by Cala Riley
“I think that it is a dangerous game you are playing, but it is your game to play. I do not worry about your mortality. I will protect you with my dying breath. I do worry about her safety though. Without your name, she is unprotected. The neighborhood will protect her the best they can, but what if she leaves Brooklyn? We control the boroughs well enough, but Brooklyn is home base, the only place that is truly safe. Just keep that in mind as you proceed. If you just want to dip your wick, then do it, but if not, then let her go or marry her.”
Suddenly losing my appetite, I stand.
“Let’s go.”
I don’t say another word as I head towards the side door. This time, I don’t care if alarms go off. I need to get the fuck out of here.
Chapter Four
Sofia
It has been two weeks since I saw Bash. I still remember the feeling in my stomach when I heard the alarms go off. Then I ran in to find they had left.
He had left.
I don’t know why it bothered me so much, but I pushed it to the side. I didn’t want to know what it meant.
The first couple of days I would find myself watching the door when I could, hoping he would come in. Or looking at his men in the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
Then I would scold myself for caring. I shouldn’t care what he is doing or where he is. I shouldn’t be looking for him.
After a week, I got better at hiding my glances. I had to. Mia and Izzy had started to notice and were teasing me about it. Well Mia was teasing me, Izzy was warning me to stop. I don’t know what happened in the past with her, but I have a feeling it has to do with Giovanni. Anytime she sees him, she shuts down and becomes cold. Then for two days after she is in a bitchy mood. I know she grew up here and I wonder if she knew him.
Who am I kidding, if you grew up here you apparently know all of those men.
While I haven’t seen Bash, I have caught glimpses of Giovanni and Lorenzo on the streets. Every time I do, they give me a nod then go back to what they were doing. I figured they would ignore me like their king seems to be.
Bastard.
Fuck. I’m not supposed to care. Get it together, Sof.
I shake my head then look at my phone.
Fuck.
I got lost in my thoughts yet again and wasted time. I rush to finish applying my makeup.
Uncle Tony shut down the restaurant tonight. It is his week to host poker so he gave us the night off. The first one we have all three had since I got here. The girls decided we should go out and celebrate. What we are celebrating, I don’t really know, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.
A knock at the door tells me I am out of time. I step back and look in the mirror at my outfit. I smile. It has been a long time since I have been able to wear something I actually feel sexy in.
I smile at myself and go answer the door.
“Girl, you should look through the window before just opening the door. We could have been here to hurt you.”
I roll my eyes at Izzy. Always the practical one.
“I could hear Mia here talking a mile a minute. I knew it was you.”
I step out and lock the door behind me.
“Ready?” Mia says.
She’s beaming. Dressed in a black halter dress that stops just above her knees, she is the picture of gorgeous. The dress is modest in most people’s terms, but very provocative when I think of Mia. She is always making sure her body is covered so I am surprised that when she turns to head down the steps that her dress is backless down to her tailbone.
“Damn, Mia. You look like a fox!”
I can’t help my words. She looks over her shoulder as I follow her down the block. I see her face redden.
“I do know how to dress when going out. I just don’t like to dress like this all the time.”
“Girl, you are going to drive them boys nuts.”
She giggles and I remember just how innocent our Mia is. I make a mental note to stay near her throughout the night. I look over at Izzy who is walking next to me and see the same look in her eyes. We are on the same page.
I look at Izzy’s outfit and am not surprised. If Mia is the picture of gorgeous, then Izzy is the picture of sultry. She looks like she could seduce a man with the flick of her finger.
“Iz. You look amazing. I love that dress.”
The dress she picked is a blood red wrap dress. It cuts low into her cleavage and high up her thighs. One wrong move and she will be flashing someone tonight.
She winks at me. “You don’t look half bad yourself. Who knew that you had curves under all those baggy clothes you wear.”
I roll my eyes at her. My work uniform fits me pretty well and shows off my curves and she know’s it.
“Seriously,” Mia turns around and walks backwards. “That dress is sexy, Sof. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
She turns back around. I didn’t know I had it in me either. My ex really did a number on me. It started off as just a sideways comment here and there. I started to avoid wearing certain lipstick or shirts. Then it turned to a smack if I was dressed any way other than what he deemed appropriate.
“Hey.” Izzy touches my arm to bring me out of my thoughts. “You good?”
I smile. “I am. Let’s get to celebrating.”
∞∞∞
We arrive at a dark building around 9 p.m. I won’t lie, the subway ride here made me nervous, but thankfully the girls are versed with traveling to and from Brooklyn. Without them, I think I would have had a panic attack. Thankfully, the club wasn’t far from the subway. Every noise around me has me jumping. Uncle Tony told me to try not to leave Brooklyn. Honestly, I have never had a reason to. So, when the girls asked me out, I didn’t think it would be a problem. Now standing here, I am wondering if I should have listened to him.
“Let’s go.” Mia tugs my arm.
I roll my eyes at her.
“The end of the line is back her, Mia. We can’t cut.”
She gives me a secretive smile. “Sure, we can.”
I look over at Izzy who shrugs. She doesn’t know what Mia is up to either. Seems her backless dress has also give her a bit of confidence.
I look up at the name in neon as we approach the front of the line.
Crimson
The bright red sign adds to the ambiance that the name evokes. I have a feeling this club isn’t going to be like the ones I am used to.
I watch as most women in the line give us dirty looks as we walk past them. Most of them are dressed a lot skankier than we are. I sigh as she steps up to the bouncer.
“Hello there, darling. Can I help you?”
The bouncer is a huge, black man who looks like he dead lifts semis every day. I am expecting him to tell us to high tail it to the back of the line.
“Yep. Names Mia Cortalione. That’s Isabella Dellaco and Sofia Russo.”
She points to each of us as if the man knows us. I roll my eyes at how innocent she is. The man looks down at a list that I am sure we aren’t on, but to my surprise he looks up and smiles.
“Right this way ladies.”
He opens the rope and gestures us in. I hear curses coming from the line behind us, but I am still flabbergasted at how quickly we were ushered in.
Once inside, we are stopped by a second bouncer that places wrist bands around our wrists. As we walk through a second set of doors, the music washes over me. Mia turns and gives us a knowing smile. I roll my eyes at her as she leads us to the bar.
“How the hell did you do that?” I yell into Mia’s ear.
“I know people. I had us put on the list.”
I smile, but see Izzy give her a shocked look. I narrow my eyes at her as her shock turns into anger.
“Are you crazy, Mia?”
“Nope. Now let’s get drinks.”
She holds her arm up, the one with the wrist band. As soon as the bartender sees it, he abandons what he is doing and heads straight for us.
“What can I get you
ladies?” He sounds a little flirty, but also wary.
“I want a Bahama mama,” Mia announces then turns to us.
“Whiskey and coke.” I yell
“What kind of whiskey do you like?”
“Irish, but whatever is cheapest.”
He nods then turns to Izzy who is still fuming.
Mia grins at her.
“Come on, Iz. Order your drink. Don’t ruin this night for me.”
She glares a moment more then turns to the bartender. “7 and 7.”
He nods and goes to leave, but Mia calls him back.
“Can we also get three lemon drop shots?”
“Sure thing, doll.” He nods as he walks back to start our drinks.
“What is going on?” I say as I watch him.
One thing I learned, always watch your drinks. While he seemed nice enough, it would take much for him to slip something in our drinks.
“Iz is just being over protective.”
“Overprotective? Do you think he put you on the list for free? He is going to be expecting something from you?”
Mia scoffs. “I doubt it. I think he did it because he didn’t think I would actually come.”
“You are playing a dangerous game, Mia. I don’t know what is up with you lately. You need to watch yourself.”
I want to look at them, but can’t.
“Who are you talking about?”
“No one. Izzy is being crazy.”
I hear a growl out of Izzy. “I am just looking out for you.”
“Well no one asked you too.” Mia snaps back.
My eyes briefly leave the bartender as I glance at Mia, shocked. I have never heard her speak in anything but a friendly tone.
My eyes quickly find out bartender bringing back our drinks along with a shaker full of our shots. He hands each drink to us.
“I gave you Jameson. Hope that’s okay.”
I nod as I internally cringe at how much that is going to cost.
He then pours out our shots and hands them to us as he pours sugar over lemon wedges and sets them on a napkin in front of us.
“If you need anything else, just holler.”
“Wait!” I call out as I fish in my purse for money.
“Yeah?”
“How much do I owe you?”
I pull a twenty out and go to hand it to him.
“No. It’s on the house. That’s what that wrist band is for.”
My eyes widen as Izzy’s narrow.
“Well a tip then. Please just take it.”
He nods and takes the twenty and puts it in a jar under the bar.
“Still think it’s all just innocent?” Izzy fumes at Mia.
“Are you guys going to fill me in?” I ask as Izzy stands glaring at Mia.
“No.” Mia says. “This is a fun night. If you are going to be pissy all night, just go home.”
Mia turns to me and taps her shot glass with mine then holds it out for Izzy to tap hers. She takes a moment, before she taps it and then we all tap the shot glass on the counter before tossing it back. We finish it by sucking on the lemon wedge, which is just the perfect mix of sour and sweet.
“Good. Now that we got that out of our way, let’s go dance.”
I take a large swig of my drink as she drags us onto the dance floor.
“Maybe we should finish our drinks first?”
She turns and beams at me. “Great idea, Sof.”
She takes her drink and sucks down a third of it before stopping.
“Catch up slow pokes.”
I cast a worried look at Iz. She takes a small sip of hers then leans into me.
“I am going to try to stay semi sober tonight. You go ahead and drink your heart out though.”
I nod, but decide I will also attempt to stay sober tonight.
∞∞∞
Three drinks later and I am not even close to sober. I don’t know how Mia did it, but she convinced me to keep drinking with her. I saw Izzy leaving her drink on a random table earlier. If we had paid for them I would have been pissed, but since they are free, I guess I don’t care. I still want to know what was going on earlier, but that will have to wait until I can get Iz alone.
Right now, Izzy is half dancing, while Mia and I are grinding on each other in the middle of the dance floor. That wouldn’t be a bad thing except I keep having to pull the back of my dress down and the more I drink, the less I am noticing it riding up.
I glance over Mia’s shoulder and stop cold. I see a familiar face. Mia turns me, but I immediately look back. I don’t see him. It must have just been my drunken mind.
I keep dancing with Mia, but I feel much more sober now. After another song, I turn to Mia.
“I need to use the restroom.”
“Good idea. Let’s go.”
I motion to Izzy and she blazes a path for us to the bathroom. Of course, we have to wait twenty minutes, but once we get to the front of the line, Izzy pulls all three of us into the room together.
“Hey, have you heard of privacy?” Mia asks.
“Mia, we are at a club. We go to the bathroom together. We don’t even lose eyes on each other. It’s the rule.” Izzy says as she motions for one of us to use the toilet.
“I can’t pee with you listening!” Mia exclaimed.
I snort. “Mia, have you ever gone out with a group of girls before?”
She is silent a moment. “I haven’t had a group of girls to go out with before you guys.”
Izzy’s shitty attitude melts at that.
“Listen, you go pee. I will turn on the water and me and Sof will stand over here with our backs turned, Okay?”
“Okay, but Sof goes first.”
I roll my eyes, but humor her. After all three of us finish our business, we head out. I am almost to the end of the hall, when a man steps out in front of me. Mia runs into me as Izzy steps up beside her to see what the holdup is.
“Sofia. I thought that was you. What are you doing here in New York?”
My veins turn to ice. I thought I saw him, but wasn’t sure.
“Hey Richard. I am just visiting. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I got transferred here a couple months ago. Where’s Ryan?”
He acts like he is looking around for him, but I know he knows. Richard is Ryan’s best friend. Ryan would have called and enlisted his help in finding me.
I clear my throat. “We broke up. Listen I have to go.”
I go to move around him, but he stops me.
Izzy steps forward and shoves her shoulder into his chest.
“She said we need to go. You need to move.”
He chuckles. “Or what, little girl? Are you going to assault a FBI agent?”
She narrows her eyes. “I don’t care who you are. You don’t touch my friend. You got that?”
He laughs again. “I am not afraid of you.”
“You might not be afraid of her, but you damn sure should be afraid of me.”
I glance back as the dark brown eyes that fill my dreams walk up from behind us. I notice that the hallway has suddenly emptied. Even the line for the bathroom seems to have disappeared.
Richard lets a smirk cover his face as he notices Bash’s hand fall to my lower back.
“I see you have already moved on. You should research the man you are with before you continue on. Ryan would take you back if you begged. He could protect you from this monster.”
He casts a glare at Bash. I feel his hand tighten into a fist at my back. I have seen Bash in action. I know that it would only take a moment for him to pull his gun that I know is in his waistband and shoot Richard dead. The problem is I don’t think Bash knows that he is FBI. I turn into Bash and lean up to whisper in his ear.
“Don’t do anything stupid. He’s FBI.”
I stay there waiting for any response. His hand comes up to cradle my face as he leans down and kisses my cheek before whispering back to me.
“I know, Tesoro.”
He
pulls his head back up as he tucks my head into his neck. I get the overwhelming scent that is Bash. Woodsy with a mixture of bourbon. His smell is intoxicating. Just enough so that I relax slightly.
“You are no longer welcome in my club. Boys, escort him out.”
“Hey!” Richard says as two bouncers step forward to lead him out. “You can’t do this! What did I do?”
“You were harassing these women. I don’t allow the harassment of women in my club. You will leave before I call the police to remove you.”
I gasp into Bash’s neck.
Richard has a small smile on his face.
“You have no reason to kick me out. I didn’t harass them, did I Sofia?”
I suck in a breath at the tone he uses. It’s the same tone Ryan used to use that said that I was going to get a beating when I got home. The protected feeling I started to feel in Bash’s arms evaporates as my body tenses with the memories flooding me.
“He was harassing not only Sofia, but also myself and Mia. I will testify to that.” Izzy says with all the confidence I wish I had right now.
“There you have it. Now go.”
I am waiting for him to say he is FBI or try any argument, but he doesn’t.
“Fine, but Sofia? Ryan misses you.” He doesn’t say another word.
Bash turns me and pushes me into the wall as I hear the men walk past us. Seems they are walking out a back door instead of the front one I walked into.
Bastiano
I don’t know why God decided to have her walk in to Crimson tonight, but I decided he was an evil God. I knew the moment she arrived. My front door man radioed that Lorenzo’s VIPs had arrived. I knew who that meant.
When he told me, he put them on the list, I almost throttled him. He explained that Mia said she might show up, but that he didn’t thinks he would have the guts to actually come to a big city club. I trusted him.
We were both surprised as we watched them walk in on the security cameras. I heard Lorenzo’s intake of breath while I just barely withheld my own.
Sofia was standing there dressed in a yellow dress made to tempt a man. It was so short that I could practically see her butt cheeks as she danced. I growled every time I saw her tug the dress down. The front was more conservative. While her breasts were both fully covered, there is a small triangle cut out that starts at her cleavage and goes down to just above her navel.