins next week. With the daily classes starting at six am I'm going to have quite the busy schedule, especially adding on whatever jobs Enzo pulls me into. I'm most excited to begin training again because I still have my eyes set on becoming an official ballerina at the institute and my fucked up life isn't going to change what I'm moving towards. It's what I've been training my entire life for, so there is no way in hell I'm letting this opportunity slip through my fingers because of some self-absorbed millionaire monster maniac.

A text notification dings from my desk, I push away from my bed and pad over towards my lit-up phone screen. Brooke's name pops up with a bunch of emojis in the text bubble, a pizza, a hamburger, and the drooling face emoji and the text message, 'dinner is ready bitch' shines back at me.

I smile, my stomach rumbling at the idea of food, sending off a quick text message that says 'omw' I stuff my phone into my pocket and quickly run to my front door sliding into my slides at the same time as I pull open my door to run across the hall. But before I can make it even one step into the hallway I slam into a firm chest, the impact makes me stumble back a few steps causing me to almost fall straight onto my ass.

"Fuck" I say, rubbing my forehead and looking up into the brown eyes of none other than my stalker whose lips are pulled from ear to ear in a wide grin.

"You might want to watch where you're going," Denzel says peering into my apartment.

I rush over to the door and pull him inside before Brooke overhears our conversation. As I close the door I plant my feet firmly and cross my arms over my chest.

"What're you doing here?" I ask.

His eyes scan around my messy apartment before they land on me, his smile reappears in an instant.

"Oh, you know just checking up on our favourite princess."

My cheeks boil at his nickname for me.

"I—just because he said to keep an eye on me doesn't mean you just get to wander up here!" I stomp my foot to show him that I'm being serious, his grin only grows at my childish action, "I thought we agreed that you'd stay in your car when watching the apartment so no one would notice you and get curious?"

His eyes flick to above my head as he considers my question, "yeah, I thought about it, but you know, duty calls."

"Your duty does not mean that you get to be a creeper waiting outside of my apartment if Brooke saw you here—"

"Who's Brooke?" Denzel cuts me off, his eyes lighting up.

I shake my head, "no one—it doesn't matter," I walk towards him, grabbing his suit jacket sleeve and pull him back towards the entrance, "you need to leave... now!" I say opening the door wider.

"What do I get for being a good boy?"

My jaw drops, "what? A good bo—you're ridiculous... goodbye!" I push him all the way out into the hallway and slam the door shut behind me.

I'm about to reach for the missing slide that I flung somewhere after bumping into Denzel when I hear Brooke's high pitched mumble from outside.

I smack my head against my palm and quickly abandon my shoe and yank the door open, revealing a confused looking Brooke, who has an apron tied around her waist, her hair is pulled into a loose bun with some flyaway tendrils twirling down the sides of her flush face. Denzel on the other hand looks like he just won the lottery.

Men...

"Who—" Brooke notices me, "Penny? Who is this?" She points her index finger up towards Denzel, whose eyes are locked onto her.

"I-," I look in between my best friend and my stalker shuffling through the ideas on how to salvage this big problem.

The last thing I need is for Brooke to be even more curious about where I'm spending my time, the contract said specifically that no one else could know about the deal, and it's been getting harder and harder to keep it under wraps. And it's only been a week.

"This is... Dan, he's a detective with the NYPD... You know for Connor's investigation about the attack. He just came to check up on me and had a few more questions to ask," I say quickly, pulling out the first thing that comes to mind, "He was just leaving." I say pointedly to Denzel who is still standing there in a daze.

Her eyes light up as she nods, "oh, of course, thank you for all your help, has there been any leads into figuring out who it was behind the attack?" She asks Denzel.

He snaps out of whatever trance he was in and blinks a couple of times, obviously confused.

"Uh—no, nothing new. We have the same information as before, it's hard without any witnesses or leads." He mumbles, pretending to check the time from the watch on his wrist.

"Right of course, crazy that there weren't even any cameras out there.." she mumbles looking down at her fuzzy socks.

"Yes very unfortunate... Well, I'd better be off, there are some very important things I need to take care of..." Denzel turns to face me his eyes narrow knowingly, "I'll see you later Ms. Jones?"

I nod quickly stuffing my hands further into my sweater pocket.

He turns to Brooke and his smile lights up again, "sorry for the disruption... Ms...?"

"Oh—Halls," she says smiling extending her hand.

He takes it and shakes it before retreating down the hallway toward the stairs.

When he's gone Brooke walks over and wraps her arms around me, "are you okay? It wasn't too hard was it, to talk about what happened again?" She asks concern lacing each word.

My heart melts and I wrap my arms around her neck. I hate that I have to lie to her about everything, it's hard especially since we've grown so much closer over the past several months, I didn't really have friends outside of dance, and even then those friendships where built on rivalries and competitions so to an extent they were all fake.

But this one, this is one I know will last and hopefully not be broken apart by this stupid deal.

___

"Good luck on your first shift!" Brooke calls from her doorframe as go to I unlock mine, turning my head slightly to send a quick smile over my shoulder at her.

"Thanks for dinner B! I'll text you later," I promise, walking into my apartment as she nods and closes her door.

It's almost time, Denzel should be waiting for me downstairs and I wouldn't put it past him if he decides to pay me another visit to make sure I'm actually going to show up.

One thought lingering in the back of my mind is what if I just don't go.

Well, we all know how that would turn out.

I'd probably die.

I shove away my thoughts as I run around my apartment gathering up different makeup lying around that I wasn't bothered to put away.

It's 8:36 pm and Denzel said that I had to be there for 9:30, I have a little under an hour to get ready, let's do this.

___

Walking out of the apartment building was terrifying, I could feel my heart beating inside my chest and it felt that it could explode at any moment.

I let out a breath as I collapse against the plush interior of Denzel's BMW which I've gotten very accustomed to these past few days.

I'm not going to lie and say that having a personal stalker isn't all bad when said stalker has a luxurious car that you can get driven around in.

"Okay seatbelt on princess, since you were late we've got to get there fast," Denzel says while starting up the engine.

I roll my eyes, but secure the seat belt, then relax as much as is comfortable in this dress.

I'm wearing the same red dress that I got on my day out with Marlee and Brooke, and along with that is the mask that I was sent to wear.

The whole car ride is spent in silence—save for Denzel's horrible humming—but my attention is snagged on my reeling memories that keep replaying as we get closer and closer.

I've had the same dream every night since watching those bodies hit the ground as the gunshots rang throughout the alley.

Those dead men laying on the cold ground replays in my mind as Denzel pulls up outside of The Den.

He turns in his seat, "you ready?"

My upset stomach says otherwise but I nod.

We enter the warehouse a different way than last time, but my heart rate picks up nonetheless. I can feel the thumping of the base from the hallway that we are walking along, my anxiety increasing with each step we take deeper into The Den.

I could really use a drink right about now, to quell away my straying thoughts and the memories that haunt my mind. The ghosts of those dead men seem to be haunting these hallways because in every dark corner I swear can see them on their knees, pleading, begging not to be killed.

I blink away the visions and focus on where we're going.

"Okay, this is where I have to leave you, through those doors is the VIP section, a hostess will be there to introduce you to the men and from there you take over," he explains.

I nod along, fidgeting with my mask which sparkles up from the lights.

"I'll be around, and Penny, if you need anything find me in the crowd, I won't be too far away," He assures me patting my shoulder.

I send him a tight smile, pulling out of his grasp as I secure my mask to my face.

I am a bundle of nerves and my blood has gone cold. I feel numb, and maybe it's simply how scared I am or it's the pressure to not fuck this up and get myself and Connor in even more trouble.

At this point, I have no idea.

___

The room filled with heavy smoke that is wafting up from the dance floor below. The music travels up into the VIP section on the second floor and from the windows that line the farthest wall, I can tell that this room looks directly out below onto the rest of the Den.

Like an overseeing eye, hidden in plain sight.

I smile to the hostess and thank her as she leads me through the crowd of men in this room. Everyone, like me, has masks covering the upper half of their faces, adding to the lack of visibility, due to the dim lighting and the smoke that is traveling around us. I wasn't expecting there to be so many similar men to Enzo but I'm guessing when you're a successful CEO there are masses of other men just like you.

She leads me to a table with a couple of other classy men, dressed in spiffy suits. Three other women are already glued to the other men sitting at the table and have similar masks as mine—I can only assume that they also work for Enzo.

"You must be Penelope," the one seated closest to me says above the music, his eyes are dark in the red lighting and I can only really see the lower half of his face since his own mask is covering the top of his face. "Ryland Morry."

I smile, and nod, "It's nice to meet you, you can call me Penny." I stick out my hand robotically.

He shoots me a dashing smile before taking my hand and bringing it up to his lips and kissing the top, his eyes are glued to mine as he does this. I glance down, my cheeks heating up, luckily he can't really tell since the lighting is casting a dark red light, illuminating everyone in a reddish ambient glow.

"Penny it is, care to join me?" He pulls my hand towards the table.

I nod and take a seat accepting the drink he passes to me.

Mr. Bridger's words flash through my mind,
"You will be paid to meet these men, get them drunk, and then gather their information. Whichever way possible, spin them into your web of sultry glances and sensual whispers."

Plastering a fake sensual smile on my face, I lower my lids and bite my lip, swirling my drink around before taking a sip. As I do so my eyes flick up to his eyes that are trained on my lips as I pull the glass away and run my tongue over my bottom lip to lick the access alcohol sweetness away. His throat bobs as he swallows his eyes trailing back up to meet my eyes, his filled with lust.

I've got him.

__

"You're a little fox" he slurs into my ear as I lead him out of the VIP section.

I smile to myself and continue through the crowd, I am very aware of his hand on the small of my back and am instantly transported back to when we first came here a similar feeling when Connor's hand was resting in the same place, a chill rushes up my spine.

Now in the midst of the crowd of drunk or high partygoers, I feel less exposed than I had in the VIP section where I stuck out like a sore thumb. But instead, that feeling is replaced by my awareness of Ryland's eyes that are burning into my breasts.

"So you were telling me about your business? Any exciting future plans in the works?" I ask.

I stand on my tippy toes, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders as I whisper into his ear trailing my hands up and down his neck. Which I can tell he enjoys because both of his hands come to grip my waist to steady himself against the sway of the crowd.

"Mmm, nothing too important, well of course there's the plan to open a similar club like this one," he mumbles against my neck, "I'm here to see what all the hype is about."

My ears perk up at this and I continue my barrage of questions, not worried about him noticing because there's no chance in hell that he'd remember this tomorrow. I made sure to ask the hostess to add extra shots of vodka into his drink. I'm surprised he's not actually passed out already.

His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb rests just under the rim of my mask, trailing it along the edge.

"I wonder what the rest of your face looks like..." he whispers, his eyes flicking down to my lips.

I smile, "and I am curious to know what your plans are in opening a similar club? That sounds so interesting please tell me more about it..." I guide his eyes away from my lips with my hands trailing down his chest, I can feel his sharp intake of breath as my hands roam lower.

I am trying my hardest to act 'sexy' I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job, most of this is coming from me binging so many different reality tv shoes, love island and the bachelor come to mind.

"A woman of so many questions... I like it" his hand leaves my face and rests on my back again. "Well if you want to know all of my secrets why don't we move somewhere more private?" He asks.

I nod slowly as he takes my hand quickly guiding us away from the dance floor and to a more quiet area.

"So you were saying about your business?" I ask again fluttering my eyelashes.

His grin seems to grow more sinister under the darker lighting we're standing in, while his hand slides further up the side of my dress resting against my ribs.

"Oh there are much better things I want to be doing right now..." he lowers his head swiftly locking my mouth to his before I have a chance to take a breath.

I quickly plant my hands against his chest and push away, but his strong arms wrap around my waist pulling me closer, locking me in.

His lips are feverish against mine as he pushes his mouth against mine. I squirm under in his arms trying to push against him, but his grip is solid.

I bite his lip and he pulls away sharply to wipe away the little drops of blood now pooling where I bit.

His eyes narrow but his smile reappears, "kinky." He says moving back in towards me.

I growl, "let me go... now."

He shakes his head, wrapping a hand around my arm and pulling me along with him further down the hallway away from the crowds of people.

I glance over my shoulder trying to see if I can spot Denzel who said he'd be keeping an eye on me, but all I see are hoards of people moving, oblivious and unknowing.

"Please just let me go back, we can dance some more but I'm not comfortable with this," I pull against his grasp.

"I'm paying for your time, I can do whatever the fuck I want with you," he spins me around and pins me against the wall, caging me in, his eyes are even darker as he brings his hands up to cup my breast.

I try and scream but his hand comes up to cover my mouth which muffles it. Memories spring back into my mind, to the tape against my lips and my muffled screams.

His lips are against my neck sucking the tender skin, and I go to knee him in the crotch but as I bring my knee up, he's ripped away from me and thrown against the opposite wall.

I stare shocked as he hits the wall, Ryland's own eyes snapping open, his mouth pulls into a sneer as he looks around.

"When a woman says no, you'd better make sure you fucking listen," a low voice says from beside me.

He has a black mask covering the upper part of his face, which is turned away from me facing Ryland who honestly looks like he's about to shit his pants.

Ryland pulls himself together, narrowing his eyes and stalking towards the guy standing to my left his body blocking my complete view of Ryland who sizes up, but is slightly shorter so he's just embarrassing himself at this point.

"Oh, you don't want to do that, it's not worth it," the stranger says, pulling his sleeves back wringing his hands together.

Ryland pauses for a moment, his eyes move to me as he considers for a second more before backing away from the stranger back down the hallway.

"Yeah you're right, she's not worth any of this bullshit," Ryland mumbles shooting the stranger one last glare before stalking back down the hallway towards the club.

I sag against the wall to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. It doesn't last long before the man in front of me is walking closer so that all I see are his looming shadows towering over me and my heartbeat picks up all over again.

His hand is steady but hesitant as it reaches up and hovers a few inches away from my face, he pauses only for a moment before his fingers hold my chin lightly and tilt my head up so that I'm looking directly at him.

"Are you okay Angel?" He says, it comes out almost as a whisper, so soft that for a second I feel like I imagined the words.

At this moment my mind is blank and all I can think about is what the fuck I've just gotten myself into.