ANTON
I ignore the unknown number flashing across my screen. Not very many people have this number. It’s private for a reason. If it’s unknown, it’s either bullshit or a trap. I don’t have time for either.
“You gonna answer that?” Lev asks pointedly.
“No,” I say, reclining into my chair and putting my feet up on the table. The screen cuts to black and I continue on with my conversation with Lev.
“Where were you last night?” I ask him before he can start questioning me.
“A club downtown,” he says.
“Yulian dragged you there?”
“Actually, no. Went with some of the boys.”
“That’s out of character.”
“So?” Lev asks, somewhat self-consciously. “I needed a little break.”
“And did you find it?”
He smiles. “Her name was a flower…”
“But you can’t remember exactly which flower?”
He groans. “I wish I could. Lily or Holly or something like that. She was pretty cool.”
“Holly is a tree, idiot,” I laugh. “Let me guess: you saw her across the club, locked eyes like Lady and the Tramp?”
“No, asshole, I saw her up on stage.”
I raise one eyebrow. “You’re hot for a stripper?”
“She’s putting herself through college and stripping on the side to pay for it. Also, her ex is a deadbeat who skipped out on child support a couple years back. The burden is entirely on her.”
“So she’s got kids?”
“Just one. A boy.”
“When did she tell you all this?” I ask.
“A private dance in one of the rooms,” Lev says. “The boys thought I needed to let off some steam. But I got in there and before she started dancing, we started talking.”
“Did you get a dance out of her?”
He smiles secretively. “Got more than that.”
“You fucked her?”
“I like to think we made love to one another,” he sighs dreamily.
I shake my head. “Lev, my friend, getting involved with a stripper is—”
“She’s not like that. She’s nothing like the strippers we’re used to.”
“Meaning what?” I ask.
“She’s smart. She’s driven. She’s ambitious.”