RHO

 

The club was the same as always, but I had to force myself to even smile. It felt wrong, all of this.

I looked at Jace, dressed in a black leather jacket and standing next to a girl in a shiny blue dress. His hand was resting at her lower back when I walked up to them. Jace was in his late twenties, and looked like one of those underwear models. No wonder women flocked to him.

My gaze went automatically to Liam, and just as I expected, he was breaking out in a sweat. I almost smiled. Liam wasn’t unattractive, but he was shy and lacked the confidence to go up to people. I knew he had a crush on Jace, more than a crush, because he had been pining over the guy for years now.

Of course, I never said anything, but it always pissed me off a little. Maybe because Liam was like a little brother to me and I hated seeing him get rejected. Though technically you couldn’t call it rejection because Liam had never approached Jace and Jace sounded about as straight as they come. Pining for him would be futile.

“Jace?”

He turned and saw me and promptly left the girl to give me a hug. It lasted a little longer than it should have, and I knew it was because he felt sorry for me. “New conquest?” I joked, and he smirked. “You know me, Boss. I like to keep things interesting. Simple. Relationships are too complicated.”

“Not every relationship,” Liam said, surprising me. Of course, after this he went back into his shell and looked awkward.

“Tell me one relationship that you’ve seen working out,” Jace wasn’t about to let it go.

Liam swallowed and looked a little clueless. It took him a while but finally he responded. “My parents have been together for thirty years.”

Jace was clearly surprised he’d even spoken. Good for you, Liam. He turned his attention to me. “Are you up for this?”

I glared at him. “Since when did you start second guessing me?”

Jace looked mortified. “Boss, that’s not what I meant. I would never—”

“Shut up and get to work.”

He glanced at Liam once, and then turned to the girl, probably to tell her to leave and take her number. I walked over to our reserved section and Liam followed me there. He broke open the champagne when I reclined on the couch and poured it in two glasses and handed me one. He barely sipped his, Liam wasn’t much of a drinker. He wasn’t much into any transgressions. It was kind of sweet, but most people weren’t looking for sweet when they got in a relationship. They wanted aplomb, fireworks, and dazzle.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t be so rude to him,” he said in a tiny voice.

“Perhaps he shouldn’t piss me off then.”

Liam looked embarrassed. “Yes.”

“Why are you defending him? He’s always mean to you.”

“I’m sure it’s harmless fun.”

“Okay, I’m about to give you a life lesson here which I never do, so I hope you’re going to work on it, instead of ignoring it like most people do when it comes to life advice. Understand?”

He nodded.

“Here goes,” I began. “You can’t let people walk all over you. They won’t respect you. And if they won’t respect you, kid, they’re not going to want to be with you either.”

“Be with me?” he was flustered. Looking like I’d caught him in the act.

“I’m not blind. Anyone with eyes can see you have a thing for him.”

He looked even more ashamed. “Boss, you don’t think he knows?”

“Liam, you’re not committing a crime. People get attracted to people, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I’m sorry, I must look unprofessional.”

“Liam, I knew what you were when I took you in. There’s a reason for that. I wanted you to be able to talk to me. I wanted to make it clear to everyone that your orientation isn’t everything. It has nothing to do with your skill. You’re talented. You work hard. If I look objectively, you’re kind of attractive. The only thing you lack is self-awareness. You don’t know how to be confident because you’ve learned to live under the pretense you’re not special. But I’m telling you, you’re wrong.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Never mind,” I said. “Come by around the apartment tomorrow and I’ll talk to you in detail.”

“Boss?” Liam was hesitating.

“What, kid, I just told you to be confident!”

“Boss… it’s… it’s him.”

I looked up at the dance floor where Liam was staring now. Fuck. I stood. “I’m heading out,” I said. “Handle it.”

“But he saw you…”

Double fuck.

“Okay, Plan B,” I said, trying not to look in the direction of the hot twink walking toward me. “I’ll get rid of him and you wait for me with Jace. I won’t be long.”

“You want me to stay with Jace?” I could see he was freaking out.

“Kid, what did I just tell you?”

“To wait for you with Jace.”

“No. Before that.”

He swallowed. “That if I want to be noticed I should work on my image.”

“Jesus, Liam, I told you to be confident!”

He nodded and by then the twink was at our table. Liam sipped on his champagne.

“Can we talk?” the twink asked. I couldn’t even remember his name, so I gestured for him to follow me, and started walking to the exit.  He tried to speak but I ignored him until we were outside, and I was certain there was no one around.

“What do you want?” I said, lighting up a cigarette out of habit.

“What do you think I want?”

“There’s a reason they call it a one-night stand.”

When I lowered my cigarette hand, he was standing up close and then he tried to kiss me. “Don’t.”

“You didn’t seem to mind last night. If I recall, we went a lot further than this.”

“I was drunk. I don’t remember most of it,” I lied.

He looked hurt. “I really like you.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Can I see you one last time?”

“No.”

He hesitated before speaking. “I’m in a really bad place, Rho.”

“So, what, you’re going to fuck your feelings away? It’s a fucking cliché.” 

“I can’t be alone tonight. Please don’t make me leave. It’s just for tonight, I won’t bother you again.”

“You realize I don’t even remember your name?”

“It’s Brandon.”

“Learn how to take a hint, kid.”

I tossed the cigarette aside and started to go back in, when I heard him speaking again. “I’m sorry, Rho.”

I wondered what he was up to now, and when I turned, the first thing I saw was the blood. He was holding up his arms, and they were badly cut up. Within moments, the place would turn into a crime scene. I rushed over, and caught him before he fell. With one hand, I dialed 911. I stopped midway. I was a fucking thug, and a criminal. A million things could land me in serious trouble. What if the stupid fucker ended up dying? This was the kind of thing that could destroy The Family. So, I improvised. Instead of calling 911, I called Jace. “I need you out here.”

Seconds later, Liam and Jace were both standing in front of me. “We need to find out a way to handle this,” I said. “Discreetly.”

Liam fumbled in his pocket for his keys. “I’ll get the car!” He was gone, and I was left there with a bloody guy on my shoulder.

“I’ll take him to Dr. Finn. You should go home.”

“What about the meeting?”

“Boss, we’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

“That will send the wrong impression. I have to do this meeting tonight, at all costs.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want. We’ll figure it out.” That’s why I needed Jace as my go-to guy. Not only was he resourceful, but he showed calm under pressure. He had this effect on everyone.

When Liam brought the car around, we put Brandon in the back. “Keep giving me updates,” I said to Jace.

“I will, Boss. He’ll be fine.”

I stepped away from the car and they drove away. What just happened?

I felt like I was still in a daze. I looked at the watch. It was close to midnight.

He would be here any minute now. I hoped I was mentally prepared for it, especially after everything.

I walked back inside, and glanced at our section. Sure enough, it was occupied. Here goes nothing. I cleared my throat as I went up to the love seat the man occupied in front of our table. He wasn’t alone. A young male stripper was sitting on his lap, and they were making out. The man was big, heavier than I thought he would be. He was also a lot older than I thought he would be.

He saw me and gave me a huge smile. He patted the stripper’s butt and the guy left. The man stood to greet me. His tone was friendly and pleasant, just like his face and he held out a hand for me to shake. “Rho Bennett,” I took his hand in a firm grip.

“Nice to meet you, Rho.”

He didn’t even pretend to be formal and use my last name. “Do you know who I am?”

“Actually, Marcus only told me you’re an interested party. We don’t often use names over the phone. Better to get them in person.”

“You’re right,” he said. “You can’t trust anyone these days.”

“I guess not.”

He glanced at me strangely for a second. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t understand until I followed his gaze to the front of my suit I had Brandon’s blood all over me. I pretended like I was aware of it. “It’s not what it looks like.”

He grinned. “I believe you,” he said, and added. “I was under the impression there was someone else coming with you.”

“Marcus, you mean?”

The man shook his head. “I meant the boy. I’m told he’s with you now. That you two are inseparable.”

“Adam?” I was more than a little surprised when the man nodded. “I’m a little confused. What do you want with Adam?”

“Oh nothing. Really. It’s just, Adam and I go a long way back. Thought it would be nice to see him.”

“How do you know Adam Delaney?”

He casually sat back down on the love seat and offered me to do the same. So, I sat and took the champagne he poured for me. “Rho Bennett, I have a feeling we’re going to be great business partners.”

By then, I was really confused. “By the way,” he began, “I feel like we haven’t been properly introduced because you still don’t know who I am,” he took a long sip from the flute and set it down in front of him. “My name is Krakovski,” he said. “Sergei Krakovski.”