CALL OUT MY NAME ♛
(Book #2 of the Hellfire Gentlemen's Club Series)
CEO!bachelor!steve × fem!college grad!reader
𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐔 • 18+ | BOOK #1 (e.m.)
Chapter 003: Conflict of Interest
Sure, Vegas is pretty small. But little did you know a town called Hawkins, Indiana is a heck of a lot smaller.
↳ 001 (PROLOGUE) // 002 // 003 // 004 // 005 // 006 // 007 EPILOGUE
CW: slight age gap (steve is 31, sweets is 23) , tension both sexual and emotional, mentions of seggs tr@ff!ck!ng, dark past, profanities, manipulation, that's all i can think of for this chapter; mutual pining
card suits divider by @cafekitsune 🃏🧡
“WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO?”
word count: 1.3k words
Chapter 002 recap:
"And the guy next to him?" Isabelle grimaces. "The erratic one with the stripper around his arm?"
Isabelle's lips tighten bitterly.
"That's Eddie Munson... my ex-husband."
♛
CHAPTER 003
“Your WHO?!”
You should've known.
You should've fucking KNOWN. The answers were right in front of you, clear as day.
But how could you have possibly had any inkling?! Eddie is such a common name.
And who's to say Eddie wasn't short for Edwin? Or Edward. Edgar, maybe. And the fact that the man owned a strip club? Isabelle never told you that.
But there were signs for that as well. You think back to earlier.
<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>
"THAT'S EDDIE?" you speak again. "Steve's buddy Eddie is your Eddie?!"
"Was my Eddie," Isabelle sharply corrects you. "Clearly he's someone else's now."
And without any further thought, Isabelle struts towards the group with her hands at her hips. You storm after her, curious as to where the strong need for confrontation came from.
"My, my..." Isabelle tsks, kissing her teeth. "Just how I left ya, Eddie. In the arms of some raunchy stripper."
<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>
When the group registers Isabelle, the atmosphere flips.
And it’s as if your whole world is jerked upside down too, watching your best friend’s past unfold before you—a past you thought you knew all about… but clearly didn’t.
"You have some damn nerve coming up to us," Shy Girl is the first to speak up. "After everything you've done."
"You have some damn nerve saying that to me," Isabelle counters with a satisfied smirk. "Wearing my set."
When the epiphany hits her, it's evident that Shy Girl goes through a whirlwind of emotions—denial, annoyance, anger, and perhaps a touch of embarrassment. Slowly, she pulls back, and Steve, ever-so-protectively, steps in, guiding her behind him as he offers his take on the situation.
“You really thought you did something walking up here, huh?” he hisses, a glare fixed on his face that is eerily similar to Isabelle’s. “The last four years mean nothing to you?”
“I can imagine they wouldn’t,” Eddie shrugs. “After all, she thinks of no one but herself.”
“ALL OF YOU put me through hell four years ago," Isabelle counters. "Must be absolute torment seeing a woman win for once in her life, huh?"
"You still with Terry?" Eddie chokes. "Or did you find some other man to use and manipulate? Or did you meet your match this time around and land yourself back in square one? Hence why you're here."
“Elle is doing just fine without you," you gather up the courage to say. "We're here to promote her lingerie line, actually. So you can pipe down."
“Elle?!” Eddie shrieks in disbelief. “ELLE. THAT'S the name you’re going by now?”
“What’s it to you?” you scoff, bitterly crossing your arms.
Your bestie’s ex-husband suddenly backs down. You can tell there’s a lot he wanted to say about the name but couldn’t figure out what.
“Nothin’,” he shrugs, tongue rolling around in his cheek. It certainly is something. “I just think it’s funny.”
“You think everything is funny, Eddie and that’s the problem," Isabelle scorns. "Putting your precious Hellfire Girls before me as they ran me out the club? Setting me up with your 'friend' who legit tried to traffic me? Screwing Chrissy Cunningham because you couldn't resist the idea that your High School Wet Dream finally wanted you after all these years? Putting me in physical and psychological turmoil that took me AGES to heal from?! Yeah...but I'm the devil."
"I never screwed Chrissy Cunningham, okay?" Eddie snaps. "By God, when are you going to let that rest?"
Your eyes trail over to Eddie's friends — and even his wife — all of them having an indecipherable gloss over their eyes. They squirm uneasily, noticeably more uncomfortable now, but still keeping their defensive stances.
BUT WAIT.
"Hold the fuck up," you raise your hand. "We're not going to gloss over what we just glossed over. You mean to tell me you almost got my best friend trafficked?!"
What WAS this life that your best friend lived before meeting you?! And why, after four years, are you just finding out about this now? In a random strip club in Vegas. An environment that now seems way too close for comfort. Could it be...?
"She left out the part where she pressed charges against MY husband and not Terry," Shy Girl barks. "Because she knew Eddie being in jail would entitle her to most of his assets. Makes her look like a goodie-two shoes."
"TERRY TRIED TO TRAFFIC YOU?"
"You know Terry?" Steve questions.
There's an alarm in his gaze, but it begins to illicit a softness the moment your eyes meet his. He raises a tender brow, eager for your input, but it seems you don't play a prominent role in this narrative.
"I know of him," you correct him. "Didn't know he tried to traffic Elle."
"So how'd you fund this business of yours?" Shy Girl questions Isabelle. "Daddy's money? Your leftover stripper money? Eddie's money that your lying ass wrongfully took?"
Your ears quirk up, and suddenly the environment is heavier.
"Leftover stripper money?" you can't help but echo.
"Wait a minute..." Shy Girl smirks. It's a memorable one.
An epiphany clicks as a dark laugh escapes her lips.
"Ohhh, it seems like your little friend didn't know you stripped, huh?What a surprise. You're in for quite the story time, girly."
You watch from the corner of your eye as Steve takes a cigarette break, a jitter in his hands so angry that it's practically seeping from his bones. Everyone else around begins to spew on about a phase in life that seemed so alien to you — all the while Steve's strong hands and delicious occupied lips were at the forefront of your attention.
A part of you feels bad that this is what you chose to hyper-fixate on. But can you really be blamed? Not when he looks like that.
"The courts are undoubtedly a just system," Isabelle snaps you back. "I deserved every penny in that settlement. I told nothing but the truth about my experience. Sorry if that taints the image you have of your husband."
"Funny how you're the one talking about telling the truth," Eddie chuckles. His gaze lands on you. "Wonder what else she doesn't know. Mind sharing with the class? Elle?”
"Even if she didn't know I was a dancer, she wouldn't have cared," Isabelle spits, speaking for you. "Women aren't objects Eddie. Kinda low of you to bag on the women who work for you."
"Who said I was bagging?" Eddie smirks. "What I'm getting at is that you're living a lie. And it's gonna catch up to you eventually, one way or another."
He steps towards his ex-wife with a seemingly newfound confidence, a rehearsed, amateur stance that still bothered Isabelle more than her exterior wanted to admit. You watch as she furrows her brows in retaliation, shaky fists clasped at her sides in rebellion.
"In fact, it looks like the day is here."
"We're leaving," Isabelle announces firmly. "Sweets and I are above this shit. This is the last thing we need."
<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>
Nothing made sense. Who knew the small, conservative, midwestern town that raised your best friend housed so many dark secrets? It makes you wonder if Isabelle would've even eventually told you this secret if the circumstances were better. It also makes you wonder what else she could be hiding.
You're drowning in your thoughts as Isabelle takes it upon herself to drag you out of the club. As an attempt to ground yourself to this —very odd — new reality, you turn around to get one last look at Steve and his friends.
And much to your surprise, before you can even sneak a glance at him, you notice that Steve was already looking your way too.
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