“The performer?”
Any twitch of my lip disappears as I stand straighter. Not closer, no need to show aggression. Not here. But I’ve already tipped my hand to my family, earning an eyebrow raise from Vinny as he watches the both of us.
“Do I need to get Danny?” There’s mirth in Vinny’s voice to go with the calm smile on his face. But the threat is clear.
If we show anything but the happy family with zero problems, then heads will roll. Courtesy of my third older brother, who hates being in places like this and would enjoy an outlet since Vinny refuses to let him show up in anything less than a three-piece suit. Like all of us.
Something I also hate, as it pulls at the scar on my neck when I move my head to look left.
I shake my head but don’t lose eye contact with Bobby. “Nope.”
To Payton’s credit—which my brothers also notice—she doesn’t even flinch at the way Bobby is speaking of her. She might not hold eye contact with him, but there’s no shame radiating off her. Nothing that shows she’s embarrassed of what she is. What she does for a living. I wonder if she can tell that he knows about the debt or if she just suspects that they all know. We are family, after all. Everyoneshouldknow about it.
But unless Bobby said something, no one does. Just the two of us and the Kings. Something I know they’ll keep close to their chests. They thrive on anonymity. If they discuss who their “clients” are, that would cost them business. Even more so if anyone learns that the Leone family can so easily buy out a contract from them.
Not that it was easy. Many things were put in play with my simple request to take on Payton’s debt. Another thing no one will discuss out loud—unless an issue comes of it. Only then will Bobby pull in Vinny and possibly Danny.
“Have you two met before?” Vinny asks, but Bobby isn’t the one who answers.
“No. I’m Payton. Nice to meet you.” With more bravado than I’ve seen from her in a setting outside of her dancing in the night air, she holds her hand out and looks directly at my brother.
She’s startled him with her boldness. Something he wasn’t expecting. He was probably hoping she’d do something that would make me pull out of the debt. Or at the very least back up enough to make this more transactional and not personal. Something it’s been from the start, since the second I saw her and felt an inner connection to help her keep her innocence. If that means taking on her debt and having her pay me, someone who I hope she learns to trust, then I can help reduce the risk of all her pureness being wiped out like a candle in the wind of whatever passes by.
He takes her hand, standing tall and bowing a bit in acknowledgment. “Forgive me—”
She cuts him off with a shake of her head before he can say anything else. “It’s fine. Iama performer.”
Vinny looks back at her as she drops her hand out of Bobby’s grasp. Something I find some relief in, silly as it is. He is my brother, after all, and isn’t going after her. Mostly because he and I have completely different tastes in women. That and he also isn’t the type to get involved with anyone who works for him or, in some capacity, for the family. Something Payton has unwillingly become part of now that I own her.
“Performer? As in music?” Vinny asks.
“Dance,” I say at the same time as her, drawing Vinny’s eye as he connects the dots.
“Payton is the aerial act I mentioned a while back. Due to the amount of clientele interested in herperformances”—I emphasize the word with a direct look at Bobby before looking back at my eldest brother—“we’ve brought in a few more performer acts to draw in some crowds that might not have ventured in if not for her and them.”
“Interesting take on it. I’m sure we’ll see a profit increase soon.” Vinny gives me a pointed look that means he knows the thief hasn’t been caught yet. Bobby might have held his tongue about the debt I bought, but not that we still have issues at the club that I have yet to figure out.
“Boss.” One of Vinny’s guys taps him on the shoulder, something that both Bobby and I take notice of. Vinny’s men know not to bother him in these moments. His main job tonight is to appear that he doesn’t have a job since everything is running smoothly. If someone is bugging the boss, that means there’s a problem.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Vinny says to Payton, and then his eyes slide to both of us before he’s pulled away.
I take out my phone, just like Bobby, but see nothing from my team.
“You got anything?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“Nothing from my end,” he says as he pockets his phone.
“Should we alert Danny?”
I might be talking with Bobby, but Payton is just as much a focal point for me as the rest. She’s watching everything between us. Since she stood up to Bobby, her eyes haven’t dropped. They move around the room, taking in everything and everyone, trying to understand but not asking questions. Something so few do when they’re in a conversation with me and my brothers.
“Is that him?”
“Huh?” Bobby and I both look at her in question, and she just points to our right.
“Is that Danny?”
I follow her finger to see my brother, the one who focuses on security, moving quickly toward us. I don’t even question how she knew it was him. There’s enough family resemblance in all of us to make an educated guess.
