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“Café Milan.”
“Hang on.” He heard Chase call his wife’s name and a muffled conversation ensued, followed by a “holy shit” from Chase. “Sabrina knows of the Café. It’s the sort of place that shouldn’t be around.” Chase was quiet for a long moment. “Are you touring or will you be in DC next week?”
“I’m going to LA for a conference. Emily will be here, though. You might be able to find her at my place. She’s been coming over to practice the violin.” At least Mark hoped she’d continue. After this morning, though, he wasn’t as confident.
“Well, if what half you say is true, I don’t want to approach her for fear of her getting into trouble. It would be better if... Geoffrey, you said his name was?”
“Yeah.”
“If he didn’t know where the information was coming from. Men like him...” He growled. “It’ll be a pleasure to put him out of business.” He paused. “We’ve started researching the place and I’ll go down on Monday with my men to figure out exactly what needs to be done. Thanks for calling, Mark. I’ll do whatever I can to take care of this.”
They said goodbye and Mark leaned back into the couch with a sigh. By the time he got home on Friday, the Café would be closed and Emily would be free. And then... Who knew what possibilities the future held?
Thirty-Nine
Emily blewa curl out of her face as she typed in the order for Table One Sunday night. It was a group of businessmen and she could tell by the way Geoffrey hovered she’d be taking one of them home tonight. They were all young, arrogant, and entitled. Geoffrey still hadn’t told her which one would have the honor of spending time between her legs, but it was likely the loud, obnoxious one in the back center. All the men deferred to him. His dad was something important at the company they all worked for, and he’d grabbed her ass more than once tonight.
Someone sat down at the bar nearby and she glanced up. “David! I mean, Mr. Powell.” His expression made her pause. “Are you okay?”
He sat with a straight back and a clenched jaw. His eyes were red, though she couldn’t tell if he was upset or tired. Maybe both. He shrugged and motioned to the bartender, then gave Emily a grim smile. “A friend of mine, the VP of sales in my company, was in an accident last night.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Emily’s heart went out to him. He had circles under his eyes, which were full of a sadness she’d not seen in him before. “Will he be okay?”
David nodded. “It’ll be a long recovery, but he’ll be okay.” David sighed. “But, now I have to go out of town tomorrow morning to deliver an important presentation in his place.” He gave Emily a sad smile. “I was looking forward to spending time with you this week, but I’m afraid I have to cancel.”
Emily smiled over his disappointment. “I understand. How long will you be gone?”
“Most of the week.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Table One, who erupted into cheers as one of the men grabbed the other Section One waitress and tried to kiss her. It was late. They were drunk. Not too many people were left in the restaurant and Geoffrey wouldn’t stop them. They’d been getting worse throughout the night.
David glanced over at the table and shook his head. “You like that sort of thing?”
Emily shrugged. “It’s part of the job.” She sighed. “They’ve been here for a while.”
David nodded. “They do like to drink.”
“You know them?”
He nodded again. “Neil Ramsey, VP of Colt Logistics. His father’s family and my own are friendly.” He grimaced. “His father’s a good man, but naïve.”
“Emily! We need another round!” Neil shouted, holding up his empty beer bottle.
Emily nodded and entered the order into the computer.
“Don’t let him grope you, Em,” David said as the bartender placed a glass of bourbon in front of him. “You deserve better.”
“It’s okay.” She turned and went into the back to check on the appetizers they’d ordered. They’d eaten dinner but wanted snack foods to go with their drinking. Food would keep them from getting stupid drunk. Well, no more stupid than they were already acting.
Henry, the chef, said it would be a few more minutes, and Emily headed back out to the dining area, but in the hallway, Neil appeared with a wicked grin on his face. “Hey, Emily,” he said, leaning against the wall. “You have private rooms here, don’t you?”
“What do you mean by private rooms?” she asked, wanting clarification before admitting Geoffrey did have several rooms for special patrons to use for sex during their time at the Café.
He flashed a wicked grin. “You know what I mean.” He stepped forward and ran his hand along the neckline of her blouse.
She shivered but forced a smile. “Have you spoken to Geoffrey?”
“Do I need to?”
