Sins of the heart

Angelique had always admired how the city lit up in the night. Thousands of lights coming to life all at once to disturb the inevitable darkness.

This night was different. Way different.

Her stomach in knots, she nearly felt lunch climbing back up her throat. Trembling fingers gripped the edges of her trench coat and her sea blue eyes were wide with terror.

'Royal Club'- read a threateningly large neon sign above the door leading to a basement. It's red light cast an odd glow on the bouncer standing underneath, making the bald man look ten times more scary. As if the tattoos and constantly squinted eyes weren't enough.

The poor blond haired guy standing across the street was ready to bend over the nearest trash can at this point. She did not want to go there or anywhere near the place, but the clock had already hit midnight five minutes ago, and she hardly had the choice.

Forcing her stiff legs to move, Angelique finally gathered enough courage to approach. She tried to look brave, keep her head high. Emphasis on "tried". Her steps in the high heels were clumsy and her complexion had turned greenish.

She was terrified

"Hello, my name is-"

"The back door." The guard grunted out without a second glance at her

"But.."

"The staff goes through the back door." He repeated, already annoyed.

She hadn't expected a friendly welcome, but this was hardly encouraging. "Right, thanks.."

Oh dad, why did it have to come to this?, she thought sadly, almost on the verge of tears.

There was only one reason, and one reason alone, why she had wind up questing for the right entrance into a strip club - Her father's addiction to gambling. It was bad, but she hadn't realized just how much, until a couple of days ago, when she found him in the middle of the living room surrounded by three armed goons.

Apparently he's in debt to a very dangerous man, and of course, being the bad gambler he is, he's broke as a joke.

So there she was, scouting for the back door of some Russian club to relay his debt by dancing.

Five more minutes later she was finally let inside by another guard. The building wasn't much to tell a story about, but once the door opened she was left awestruck. Red color dominated the surroundings, oozing luxury. Pictures of naked women were hung along the walls, not allowing her to forget where she was for a second.

The interior was magnificent, and the least of her problems. When the guard led her to the changing room, she was greeted by ear-splitting voices of two women.

"Oh my God! I'm sweating like a pig!" The first one exclaimed, slumped into a chair near huge, brightly lit mirror

"You are one actually" the other lady chuckled

"Shut the fuck up, zoe. I gained only two pounds and they are on my butt unlike yours."

"What are you trying to tell me, you fat-Oh." The angered woman, Zoe cut herself off when she spotted Angelique awkwardly at the doorway. Her long fake lashes fluttered, the green eyes hiding underneath scanning the newcomer from head to toe. "Who are you"?

"My name is Angelique.... I am the new....um.... dancer." Her discomfort couldn't be hidden by any amount of bravery.

The girl sitting on the chair snorted, "Dancer, huh?"

"Don't mind that bitch". Zoe gave the other woman a mean look, her smile returning as soon as she looked back at the blonde girl. "Here we don't avoid the word stripper, darling. It's what we do. "She motioned to herself as if it were obvious.

And it was.

She was wearing laced underwear with a transparent rob and pair dagger heels. Her makeup looked heavy enough to fall right off her roundish face. There was hardly anything that didn't give away her profession. Even her dark red hair had glitter in them.

"Come on in, Jess is about to get off the stage and it won't be pretty if you stand in her way", The red head pulled Angelique inside the changing room. "By the way, my name is Zoe and that grumpy witch is Lila.

"I dare you to call me that again."

"Ignore her, I guess it's that time of the month." Zoe said dismissively. "Angelique you said? That's cute, I think I have the perfect stage name for you."

"Stage name?" Angelique cocked her eyebrow. Why would anyone request her name in the first place?

"Duhhhh. We don't use our real names. Do you know what bunch of stalkers come here? It's hard enough without them moaning out my real name when I grind on them."

This made Angelique cringe.

The door to the changing room swung open, "God, I will kill that old ballsack! So gross." Another woman stormed in, her dark tan skin glistening with sweat. Her blushed cheeks were puffed out in rage and her lips parted. "Some old dude groped my ass again." She fumed, pausing only when her eyes met Angelique's.

"Who's this?"

"Hey, Jess. This is our little Angel." Zoe introduced, smiling brightly.

"It's actually Angelique"-

"An Angel you say? This one looks like she fell from a driving truck instead of heaven. Is she going to perform today?" Jess frowned, her arms crossing right under her gigantic triple D sized cups.

"That's rude Jess,"Zoe said. " "Anyways I'm on it, Zoe said, grabbing her shoulders. We're going to give you a makeover. Blonde hair will drive men wild and insane, but the rest..... hm...... we will work on it."

Before the young woman could protest she was pushed into one of the chairs. Zoe was quick to apply makeup and do her hair. By the time she was done, Angelique could barely recognize herself. She looked... older, and... sexier. The long lashes and wide black streak of eyeliner completely changed her features.

She didn't have much time to admire herself again before she was pushed behind a red curtain to change.

"Thank God I have some of my old bras here, otherwise we wouldn't have anything to give you". Zoe shoved the underwear into Angelique's hand with two jelly-like things.

"Uhm? What are those?" Angelique questioned, holding one of them between her fingers.

"Jeez this girl is really dumb" Lila grumbled.

"It's for your boobs, darling. Put them into your bra." Zoe instructed, chuckling.

"Do I really have to? I mean..."

"Angel, no man is going to get an erection from a wobbling twig. Do it. "Just try not to lose them. Girl before you did, it was a scandal".

"That's not exactly calming". Angelique sighed, stuffing the pads under her bra. They felt strange. But even more uncomfortable were the thong. The thin satrap didn't hide anything at all.

"isn't there a different underwear I can wear?"

"No! Its your first day! It's show or go!" Zoe ripped open the curtain, her red lips curled upwards. After a very brief moment of silence she nodded in approval. "You're set." Put on the shoes and let's go. The next show is about to start soon and I already told the DJ that an Angel will be coming up next"

The white lingerie she was given was quite fit the act. Not that it mattered. Her stomach was already wrenched by worry.

"You can dance right?" Lila asked, preparing for her own act.

"They wouldn't hire someone who couldn't" Zoe argued, looking annoyed by the dark haired girl.

"I am a dancer. But not a.....stripper". Angelique admitted, her eyes cast downwards. Modern dance didn't require showing bare butt to bunch of horny men or to wear ridiculous shoes. It required precision and passion for movement. She feared to imagine what her friends would think if they found out about this.

"Well, now you're a stripper, so sick it up" Lila scoffed, turning her attention back to doing her makeup.

"As I said, ignore. Let's go" Zoe urged, having caught the glimpse of sadness in Angelique's eyes. "You know what I love about stripping"? She asked once the two were out of hearing range of other girls. "Once you're on that stage, you're not you"

"How does that work?" Angelique chuckled bitterly, swallowing the lump in the back of her throat. The walk was way shorter than she hoped for. Zoe stopped in front of another door. Loud music was blasting from the speakers and boisterous roars of crowd could be heard all the way down the hall.

Zoe leaned in,whispering in her ear quietly, "simple. Up there you're not Angelique. You're the angel.

Two days ago..

"Damn the practice was tough. How are you still so chipper ? My legs are fucking are a fucking jelly". Amanda whined from the driver's seat, her hands clutching the wheel as if it would slip from grasp at any moment.

Angelique chuckled. "It wasn't that bad."

It never failed to amuse her how Amanda acted when she was hungry after practice. That girl was pretty much a toddler in a twenty year old's woman body.

"The competition is coming up in a couple of weeks, we have to work harder than usual if we want to win".

"Ugh.... Don't remind me." Amanda whined. You just got extra hyped because you got to dance with that hottie Dale this time"

"Wh-Not true!" Angelique rejoined, her cheeks turning red. And that did not go past the brunette at the wheel.

Large Cheshire Cat grin stretched onto her face. "Aha... Right. I totally believe you. When are you gonna ask him out-"_

"Don't even start!" She loved her friend, but Amanda could sometimes be terribly nosy.

I swear, she should've become a detective instead of attending art school.

The two hit it off right away since the first semester in college. They studied the same course and shared the dream of becoming a choreographer. Angelique didn't even have any genuine friends in high school. Meeting Amanda was a lucky card she wished for.

"Oh, come on. You've had a crush on him since forever." Amanda pressed.

"It doesn't matter. You know I won't ask him out. He's way out of my....league...." Angelique's words trailed off when she spotted her house at a distance.

"Huh? Did your dad get a new car?"

"Not that I know of"

A black SUV with tinted windows was parked in her driveway. She felt her heart drop.

Please don't let it be more trouble.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Amanda questioned when she stopped her red mini beetle in front of the SUV. Concern leaked through her words, and honestly Angelique didn't blame her. She knew about her father's... bad habit. And the imposing didn't promise anything good.

"No. Don't worry about it". The girl managed a weak smile. "I'm sure it's just a guest I didn't know about".

Ananda's face screamed that she didn't buy it. But she also didn't question. "Alright. Call me if something happens okay?".

"It will be alright. I'll see you tomorrow." Angelique shut the door behind her,and drew in a deep breath.

Her nervous steps took her to the front door. It was open.

There was an uncomfortable tingle in her spine as she carefully entered the house; a standard two story building with plain interior very creaky wooden floors. She knew every single plank, tiptoeing her way down the narrow hallway.

"Time's up".

Her figure froze at the coarse male voice coming from the living room.

"Boss has been patient with you, but he wants the money back." Another voice added, this one owning a different tone of bad.

Unconsciously Angelique covered her mouth with her hand, trying her best to go unnoticed, she peeked around the corner.

Three bulky men clad in the black stood around the beaten figure of her father. The glass coffee table was shattered as she could see clear specks of blood on the ground among chunks of glass. They had him kneeling down, shaking in fear.

"N-no! I-I will get the m-money! I swear! I need more time-"Her father's plea was interrupted by a powerful punch on his jaw. It nearly sent him toppling onto the ground, his hand coming up to cradle his bruised face.

"I said, YOUR TIME IS UP!"The gang star roared, his yellowed teeth bared in rage. Every word came with a wheeze of smoke-abused voice. "We gave you more than enough time to pay up your debt. Now you're going to pay for your life." The man pulled out a gun that had been ticked in his jacket, pointing it to her father's forehead.

Angelique saw his finger linger on the trigger, threatening to crumble her life right in front of her.

"No!!!!" her voice sounded through the room, all eyes instantly snapping in her direction. Her breath glitched in her lungs. In a flash she had given away her binding spot and now can't to deep-rooted dread.

"I thought no one else was here". One of the gangsters glanced back down at her father. His mouth hung slack, mix of horror and shock twisting his face in an odd way. Clearly, her dad hadn't expected to see her. He held a naive hope that she would return home much later.

"D-don't hurt her. Please. She had nothing to do with this." He begged, desperation growing by the second.

"Boss wouldn't like witnesses." The man holding the gun turned towards her. Single glance got to her stumbling backwards in heart gripped with fear.

"Pity to kill such a pretty thing". The second man commented.

"You don't have to!" Angelique swallows the lump in her throat, "I-I can pay off your debt."

The armed goon threw his head back, wheezing in laughter. "Ha! Really? And how could you possibly pay off 100 000 grand?"

100 000!?

The sum sent her head spinning.

Oh my God! Dad! What did hell did you do? She thought.

"P-please. I will find the money-" Her dad pleaded again, only to be silenced by a violent shove from the gangster standing behind him.

"Shut the fuck up, ol' man." He growled.

"I'm sorry, doll. His time is up and so is yours." Her heart halted as the hun was pointed at her. "Nothing personal. You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

In moments like these, mind comes to a stop. She saw the gun, the absolute terror on her father's face and her entire life flashing by in a fleeting second. Her lungs filled with air to the brim, her lips held ajar with no words coming out.

Wave of adrenaline hit her harder than a bettering ram, but she was no FBI agent to jump to the opportunity and save the day . She couldn't move to save her life. But there was something else she did..

"I will work for you." Angelique blurt out, her own brain get to catch up with the meaning of her words.

The gangster with the gun paused, his finger seconds away from pulling the trigger. Intrigued, he gazed at the shaking woman. "Work for us? Aside from a good duck, there's nothing you can give us girl," He chuckled darkly. " I wouldn't say no to that though."

Angelique stumbles backwards when the man took a rep closer to her

"P-please don't... Her eyes widened, she hadn't even thought of the things they could do to her. Things worse than death.

"Wait." The third man who has been silent all this time spoke. He sat on the armchair, his legs crosssed and a bored expression plastered on his face. Somehow he was capable of giving her more chills than the guy with gun did. His icy eyes rested ion her as is they were capable of seeing right through her trembling figure.

"A girl recently... quit. Boss is looking for a new one." He stated calmly. There was an air of power about the man, he commanded the room without moving an inch.it was like the scene didn't bother him to the slightest. A bleeding man kneeling on the ground, a woman belle g threatened with a gun; he's seen it all and more.

"She'll do for the job."

PRESENT

The velvery red curtains were pulled open, revealing a large hall bustling with life. The sorts of beats that revved up the soul blasted through the speakers, driving the crows nuts. Topples waitresses delivers drinks, giggling at clients that shamelessly touched them and couple of more girls were leading them off to the darkest part of the club.

Air smelled of sex, nicotine and string liquor.

"Good luck." Zoe murmured, pushing Angelique onto an ample stage with a pole.

The blonde hardly had time to react to the overwhelming scene before she was in the center of the crowd's attention. A new best came on and wild hollers echoed through the room, whistles and nasty words thrown at her from every direction.

Men, high on whatever concoction they had consumed yelled for her to strip and come closer. Her entire being was screaming for her to retreat to the backstage. There wasn't a single cell in her body that wasn't repelled by this.

But, escaping meant death for her father and possibly herself. On that faithful day she signed her faith and now she just has to....

Suck it up.

With the first roll of her hips the mass of people below the stage went nuts. She tried not to look,to ignore the stretched our hands attempting to her from the sides. In her mind, she was in an empty dance studio, practicing her routine for the competition.

Her moves sharp and precise, she approached the end of the stage. Her hips moved in rhythm and her hands ran across her body seductively. She had no clue how to work the pole, but she had seen enough movies and had enough experience in dance to try.

Angelique grasped the rather thick metallic rod, letting the momentum lead her body into a swirl.

"More!"

"I want to see your ass"

"Come closer, Angel!"

Her eyes closed, her body twisted around the pole gracefully.

Ignore..... ignore..... igno...

Then she felt it. Steady eyes watching her from a distance, different from those of horny patrons pushing past each other at her feet. This person's state commanded her to look, way before she had her eyes in him.

And she did.

Her gaze met two grey pools. They were like smoke blowing in the wind, coming from a forte that burned everything to the ground. The heat of his face could set her body on aflame

Like a polished shard of metal it cut right through her, and her breath hitched.

The feeling of being eyed up by a hungry tiger- that's how she could deceive it.

His walnut brown hair slicked back, stubble covered jaw taunt,and impeccable suit on the powerful built.. he stood out from the crowd. His head was tilted to the side slightly, hand caressing his chin in a thiyfg while his eyes never left her dancing figure.

There was something about the man that gave her creeps. He looked dangerous as a stray bullet and handsome as a geek God.

Two women sat on either side of him, despeeeare for his attention. One of them had her hand on his neck and other was trying to kiss his neck.

He didn't seem to care though.

When Angelique finally tore her gaze from him, she had already lost her sense of rhythm, leaving quite a few patrons disappointed. She still felt him liking at her as she moved around the pole in an attempt to finish the number at least decently.

"Strip already!" One of the patron demanded, angered by the lack of the show. She was already basically naked but it'd simply wasn't enough.

Angelique disregarded the demand, twisting her body on the pilfered as for song came to an end. She wished for nothing more than to get off the stage sooner.

But she couldn't help looking again. Her eyes trailed over the crowd towards the lounge. The man was talking to someone, his eyes no longer on the young dancer. Relief dropped over her shoulders.

He was unsettling, even more than the rowdy crowd.

She was quick to gather the money and disappear off the stage, it wasn't graceful nor seductive. The young woman literally ran off as fast as the stilleotos allowed her to.

Zoe greeted her with somewhat a cringe on her face,masked by an awkward smile. "That was... Never mind. First times are always bad." She assured, trying her best not to sound offensive.

"But you did good with the pole, I actually was shocked. Perhaps we can still make something from you."

Angelique managed a wry smile. "I won't even earn anything like that. "There was rougly sixty bucks in her hand.

"Did you get distracted or something?"

"Hun. There was a man there....

Zoe chuckled. "Honey, there are a lot of men here".

"A lot of people here are rich. Mostly sons of wealthy daddies or the daddies themselves." The red head explained the obvious, giving the other woman a strange look. "It's your first day, don't stress. The money will come with lap dances."

That doesn't sound good

"The show you put on there earns you clients, people will request you if they find you sexy. Simple. "Zoe shrugged,matching back into the changing room.

Both women came to a stop. A short and rather bulky guy stools in the middle of the room,waiting. He was engaged in a casual conservation with Jess before the narrowed eyes landed on two the women.

"Hey, Dog," Zoe greeted, her voice leaking hesitation.

This instantly put Angelique on edge, was it normal for random men to show up at the changing room?

"Boss requested Angel." The Dog' said dully, he clearly didn't care Fiordland the half naked women in the room. His dark eyes zeroed in the smaller girl cowering behind Zoe.

Angelique's heart begin to pump blood at the new speed , her hands became clammy with sweat, and her complexion drained of color.

Was I that bad? She thought.

Dread coiled her stomach. "W-what for?" She stammered her voice broken by anxiety.

Zoe was first to catch up on her fear,

"Dog, it's her first day".

"I don't care. He wants to see her and he will see her." The man stated silencing the woman. "Let's go".

The order rung loud and clear, she didn't have a choice. Angelique could only hang her head low and let the man lead her through the club.

For his short form, he walked fast, creating quite a bit of struggle for the poorly dressed girl in heels, she was less inside a private lounge room. The same as the rest of the club, the walls were painted red, and a smaller stage was placed in the middle.

Ferocious eyes met her own. The same man who had observed her performance sat on a long half-moon shaped couch. His one arm was draped over a beautiful brunette and the other held a lit cigarette.

He took a king drag of nicotine, eyeing Angelique from head to toe.

" Nikolai, I thought you like your woman busty?", the brunette at the side purred, pushing her boobs against his arm. The look in her eyes was poisonous, if it was up to her, Angelique should be bleeding on the ground.

But it was not. The man Nikolai - had the power, and he didn't hesitate to use it.

"Shut up" he growled, eyes still on tre blond girl.

The brunette yelped as she was roughly shoved to the side by the same arm she was snuggling against. He slowly stood up, imposing figure towering above everyone in the room. The suit jacket he had in earlier was now gone, the black shirt rolled up tightly around the bulging muscles of his arms.

"What's your name?" Smoke billowed from his thin lips with every brusque word.

Angelique quailed, clumsily stepping backwards when the distance between them shrunk.

We never give out our real names...

Zoe's advice bounced around in her head, all red flags raised high.

"A-angel".

"Your real name." He demanded

"Angel." Her voice sounded like a cartoon character, high pitched and strained. Her cheeks felt feverishly hot, and her legs shook like branches in wind.

The man huffed the remaining smoke from his nose, small taunt smile stretching on his thin lips. He looked almost flawless,aside from an old, nasty scar across his left cheek.

"Angel....," He prolonged each letter like he was savoueubv the taste of the name. He came to stand close looming over her petite figure. " I like that..... innocence..."

Nikolai's eyes trailed down her face, stopping at her chest. "Take off your bra."

The sudden command nearly got her choking on the air. "I won't do that." Her hands went up to cover her chest, which only amused the man further- if an ever-present frown could be called an amusement.

"Your father owes me a lot of money, doesn't he?"

So this is the guy...

" I will pay you for everything you do. Take off your bra and I will give you 100 bucks. You will never earn enough by dancing on that stage.."

Angelique gulped, her insides clenching. He patiently waited, grey orbs drilling a hold in her. Like a deer caught in headlights, she felt frozen. There was something raw about the man. The way he Carrie's himself alone made chills run down her spine.

The trembling fingers was a dead giveaway. She said was intimidated.

The straps of the bra slipped down her shoulders, and shortly after the clasp came undone.

Oh, no! The boob pads!

As the piece of underwear fell to the ground, so did the jelly things Zoe made her put into her bra. She haha completely forgotten about them. All her insecurities were writ large across her face, cheeks turning lobster red. For that solid second her attention was ripped from the man or her bare breasts. She stupidly stared at the the jelly things at her feet.

She was completely mortified.

Like a call of hyena, the brunette's laughter echoed through the lounge.

"Oh, God how pathetic is that! The girl has even less on her than a plank!"

That hurt

Angelique had always been skinny, but she wasn't completely flat either.

"Get out" Nikolai growled, not sparing a single glance at the other woman. Her laughter died down. She looked ready to murder Angelique, but didn't dare to sisal against the man. With a murmured complain, she screamed out from the room, high heels clacking against the tiled floor.

While she was glad that the bitchy girl was gone, a part of her almost preferred here there. Now there was just the two of them left.

He never touched her- he didn't have to. His unyielding grey eyes that scanned her naked upper body alone had her skin turning pink.

"Dance for me." He suddenly demanded, taking a step back to give her some space. "If you impress me, I'll double the money, and don't cover yourself."

Angelique's trembling hands slowly lowered from her bare chest. The chilly air kissed along her skin, making them perk. Shame swelled in her belly. Under his cold, observing gaze, she felt small and vulnerable.

She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye as she climbed onto the small podium. Her small hands wrapped around the pole, pulling her body into the motion. There was no music. Heavy silence hung over the room, at times disturbed by the sounds of her held thumping against the stage.

Her moves were awkward. There was no rhythm to lead her other than the fast pounding of her heart. With the corner of her eye, she saw Nikolai leaning against the couch, his large arms crossed over his broad chest. He didn't look older than thirty, but there was hardly anything boyish about his features. They are dark; ones of a man that has see hell and had come back friends with the devil.

He caught her looking. Nothing ever slipped past him, every subtle glance taken note of . There was nothing that could give away his intentions when he suddenly approached the stage, like a predator stalking its prey.

Angelique stopped, her body raising from the impressive arch she had performed. Her baby blue eyes clashed with his steel ones.

Her chest heaving with heavy breaths,she watched him producsollar bills from his pocket. He didn't say anything, and his expression didn't give anything away either as he slipped the money into her panties.

Angelique gasped, feeling fingers brush against her lowe lips, lingering.

"Good." He muttered huskily, pulling his hand back a moment later. Like he had done nothing,Nikolai stepped back and took another cigarette.

"You may go now". He said to the stunned woman.

She could still feel the sensation of his fingers as she scurried off the stage, Monet still in her underwear. Angelique didn't fare to look at him as she rushed out, his words ringing through her ears as the door closed behind her.

"We will meet again.... Angel."