Love or Money by Elizabeth Roderick Read Free Book Online Page B

gutter, but some still got on her shoes, soaking them through. She cursed Isaias under her breath.
    She climbed into the passenger seat, pulling her hands out of the sleeves of her sweater and holding them in front of the heater vent. Her hair laid in a damp mass down her back, and her toes were freezing inside her wet sneakers. She wondered where her raincoat had gone. She hadn’t found it in her closet. Maybe Isaias threw it away, just to make my life more miserable.
    “You ready to go to work, little girl?” Isaias asked.
    She shrugged, dislodging a drop of moisture that ran down her spine.
    “That’s the spirit,” he said, rolling his eyes.
    The club hadn’t opened yet. The only person there was a young, muscular guy behind the bar counting money. He smiled at them as they came in, his friendly eyes lingering on Riel. “Hey, Isaias!” he said.
    “Hey, Robert.” Isaias put his hand on Riel’s shoulder, and she stiffened. “This is my sister-in-law, Riel, who I told you about.”
    Robert trotted out from behind the bar to shake her hand, his biceps straining against the cuff of his t-shirt. “Hey, nice to meet you, Riel.”
    She smiled at him, and he ended up shaking her hand for a long time, until Isaias cleared his throat.
    Robert dropped her hand and ran his palm over his short-cropped brown hair, looking sheepish. “You starting today?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” Isaias said, answering for her. “When’s Laina going to be here?”
    “She usually gets here in about fifteen minutes,” he said.
    “All right, thanks, Robert. When she gets in, tell her I want to talk to her.” He glanced sideways at Riel. “Come to the back with me, let’s go over some things.”
    Riel followed him through to the back. The club was a large, long building with a big stage right in front, two small stages on either side, and there was an octagonal bar in the very center of the room. It smelled like ancient spilled booze and Pine Sol, but she figured it could smell much worse.
    They went down a hallway behind one of the small stages. Isaias flipped a light on, illuminating black-painted walls lined with old-fashioned pinup posters. He unlocked a door and led her into a large, neat office.
    He shut the door and stretched out in a leather chair behind his glass-topped desk, folding his hands behind his head. Riel stood, twisting her fingers together in front of her.
    “Sit down,” he said. “Jesus, Riel, you look like I’m going to bite you.”
    She eased herself into an armchair facing him.
    “That’s better,” he said. “What kind of bug do you got up your butt? It’s not poisonous, is it? Do I need to take you to the doctor?”
    She just rolled her eyes and looked at him expectantly.
    He rolled his eyes in response and leaned forward. “Okay. This is what’s going to happen. You’ll work here four days a week. Anyone asks, you’re getting paid minimum wage plus twenty-five percent of your tips, but in reality most of that money is going to come back to me, to pay what you owe. I will give you ten percent of your tips, though, as cash, for you to use.”
    Riel gripped the armrests of her chair. She drew a breath, but had to press her lips shut against the words she wanted to hurl at him. It won’t help to get mad. It will just make things worse. She let the breath out. “Ten percent?” she said through clenched teeth.
    “Hey, it could be good money. Some of the girls here bring in over a thousand a day in tips. You’ll have to get over yourself a bit if you want to make that much, though. Being hot isn’t everything.”
    She pounded her fists on her thighs, her anger surging up her throat like vomit. “Isaias, I’m not going to work in this shithole and not even get paid anything!”
    All traces of joviality drained from his face, and his smile grew sharp. “You’ll do what I tell you, Rielita. Besides, what do you need money for? I give you everything already. A roof over your head and three hot meals