CHAPTER 9 - CROSSING PATHS WITH THE PIMP

Crossing paths with the pimps

I bolted through the back door again, my apron still tied, my pulse racing like I was chasing fate itself. I reached them just as they were about to get into their cars.

“Excuse me,”

 I said quickly, my voice shaking despite my effort to sound calm.

They turned.

All three of them.

I swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry,” I rushed on, afraid they’d walk away like the other girl. “I don’t mean to be rude. I just… you all look amazing. Your lifestyle. The way you live.” I inhaled. “How do you do it? How do you make your money? I’m tired. I really am.”

They looked at one another.

Then they chuckled.

Not cruelly. Not kindly either. Just amused.

One of them stepped forward. She was the boldest, the sharpest. Confidence clung to her like perfume.

“I’m Bella,” she said.

She reached into her bag and handed me a card. Thick. Clean. Expensive.

“Come to my estate tomorrow,” she said casually. “If you’re serious.”

My heart nearly stopped.

“O-okay,” I breathed.

Happiness rushed through me so fast I almost laughed out loud. I felt dizzy. Like I had just won something I didn’t even know I was allowed to touch.

Then another one of them pulled out money.

Two crisp bills.

Two hundred dollars.

She pressed it into my palm.

I froze.

Two hundred dollars?

I hadn’t expected that. At all.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Gratitude flooded me. I bowed my head repeatedly, my hands trembling. I almost dropped to my knees. I would have kissed her feet if she’d let me.

They laughed again, already turning away.

And just like that, they were gone.

I stood there alone on the pavement, clutching the card and the money, my head still bowed like a praying mantis. 

I was visibly shaking.

The next evening, I pretended to be sick at the bar.

Zayden didn’t buy it immediately.

He looked at me closely, his eyes scanning my face like he was searching for cracks in my lie.

 My heart started pounding. I forced a weak cough, pressed a hand to my mouth, and bent over like I was about to throw up.

That did it.

“Go home,” he said finally. “Take the night shift off. I’ll deduct it from your pay.”

I nodded quickly.

I didn’t complain.

I already had the two hundred dollars Bella had given me. Whatever they deducted from my salary wouldn’t matter. Besides, I was convinced I’d gain something far more valuable tonight. Information. Connections. A way out of this life.

Girls like Bella didn’t live like that for nothing.

I untied my apron and pulled it off in one smooth motion.

Zayden frowned.

That look he gave me said everything. This wasn’t the movement of someone weak and sick. 

But I didn’t care. My mind was already somewhere else.

I grabbed my bag and walked out without looking back.

Outside, I pulled out Bella’s card and booked a ride. I checked the B-O-L-T price and scoffed. Ridiculous. I wasn’t wasting money on that. Not anymore.

I took a local cab instead.

The ride was quiet. My thoughts weren’t.

When I arrived, I slowed to a stop and stared.

This was supposed to be an estate.

It wasn’t.

It looked more like a guest inn. Big, yes. Clean. Expensive enough that no poor person could afford it. There was a pool, lights glowing softly, and well-kept grounds.

But it wasn’t luxury. Not the kind I was used to.

Still, it wasn’t cheap either.

I stood there for a moment, torn between disappointment and curiosity, then squared my shoulders.

The moment I stepped inside, my senses were attacked all at once.

Music thundered through the air, heavy bass vibrating beneath my feet. Laughter spilled from every corner. The smell of alcohol, perfume, and something sweeter clung to the place like smoke.

My eyes widened.

Girls were everywhere.

Some were half-dressed. 

Some wore nothing but lingerie that barely clung to their bodies.

 One sat casually on the lap of an old man, whining jet waist, her arm draped around his neck like it belonged there….then I saw it…the man's trouser hung loosed she was twerking on his bare cock…. 

What the f^ck is going on here

 I gasped….Another leaned against a pillar, swaying to the music, her waist rolling to a rhythm. 

Men stood around in groups. Old. Young. Well-dressed. Relaxed. Smoking. Drinking. Watching.

It wasn’t a club.

But it felt like one.

Louder. Wilder. Less restrained.

Somewhere to my left, I caught a glimpse of blue water. 

A swimming pool. Girls laughed as they splashed inside it, their voices sharp and carefree. Glasses clinked. Someone shouted something I couldn’t hear over the music.

My heart started racing.

What was this place?

My eyes moved quickly, scanning faces, bodies, corners. I was searching for something familiar. Someone familiar.

Bella.

Any of them.

A girl suddenly stepped in front of me.

She stopped so close I could smell her perfume. She looked me straight in the eyes, slow and deliberate, then dragged her gaze from my head to my shoes like she was stripping me without touching me.

She didn’t say a word.

She turned and walked away.

I swallowed hard.

My fingers shook as I pulled out my phone and dialed Bella’s number. It rang once before she picked up.

“I’m outside,” I said quickly. “I just arrived.”

“Stay there,” she replied. “I’m coming.”

Seconds later, she appeared.

Bella smiled like we’d known each other forever. She wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug, her confidence brushing off on me whether I wanted it or not.

Bella’s hand stayed locked around mine as she pulled me forward.

We walked through the crowd slowly, deliberately, like she wanted them to see me.

Eyes followed us.

Men stared openly now. One leaned back in his chair and winked at me without shame. 

Another smiled lazily, his gaze crawling over my body like he was already deciding something. 

One man had a girl right in front of him, dancing against his chest, but his attention wasn’t on her.

It was on me.

I felt it. All of it.

Curiosity. Hunger. Calculation.

One of them licked his lips.

My throat went dry.

They knew I was new.

Bella squeezed my hand slightly, grounding me, then guided me past them. We moved away from the noise, away 

from the pool, away from the chaos I had first walked into.

Through a corridor.

Then another door.

And suddenly, everything changed.

The air felt cooler. Quieter. Softer.

What I had thought was the whole guest inn was only the surface.

This side was different.

The floors gleamed. The walls were polished. 

The lighting was warm, intentional. Everything here whispered money instead of shouting it.

 This wasn’t a party space.

This was luxury.

My steps slowed as I took it in.

One of her friends was already there, seated comfortably, legs crossed, a glass of something expensive in her hand. The third girl was missing.

Bella noticed my expression immediately.

She smiled.

“Welcome,” she said simply.

I looked around again, trying to reconcile the two worlds I had just walked through.

“This…” I started, then stopped. I didn’t even know how to finish the sentence.

She laughed softly.

“What you saw outside,” Bella said, gesturing vaguely in the direction we’d come from, “that’s for the middle class. Low budget. Entry level.”

My stomach tightened.

“This,” she continued, spreading her arms slightly, “is higher class.”

Her friend nodded in agreement, smiling knowingly at me, like she was watching a child step into adulthood.

I felt small.

And exposed.

And suddenly aware of how much I didn’t know.

Bella released my hand and stepped closer, lowering her voice.

“Different levels,” she said. “Different prices. Different rules.”

The room felt too big. Too quiet. Like it was waiting for something.

Or someone.

I swallowed hard, my heart thudding in my ears.

This wasn’t just about money anymore.

I had crossed into something else entirely.

Bella’s eyes glinted as she leaned closer, her voice low. “In this place… the men who come here aren’t just rich. They’re billionaires. Trillionaires. They don’t pick just any girl off the street. They come here to choose… for themselves.”

Her friend, perched on a velvet chair with a glass of something golden in her hand, nodded at Bella and then turned her gaze toward me. “She’s supposed to be wearing designer clothes,” the friend said, as if testing Bella.

Bella looked at her and smirked. “She’s already wearing designer clothes.”

I flushed slightly, fidgeting. Then they asked me, in unison, “Where did you get them?”

I swallowed. “It’s a long story… but to cut it short, I already had them.”

They exchanged glances, then nodded. It was clear they had accepted my answer—barely.

Bella’s voice softened but carried a warning. “By nine p.m. on the dot, a man is coming.”

I blinked. “A man?”

“Yes,” she said. “Different men, different calibers. Old. Young. But all… bastardly rich. 

The one coming tonight is the youngest among them. He comes looking for a fresh girl…the one with tight pussy to fuck with.

And the payment…” She paused, letting the words land like stones. “…is ten thousand dollars