by Olivia Harp
He didn’t want to see her go. But what’s there to do?
A lot. A whole fucking lot.
Picturing her working from sunrise to sundown in that store made him cringe. Not because working there was bad in itself. He loved the fact that she liked working.
But she’s wasting her potential there.
His room was on the far corner of the room, hidden from the main area of the penthouse. He walked beside the big window, coming out in front of the TV.
“I got it,” Lucian said, sitting at the bar, taking a glimpse at him before his eyes went back to the laptop screen.
“She’s the only one who gets this,” Lucian said, and Crow understood what he meant. He was right.
“We need her,” he said.
“Let’s hope she understands.”
CHAPTER 19
LEXIE
Lexie dried her hair as well as she could, then wrapped the towel around her head.
She took a deep breath.
Time to go back to reality.
She grabbed her underwear, thought for a second and shook her head, grabbing her pants and putting them on for the third day in a row. She had to wear them, all right, no problem with that. But wearing her undies again?
Not if she could help it. She was going commando today.
She giggled.
Lucian told her he had an old, smaller shirt that might fit her better. Apparently it was from his younger days, before he became the muscle-bound tank of a man he was today.
She grabbed it and of course it didn’t fit. It was still too big for her, but still, a definite improvement over his sweater.
She walked out of the guest room and both of them turned to her, expectantly.
“What?” she asked with a laugh that hid her nervousness.
They looked at each other for a second.
This is the moment they say, hey thanks, good to know you, buh-bye!
“We want to hire you,” said Lucian.
Her stomach churned. She was about to flare up in anger, but she held back. They don’t mean it like that. I’m not a prostitute.
“Hire me?” she said bluntly, “for what?
“We need you,” Crow replied, “you’re the only one who understands this.”
The books. Of course. She was being defensive. What an ass.
“But I have—”
“You know you’re wasting your time there,” Lucian interrupted, “we want you to come with us and explain the situation to our accountant.”
“Guys, thanks, this means a lot to me, but I’m sure he’ll understand, it’s not really that hard—”
“If he asks a question, we won’t be able to answer,” Crow said, “we’ll have to come back, check the books, you know. It’s not efficient.”
She thought about it for a minute, then shook her head.
“I don’t want to take your money, it doesn’t feel right.”
“Doesn’t feel—” Lucian said but Crow talked over him, his demeanor completely changed, cold and professional.
“You’re selling a service that we need. This is business, Miss Young. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
“We trust you,” Lucian finished, “more than anyone else right now.”
“But still—”
“You have experience,” said Crow, “that we find useful.”
She laughed at that. They also had experience she found useful.
“When was the last time you went out of the city on business?”
She didn’t need to reply.
“I thought so,” said Lucian, “come on, take a risk, let’s make some money.”
Lucian smiled, then she did, then, after a few seconds, Crow did too.
“Where are we going?”
Crow looked at her, a grin adorning his face, but Lucian was the one who said it.
“Vegas, baby.”
CHAPTER 20
LUCIAN
“We need to get you some clothes first,” Lucian said when the elevator doors opened on the first floor. The big, high ceiling hall looked almost obscenely ostentatious.
“We can go pick them up at my place,” Lexie replied, “I might—”
“Do you want to go shopping?”
She stopped before they went out of the building, Lucian had already opened the glass door.
“I don’t want you to buy me clothes,” she said, her voice carried a commanding tone he hadn’t heard before. It made him smile.
“It’s an advance,” Crow said, “you can pay us back when you get your first paycheck.”
She wondered for a bit, looking at Crow, then back at him.
“How does that work for you?” Lucian asked, “it’s just easier this way.”
She sighed, and he knew there was nothing else to say.
He opened the door and let Lexie go out first. When Crow got closer he whispered: “nice save,” and went out behind him.
***
“Are we going to a mall or something?”
“Something like that,” Crow said. Outside, traffic began to swell the streets, it was too early for any store to be open, but that didn’t matter.
Lucian took his cell phone out and called Sosa. She answered on the second ring.
“Yeah?” she said, her voice flat but appealing.
“Sosa, I need to ask you a favor.”
The woman on the other end of the call replied immediately.
“Sure,” she said.
Everything was set.
***
He and Crow sat on an ottoman, in front of the changing room. Two big mirrors surrounded the entrance to it.
Sosa was one of their old friends. She’d always been smart: started an online store back in 1998, before the dot-com bubble burst.
It survived the crash and went up to become one of the premiere fashion websites. She later started her own high fashion physical stores. The analogues, she called them, but the sign outside only read M. Sosa.
This was her brand, and she worked hard to build it. Marina Sosa talked to Lexie over the phone, to get everything ready before she arrived. We’re in a hurry, Lucian told her before passing over the phone.
The changing room door opened and Lexie swaggered out in a tight, knee length, dark red business casual skirt with a loose white blouse on top. Lucian’s heart almost stopped.
“You need some heels, dear,” Sosa said and left to get them.
She didn’t need anything. She looked absolutely amazing. She could wear a pair of Chuck’s and she’d still wipe out the competition on a fashion runway.
“Shit,” Crow whispered beside him, his eyes fixed on her.
“What do you think?” she asked, looking at them for a moment, then at herself, and her butt —of course.
“Incredible,” Lucian said.
Her smile lit the room.
“You look like a CEO,” Crow said, “you have to wear that to the meeting.”
She laughed, “okay, I love it too, I think that’s settled.”
“What about the other clothes?” Lucian asked.
Sosa had a bunch of outfits ready for her. This was the first one she’d tried. She put her hand on the neck of the blouse, looking for the for the price tag, she found it and her eyes widened.
“Guys!” She said, “this outfit is nine-hundred dollars!”
Lucian couldn’t stop looking at her, “so?”
“What do you mean so?”
“It’s clearly worth it,” Crow said, “besides, that’s not the price of the outfit.”
She sighed in relief, “Oh, thank God!”
“That’s only the price for the blouse.”
She snapped her head back, swallowing, the look on her face was so exquisitely funny Lucian was sorry he didn’t videoed this whole interaction.
“Are you crazy?”
Crow looked at him, smiled, then they shrugged.
“Don’t worry about the price, dear,” Sosa said as she walked back to them, three pairs of shoes in her
hands, “it’s on the house.”
Lexie looked at her in disbelief. Sosa was giving her more than five grand in merchandise. Well, I guess she has a right to be shocked.
“No, Sosa—”
“No, what?” Sosa said, her eyes steely and cold.
Lexie shook her head, “I want to pay for this.”
“I don’t like my decisions questioned, Lexie,” she replied, giving her the shoes, “I’ll handle my business however I like, and let you handle yours as you like. Try the shoes. And you still need to try the other dresses I picked for you.”
Lexie didn’t reply. She looked at Crow and Lucian, who stared silently at her, a smile in their lips.
“Good idea coming here,” Crow told Lucian when Lexie went back to the changing room, “she likes to work for her stuff.”
“But no one can argue with Sosa, isn’t that right, Marina?”
She looked back at them, still looking gorgeous, after all these years.
“No one yet,” she said, then spoke louder, “now let’s see what else I got for you, Lexie.”
***
They were almost at the airport.
She was beaming, trying to hide how excited she was. The way her face lit after trying on a few more outfits was enough to make Lucian’s day.
“The terminal is over there,” she said.
“I know, but we’re not going to the terminal,” Crow said, he knew this was going to be another surprise.
She frowned, Lucian could almost read her mind, she was probably asking herself how were they going to go from New York to Las Vegas. Not in a limo, that’s for sure.
He pointed out the window, towards the hangar.
“We’re parked over there.”
He was enjoying this more than he should. Crow was the same, they shared a look, waiting for her reply.
“No,” she said, astonished, “no way.”
“Yes way,” he said, “we can’t be tied to the airliner’s schedules, so we—”
“You have your own plane.”
He laughed, “Not a plane, just a jet.”
“Just a jet. Seriously, Lucian?”
He shrugged, grinning.
“You’re gonna like this,” Crow said, “no lines.”
“You guys are so spoiled.”
“We work hard for it, thank you,” Lucian finished.
The limo stopped beside their jet, a medium sized Falcon 900, the stewardess and the pilot waited for them on the deck in full uniform, sipping iced tea.
“We’re ready for take off, sirs,” Captain Adelberg said as soon as they got out of the car.
Crow looked at him, “Sirs?”
The Captain, a man in his sixties who still liked wearing his dark blue cap, relaxed, “you’re with someone today, I thought it was a business associate.”
“She’s a friend, Cap,” Lucian said, “thank you Chancey, I got it from here, please help the lady with her bags.”
The limo driver nodded and took all six of them from the trunk. We need to buy a suitcase as soon as we get there.
“Hi there,” Crow said to the stewardess. The young, thin girl looked eager, was this her first day? He’d never seen her before.
“Hello,” she said with a nod.
They never flew with extra people, the hangar included the service so they just paid for it and left without them. But this time, they wanted to pamper their girl.
“I’m Crow, this is Lexie.”
“Hi, Lexie.”
“And that pale bastard over there is Lucian.”
She smiled.
“Shall we?” he said, pointing at the air stair.
They picked their suitcases and walked on.
Seeing Lexie trying to act cool was a reward in itself. He liked… loved seeing her happy.
Even though all their life, they were taught that the only person they could trust was themselves.
And that women fuck everything up.
Always.
CHAPTER 21
LEXIE
Lexie wasn’t sure she wasn’t dreaming. Everything: the plane, the clothes, the limo, the men, was so incredible she couldn’t believe just three days ago she was sitting on a dirty floor, looking at barcodes and shoe sizes on brown cardboard boxes.
Now, she just walked out of a private jet, after flying five hours west, to the Sin City, on business.
That made it even cooler. She wasn’t there to have fun. She was there to kick ass.
They called a cab as soon as they landed in the sunny plains of Nevada. She’d never been there before. But the air smelled like it did when she woke up on the day of her high-school graduation: as if the world was hers for the taking.
She could see the strip from the distance, she bit her lip, this was the first time in years she actually travelled.
You’re not here on vacation, you dork.
That’s right. She wasn’t. But seeing how close they were to some of the biggest, most glamorous casinos and hotels in the world, she couldn’t help but feel thankful to the boys.
The car turned from the main road to an exit on the right. They drove away from the Strip, unto dirtier streets, where suddenly every storefront looked much less dignified, as if the years came hard upon them.
“Where are we going?”
“Straight to business,” Lucian said. His demeanor was changed. Still talkative and friendly, but his mind was focused on something else.
“You’ll meet Oscar, our business manager,” Lucian said, “he does the accounting too. He’s kind of blunt. Don’t take anything he says too personally.”
She nodded.
Crow grinned at her, trying to put her at ease. It might have been funny if she wasn’t a nervous wreck already.
What if she was wrong? What if she missed something and it turned out her little finding was nothing but a mistake? What if, after all the hours she put in, it turned out that she was a complete failure?
You’ll work it out.
Easier said than done.
She didn’t want to embarrass the boys. They were the ones who would look bad if she fucked up.
Crap, I need to see the numbers again. She needed to see them just for a minute, make sure she didn’t mess things up.
“Don’t worry,” Crow said, placing his hand on her bare knee, “you’ll do fine.”
“I’m nervous,” she said.
Lucian held her hand, “no reason to be. So what if it turns out we were mistaken? We have nothing to lose.”
“Nothing at all,” Crow said.
She bit her lip. These guys are the best.
But she was shivering. Her tension rising every inch of the road, as they got closer to their destination, wherever that was.
***
They stopped on a street surrounded by two and three storied buildings.
Most of them were small apartments, businesses and bars. Not many people were outside, no wonder why, the heat is almost crushing me.
“So, where is it?” She asked. Crow pointed at a dark building in a corner. Its architecture style looked a bit odd. It was a big black pillar on the corner of the street, looking down on the people passing by.
It was maybe four stories high, but there weren’t any windows to the street on their side, so she couldn’t really tell.
A small, neon sign flashed above a metal double door. Its crimson letters read “The Tea House.”
One person stood outside. It was the biggest man she’d ever seen, tall and strong, bald and wearing shades. He looked like a ‘roided up men-in-black.
Her nerves skyrocketed.
Crow placed his hand on her back, “don’t worry.”
His voice was reassuring. This man looked like he could probably rip a phone book in half with his bare hands if he wanted to… but he touched her as if he was afraid of damaging her. As if she was the most precious thing he’d ever seen.
“You’re gonna be fine,” Lucian said cheerfully, “we need to get this done quickly, I’m starvin
g.”
She laughed. They were about to see if they could save hundreds of thousands of dollars on taxes, but he’s starving.
She rolled her eyes. If only she could be so laid back.
They crossed the street. The guard outside saw them and instantly straightened out, ready to face the trio of strangers coming his way, but then, his whole body language changed.
His head sank up on his shoulders, taking off his sunglasses, his lips pressed hard with a forced smile.
“Good evening, Theodore,” Lucian said.
“Sir,” he said.
It was obvious he had the uttermost respect for them.
“We need to send someone to install an awning out here, it’s not fair for you to stand in the sun like this.”
Theo smiled.
“It’s not a problem, sir.”
Crow slapped his arm, “we take care of our own.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Has Oscar arrived, yet?”
“Yes, sir. He’s upstairs.”
“Good,” Lucian said.
“How’s Brenda?”
A big smile finally adorned his face.
She’s doing great, sir. Top of her class.”
“And her health?”
Leeroy smiled, “cancer-free, sir. Four years next month. All thanks to you.”
Lucian gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
“Don’t thank us. How old is she, now?”
“Twelve, sir.”
“I’m glad.”
“How many clients are inside?” Crow said, changing the subject.
“About fifty in the whole building, they’ll start pouring in in about an hour and a half, just after lunch.”
“Take care, Theo,” Lucian said, opening the steel doors.
***
The inside of the building was a complete opposite of its exterior. If it looked dated and old on the outside. Its insides were the epitome of class.
Hardwood floors and red carpets, dark walls tinged with black marble stone and white accents. A few mirrors here and there, everything lit in soft lamp lights. The place looked like a palace.
Air conditioner was at full blast, apparently, as she went in, Lexie felt like diving in a pool. Refreshing and incredibly comfortable.
“Vanessa,” Crow said with a nod. A woman in her thirties, dressed in a tight black dress smiled at them from a small counter to their left.