AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Nico
My black loafers pound on the tile floor as I make my way to my office. Dante Vitale, my best friend since we were children and a capo of mine, follows close behind. The loud bass of the music vibrates off the walls, through to my chest as the noise pounds in my ears. We are at The Executive Club, my high-class gentleman’s establishment. I haven’t been here for a while, too caught up in business with the Marchettifamiglia.Myfamily.
My papà is Lorenzo Marchetti, Don of the most powerful organized crime family ruling New York and Capi Di Tutti Capi of the Cosa Nostra. I have been primed since the day I was born to follow in my papà’s footsteps and will eventually fulfill my legacy, my birthright, when the day comes for him to eventually step down. For now, I am his second in command, his underboss, learning everything there is to know and helping him rule thefamigliaand our city with an iron fist.
“Leo informed me that we had some new girls start a couple weeks ago,” Dante says from behind me. Leo is the manager here at The Executive Club. Like most of my inner circle and friends, he is someone I have known since childhood. I know that he issomeone I can trust to run the place, which is why I gave him the position in the first place.
“Have him bring their files to the office, so we can look over them,” I grunt. It’s something Dante and I always do. Personally go over every new girl’s file and vet them. It’s for our employee’s safety more than anything, but it’s also to make sure the people I have work here don’t have any affiliation with or are spies planted by our enemies. We don’t want that. We like to know who we are bringing into our clubs.
“Already asked for them,” he responds drily, a hint of insult in his voice that I even asked him.
Pushing through the door to my office, I round my desk and take a seat. My gaze shifts to the blackout window that overlooks the whole club. I can see everything that happens down there, but nobody can see what goes on up here. Exactly how I like it.
“Drink?” Dante asks as he pours his glass of whiskey from my bar cart.
“Macallan.” I drawl as I start up my laptop.
Logging into the system, I pull up my emails and start to go through them. It’s mainly boring shit. Figures. Consignments. Outgoings. Profits. All stuff I hate to look at but know I need to, to keep the place running smoothly. Though I trust Leo, I like to see for myself what’s going on with my businesses.
Dante places my drink on a coaster before dropping down in the seat opposite me. I focus back on my laptop, only for my head to snap up when a heavy knock raps at the door. “Come in,” I say, knowing full well that it will be my manager. The door pushes open almost immediately and Leo steps inside, confirming my thoughts.
“I have the files for you,” he says, holding up what looks to be several manilla folders.
“Thanks. Take a seat.” I motion to the empty chair beside Dante.
Doing as I asked, he drops the files on the desk and sits. “We have four new starters. I did the necessary checks, and they all came back fine.” He gets straight to it, telling me exactly what I want to know. Leo clears his throat. “One of the girls. I couldn’t find any background information on her. In fact, she is kind of a ghost…” I glare at him, and he trails off. “Look Nico, she was desperate for a job. Told me that she lost all her family, and she was all alone in this world. I didn’t outright ask her, but I dropped hints about your enemies, etcetera, etcetera, and she was confused when I started spouting shit. She didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. So, I passed her.”
“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it.” I bite out.
“I know. I know. But she has this whole innocent thing going on and the clients love her.” He sighs. “Honestly, I think I’m quite good at reading people and she isn’t a spy Nico. I know that much.”
“That’s for me to decide,” I growl, my skin heating with anger. Leo knows better than this.
He holds his hands up in surrender, trying to placate me. He knows he fucked up though, the next words out of his mouth confirm as much. “Okay, man. You’re right. I messed up by going against our usual protocol. But my gut told me she was fine. Meet her for yourself. I think you will agree.” He rushes the words out, trying to save his ass.
“Your gut won’t save you if the Russians fire up the place.” My jaw is clenched, my body tense with rage. Leo feels it, the darkness surrounding me, and swallows. Good. Had it been anyone else, I would have fired their ass by now, taken them to the basement, and inflicted untold pain on them. Being a friend gives him a little grace. Not much. But it’s why he is still sitting here.
“Is she working tonight?” Dante asks, trying to break the tension.
Leo glances at him, scrubbing a palm down his face. “Yeah. She has been here for two weeks and is on the roster every night. I asked if she wanted at least one night off but she said she needed the money. And like I said, our clients love her. She is our most popular girl. Men are coming from all over the city just to watch her dance. Our profits are up by at least fifty percent since she started.” He rambles on, trying to downplay his fuck up.
“Bring her to me,” I demand, my tone leaving no room for argument.
Leo nods, pushing out of his chair. “I will go get her.” Rushing toward the door like his ass is on fire, he disappears in the next second.
I shake my head, blowing out a breath. “I swear he is getting softer the older he gets. Hiring girls because he feels sorry for them and without using the proper protocol? I might need to rethink his position here.”
Dante snorts. “He is twenty-eight, the same as us. You don’t see us getting soft. I also don’t think there is more to it than what he told us. My guess is his dick got hard for the girl and that ruled his decision.”
I mull over Dante’s words for a minute, shaking my head when I come to the same conclusion. “You’re right. But Leo was spared some of the stuff we went through. He isn’t in this life like we are. He fucked up this time, but he is our friend. I trust that he wouldn’t compromise this place by making a rash decision just because he took a liking to a piece of pussy, no matter how much he liked her.”
“You know as well as I do, that he wants to fuck whoever this girl is and that’s the only reason he hired her without doing a thorough vetting.” Dante laughs.
I shrug nonchalantly but my curiosity is officially piqued. “Maybe. Guess we will see what’s so special about her when he brings her up here.”
“Guess we will.” He shakes his head, amusement flashing in his eyes. “He knows he can’t fuck the dancers, so it was pointless hiring her if that’s what he wants. He knows full well there is a no fraternizing policy. He fucking manages this place.” He grunts.
