"Happy to help, Lover Boy. Now can we go out to the floor? You might not want to see the new girl dance, but I sure as shit do."
18
Enzo
Music pulsed through me as I walked into the private room where Bryan waited for me. The girl on stage winked at me as I entered, undulating her hips against the pole as she gripped it above her head and dropped down slowly.
Yavin paid her extra to tell grand stories to the other girls of what happened during her private performances for Bryan, keeping her mouth shut about what really went down when nobody was looking, and I slipped into the room unnoticed by patrons of the club. "How much this week?" I asked, studying the bags at his feet.
"Hello to you too, Sweetheart. What's put you in such a fine mood?" he teased, becoming more and more comfortable with me despite the fact that my near hatred of him grew every day. It didn't matter that he'd been grateful not to have to put up with Sadie. Nothing could appease the beast that roared through my veins anytime there was even a hint of another man breathing her air.
It certainly didn't help that she worked in a gym full of men who'd love nothing more than to pin her to the wall and taste her sinful mouth. That they'd want to discover just how stunning she looked when she came.
"Sadie is with Yavin," I said shortly, bending down to peek inside the bags full of cash. Nodding, I had to admit that the bags felt heavier than normal. "This is a shit ton of cash."
"Rafael and Calix brought an entire army with them. Where do you think those guys are going to get their fix while they’re here? My buddy at one of the stables said the girls are all walking funny after yesterday," he chuckled. Gritting my teeth against the reminder of just what kind of men these were, I tried not to let it bother me. None of the others seemed remotely fazed by the whores. The drugs. The guns.
I'd known what I was getting myself into when I’d agreed to work for Matteo. It didn't mean I liked to think about the potential lives harmed by his businesses. At least all the women were involved of their own volition, not coerced into stripping or hooking or sold to the highest bidder by egotistical and pushy pimps who had no business living.
If they didn't do it for Matteo, they'd probably do it for someone who treated them poorly. The devil you know and all that; at least he made sure they were safe and cared for. It was all I had to hang on to when the morals I'd been raised with tried to rear their judgmental heads.
Rafael poked his head into the room. All I felt was satisfaction that at least the demented fuck wasn't harassing Yavin. I dealt with psycho daily. Shit. I even liked Ryker.
But something about Rafe set my nerves on edge, a darkness within his soul that felt like a whole different level. Ryker had boundaries and limits, despite his enjoyment of causing people pain.
Somehow I knew Rafe was different, that he'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted once he set his mind to it. Enough to make the psychos I knew look like child's play.
"Well, I guess at least they paid well," I agreed, zipping up our portion of the cash from the more illegal aspects of business at Tease. Yav couldn't exactly mark down blow and sex on the itemized tax forms, so a portion stayed behind for him to launder while the rest went to offshore accounts.
Rafael’s steps were slow and casual, unhurried as he observed his surroundings and made his way over to us. "I'm told your woman is here. I am surprised you allowed her to leave the bedroom after the stunt she pulled. I'd tie mine to my bed and not let her see the light of day until she lived and breathed my name, had she endangered herself that way."
"I have a feeling Sadie would find a way out of handcuffs," I said with a grunt of disapproval. "How is Isa, anyway?"
"As expected, Matteo forbade me from touching her while I am here." He shrugged, despite the fire burning in his odd eyes, which seemed to glow as if lit from the pits of Hell that burned inside his very soul. "We have come up with another course of action, but he's requested she be eighteen before I make my move."
"And?”
"I can be patient. I myself am not fond of how young she is," he agreed, barely glancing up at the stripper who worked the pole like the professional she was, with her eyes on him. Some women desired all the power of a beast between their legs, unconcerned with the consequences of those actions. Others just appreciated the extra money that came with going above and beyond the expectations of their job title.
Natalie was both.
Rafe's eyes left the stripper, uninterested in the body twining so sensually. "Her disappearance will attract less attention when she is eighteen, anyway. Parents can only do so much when their only child goes on vacation and never comes home."
"What exactly are you doing here if you aren't interested in the entertainment?" I asked, accepting the slip of paper from Bryan where Yavin had marked down exactly how much money he was sending for transfer to the accounts.
Rafe shrugged. "My men thought it would help distract me from following my Princesa. Since I cannot bring her to Ibiza for some time, regardless."
"Doesn't seem like it worked very well," Bryan chuckled, accepting the slip of paper back as I signed off that I'd seen it transferred to Bryan's custody. There'd been a time when we were less coordinated, but several betrayals over the course of Matteo's leadership meant he'd cracked down. Now when money went missing, we knew everyone who'd touched it.
Bryan hefted a bag up onto each shoulder, ignoring the silent, scathing reprimand Rafe gave him with burning eyes. To be so oblivious to the danger lurking right beside you; I'd never understand such a thing. I almost envied the lack of real-life experience, but also knew with war tensions brewing, Bryan would see his fair share of horror in the coming months.
He made for the door hidden behind one of the curtains at the back of the room, his car waiting in the alley just outside. Hefting up two more of the cash-laden bags, Rafe followed suit, and we deposited them into Bryan's trunk. As soon as it was closed, Bryan climbed into the driver's seat and took it to the next stage in the journey.
Even I didn't know where it went at that point. One of the most crucial aspects of operating safely was that no one person besides Matteo knew the entirety of Bellandi operations. Lino knew the legitimate, Yavin knew Tease, Max knew the stables, Ryker knew the Warehouse and cleanup, Ash knew Indulgence, Seb knew security, Massimo knew the Underground, Sergio knew the dealers, Brando knew the weapons, and our finance guy Nick knew the transfer of money and the process it went through once it left our businesses.
No one person could rat out or dismantle an entire operation because they didn't know everything. Everyone and everything had a place.
Turning back for the club, Rafe and I made our way inside and snuck out the door into the hallway, before Natalie would turn off the music and muss herself up to look like she'd had quite the private show with Bryan. We made our way down the hall of VIP rooms, crossing the main space to go for Yavin's office. The idea of Rafe near Sadie didn't sit right with me, what with her rebellions and how controlled Rafe appeared to want his woman.