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LORENZO
Dom: Come out with us. Get your mind off the bullshit.
My brother has been blowing up my phone for the last hour. He and Krishna decided it would be a great idea to take Matteo out for a bachelor celebration, since he and Sienna are marrying in a week. The girls are off doing some chick thing Dad mentioned. When I asked if either were willing participants, he said they’ll either bond or one of us would get a call to pick them up at the hospital. The former is wishful thinking, so I’m sober waiting on that call.
I got to Headliners—the strip club I own in the city—the same time as Domenico’s text messages started rolling in. That was the fifth time that I texted my wife since last night, which is why I’m holding my phone in my hand now, a text message already drafted waiting for me to hit send.
Me: Time to stop pouting and get over it, snowflake. Bet that hotel bed wasn’t the same as being in my bed, beneath me.
I would have loved to have seen her face when she showed up at her old apartment and figured out it had been subleased to someone else. That none of her shit remained in that place. Her pride was wounded, so she ended up at the most expensive hotel the city has. I know this because I got a charge on my credit card. Not sure when she swiped it, but what’s mine is hers so I didn’t care.
She’s not dumb. She did it on purpose, knowing I’d find out and likely expecting me to show up. But two can play this game. She wants to sulk, then by all means, sulk away, snowflake. If Sasha thinks I’m going to get on my knees and beg her to forgive me, then she’ll be waiting for eternity. I did what I did, and I’d do it again. She’s mine and that’s just the way it fucking is. My Snowflake will have to cut my throat from ear to ear if she wants out. Even then, I’d find a way back.
I’m giving Dom and Krishna two days. If they haven’t found Dimitri in that time frame, I’ll find him, and walk right the fuck in his house, and put him down myself. Sasha, on the other hand, has until later tonight to come around or I’m going to pick her tight little ass up and put her over my shoulder. She’ll be in my bed tonight, even if that means I have to tie her to it in order to make her stay.
There’s a light wrapping of knuckles against the door I left cracked open. Flicking my trained gaze off the screen of my cell phone, I peek up to see the door swinging inward to reveal Cameron on the other side. He was the manager when I bought the club and he’s remained the manager this whole time.
“You wanted to see me, boss?” he asks, greeting me with respect I haven’t earned. He’s always ran things and I’ve let him, never getting involved. Guessing, because I’ve never asked, I’d say he’s about five years older than me with brown hair kept short and neat. He’s wearing a suit while I’m sitting before him in jeans and a plain, white T-shirt I pulled out of a drawer this morning after I showered.
“Take a seat.” I motion to the chair in front of my desk. Even though I’ve owned the club for two years, this is the first time I’ve made use of the office. I’ve only ever come to the club for one reason and she isn’t here tonight, so I’m sure I surprised him when I showed up and told him to come see me when he got a free moment. I’ll seek her out when I leave here. “There’s something I want to run by you. If you want to think it over for a day or two, that’s fine, but I want your honest answer.”
“I’d never give you less than that, Lorenzo. I hope you know that,” he assures me.
“Good.” I press the button on the side of my cell, making the screen go dark, and then I slide it on the desk. Even though I’ve sent Sasha numerous text messages, I don’t expect her to answer me. If I want to talk to her, then one of us has to give in and go looking for the other. It’s not like I can’t find her, no matter where she is. Especially now that she’s wearing my ring.
Embedding a tracking device in the setting was the first thing I did after I bought it, but my psycho goes deeper. I can trace her from my phone if I want to the same as she can mine. Who’s without a cell phone these days? Not her, at least.
“After spending time in New Orleans and seeing the works of another club, I want to do the same here. I want to build an entertainment venue where people come to watch a live performance by the best dancers on this side of the world. I want to cater to the desires of men and women. I want it bigger than what we have now. I want it to draw crowds better than any other club in the country. So, my question to you is, do you want to do that with me or do you want to buy this place from me?”
“That sounds awfully nice, but we don’t have space here for what you’ve conjured up in your head. Not saying there isn’t another space somewhere else that would work, but we can’t do that here. Something that big will cost a fortune to create, boss.”
“Let me worry about the funding. Do you want in?”
“Fuck, yeah.” The smile ghosting his lips turns into a full-on grin.
“Next question, do you think we have the talent or do we need to look at recruiting fresh blood?”
“The girls we have employed are good, but they’d need specialized training for a next-level club. I saw a show once in Russia. It was badass, and if that’s the talent you want, then we’ll definitely need fresh blood.”
“Sasha can train, but we’ll need more than just her,” I admit. She’s going to want to kick my ass for that. Not for making her train dancers. I saw how she was in New Orleans, and she loved it. No, she’ll be pissed I want to bring in someone else besides her now that she’s pregnant. Eventually she’ll start to show and will have to slow her ass down for a while. Not that I can tell her that in those words. She’ll come to that conclusion on her own, so when that occurs, I need to have a backup in place.
“Sasha Nikolayev? The chick you used to reserve?” His brows furrow in confusion. I never explained why I booked her private slots, filling them with me and me only.
“Long story short, she’s my wife. I’m not getting into that tonight with you. If you stay, if you do this with us, you need to know she’ll be my equal. The club will be hers as much as it is mine. You’ll report to us both. Not going to lie to you, that won’t be easy for anyone. We’re complicated.”
“Sounds more than complicated, but I hear you loud and clear. Not my business, but she is my boss.”
“Exactly.” I sit forward as my screen lights up with an incoming text message. “I don’t have anything lined out. I know I’m not going to shut this place down until we have the new one rolling. I don’t want to do that to staff. I know they all need their jobs, and when this leaks, we need to make sure they know they’re safe.”
“Got it.” He stands. “Anything else you need from me?”
“Not yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.” He nods, then turns, leaving the way he came in.
I grab my phone, hoping my little snowflake has come to her senses, but see it’s a number I don’t recognize. I open it anyway.
Unknown Number: Snowflakes melt. They’re enjoyable for a moment in time and then, just like that, they’re no more. Some birds can have a lifespan longer than the average human. Easily captured too.
I’m typing a message before I realize that I am, then I hit send as I stare at the first word. Not many people know I call Sasha by that nickname, I don’t think, but then again, it’s not as though I hide it either.
