“With you training her, I’m sure she’ll be fine. Especially if she’s willing to get to work right away. When does she start?”
“Tonight. I figured there was no time to waste.”
“See, this is why I hired you.”
Marlene grinned. “You sure it wasn’t because you’re undeniably in love with me? Come on, Vorn. I know the truth.”
Her words were anything but the truth. I knew she was messing with me. Marlene and I had known each other our whole lives, and I could never think of her as anything other than a sister.
“You nailed it, Mar.” I rolled my eyes. “I would’ve been such a fucking fool to think I could pull one over on you.”
I heard a snort of laughter from behind us and glanced over my shoulder to see Zahíno chuckling. “Are they always like this?” he asked Hunter, gesturing to us.
Hunter shook his head. “Oh, no, usually much worse.”
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Marlene stared Hunter down.
I could never figure out why, but Marlene and Hunter always seemed to rub each other the wrong way. They were like oil and water. It seemed like no matter what the situation was, sooner or later they were going to butt heads or end up in bed.
Hunter gave her a big grin. “Nope. I’m all yours today, lovely.”
“Let me respond to you the way your dates do: no thanks, I’m good.”
“Low blow, Mar. Low blow.”
Topless night was even busier than the one before. Every single table and booth were packed, and the private rooms were at capacity. Having already spent half the evening putting out metaphorical fires, and a small real one in the kitchen, I allowed myself to chill for a second, watching the night unfold.
Several of the Hell’s members had also made an appearance. Hunter was sitting at the bar, knocking back shots with Colt, laughing loudly about something. Eric was lounging back in one of the chairs, watching as Bella gyrated in front of him. They weren’t the only ones. I caught sight of a few others and had a few drinks with them throughout the night.
I got a strange sense of déjà vu.
The scene was so familiar. I’d seen it so many times it could have easily taken place a thousand times before. It comforted me.
Despite the protest of the boys, I decided to make a lap around the place to check things out. Marlene said she’d be busy training the new waitress tonight, but I hadn’t seen her yet. Then again, the crowd was huge, and I could have easily missed them.
I was just passing the private rooms when one of the doors opened and a drunk man stumbled out.
“C’mon, baby. Jus‘ ’nother dance,” he slurred, reaching for the girl who followed. “It’s topless day. Drop ’em out.”
It was Mandy. I watched as she managed to politely dance away from his grasp.
“You ’ear. Lemme see them knockers.”
“I think you’ve had enough, sir.” I intervened. “If you go to the front, Carl can call you a cab.”
“I don’t want a fuckin’ cab! I want her tits in my face like I fuckin’ paid for!”
I saw red.
The guy was too fucking drunk for my liking. “I wanna see them bounce, bounce, bounce.”
He’d either been overserved or snuck in his own alcohol, which happened more often than I cared to admit. Making a mental note to have Marlene talk to the bartender, I put myself between the guy and Mandy.
“You need to leave.” I stood to my full height, staring him down. I was a good six foot two. The drunk asshole couldn’t be more than five feet six, at the most.
“Who da fuck are you?” he slurred, glaring up at me.
“The one who makes the decisions. So, if you don’t want to be banned for life for harassing one of my girls, I suggest you do as the lady says and go get a cab.” I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and tucked it into the front pocket of his jacket. “On the house. Our treat.”
I could see the internal war raging inside him. On one hand, I was sure he wanted to argue some more because drunk entitled pricks always wanted to. But on the other hand, I was a hell of a lot taller than him and easily twice as muscular. Grumbling to himself, he slunk away.
I caught the eye of one of the security guards and snapped my fingers, pointing the guy out to him. A second later, the drunkard was quietly escorted out of the building.
“You all right?” I turned my attention back to Mandy.
She nodded, giving me a grateful smile. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Thank you for that. I could have handled it myself you know.”
“I’m sure you could have. But there’s no way I was going to let him talk to you that way.”
She got on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek, her soft breasts pressing against my pecs. Even in the dim light of the club I could see her face flush red, and she avoided my gaze for a moment. When she stepped back and glanced up at me, her eyes were filled with fire. “How about a private dance, boss?” she asked in a low voice, and nodded her head toward the room she occupied for the evening. “Or a blowie?”
I knew that look. She had given it to me more times than I could count. But a blowie? That was a first. Was she serious? Before I could gently turn her down, though, I happened to glance past her.
And what I saw made my mind go blank.
7
Vorn
It was like a fucking movie.
The crowd parted.
I caught sight of a ghost from my past.
No fucking way.
April Dawson. She stood by one of the tables near the bar, smiling brightly as she served the men their drinks. It had been a long fucking time since I last saw her, but I knew for a fact it was her. There was no mistaking that face or that body. Glorious, gorgeous tits, covered by black, star-shaped nipple pasties with gold-and-black tassels. Her long brown hair was pulled back from her oval face, held in a tight bun, revealing the facial features that’d been forever burned into my memory.
“Um, not right now,” I told Mandy, distracted. “Why don’t you take a break? Have Jeanie take over the room.”
I missed her response as I walked away. My gaze never left April as I weaved my way through the patrons. I had to talk to her, confirm it was her even though my eyes told me it was.
I had questions, specifically: What the fuck was she doing here?
Out of all the clubs in the city, how the fuck did she end up in mine? The last I’d heard, she’d been nowhere near New York.
She didn’t notice me at first. It wasn’t until I got close enough to touch her that her gaze met mine.
She froze.
Fuck, those eyes. I’d never seen anybody with eyes like hers. They were a brilliant green, like emeralds, with the faintest blue line around her pupils. I remembered them as clear as yesterday, staring up at me in the moonlit room we’d snuck off to so we could fool around.
“Josh?” she asked. Her voice cracked slightly when she said my name, and damn, it sounded so fucking good coming from her beautiful lips.
I could instantly tell by the surprise on her face she didn’t know this was my club. Somehow, someway, she’d found herself working for me and had no idea.