AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hand the keys to Charmaine and thank her. I give her some time with Lila while I look around the club. I’ve been noticing some of the assholes in here staring at my girl. Fuck that. If she insists on working here, I’m gonna plant my ass on this barstool for every minute of every shift. I don’t even care if her boss doesn't like it. Maybe I should see about having her bartend at Luminescence or the Hawk’s Nest. At least I know she’ll be safe at those places.
I’m still wondering why she works here. It doesn’t feel like the kind of place my cupcake would choose to work, with all these assholes constantly hitting on her. And what would’ve happened if we weren’t here when that prick basically assaulted her? The bouncer was too far away. By the time he could have gotten there, that fucker would’ve been on her. My anger is bubbling again as I think about it.
After saying bye to Amante and Charmaine, I continue to watch Lila. She does her best to ignore the drunk fuckers at the bar—she’s had to cut off a few. The bouncer, who I found out is named Matt, calls them a cab and gets them out. But I still don’t like it. Tonight is going to be her last night at Club Curve.
“Thank you,” I say to Lila as she refills my soda.
“Why are you just sitting here? There’s other things to do here at the club, you know.” She’s looking at me funny.
“Like what?” I frown.
“Do you not see the girls dancing? There's private shows too, and I know some of the girls will do extras for certain clients.”
The look on my girl’s face is killing me. “Lila, there’s only one woman I want a show from and she’s standing in front of me serving drinks.”
She squints at me, like she thinks I'm lying. But I don’t care—if I have to spend every waking moment showing her what I see when I look at her? Then that’s what I’m going to do.
“Why do you work here?” I ask her.
She shrugs her shoulders. “I make good money here.”
My eyes narrow. “How many nights do you work?”
She squints at me again. “Just Fridays and Saturdays. Why?”
Oh fuck no. “You should give your notice tonight. Or better yet, this can be your last shift.”
“Whoa, back the fuck up. I need to work. I have bills and responsibilities. I can’t just stop working. I make more here than at the Grill,” she snaps. “And I’m not quitting there either.”
Bills I can handle. Not that she’d let me pay them, but I could. “How about I get you a job at one of the places the club owns? There’s the Hawk’s Nest and Luminescence.”
She perks up when I mention Luminescence. Ugh. Of course she’d want the strip club. But I work there too, so it’s the perfect arrangement.
“Luminescence? Could you get me both nights there?”
She’s beaming. Fuck me. “Yes, cupcake. I can get you both. I know you’ve been to the shows, so you've probably seen we have three bartenders on each night and a few servers too. You want to bartend?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Will you quit this place tonight?”
“If you promise I can start tomorrow? Yes.”
I nod. “Let me go talk to Giustizia. I’ll be right back.”
ChapterFour
Hollis
She’s still smiling as I walk over to Giustizia. I know he’ll say yes, but I can’t just do this without his okay.
“Your girl’s got some spunk.” Granchio laughs.
I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t I know it. Hey Giustizia, I have a question for you.”
“Sure, what’s up?” he responds.
“I want Lila to quit working here. The only way she’ll do that is if I can get her a job at Luminescence, Friday and Saturday nights bartending.” I stare at him as he starts to laugh.
