Ruger rolled his eyes and resisted the desire to peel the girl’s arms from around his neck as they climbed the stairs. Her perfume gave him a headache, and he really didn’t want to touch her more than he had to. Ruger also didn’t want anyone in the clubhouse to realize this was anything more than it appeared to be. Him taking a whore up to a bed. It wasn’t that the girl was unattractive. She was cute enough, and her skin-tight clothes let the world know she had a screaming hot body. But she wasn’t Krissi.

At the top of the stairs, he steered her along the open walkway that looked over the main room toward the room where Sadist waited. Opening the door, Ruger guided her inside. Once the door was closed and they were completely out of sight, he unwound her arms from around him and sat her on the bed.

“Hang on a minute, girl. What’s your name?” Ruger dropped her hands on her lap and stepped back out of her reach. She leaned back on the bed, automatically striking a seductive pose, or at least he thought it was supposed to be. It didn’t begin to compare to Krissi sitting astride his lap in her bra.

“Come on, baby.” Her voice was low and breathy, but he could tell it was done for his benefit. “You brought me up here for a reason.” She ran one scarlet taloned finger along her plunging neckline in an attempt to draw his attention to her impossibly perky boobs. Real tits moved and jiggled in ways hers didn’t.

“We’re not here for what you think.” Ruger switched on the lamp next to the bed. The changing light made the body glitter that covered every bare inch of her skin shine. “I’ll ask again. What’s your name?”

She shifted slightly, making her glitter shimmer in the light. “Name’s Sparkle, honey. Though I don’t know why it’s important to you.”

“There are a lot of things that are important to us,” Sadist said from a chair in a dark corner. Sadist switched on the lamp beside him, revealing himself. Sparkle’s head snapped around to stare at him for about two seconds before her come hither mask fell back into place and she looked back to Ruger, a coy smile on her face.

“Two of you will cost extra.”

Ruger fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead glanced at Sadist.

“We’re not going to fuck you,” the V.P. spoke again.

Sparkle frowned. “Then what do you want?”

“Answers. Why else would a Devils’ whore be in the Demented Souls clubhouse?” Sadist laughed, a cruel, mocking laugh. Ruger frowned and wondered again what was going on with his friend. Not that it mattered. He still didn’t have time to drag it out of him.

“Actually,” Ruger spoke up, calling her attention back to him, “we don’t expect you to know much about the Devils. Mostly we want to know about you.” He sat on the edge of the bed, careful to leave a sizable gap between his body and hers. He shot Sadist a scowl then turned back to Sparkle. “Would you like a drink?” If Sadist were determined to be gruff and angry, then Ruger would be polite and friendly, at least as long as it worked. Sparkle blinked several times. Ruger reached over and grabbed one of the shot glasses kept on the table beside the bed and lifted the bottle Sadist had left there for her to see.

“Sure.”

He poured the drink and handed it to her. She held the glass steady, letting him know she hadn’t had as much to drink downstairs as he’d feared. She threw her head back, drinking the strong liquor without a grimace or cough. She looked at the glass a second then let it rest in her lap.

“What is it you want to know?”

“First, where are you from? You said your name’s Sparkle, right?”

She nodded and looked at her lap for a moment. “I’m from Utah, a small town I’m sure you’ve never heard of.”

“Okay.” Ruger glanced at Sadist then back to her. “How’d you get into prostitution, Sparkle?”

She made a face. “I got hooked on pills. It got to be more than I could afford, and my dealer let me use myself into debt then demanded I start hooking for him to pay what I owed him.”

“Was he with the Devils?”

“You mean with the bikers?”

“Yeah, the guys that dropped you off this afternoon.”

“No.” She ran her fingers over the Demented Souls emblem etched into the glass in her hand. “Spanky, that was my dealer, he got in trouble with them for working me and a couple other girls in their territory. I heard they told him he could keep us or his life. He chose to live.”

Ruger wasn’t sure how to take that. Yeah, she’d been forced into becoming a hooker, but the Devils had only taken her over once that was done. Not that it made them guiltless, but they hadn’t put her in the position she was in, only kept her there.

“You still hooked on the shit that got you in trouble to start with?” Sadist asked from the corner. Ruger glanced at him and found the other man leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees.

“No, not for a while. Spanky kept me on them, kept letting me have what I needed as long as I worked for him. Once the bikers took us over, they cut me off. Said I had a debt to pay and I wasn’t going to run it even deeper by popping pills.”

“How long you been clean?” The vice president was still asking the questions.

“A while.” She looked away.

“How long is ‘a while,’” Ruger prompted.

“I’m not sure exactly. Nearly a year, maybe more.”

Ruger watched her for several seconds then glanced at Sadist. He stood to pace the small room. “Where do you live?”

“I don’t.”

“Come again?” Sadist lifted one brow.

She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “There’s a house a block or two from the bikers’ place where we all supposedly live.”

“All?” Ruger asked.

“All the girls they control. Anyway, it’s mostly just a place to shower, change clothes, or do laundry. It’s not like I have a home or any space of my own.”

“Tell me about their place.” Ruger stopped pacing and leaned against the wall near the door.

“I’m not sure what you want to know. It’s a big place, fenced in, with four or five buildings. But I was only ever allowed in one.”

“Tell me about that one.” He wanted to see what she could tell them.

“From the outside, it looked like a big warehouse, but inside it was different. Kind of like this place, but not.”

“What do you mean?”

“It had a big room, like the one downstairs, and bedrooms, but no bar like you have. And this place is way cleaner. I didn’t want to touch anything there for fear of catching something, not that I had a choice.” Sparkle shuddered.

“From the way you talk, I assume they were abusive?” Sadist asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

She looked at Sadist for a long second.

“Aside from keeping you in forced prostitution, that is,” Ruger put in.

Sparkle grimaced.

“When I’m working, I can refuse a john with a bad reputation or one who just creeps me out. We don’t get the option of saying no to the bikers. If you try to say no or fight back, they beat the shit out of you. Then they all take turns using you to teach you your place.”

Ruger knew that shouldn’t surprise him, but for a second he had no words.

“They did that to you?” Sadist clenched his fists where they hung between his knees.

“They do it to all of us. It’s just a matter of how many times it happens to you before you give up and stop trying to say no.”

“I guess you won’t be too upset that we don’t plan to give you back then?” Ruger kept his eyes on her, trying to read her reaction.

Her eyes went wide, and she looked back and forth between the two men for a moment.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Sparkle’s voice trembled ever so slightly.

“That’s yet to be decided,” Ruger said slowly. He didn’t want to make promises that he couldn’t keep.

“It sure as hell won’t be gang rape.” Sadist shoved one hand through his hair, ripping it free from the band that kept it out of his face. Ruger knew he was right. The Souls were no saints, but not a single one of them would condone rape, much less the kind of hell she must have survived with the Devils. “You’re safe in this building, you hear me? You tell any man in this club no, and that’s all it takes. If anyone tries to force you, I had better hear about it.” Sadist had to take several deep breaths, and Ruger could tell he was on the verge of snarling.

“Sparkle, this is Sadist.” It was a little late for introductions, but she needed to know the other man was in a position of power. “He’s our vice president, so pretty much what he says goes. The only one who can countermand him is our prez, Tuck. I’m sure you’ll meet him soon.” He wanted her to feel safe enough to tell them what they needed to know.

Sparkle looked back and forth between the two men as if unsure. Ruger sensed she knew something more, even if she didn’t realize she knew it. Time would tell, but he was sure they wouldn’t be getting any more out of her tonight. Glancing at Sadist, he found the other man already watching him. Ruger jerked his head slightly toward the door, and the other man nodded almost imperceptibly then stood.

“Take this room as yours for the night,” Ruger said to Sparkle. “Feel free to go back downstairs and have a few more drinks, spend some time with the guys, or not. Either way, the room is yours.” He stood and watched as Sadist picked up the bottle of Jack and headed out. He waited for Sadist to leave then followed him out the door. Once it was closed and they stood on the walkway overlooking the room below, he turned to Sadist.

“Not what I was expecting.” Ruger took a few steps away from the door, farther from the staircase, and stopped in front of a closed door.

“Me either,” Sadist growled, a scowl making deep creases in his brow.

Ruger opened the door and found that, as he’d expected, the room beyond was empty. “Gimme that.” He took the bottle of Jack. “Your turn to go get the next girl.” He didn’t wait for Sadist to argue or ask questions but went straight to the table beside the bed. He took one of the glasses kept there and poured two fingers of the whiskey. “You can report to Tuck if you want, but I think it will be a waste of time until we talk to at least a couple more and know more than bits and pieces.” Ruger carried his glass and the bottle to the chair in the corner and sat. Feeling his friend’s gaze, he looked up and found Sadist had yet to move. Ruger lifted his glass as if in toast then threw back the strong liquor. The door clicked shut as Sadist left and Ruger pulled a face. Jack wasn’t his drink of choice, but he needed something after what he’d heard.

He took a deep breath and dropped his head back against the chair. This is not how he’d hoped to spend the evening. He’d much rather be sitting somewhere talking to, or even watching TV, with Krissi. Hell, he didn’t really care what they were doing. He’d even go shopping without much complaint if it were what she wanted to do.

The door opened, and a tall, dark haired girl stumbled in with Sadist just behind, though not stumbling. Sadist still didn’t look happy, but at least the scowl was gone. After some fumbling, he got the girl to sit on the bed much like Ruger had, but it was obvious this girl was all giggles and slippery hands where Sparkle had been more composed and focused. Finally, Sadist seemed to have had enough.

“Stop,” Sadist barked.

His tone must have penetrated her haze because her hands froze. She looked up at him with wide, fear-filled eyes.

“Shit.” The other man muttered as he pulled away and stepped out of her reach. Getting his first clear look at her, Ruger realized girl wasn’t the right word for her, as she was at least thirty, maybe even forty with dark honey-colored skin and nearly black hair that curled around her shoulders. Between the two of them, Sadist and Ruger asked her mostly the same things they’d asked Sparkle.

Her name was Dulce, and she had never known the Spanky who had gotten Sparkle into hooking. Dulce had been working the street when the Devils took over her neighborhood. They’d killed her pimp and taken over his girls. Dulce had been under the Devils’ control for somewhere around five years, and as far as Ruger could tell, she had no ambitions or desire to do anything but hook. The real information from Dulce came when they realized the Devils had become lax about talking around her. After some hesitation, Dulce revealed that she’d heard one of them say it was time they expanded their territory before the girls had been dropped off that afternoon.