“We want to negotiate. We’ll run our business and you run yours. We don’t touch yours and you don’t touch ours,” Leonardo offered.
Silas simply chuckled. For a few minutes, the table was dangerously silent, and I peered down at my guitar case as anxiety flashed through me.
“I don’t play by anyone’s rules,” Silas said.
“What if we offered a tribute to you instead,” Leonardo offered. “You can have a cut of the profits an
d then everyone will be happy.”
“Name your price and we can come to an agreement,” Mike added while Vincent glowered by his side. Nick just looked straight up pissed.
Silas glanced thoughtfully around the table. I knew he was just biding his time and humoring them until he decided he’d had enough.
“Seventy percent,” he demanded. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table as he folded his hands together. His price was ballsy, even I knew that, and the resulting tension in everyone’s faces was entertaining to witness.
“Fifty percent,” Leonardo countered.
“Sixty-five percent,” Silas responded.
“Sixty and not a penny more,” Leonardo replied, and I could have sworn that I heard the slightest twinge of defeat in his tone.
“I’ll agree to that,” Silas smirked. The rest of the table stayed silent.
“Why don’t we enjoy a few drinks while Miss Banks sings us some of her songs?” Matt suggested. There was so much tension at the table that it was stifling, and the rest of the men looked relieved at his idea.
“That would be great,” Vincent said, his expression one of tight restraint.
“I’d love to,” I replied, before I took a rather large gulp of champagne. I wrapped my fingers around the handle of my guitar case and made my way over to the much smaller stage at the back of the club. This appeared to be for much more private showings and since it was closer to the table where some of the most powerful men in the city were gathered, I decided it would be better to perform there instead. There was a microphone on a tall stand that I had to adjust, but when I tapped my finger against it, I found that it was already on.
The club already had my music from the last time, so when I gave the signal, the beats of the music started up again.
I began to sing, and the men started to relax. After I performed three of my slower songs back to back, I smiled back at them and readied myself for the music to ramp up in intensity. The rhythm picked up and I swayed my hips from side to side, beginning the routine that I had memorized to go along with it. When I was done with that number, I moved on to the next and performed the rest of the show without interruption.
When Silas finally lifted his hand, I wrapped my fingers around the mic. It was the signal we’d agreed upon in the car.
I knew what to do now.
“I’d like to slow things down and play something I just wrote. It’ll be part of my next album, which will have a few acoustic numbers for you to enjoy,” I said softly as the men at the table sipped their drinks. I hadn’t missed the fact that several of them had downed several glasses at this point. By my count, Nick was on his fourth. Silas was still on his first.
I sat down on the stool in the corner and lifted my case into my lap. I opened it in a way that my audience couldn’t see inside and wrapped my hand around the first gun.
In a quick flash of movement, I tossed it to Silas before I took one for myself. Out of nowhere, all the members of his team burst into the room, fully armed and ready for action. The guards that had protected the entryway were nowhere to be seen.
The four mafia kingpins stood up in a hurry, reaching inside and procuring their own guns even though this meeting was supposed to take place with everyone completely unarmed. Silas had expected that though. These men didn’t play by the rules either and he knew it.
I aimed the 9mm handgun straight at Nick. Silas did too.
“You may have paid off security to sneak in your guns, but I offered them far more to let the rest of my team in with me,” Silas said loudly, his voice ringing in the small venue.
“What the fuck?” Vincent growled.
“What was supposed to happen here tonight, gentlemen? Were you planning on killing me and taking Chloe for yourself?” Silas said boldly.
“She’s the heir to the Genovese empire,” Nick exclaimed furiously.
“Ahhh, the truth comes out,” Silas smirked knowingly.
I noticed that Damon had moved off to the side and was slowly sliding along the wall toward one of the back exits. I took my gun and quickly aimed it at him instead.