A/N

Thanks so much for hanging in there with me. I know it's been a long time. Hope to have another one for you sometime in May. Also if you're interested, check out my new story Celestial Countenance.

Thanks to Twilightmomoftwo for betaing this for me. Much appreciated bbs.

This chapter has lemony goodness – if you are under age, please move right along. You shouldn't be reading this story to begin with.

Chapter 7

Pulling open the heavy door, I stood in the entryway for a few moments until my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the club. I wasn't early very often, but today I could still smell the cleaning products that barely overpowered the stale beer stench, at least until the writhing bodies on the dance floor overwhelmed it with a noxious combination of clashing perfumes and sweat.

Making my way into the belly of the building, I needed to change for my shift before going and giving Aro an update on my progress.

Or lack thereof, I thought glumly.

When I entered the locker room, I was surprised to see Alice's friend Tanya bent over the bench and getting nailed from behind by Felix.

They both looked up, saw me and just smiled as if me wandering into their sexual escapade was a normal everyday experience. Yet I couldn't look away. After being on the payroll of Caius and company for the last few months, I was now completely mesmerized by the sight of other people fucking. It was like having porn filmed in my own house, without the cleanup and clingy goodbyes.

"You know, instead of standing there, you could come and stick your thick cock in my mouth," Tanya ordered, her eyes looking between my face and the now bulge in my pants.

It had been a few weeks since I'd taken time out for myself and was seriously considering her offer. I glanced towards Felix to get a sense of whether he was up for a little wobbly H action or not.

Nodding twice, he slapped Tanya's ass and ordered her to open up.

Walking to the other side of the bench, I stood before her and unzipped my jeans. Flicking my hand away, she tugged my dick out from its hidey hole. One solid lick was all it took, before she opened her mouth and deep-throated the whole thing.

Shit, this girl was not only experienced in the fine art of BJs, but she'd even applied a fresh coat of lipstick to make the experience that more colorful.

My eyes didn't know where to look. Between the intense pounding Felix was giving her and her plump lips feverishly doing their magic around my cock, I was in heaven It'd had been quite some time since Felix and I shared a chick, and I was always glad to lend a helping hand, or dick, especially when I wasn't required to stand around afterward and make small talk.

I might have been horny, but knowing what little I did about Tanya, she was vapid and a true hanger-on in every sense of the word. Once Alice had been committed to rehab, I saw her allegiance quickly change and she was now coming in with a new gaggle of c-listers of whom I couldn't be bothered to learn the names. I had a feeling that once she was done blowing me, I'd probably feel a little slimy for having had any interaction with her, but I was horny, and with her talent for sucking cock, I wasn't about to be left high and dry.

"Fuck, I'm gonna come," Felix grunted, thrusting hard back into her.

"You better be ready for me too," I commented, sliding my hand into her hair, and driving even deeper into her throat. She must have wanted me hurry it up, because she started humming and playing with my balls, causing me spill into her mouth only moments later.

Without being the least self-conscious she stood up, straightened out the short dress she was wearing, wiped her smeared lipstick in the mirror and blew us both a kiss, saying she'd probably be in later and hoped for a repeat performance. With a wink, she said she'd see herself out and was gone in a flash of strawberry curls.

Throwing the condom out, Felix washed his hands and told me how he'd run into Tanya on his way to work. When he was done regaling me about the conquest I'd just walked in on, I felt the hairs on my neck go up. Something about his story wasn't meshing.

"So, you just happened to meet up with Tanya, and on the ten minute walk you managed to talk her into fucking you in our locker room, and she was sober?"

"Are you doubting my mojo, my brother?" Thankfully, the teasing tone he had in his voice meant he wasn't too upset by my line of questioning. Felix was one of my oldest friends in New York, and I was pretty sure if anything fishy was going on, it wouldn't be coming from him.

Right?

Besides, I knew all his tells when he was lying, and he hadn't played any of them during our conversation.

Shit, maybe I was just starting to be paranoid.

"Don't you need to be getting dressed? I thought you were coming in early to talk with Aro about something?"

"Fuck." Quickly changing into my uniform, I exited the locker room, telling Felix I'd see him around.

After spending fifteen minutes with Aro and explaining that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred in the last week, I was dismissed. I could tell by the look on his face he was getting tired of our weekly chats almost as much as I was.

I wanted to believe that with the firing of Demetri a couple of months ago, the drug ring had moved on, but in the last few weeks, we'd had another two people go to the hospital with presumed overdoses while partying at our fine upstanding establishment. Which meant I was still on narc duty.

Heading up the stairs, I passed Rose coming down.

"So, busy afternoon in the locker room?" she snidely asked, not even stopping for a response.

"Can I ask you a question?" I shouted down at her, completely fed up with her holier than thou, frosty attitude.

Stopping on the bottom step, not even bothering to turn and look back at me she replied, "I don't know, can you?"

"Why are you such a bitch? And why do you care about what I do around here?"

Whipping her head around, she glared at me, her lips drawn into a firm line. "I don't give a shit what you think about me and I certainly don't give a shit if you contract some crotch rot because of that skank Tanya. What does bother me is that you seem to think that your place of employment is your own personal playroom."

Shit, she did have a point. Even though I thought just about every person here at one time or another has fucked or sucked in the locker room, it still was my job.

Nodding my acceptance of her observation, I continued up the stairs to set up my post for the night.

~~**OO**~~

I'd managed to dodge and weave my way around Rose's glares all night, but there was a piece of me still wishing our little pissing match on the stairs had resulted in a more productive relationship. I mean, the icy, silent treatment was only going to get me so far, especially if she was ever the bartender I needed to help out in a jam. I had seen her use a swift kick to a well deserving pair of balls in the past, so I knew she could take care of herself, but it still worried me that she'd be more reluctant to call in the big guns, should she need me to back her up when trouble broke out.

"Emmett, you interested in a rematch?" Felix chirped in my ear, asking about what I assumed was our tag team session with Tanya.

"Nah, I'm good. Need to put away some stuff, and I'm off. Catch you tomorrow, okay?" I replied, guilt from my earlier interaction with Rose still weighing heavily on my mind.

"Yep. Catch you tomorrow."

I'd just finished putting the ropes away when I saw Izzy emerging from the back offices with Edward behind her.

"Emmett, how are you?" she asked, encasing me in a warm hug.

"I'm good. It's been a while. How are you? Edward treating you right?" I looked up at my boss and raised my eyebrow, extending the question to him.

He only smiled coyly and shrugged. About as much info as I needed.

I'd seen Izzy a few times over the last month, but it wasn't nearly as often as it had been when Alice was dragging her here every weekend. We caught up on how Alice had been doing with her in-treatment program, and if her parents were still irrationally upset with Izzy.

Edward and Iz had become a pretty serious couple, but I knew from what she told me, she didn't like to come in too frequently because of his previous reputation of being a manwhore. She didn't want drama from any of his had-beens nor cause any trouble because of her constant tail of paparazzi. They kept things pretty quiet and discrete, and for that I was thankful. I loved Izzy like a sister and did not need to see any of that going on in the locker room.

"I need to switch out a keg for Maria, but I'll see you guys around, okay?" I said, remembering that the new bartender had asked me to change it a few minutes ago when I walked by.

Another quick hug and Izzy was gone, under the protective arm of Edward as they strolled towards the side door, where I knew her driver was usually waiting.

Making my way back towards the coolers I heard Rose's voice coming from inside, hushed and angry.

Like it always was, rolling my eyes, I waited, hoping to avoid a public tongue lashing by the frustrating woman.

"No. Absolutely not. I don't know about you, but I like working here," Rose said in a clipped tone. My ears perked up at the mention of her job, really hoping she wasn't into something on the wrong side of the law.

"This isn't a negotiation. Remember, You. Owe. Me. Not the other way around." She was talking to a man, but with the hum of the cooler clicking on at the most inopportune moment, I couldn't tell who.

Before I even had a chance to react, I heard a crash, and the sound of kegs falling to the ground.

Rushing into the cooler I saw Rose on floor, her cheek flushed in the shape of a hand and Royce standing over her, arm cocked back and ready to strike.

"Lay another hand on her, and it will be your last." I seethed, pulling him back by the arm; I threw him against the far wall of the packed refrigerated room, trying to avoid making a further mess of the place.

"Emmett, this isn't any of your fucking business," Rose huffed. I watched as she stood up, brushed herself off and marched right out of the cooler as if nothing had happened.

What in the ever-loving fuck?

Turning my attention back to Royce, he'd pushed himself off the wall, threatening my job if I ever laid another hand on him, before going the same direction as Rose had.

I stood there utterly stunned by not only Rose's reaction, but the fact that I didn't do anything to help her. In fact, what I knew about abusive relationships, I might have just made it worse.

The urge to punch my fist into one of the glass walls was overwhelming, but having done this before, I knew it would only help to send me to the emergency room with a busted fist and not solve any of the issues at hand.

Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to calm myself down to a more manageable level.

I knew Rose was in over her head, but was baffled as to how to help her if she didn't want it. All I could do was vow to keep a better eye on the both of them, and make an attempt at getting on better terms with Rose. Maybe if she knew there was another option out there, she'd realize she could get out from under Royce's fist.

Cleaning up the kegs that had fallen over, I finally managed to get Maria's hooked up; all the while the vision of Rose and that handprint never left the forefront of my thoughts. Perhaps I could talk to Edward about it. He'd known them both longer than I had, and perhaps he'd have a better idea for how to help.

But for now, there was little I could do but go home and go to bed. Tomorrow, I'd figure out a way to help her.

I had to. I may have disliked her based on the persona she presented to the world, but I knew perhaps there was more to her than just a tough girl with a foul mouth.

Stepping out onto the dimly lit street, I caught sight of Tanya leaning into the window of a black limousine at the far end of the block. I sauntered closer, not in a hurry, trying to make it seem like I was on my way home, but really I just wanted to see who exactly she was doing business with.

Before I had a chance, I saw her shove a wad of money into her purse just before the door swung open, catching her by surprise. Hands reached out, dragging her into car and speeding off into the night.

Fuck. That wasn't good.

But my intuition told me I must be getting close to figuring this whole thing out. The only problem was the closer I got, the more danger I put myself and possibly others into as well.

Walking towards my subway stop, I couldn't help but think about how I still hadn't managed to learn anything about what was going on in the Club. It had been weeks and the only clue I had was that I saw Tanya taking money from someone.

Shit, it could have just been a john Tanya had fucked, for all I knew.

My frustration was building, making me edgy and agitated, but before I could drown in a pity party of my own making, I reminded myself that tonight probably wasn't going to be a good one for Rose either.

Or Tanya, if the guy in the limo turned out to not to be just a john.

And here I was, the impotent bastard unable to help either of them out.

In fact, I'd exploited one and basically gift-wrapped the other to her abuser.

Great.

Some protector of the weak and helpless, I was.

Instead of heading for home, I decided the gym might be a better choice, because Lord knew, I wasn't going to be sleeping these fucked up thoughts away.

A/N

Thanks again & leave me some love if you liked it. The plot thickens.

Also, Voting is open for the Hope Springs Eternal Contest I'm hosting. Voting closes on Wednesday.

http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/~hopespringseternalcontest – change the (dot) with .