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Ricardo made his way immediately to the stage after we arrived at the club, and I sat down at one of the tables, ordering a shot of whiskey and a beer. Ricardo was taking shots of tequila by the time the first dance was over, and I knew I was in for a long night. Girls in thongs and bikini tops were walking all around me, but I wasn’t paying much attention. All I could think about was a certain pair of bright brown eyes. She’d looked so good in her cocktail dress. She’d gained weight in the best way, around the hips and bust. I didn’t think I’d ever be more attracted to her, but here I was.
Ricardo all but knocked me over when he clapped his hand on my shoulder as I sat at the table, staring off into space. “You like that one,” he asked, the edge of a slur in his voice.
I blinked. “What?”
Ricardo pointed, and I saw that the space I was staring into was actually occupied by a busty bleached blonde standing near the stage. She was biting her lip, looking nervous. “I’m getting the champagne room, so pick out a couple of girls,” he said.
I looked coolly at the blonde, not really looking at her body but her face. It didn’t escape me that she had the same skin tone as Allegra, along with a pair of brown eyes, although hers were darker than Allegra’s, at least in the low club light. “Just that one,” I said. I didn’t really want to pick out any girls, but I knew that Ricardo wouldn’t take no for an answer. He was a hard partier and Enzo wanted me to protect him, keep an eye on him.
Ricardo stood up, bracing himself on the counter and hailing the waitress for two shots of tequila. I wrinkled my nose. Tequila was Ricardo’s drink of choice, not mine, but I shot it back anyway. I had to keep from making waves, especially since I had just come back. Enzo had taken care of me when I went away, but I hope Ricardo knew I took the fall for Enzo, not him.
The champagne room lights were brighter than the ones in the rest of the club, so when Ricardo brought in the girls, I could see them better. He’d picked a blonde, a brunette and a redhead. I looked at him and he just grinned. I gave him a half-smile back. Ricardo embraced the wiseguy lifestyle in a way I never could; but then again, I wasn’t born into afamiglia. My mother was a simple waitress with Irish heritage, and even though my father was a low-level thug for the now fallen Espositofamiglia, she’d hoped I wouldn’t follow in his footsteps.Sorry, Mama, I thought with an edge of guilt. She’d died from colon cancer while I was away, and the grief that washed over me just thinking about her was sharp and cold.
The blonde I’d picked out was clearly new to this, standing by herself while the other girls surrounded us. “You’re a quiet one,” the redhead said to me, sitting between me and Ricardo on a lounge couch.
I grunted in response and stood up, walking toward the blonde in the back. “What’s your name?” I asked.
She looked up at me, something almost like panic in her brown eyes. “Diamond,” she said.
I slipped a hundred into her G-string, doing my best not to linger. My mind might be occupied by Allegra, but I couldn’t deny “Diamond” was a beautiful woman. “Give me your real name,” I ordered.
Something flashed over her face. “Ashley,” she whispered, and I slipped another hundred into her G-string. She looked down at it with wide eyes.
I took her by the elbow and escorted her to the other lounge couch, and she immediately tried to climb into my lap. I shook my head, picking her up and depositing her on the couch next to me. “I just want to talk,” I said. The music still was booming, but it was quieter in the champagne room because there weren’t speakers in here. I looked up at the cameras overhead. “Do they keep you girls protected?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It’s only my first week. I wouldn’t know.” Her voice was almost too quiet to hear over the music. I looked at her. She reallydidresemble Allegra physically, her nose with a similar upturn, although her jawline was softer. She was nothing like her personality-wise, though. Allegra was much stronger, speaking loudly and firmly, taking on anything she needed head-on.
“You don’t seem like you like working here, Ashley,” I said, and she leaned toward me to hear me better, her thigh pressing up against mine. I looked down, appreciating the long line of it.
“I don’t know,” she hedged. “It can be fun.”
“You’re not having fun,” I told her, and then her lip trembled. I put my finger under her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Drugs?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve got a son,” she admitted. “He’s only ten months old, and his father left. I’ve got to make money.”
I nodded slowly, feeling a pang of sympathy for her. Single mothers had my utmost respect, especially since once my father got popped when I was thirteen, my mother took over everything.
“What if I gave you…” I pulled out my money clip, quickly counting the hundreds in it. “Five grand?”
Her mouth dropped open, her brown eyes widening. “What…what would I have to do?” she asked hesitantly.
“Quit,” I told her. “Quit this job and go home to your son.”
She looked up at me warily. “You’re one of those guys who wants to save me,” she accused.
I chuckled, shrugging. “Maybe,” I answered. “Or maybe I can just tell this kind of job isn’t for you.” It wasn’t like I had anything against strippers. By all means, they provided a service. But Ashley didn’t belong here, didn’t like the work, and that much was clear. I didn’t know why I was offering her everything in my wallet, but it might have something to do with me thinking about my mother, thinking about Allegra. Thinking about all the strong women I’d loved in my life who’d needed help. Maybe it was my way of atoning.
I offered her the stack of cash, and she just kept looking at me with wide brown eyes. “Take it,” I said roughly, shoving it into her hands, and she finally did, folding it and putting it into a Crown Royal bag she had tied to her thigh. “Now go,” I ordered.
She bit her lip. “What if I just take it and still come back tomorrow night?” she asked, looking at me curiously.
“You won’t,” I said confidently, and as the waitress came by, I reached over across the table and grabbed the bottle of top-shelf tequila Ricardo had purchased, drinking right from the bottle. I offered her some and she took a quick swig, grimacing. She didn’t thank me, and I didn’t want the thanks. She all but sprinted in her six-inch heels to the dressing room. I looked over at Ricardo but he was occupied, the redhead in his lap and the blonde and brunette on each side of him.
I took the bottle of tequila and went out the back door of the champagne room, taking a deep swig of it out in the alley, leaning against the brick. I thought of Allegra, the way she’d laid beside me that last night, cupping my face, looking into my eyes like she could see into my soul, and took another swig. The tequila burned in my throat. I wasn’t usually the type to drink much, and the alcohol was making my head spin, making my mouth and throat feel numb. Numb was a better way to feel than the way I felt when I thought about Allegra.
3
ALLEGRA
