Chapter 3

• Ashton
• My eyebrows arched the moment I said the words. Camilla had no family and that was the exact reason she became my sub. Her mom was dead, her dad abandoned her and she never rejected sex.
• Everything began to make sense. The passion I felt kissing her and the tightness I felt.
• She was a calmer version, she didn't have the same features as Camilla and it was the mask that hid it.
• "I'm so… I’m so sorry—I have to go," she blurted and grabbed her purse. She ran away before I could think of any response and I just stood there.
• I watched her run away. Her ginger hair falling to her back in that moment. I scratched my hair. "Fuck!"
• I put on my pants and adjusted my shirt. The last thing I want is for a guy to walk in and see my erection all out. A knock came on the door almost immediately and Aaron pushed it open. "Where's Camilla?" He asked.
• I shot him a sharp look. "She's not here."
• "But I saw her walk in here and—" he paused. "Did she leave?"
• "Camilla was never here."
• "That's not possible."
• He looked slightly confused but it made sense. I was also confused and I hated that anyone could make me feel this way.
• “Whoa, you… ah… you mean she wasn’t in here? But…”
• I walked past him and nudged his arm slightly. I didn't have time to keep beating around the topic when I had a meeting to attend with my investors.
• I was walking down the hallway in the process of buttoning back the buttons that she opened with her hungry hands.
• "Wait, Ashton," Tisha called. I turned to her with a stern look. Tisha was one of the club's oldest strippers. She had a name, a reputation but that was why she was employed. To keep the club's visitors entertained.
• "Yes?"
• She twirled her pink hair around her finger. "Your new girl left."
• Camilla wasn't a new girl but she only came to strip at the club on my request. I had her for my personal needs— she signed a contract.
• "I think she left in a haste too. Did something happen?"
• Irritated at her inquisitive persona, I scrunched my nose. "Your shift started twelve minutes ago."
• Her face fell like she had just been rejected. "Of course." She walked away and I sighed. Camilla was never here and whoever that bitch was just made me lose thousands of dollars for refusing to dance.
• I was too relaxed for someone who just fucked a total stranger. Even though I felt a flush of irritation, it was primarily because I was played.
• Perhaps, it is because this isn't the first time I am having a one-night stand. I felt some form of stillness in me but a part of me wanted to know who the hell she was and how she got Camilla's ticket.
• "Ashton." It was Brad, my right-hand man and the only one who saw me at my worst before acquiring these properties. Brad is my fucking best friend and the only one who I let close to me when I'm not fucking.
• "What happened?" He asked. "I heard Camilla isn't performing tonight."
• "Follow me," I said and took him to a corner. I trusted him enough to let him know what was happening. "Camilla didn't come to the party."
• "Are you drunk?" He asked. "She was sitting right there," he continued, pointing to the VIP table.
• "That bitch was an imposter. She isn't Camilla."
• "Wait what? How'd you know that?" He asked me.
• "Cause I had her and— I found out. She ran away the moment I found out."
• As expected, he didn't look surprised. He was taken aback because the whole situation was still agitating.
• "Was this Camilla's plan or am I missing something?"
• "Dude, I have no idea at all. I just lost thousands of dollars cause of her refusal to strip for those men. You know how it can get with them and now I have to worry about a bitch who posed to be Camilla."
• "This is crazy."
• I turned away from Brad and decided to think of how to solve the problem at hand. Brad has worked hand in hand with me for the past seven years of running the club. The club is my biggest investment and the only thing that could have me worked up.
• I became a billionaire and the owner of various enterprises because of this—organizing parties like this. It became a big thing in New York and I found my way of making parties like this bring reserves.
• Aaron worked for me but from a distance. All he had to do was get the girls who stripped for the men and he got a fair share. The Club had its dancers but bringing in new faces made the game sweeter.
• "Get other strippers to strip for the men. If they're not satisfied then they can have them for the night."
• "But that wasn't the plan," Brad said.
• I signaled the waiter passing and took a glass of Macallan from the tray. I raised the glass to my lips and sipped from it.
• "Camilla ditched us and we need this money. These men are our only strategy to get back the money spent on this party."
• He looked at me and his black hair fell to the sides. "I'll get to it."
• He turned to leave but stopped and raised his brows at me. "So how do we know this wasn't Camilla?" His nose flared. "I've always known she's a bitch."
• "I'll call Camilla and find out if this was her plan."
• I shoved out my phone from my pocket and looked at the screen.
• "You forgot this," Aaron said and handed me a handkerchief. "It's yours, isn't it?"
• I paused. "Uh, yeah..yeah, thanks."
• Why on earth would I own a purple handkerchief? It wasn't just purple, it had a floral design on it. I grabbed the handkerchief and sniffed it. It scented like her, rosewater and velvet.
• I shoved it into my pocket and dialed Camilla's number.
• "Yeah?" She answered.
• "That wasn't a smart thing to do, Camilla. You're going to make us lose our men."
• "I don't care."
• "Is that why you sent some random bitch to act like you?"
• "What are you talking about?"
• "Quit the game. You made her come and pose like you without dancing. What was the fucking point?"
• "You're tripping. I didn't send anyone to that fucking sex party to act like me."
• "So how did she get your ticket? Camilla, she had your VIP ticket and you fucking know what that's worth."
• "Shit," she cussed after a moment of silence.
• "What? Do you have an explanation for what you just did?"
• "No, but I think someone picked it up from where I threw it."
• "You threw the ticket?"
• "I told you I was done, Ashton. I can't keep being your sex slave and whatnot."
• "Stripper," I corrected. "And we talked about this. We could get another deal after this party."
• "I'm no longer interested," she said.
• "Listen to me Camilla, I am the only one who can put an end to that contract you signed. I don't care what you think this is but you'll continue being—" I paused. "You'll continue stripping."
• "You're so disgusting!" She yelled and the beep tone sounded in my ear.
• I shut my eyes and puffed out air. I reached the wall and felt the urge to punch it but I needed to remain calm.
• Turning to my left, I walked into a room but stopped at the door when I saw they were having a threesome. "Sorry," I mouthed and closed the door against the slurping sounds that filled the room.
• "What did she say?" Brad asked walking toward me.
• "She was a random girl who picked up Camilla's ticket."
• His face fell. "So she took a risk by being in a party she knew nothing about?"
• "I think so. She's damn crazy."
• "Yeah man, it's crazy but what’s crazier is that you had sex with her."
• The thought of her hands on my hard-on played in my head and I paused for a moment.
• "Quit playing, Brad. We have work to do with those men."
• "I already got them girls for the night. They can't sleep with those chunky men but they agreed to pleasure them." He spoke with casual nonchalance and that just added to the list of things that made me wonder how he became my best man.
• "Okay, that works," I responded with a curt nod. I hired many men before Brad joined but he bypassed the ranks and became the most efficient and elite person for some damn reasons that included being rational. I thought of the act— how did she succeed in pulling that off?
• "That bitch acted so well but we'll never find her. Didn't even get a proper glance at her face--"
• “But you kissed her,” he interrupted. “Hell, you did. You’ve got red lipstick on your jaw.”
• Shit. I rubbed my jaw softly but hard enough to get the lipstick stain off my face.
• He lit the blunt and inhaled a long drag. "There has to be a way."
• I thought of it too. Camilla was getting off the deal and that only meant one thing. I needed to find this girl and make her replace Camilla.
• "I'll find her," I told Brad. "I'll fucking find her."