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I catapulted out of my seat, catching up with him. I clapped my hand onto his shoulder and spun him toward me, drawing the attention of a few people. “What?”
“Relax, Wings. They just landed. Jack and Kieran are heading to a meeting with the heads of house. They’ll be there in a couple hours.”
My excitement morphed into anger. “Where?”
Eoghan sighed, glancing skyward at the canopy of trees. “Scarlett’s Closet.”
My mouth popped open. “The strip club?”
“It’s a gentleman’s club, yes.”
“Jack just returned after two weeks in Ireland and he’s going straight to a strip club?” I clarified, crossing my arms over my chest. Eoghan didn’t confirm, but there was no need. “Take me there now.”
“To the club?” He hollered after me because I was already jogging toward the parking garage. “Emma, I can’t take you. I’m not even allowed at this meeting. It’s heads of house only.”
“I don’t give a flying you-know-what!” I screamed over my shoulder, aware that there were children in our midst. I spun around, thinking of something else. “If you refuse to take me, I’ll get a cab.”
His features hardened, a threat passing his lips with ease. “Good luck trying to hail a cab while I fireman carry you to the car.”
“We’re surrounded by people,” I pointed out, not at all phased by his challenge. “Try to pick me up, and I’ll scream rape.”
Eoghan’s jaw dropped in horror. “That’s a low blow.”
“Pat yourself on the back, then,” I retorted, annoyance spewing from my every word. “You’ve all taught me how to play dirty.”
An hour later, Eoghan pulled into a vacant alley in Turtle Bay. Scarlett’s Closet was an upscale gentlemen’s club. It was dark and classy. Stripper poles, yes, but the stage was set well out of reach from grabbing hands. The women would dance to one song, then wealthy onlookers would bid for a private showing. The bidding started at a thousand for ten minutes and rose from there. Experienced and drop-dead-gorgeous dancers only, of course.
Eoghan pointed toward the employee entrance, uneasy with the situation. I ignored him, focusing on my plan. I wouldn’t let Jack push me away. He’d never let me into the meeting willingly, but he would if there was no other option.
Determined, I stomped through the blood-red hallway and spoke to the manager. He was a McKenzie and didn’t know my name, but he knew Benjamin Franklin. He inspected me up and down, brows raised. In my frilly sundress and sneakers, I wasn’t exuding any sexual prowess. He muttered something along the lines of “if you can handle it” before counting the cash I’d handed him with greedy eyes.
Not long after, I stood in front of a mirror in the greenroom. A familiar stranger stared back at me, and I was proud of her appearance. I’d always known I was aesthetically pleasing, but my looks were antiquated—classic, I supposed. I was more Audrey than Marilyn, but not tonight. My reflection was a hybrid of them both. Emma, the old and the new. Demure, but alluring. Elegant, but sexy. Soft, but known to bite if provoked.
Confidence. That was what was radiating from my skin, giving me an unearthly glow. I smiled, one side of my mouth hitching higher than the other. Confidence looked pretty damn good on me.
“You came to kill tonight, baby girl,” one of the dancers cooed, her long eyelashes waving as she dusted my body and curly hair with green glitter. Although our vacation in Santorini was long over, I still wore the evidence of it on my tan skin.
“That’s exactly what I came to do,” I answered with a wicked grin.
Jack wouldn’t know what had hit him.
* * * *
Jack
“We’ve heard nothin’ since Connor’s death,” McKenzie continued. “Not so much as a rumble from the Nicolettis.”
My tumbler of whiskey began to sweat as I twirled it in my hand, pushing myself backward into the leather chair. I was trying to hide my impatience, but I could feel how close she was now. I rubbed at my chest to disperse the ache. Emma was somewhere in the city—minutes away—but I needed to be briefed before I lost myself in her. It was paramount that I knew my men, my family, were safe.
Over the next few months, an influx of green blood would be joining our ranks, coming to the city by the double. With the FBI investigating Connor’s death, it all needed to be done aboveboard, so we were making a gameplan for obtaining work visas.
We would house the men in various hot points across Manhattan. Apartments and safe houses I once used for business and meaningless fucking would now be devoted to our war with the Nicolettis. A war that Luca Nicoletti had no idea was coming. I was grateful for the element of surprise. We needed everything on our side to get through the Mafia and take out the Babau.
“…may be an amateur, but what she lacks in experience she more than makes up for in motivation.” A voice announced another dancer over the speaker.
We were seated at an oblong table on the private balcony in Scarlett’s Closet. The dark floor of the club and the elevated stage were in clear view, but I ignored it. I needed to get this meeting over with so I could see my girl.
“Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the Emerald Angel to our club,” the voice said, catching my interest. I tilted my head at the coincidence of the name, but only just. Bryan Murray had started talking again and my attention was drawn back to the heads of house.
