Isis was not surprised Gage would suggest a strip club on her first night out with the Justice crew. She just went along with it to avoid any further conflict. Gage would have to make a statement to her after all. It was obvious that he was a control freak. She would just try to go with the flow. After talking back to him she almost expected it now.

She quickly figured out how controlling he really was once they made it to the club. They ended up in the VIP room with champagne flowing and girls fawning over the wealthy men.

A girl stood on a platform dancing for the men. Several more groping and pawning at them. Isis tried to not look at the almost nude woman grinding and gyrating to the music on the platform. With hands folded in front of her, Isis stood awkwardly in the corner. Sounds of men’s catcalls came from whatever spectacle was happening on the mainstage in the next room. Other wealthy men in VIP looked at Isis like she was a snack. Luckily for her, they didn’t dare approach due to her being with a group of large intimidating men. Gage purposefully made an entrance with her by his side to show she was with him. He had no intention of some random man touching her. Even if she did annoy him to the core.

Across the VIP room, a man was pulling a stripper into the champaign room to receive a lap dance. The man was clearly drunk and aggressive with the girl. Isis just cringed at the sight. This was not her scene. She liked art galleries and spending time with nature. Not spending time shoving dollar bills in strippers g-strings.

Gage sat watching Isis while two women entertained him. His eyes roamed over Isis' small frame, resting on her firm breasts that peeked out of her tight wiggle dress. She had a small dancer frame but voluptuous with nice curves. Her long slender legs leading up to a round firm behind made his mind wonder what was lurking under her tight dress. He was more interested in looking at Isis than the half-naked women who were surrounding him.

Occasionally, she would find herself glancing in his direction. He could see her repulsed expression under the dim lights of the private VIP room. Also, a tad bit of fear and anxiety. Just where he wanted her. To mold her to his liking he had to break her first. It was not always his way but with Isis, it was working.

Isis looked over at him and pouted her lip. Gage could see she was trembling. Her eyes were focused on the women that were on him. He had her right where he wanted her. One lady on his lap and the other beside him, Gage rubbed his hands over their bodies. His guiding hands worked to provoke a reaction from the goddess across the room. He noticed in for a second, Isis' eyes wandering along with the movement of his hands. She bit her lip and her hands wandered over her abs clenching her dress as if she was imagining it was her.

He thought to himself, “Was that a hint of desire, my queen?"

Gage’s sly devious smile crept over his face. This was what he wanted from a woman. Control. Could she be the one to submit to him? His secret desire to mold someone to his will. Surely there was something to her. He felt the jolt of his growing erection speaking volumes to him. He shifted the stripper away. He might be a monster but he was no deviant. He was not going to let a stripper satisfy his itch. No. That was reserved for someone like the goddess across the room. He would have to make her his. He pulled at his pants to try to conceal his arousal. Isis eyes shot up and away once she saw the twitch of his member pressed against his perfectly pressed trousers.

Isis heart raced and she wanted nothing more than to run. It was all too much. Was it the stripper he was interested in or was it her? She didn’t want to find out. Not after the way Gage had been acting toward her. Not after he humiliated her and made her feel ashamed of who she was. This was no place for her. She looked around realizing she had nowhere to go. Trapped in a nightmare of testosterone and the smell of sex.

The VIP area was quieter than the rest of the club. It was one of the more high-end strip clubs but Isis would never notice. All she knew was that she didn’t fit in here. In a normal club, she would be admiring the fancy decor and excited to dance the night away while forgetting all her troubles. But here it just didn’t bring the normal reaction from the dancer turned wrestler. A soft mix of blue and purple lighting reflected off the silver and white decor that glimmered around her.

Isis could hear the talking of the men around her in other booths. She tried to focus on the discussion Jerrod and Drake were having near her, doing her very best to avoid eye contact with Gage. She could feel his eyes on her and the thought made her shiver.

Drake sat watching dancers while chatting with his friends. He turned the girls away who offered private dances. He was in a relationship and had no interest in anything more than his lady wrestler, Sahara. He drank and watched the table dancer as if not a care in the world.

The horny frat boy, Nick, was getting a lap dance and throwing cash around. He was getting as much attention for the woman as he could muster up. Jerrod was just chatting it up with a big group of women about his cars, money, businesses, and wrestling history.

Gage's interest was on Isis. He whispered something to his group of girls and they went to the bar. One lingered on his lap playing with his hair.

He yelled over to the sad woman in the corner. “Isis! Are you just going to stand there like a scared cat? You can sit down, you know? I figure it’s not your first time in a place like this. Dancer and all.” Gage smirked with a snarky tone.

A sad look covered her face and she dropped her head like an abused animal.

“Oh, come on. It was just a joke.”

Jerrod looked up seeing Isis eyes start to tear up again.

“I’m not laughing.”

She looked down at her hands fidgeting with her fingertips. Her sure tell-tale sign she was nervous and upset.

“Hey, champ, we should go to a regular club. She doesn’t seem very comfortable here.” Jerrod motioned at Drake and Nick to head out.

“No. Stay put. She’s fine. Right, queeny?”

He got up, pushing the remaining stripper from his lap. He walked over to invade her personal space once more. Just as he had done several times throughout the night. His way of domination and intimidation that clearly worked for him. He hovered over her with his lips dangerously close to her ear.

“SIT!” He said sternly pointing at the spot next to where he was sitting.

His gruff voice startled her and she jumped slightly. Isis did as she was told. That was her way. She followed the rules. Her head was spinning and didn’t know how to get out of this. Away from Gage, her handsome tormentor. Memories of bullies as a child flashed through her mind and a grim past full of broken relationships. It all seemed too familiar. She hated strip clubs. She had only been to one that her ex-boyfriend forced her to attend to embarrass her. The same reaction of her staring at the floor the whole evening was all too familiar.

She felt Gage swirl his fingers in the back of her hair as he sat beside her. His other hand rested on her leg. She was repulsed at his touch. Only seconds before she saw strippers in that same spot. She cringed at the thought of how many men before Gage had touched the woman. Now he was touching her the same way. She had no problem with women's career choices. It was just something she was not accustomed to.

She tried to wriggle from Gage's grip but he pulled her closer. Gage waved two of the girls back over and motioned them to dance for Isis.

“Ladies, our guest here just had her first appearance on IWX. Why don’t you show her some moves? She’s a dancer herself. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

He ran his fingers through the side of her hair and she pulled away, eyes wide looking at him in a panic. Jerrod noticed her sudden look of terror. He felt bad for her but if he crossed Gage he knew he would catch hell for it later. He was Gage’s mentor but Gage was twice his size. He couldn’t fight him if he tried.

“No, please. I’m fine.” In a small shy voice, she pleaded as she tried to push them aside.

They started to dance for her and one of the girls got on top of Isis giving a lap dance. Her crotch grinding and hands rubbing on Isis' lap.

“No. Please. I don’t like this.”

Isis started to feel closed in as panic set in. She pulled back trying to move the girl's hand away. She never liked being trapped. Gage put his arm around her almost holding her in her spot with a maniacal grin on his face.

“It’s ok, ladies. Keep dancing. It’s her first lap dance from someone else. She’s a little shy is all. Come on, Isis. It’s just dancing. This is how you do it, right? Maybe you can offer me one later tonight in my hotel room.” Gage held her tight.

“STOP! Please... I don’t want this!” Isis jumped up throwing the girl off her.

The girl fell with a thud on the floor cussing at Isis as she ran from the building. Drake saw the whole ordeal and went after her. He had always been nice to Isis since they met a year before at the convention. Drake saw her as a friend and was not ok with Gage’s attitude.

“Gage?! Bro! What the hell was that!” Drake yelled as he headed out to find her.

Jerrod asked the girls to leave them. He went and sat by Gage trying to give him that fatherly support he always had.

“What are you doing? You have that girl scared to death. Can’t you see that she doesn’t like it here? Let’s just go someplace else.”

“No, Jerrod. She wants to hang with us. She needs to be one of us.” Gage drank from his champagne flute.

“We never even come to strip clubs. We hang out in classier places than this. Why are you treating her this way? This isn’t like you. Isis ran out of here in tears, and not the first time tonight.” Jerrod looked questioningly at his friend trying to get some answers to this madness.

He knew Gage was not like this. Something was wrong and he needed to figure out before someone got hurt.

“She needs to learn who’s in charge, Jerrod.” Gage motioned for one of the strippers to come over and she sat on his lap once more.

“Isis is not the kind of girl who regulars a place like this. You know that. We have heard Cyrus gush over her for years. She doesn’t belong here.”

“She sure as hell looked like it earlier, didn’t she? She looks like she spends a lot of time working a pole. Do me a solid. Why don’t you have a talk with her about dressing a little more classy? I don‘t want to be escorted to the ring by a whore,” Gage said sternly.

Jerrod just sat and looked at Gage not sure what to say or do. Gage got up and paid the girls to take him to the champaign room. He instructed Jerrod to send Isis to the room when she returned.

“Gage, I won’t do that. You have done enough to her tonight. I think tonight is over. We’ll see you tomorrow. You are usually the one tell me this. Sober up. You’re drunk. We are done here tonight.”

Jerrod left Gage standing there with a woman pawing at him. Gage looked at the woman in disgust, mostly disgusted with himself. He shoved her lightly away and ran his hands over his face. Frustrated with his own actions, he followed his mentor out of the club. He knew Jerrod was right. This was not who he was. Gage was not really interested in the stripper, to begin with.

“FINE! Let’s go.”

In the limo, Isis was huddled in Drake’s arms crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. Sucking air, she tried to catch any air that would enter her lungs as she sobbed uncontrollably. No one had ever made her feel so dirty. Gage just sat looking out the window. Rubbing his lip thinking about what he had done. Trying to block out the sobs of Isis crying coming from across the car.

“I… I... hate you.” She finally got out between the sobbing.

He looked over at her long enough to see her tear-stained face and turned back to the window. Who was he? He didn’t know. He had been losing control for a while now. He couldn’t grasp why he was treating an innocent girl this way. He remembered years ago his friend Wraith telling him she was his biggest fan. He hated himself. He didn’t blame her for hating him too. The alcohol, women, and parties were not who he was. Before his divorce, he never drank and focused on fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Now he was a train wreck controlled by anger.

Gage couldn’t deny that something about Isis intrigued and infuriated him all at the same time. Who was this rookie to talk to him like she did? She needed to learn respect. He was a legend in his world. He didn’t care who her family was. She was still just the new kid on the block. She needed to pay her dues just like he did for years. Isis did this to herself by pushing her way into his life. He didn’t even have a say in it. She was just going to have to learn to roll with the punches on his terms.

Isis laid her head in Drake’s lap covering her face with her hands.

“He hates me. Why doesn’t he just send me home or tell Mr. Preston it’s not going to work?” she thought.

She could talk to Cyrus or Wraith but it would cause problems for them with Gage and they respected him. Who was this man? She always heard good things about him. Until the Justice faction started he was a good person. He got sucked up into the bachelor lifestyle and it was turning him into a monster.

They reached the hotel and Isis quickly got out of the car and got her bags to run inside. Facing him again was not going to happen tonight. She was too tired and humiliated to face any more of his torment.