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He was right – it was packed. The dancefloor was buzzing with people, and there was a whole crowd clustered in front of the bar, waiting to be served. I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face.
"Who’s first?" I called, clapping my hands together, and a girl slid up to the bar with a face like thunder.
"I’ve been waiting here for ages!” she exclaimed, and I kept the smile as steady as I could manage it.
"I’m sorry to hear that," I told her. "What can I get you...?"
The rest of the shift rolled by quickly, even though it was totally hectic. I was pouring drinks, serving customers, taking payments, and trying to keep my attitude right so they would leave me some good tips in the process. The good thing about working at the Flood was that a lot of the clientele had some serious cash to their names, and they wanted to show it off as much as possible. That meant they were willing to drop impressive amounts on tips, just to make sure everyone knew how much money they had.
Once the crowd at the bar had started to thin out, I darted off to the staffroom again to catch my breath, pulling out my phone and checking the time – just another couple of hours, and I would be able to go home.
I couldn’t help but think about Kyra. She would likely be all tucked up in bed right now, fast asleep, tired from another day at school and glad to get some rest; for the first few years of her life, I had slept in bed with her, my arm around her, my face nestled into her sweet head. I missed those days, especially now.
But I would get them again, I had to believe that. I would get to enjoy that kind of closeness with her again, I just had to keep my head straight, keep myself going, and keep my work under control. And I would be able to provide an amazing life for her. But, more than that, show her that it didn’t matter what the world threw at you – if you were willing to do the work, then you could handle anything. You could take it all on, and you could get by. No, more than get by – you could thrive.
"Hey, Jo!”
Freddie’s voice called through from the bar, and I sighed and turned to join him again. I knew I shouldn’t be leaving him out there alone. Sure enough, when I stepped out, there was another group of people filling out the room, all of them waiting by the bar with expectant expressions on their faces.
I forced a smile on to my face, and went out to serve them. Just a couple more hours, and this would be done.
And I would be curled up in bed with my little girl, my reason for doing all of this.
Chapter Two – Sasha
“Hey, hey, what the fuck are you doing?" The man protested, as I grabbed his arm and steered him towards the door.
"You really don’t know?” I snapped at him. All night, this guy had been causing trouble for the women in the Flood; hitting on them, getting up in their business while they were dancing, grinding on them even when he was told in no uncertain terms to fuck off. I didn’t care who he was, I wasn’t going to turn a blind eye to that kind of behavior, not when I was meant to be making this place safe for all the patrons.
"Let go of me," he snapped, pulling his arm out of my grasp. "Don’t you know who I am?"
"I don’t care who you are," I replied bluntly. "You’re leaving. Now."
"I pay good money"
"I told you, I don’t care," I told him, as I pushed him towards the exit. And I meant it. I didn’t care what kind of reputation this man had – he could have been the most important man in the city, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with acting like a creepy asshole around these girls. They deserved better.
"Go," I told him, crossing my arms and blocking his path back into the club. "And don’t try anything stupid."
He parted his lips, clearly intending to protest more, but then, when he saw the look on my face, he thought better of it. He sloped out of the door, his shoulders slumped down shamefully, and I watched until he had vanished halfway down the street. Good riddance.
And, just as I turned to head back into the bar, someone blocked my way.
"Who was that?" Adva demanded, narrowing his eyes at me. I shrugged.
"I don’t know," I replied. "Just some guy who was acting creepy with the girls here. I got rid of him. That’s all that matters."
Adva pushed past me, to look at the guy before he disappeared into the night – and, when he saw who he was staring at, his eyes widened.
"That’s Oliver Uva!” he exclaimed, as though that name was meant to mean something to me. I shrugged.
"Am I meant to know who that is?”
"Are you fucking kidding me?” Adva snarled. "He’s one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the city! You can’t just kick him out of here."
"You should have seen the way he was acting," I replied, flashing him a cocky grin. "If you think I was going to stand by and let him ruin the nights of all those girls-"
"I expect you to know better than to turn out an ally of the Antonovs," he fired back at me sharply. Shit, I was getting tired of this Adva guy, and I had barely worked at the Flood for a month. He had just arrived back from some mission across the city, managing the set-up of a new compound for the Antonovs to work out of, and he had been driving me crazy since his return. Throwing his weight around, acting like the big man, and for what? Just because he seemed certain that he should be calling the shots? Yeah, that wasn’t how this worked. The Antonovs had hired me to do a job, to look after the club and make sure there wasn’t any trouble; I was going to fulfill that duty, no matter who got kicked out in the process.
