Three

—

Delilah sighed as she reached the entrance of Grin and Bare It. How in the hell had she ever ended up working at a place like this, she wondered to herself. It was more than a nice paycheck — she had her first friend since moving here. But now her time with him was significantly less since Frost had started being her ride home. No more rides with Donovan. No more hanging out after work. It was almost as if Donovan was afraid to come over now. She had tried inviting him over saying that just because he wasn't her ride home didn't mean he was banned from her place. It didn't seem to convince him. There was always an excuse, but she knew he was just avoiding hanging out.

"Hey, Donovan." She tossed her bag into the back room where the employees kept their stuff.

"Ready for a busy night?" He smiled over at her from where he stood drying off the final glasses as he prepped for the upcoming shift.

"I don't think I'm ever ready for the busy nights. My favorite part of them is always last call."

"You and me both." Donovan sat the glass onto the counter and flipped the towel over his shoulder. He noticed her shy smile and tilted his head. "You look nice tonight."

"Thanks," she blushed. She was wearing one of the dresses the Boss had sent for her. She had dared to wear one with a plunging neckline. Normally she wouldn't have even given it a chance, but deep down she hoped it would gain some attention from Donovan. She was actually starting to really like the guy. He was sweet. Something she noticed about the clothes that had been provided for her was that the majority was white. She found this strange because almost every other worker wore black. Well… all except for the ones who barely wore any clothes at all. As she smoothed out her skirt that was dangerously short, she caught sight of the clock on the wall behind Donovan. "Let's do this."

The night moved by pretty quickly. So much so that they were already an hour away from closing. Her braid had almost made it through the night. Strands had fallen loose and hung down around her face, but the rest of it still hung over her shoulder. The bar was almost empty as the club's occupants tried to get their last fill of the strippers before they had to leave.

"Hey, D," Donovan called, lifting a crate full of dirty glasses into his arms. "I'm going to go start on washing these up. Holler if you need me, yeah?"

"No problem," she smiled. Wiping down the counter, she had the same weird feeling she often got since she started working here and froze, eyes darting up to the lounge window. How she wished she could see in there…

"I'll take an Old Fashioned, miss."

Delilah's eyes fell to the balding man before her as his voice shocked her out of her thoughts. "Oh, um, yeah. No problem. Coming right up." She placed a sugar cube in the small glass and dashed in some bitters and some water.

"You're a pro, ain't ya?" He flashed her a toothy grin.

"Just been working as a bartender for awhile. Fast paced place like this kind of makes it so you have to be quick."

"Fast. I like that." His tongue shot out over his lips.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes at his poor excuse for an innuendo. Finishing off his drink with the bourbon and giving it a quick swirl, she sat it down on a small black napkin in front of him. "There ya are. Enjoy."

"Oh, I am," he winked. "How about when you're off we head back to my place so I can enjoy myself even more? Hmm?"

Not wanting to deal with the asshole anymore, she turned to leave but he caught her wrist across the bar, stopping her from leaving.

She tried to pull her wrist free, but the man was just too strong. Her eyes searched the area for anyone she thought may step in. "Let me go."

Her words may as well have fallen on deaf ears. His other hand rubbed up her arm. His rough skin scratched as his hand ran up her forearm.

"So soft. Come on, sweetheart. Big Paulie knows how to make you feel good."

She jerked her hand back, but was still unable to get free. All she managed to do was make him tighten his grip on her wrist to the point that she knew she would have some bruises to show for it tomorrow. But relief soon came when a hand slapped down onto the man's shoulder.

Big Paulie turned in his seat to see Frost standing over him. "Get lost, pal. We're talking."

"No…you're not." Frost pulled the man from his seat and Delilah rubbed the skin of her wrist as she watched him lead 'Big Paulie' from the club. This guy was really starting to be her hero…

"What happened?" Donovan appeared at her side, noticing how she was cradling her wrist.

Letting her hand fall down to her side, she shook her head dismissively. "It was nothing. Just another drunken creep."

"You alright?" He rubbed her back comfortingly while he looked around for any sign of the creep.

"I'm fine. He just grabbed my wrist is all. Frost took him outside or something."

Donovan's face fell. "Well, then I don't think we'll be seeing him in here anytime soon."

"Good. I'd be happy if I never saw him again."

The two finished cleaning up for the night and she bid him farewell as she waited for Frost. She was sitting on one of the barstools when the bar phone rang, making her nearly jump out of her skin. In all the time she had been working here, she had only heard it ring twice and Donovan always insisted on answering it. But Donovan wasn't here… Eyeing it, she finally gave in and slowly brought the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

"Boss wants to see you. Come up to the lounge," a voice that she thought was Frost's spoke to her before being followed by a click.

Returning the phone back to its place, she hopped down from the stool and started for the lounge. Her stomach was in knots. She had no idea what to expect. Was she in trouble for what had happened earlier? This wasn't exactly the way she had envisioned meeting the boss.

She took a deep, calming breath before she rapped her fingers on the lounge door. The door opened and she came face to face with Frost, whose expression was completely emotionless.

Her eyes instinctively found the floor as he moved to the side to let her step inside. Her nervousness didn't go unnoticed. Frost closed the door behind himself as he left her alone with the Boss. Her eyes slowly dared to rise, taking in the man sitting across the room. His hands crossed over the golden handle of his cane. Two guns hung in the shoulder holsters over his white shirt that was unbuttoned almost all the way to where his shirt was tucked into his black dress pants, revealing numerous tattoos that she couldn't quite make out from where she stood. A black tie hung undone around his neck. Her eyes finally found his face, sending shivers down her spine. It wasn't the bright green swept back hair or the extremely pale skin… no, it was the aura he gave off. The man exuded intense power and confidence. Neither of which was something that Delilah possessed. Like a moth to a flame, she felt herself wanting to be drawn in. She needed some of what he possessed. A heavy silence hung between them for what seemed like forever as he studied her.

"Delilah, is it?" he finally spoke, his voice low and gravelly.

"Ye-Yes, sir," she squeaked, making a humored grin spread on his lips.

He rose to his feet and crept toward her, tilting his head as he got a closer look at her. Extending his hand out toward her, he watched hers tremble as she reached out to shake his hand. "Nice to finally meet my newest bartender. I trust working here has been satisfactory so far." His eyes narrowed slightly, almost as if he already knew what her answer would be.

Giving a quick nod, she said, "It's been great. Thank you."

"Do you know who I am?"

Delilah shook her head, which he found both intrigued and disappointed him.

"Hmm," he hummed. "Well, Miss Delilah. You can call me Mr. J. Although… most people call me The Joker." Seeing her eyes widen in instant fear made him let out a roar of cackling laughter. "I take it you know who I am now. I was quite surprised you didn't recognize me. I have quite a distinguishable…" He waved his hand through the air theatrically. "Look."

"I don't own a tv. Things are tight. But," she paused, her eyes meeting his. "The thing about being the one who doesn't talk much is that I hear everything. People who would come into the bar I used to work at would talk. You came up quite a bit."

"Oh, how delightful," he gave another fear inducing laugh. His voice dropping low once more, he asked, "And what all have you heard?"

"Enough to know I should be afraid right now."

The Joker began to circle around her as a predator would its prey. "And are you… afraid?"

She trembled. "Yes."

He stopped in front of her and the smell of his cologne hit her nose. Someone as evil as he was shouldn't smell this good… It made them even more dangerous in her opinion. His cologne smelt complex — mingling fragrances of white musk, amber, cedar wood and who knew what else. "I take care of those who work for me."

As if on cue, the door burst open behind her and Frost reappeared — only this time he wasn't alone. The same creep that had grabbed her down at the bar earlier was at his side, gagged with his hands tied behind his back. Delilah watched in horror as Frost shoved the man to the floor on his knees in front of her.

"Spectacular timing, Frosty," Joker commended. Kneeling down to 'Big Paulie's' level, he growled, "You owe the lady an apology." Big Paulie said something unrecognizable against the gag. "Oh, silly me," Joker slapped both hands onto either side of Big Paulie's face, pulling the gag free.

"I'm— I'm sorry," Big Paulie spat up at her.

Joker's expression grew dangerously dark. "Now, now. Let's try that again. Only this time I want to believe you mean it."

The tone of his voice had Delilah fearing the worst for the creep. She knew enough about The Joker to know most people who cross him don't last very long. Not long at all. "It's alright. Really. I'm used to it—"

Joker held his hand up, silencing her. "Quiet. This man needs to learn his lesson." He pulled one of his pistols free, holding the barrel against the man's head.

"I'm sorry," Big Paulie said softly.

"What?" Joker cupped a hand over his ear.

"I'm sorry, miss," Big Paulie practically cried up to her. Bang!

Delilah let out a scream and her hands flew up to her mouth as Big Paulie's lifeless body face planted on the floor. Tears sprang to her eyes as she stared in shock as brain matter and blood was splattered on the floor and up the wall.

"Frost."

"Yes, boss," Frost waited obediently for his order, wiping a smidgen of blood from his suit jacket.

"Take the little lamb home…" The Joker's eyes roamed over her, taking in the sight of her after what just transpired. Red blood splattered in a beautiful contrast on her stark white dress. She had looked so good in that one. What a shame...

Everything seemed to fade away for Delilah after that. Shock had taken over but now she realized she was sitting in the back of the black vehicle that took her home every night. What have I gotten myself into, she thought. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to push the image of that dead man out of her head.

Frost eyed her in the rearview mirror. "You'll get used to it."

Tear-filled eyes met his in the mirror. "What if I never want to get used to it?"

"Then your life is going to be that much harder," he said, watching as she turned her gaze back out the window. "You work for The Joker now. And there's no backing out."