AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just as my lids began to droop, Romero’s phone buzzed. I jerked upright, realizing my head was leaning on his shoulder.
He looked at the phone screen and his brows furrowed.
“This better be good,” he snapped.
The drowsiness faded as I sat forward and paused the movie, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
Romero was silent for a moment. “We’ll be right there.”
He shot up to his feet, a muscle flexing in his jaw.
“I’m sorry, Julietta,” he said, glancing at me, before running a hand through his hair and shutting his eyes. “Fuck, Julietta, I’m so fucking sorry.”
My heart began to hammer, while somehow falling down to my feet. “It’s okay, I was falling asleep anyway.”
He shook his head, then opened his eyes again and fixed me with his penetrating stare. “Not that. It’s your mom. She was found. And she’s… It was an overdose.”
Chapter Thirteen
ROMERO
Entering the dark, humid nightclub with bass pounding the walls, I inhaled the smell of sweat and sex. My shoulders were tense, an odd sense of unease winding its way through me after spending the evening attempting to make Barrera’s informant talk.
His smug, bloodstained face still swam through my mind. Not because it was gruesome peeling his fingernails off, or skinning him slowly. But because in the end he’d been all too willing to share what he knew.
You have something Barrera wants. And he plans to take it back.
Something about that message didn’t sit right with me. Having never personally met Morgan Barrera, I had no idea what it was he thought I’d taken.
“You said you’d relax,” Aaron shouted above the music. “No more work.”
I nodded, looking around at my old haunt.
Women wearing little to nothing danced behind towering spires made to resemble cages. Others in provocative outfits perused the tables, finding their next lap to perform on. Aaron grinned like a kid on Christmas, eyeing the spread of women. I led the way through the crowd which parted around us. Curious and heated stares raked over me, but I kept my gaze locked on my usual table—dimly lit and unoccupied. A young, sensual-looking girl in tiny shorts and an even smaller crop top caught my gaze, her golden blonde hair a familiar color.
But she was taller than the pesky young woman I needed to get off my mind, and alarmingly thin. Taking my extended examination of her as an invitation, she sashayed her way toward the table just as Aaron dropped into a plush armchair. I remained standing, her dull hazel eyes entangled with mine. Slowly, she pressed her tits to my chest, lifting herself up on tiptoes to bring her blood-red lips to my ear.
“Care to take a seat, Mr. Vazquez?” Her silky whisper dripped with arousal.
But I didn’t feel a goddamn thing.
“Come on, man, you’re being weird,” Aaron chastised, his lap already filled by a busty brunette.
Teeth clenched, I dropped into the seat across from my best friend. The stripper started to move to the beat of the music, but I held up a hand to stop her.
“Redheads or brunettes only. Bring two,” I ordered.
A waiter brought over a selection of cigars while the blonde scoffed, spun on her ridiculously tall heel, and marched off. I chose my usual, along with a bottle of Macallan 1926. I had only three bottles since they cost a fair chunk, and they came from my private stash in the back. It was what I used to treat potential clients, show them a good time.
I lit my cigar, hoping the scent of the tobacco would ease my nerves. The man returned with the bottle and two glasses, setting them on the small round table between me and my company who was lost to the rhythm of the music and the hips that swayed before his face.
Rolling my eyes, I sucked in a breath of the smoke, filling my lungs by mistake. When I exhaled, two seemingly beautiful women paraded toward me. They didn’t look as plastic and desperate as the previous girl, which was an instant improvement.
“Good evening, Mr. Vazquez,” the girl with shiny red curls greeted. Her freckles reminded me of the few that dusted Julietta’s nose and cheeks, souring my mood further.
“I don’t need to hear your names, just get to it,” I barked, making them both flinch slightly.
Sighing, I poured half a glass of the fine whiskey. I took a hefty swallow. The burn that spread straight to my veins had my tightly wound muscles relaxing.
