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“Hey, Gavin. Thanks for scoring us tickets,” Mia tells the bartender.
“Gavin. I didn’t know we ran in the same circles,” I comment, having a seat at the bar.
He flashes his pearly whites. “Small world. What can I get the heartbreaker Katerina to drink?”
I snort. Not me doing the heartbreaking this time. That’s what I get for being fucking vulnerable; a mistake I won’t be making again. “Whatever the shameless flirt thinks will get me feeling good in a hurry.”
He whistles. “Long Island ice tea, but I can’t do that to you in good conscience.”
“Don’t let your conscience guide my buzz,” I tell him, and he barks out a laugh.
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He gets busy mixing my drink.
“You working any more poker parties at Ace’s Wild?” I try.
“Why? You miss seeing my pretty face?” he teases.
He slides over my drink, and I take a sip and make a face. “Would I be able to see your face after I finish this drink?”
“You were duly warned.” He chuckles. “I’m bartending at a poker party next weekend. You want me to see if they need another dealer?”
“Maybe. Gimme the deets. Whose party?” Please say John Davis.
“Have you met Inferno?” Gavin asks.
I shake my head. “The man who runs these parties?”
“Yeah. He’s a part owner of Ace’s Wild,” Gavin explains, and I perk up at that. Any information I can bring back to Mr. Parisi keeps me alive to fight another day. “Inferno operates this party scene. Pays in cash; everything under the table.”
“Sounds right up my alley. Let me give you my number to pass along to him,” I suggest.
He hands me a cocktail napkin and pen, and I write down my cell.
“I don’t have his number, but now I have yours,” Gavin says smugly, pocketing the napkin.
I click my tongue. “Dirty.”
He chuckles as another patron takes a seat, and I wave bye to before walking over to Taylor and Mia. “I’m going to mingle,” I tell them, wanting to bump into this Inferno and ask him myself about dealing. Another thing I know about flirty bartenders: they’re completely unreliable.
Walking down the hall in the opposite direction we came in, I reach another room where nearly every guy is wearing a mask. Pushing my way through the crowd, I ask a woman, “What’s up with all the masks?”
“They’re copycats trying to get pussy by pretending to be Inferno,” she tells me in a slurred tone.
“Have you ever met the real Inferno?”
The woman shrugs. “Who fucking knows.”
She goes to pick up her drink from a table, and I tell her, “Hey, be careful about sitting your drink down,” I say, but she’s already taken a sip. I keep an eye on her for a few minutes to make sure no one spiked her cocktail. She seems okay, and so I keep working my way through the crush of people.
Reaching a dimly lit hallway, I feel someone behind me and turn around. There’s a man wearing a ghost mask lurking in the corner. My body’s on high alert until I recognize the outline of a nipple ring beneath the white dress shirt he’s sporting, or maybe my body’s on high alert because I recognize the outline of that nipple ring.
Either way, I hurry along and reach my friends in the bar, who are now dancing with a group of people. I push my way to them. “Hey, dance with us!” Taylor shouts over the music.
Fabio
Tailing Katerina, I got concerned when she began traveling away from the city. That is, until I find her partying like she doesn’t have a fucking care in the world.
I adjust the mask I swiped from a guy exiting the party; I had to slip the bouncer a few hundred bucks to let me in. I don’t know who’s running this operation on my turf, but I plan on finding out and making them pay their dues. God, I feel like I’m fucking up as capo every which way I turn.
