Stepping into the seedy strip club Friday night, I scanned the room for Mom’s face, quickly spotting her leaning over the bar provocatively to give her customer a better view of her tits. It was a trick she’d always used to get better tips. Although, she seemed to be bringing less money home each night she pounded beers back and popped pills, accelerating the aging process and leaving unattractive lines around her face.
Making my way over, I caught her eye and she excused herself from the bald brute, meeting me on the opposite end of the bar just as I reached it.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, glancing around nervously.
I could already tell that whatever she was on tonight had her on the edge of paranoia. It was all the more reason for me to get out of there as fast as I could. She waved at one of the topless waitresses while the woman walked by, casually swiping her hand against my back. A fake smile was plastered on Mom’s lips before her blue eyes returned to mine.
“I need to talk to Frank. Is he here?”
I wasn’t interested in small talk with her. It was difficult to hold a conversation over the loud music without yelling, so we were both leaned over the bar between us, talking into each other’s ears.
Mom raised an eyebrow, lines crinkling the sides of her pursed lips from years of frowning and smoking.
“He’s in the back, but you can’t just walk in on him, Liam. That’s not how this works. He knows you want to talk to him. He already mentioned it to me before. Just let it go and wait for him to reach out.”
She backed away and swiped a white towel around the bar top to look busy.
“No,” I disagreed, my jaw stiff. I was leaving there with what I wanted: freedom from Frank to do whatever the hell I wanted, and a guarantee for Luna’s safety. “I don’t have time to wait anymore.”
As the words left my lips, Frank appeared from one of the doors lining the edge of the main room, a girl around my age trailing behind him and shamelessly pulling her skimpy skirt back down her legs. I’d never understand why Mom bothered to get herself mixed up with the soulless people who surrounded us, or how she managed to get her only child into it with her.
I understood the notion of stripping to put food on the table like most of these women were doing—and the money they made was hard to pass up—but never respected the ones who had sold their soul to the highest bidder just to reach their next high.
With my mouth in a hard line and my face a blank stare, I watched Frank make his way toward us.
“Liam, so nice to see you,” he greeted, reaching his hand out and pulling me into a half-hug half-handshake.
I regarded him with caution, unsure of how he would receive my impromptu visit. When we pulled away, I retuned the verbal greeting with a nod before getting straight to the point. “We need to address the deal we made.”
“This isn’t the place to talk about it,” Frank warned, his voice low as his dark eyes stared daggers into mine. “Monti handles that side of things anyway. Talk to him.”
I returned his deathly glare, unafraid of whatever consequences might have followed for not backing down to him like everyone else did. We’d known each other long enough to skip past the bullshit. I needed this to be over.
“Monti doesn’t seem to be relaying my messages to you. When you put me on this job, we only agreed to one car a week. Not six in one night.”
Something flickered across Frank’s face before he quickly pulled back the careless grin he always wore. Surprise. He had no idea about his son’s dealings.
“I told him I would bring Mom current on her debts and then I’m out. Anything else she borrows after that is on her to pay back. I don’t take too kindly to threats, Frank, especially when it comes to the people I care about. You should consider it a courtesy that I’m even giving you notice at all.”
The people I care about.
The words just fell out of my mouth as I referenced Luna, realizing I was putting the safety of a woman I barely knew in front of the safety of my own mother and my duty as a Reaper. Mom’s face scrunched in anger beside us. I knew she wanted to cut in and argue with me but thought better of it in front of Frank. Instead, she threw me a look that said we would deal with this later. More like she would scream about it and I would stand there quietly, patiently taking whatever hits she threw like I always did.
He considered my words for a few moments, raising a brow and leaving a pregnant pause between us that would have made anyone else in my position uncomfortable and afraid. I was neither, though. With every interaction I’d had with Frank in the past, he had treated me with respect and courtesy, even once admitting he wished his son was as loyal to him as I was to Mom. I didn’t trust him, but we had a level of respect between us, especially now that it was clear Monti was playing by his own set of rules.
I knew that informing him about Monti’s secrets would put another wedge in their already frail relationship. Frank liked to be kept in the loop about everything and his son wasn’t respecting that. In fact, Monti hadn’t been respecting that since our little agreement began, but I had kept it to myself until now, knowing I would need it for leverage when the time came. It was clear I had piqued his interest, although he wouldn’t ask for details in the middle of the strip club. Ultimately, he had to answer to The Boss and he wouldn’t want him finding any of this out until he had an explanation behind it.
Scratching at the peppered hair on his jaw, Frank finally answered me. “I’ll talk to him about it,” he promised. “Now, get the hell out of here before you get yourself caught.”
With that, he patted me on the back and walked away with another grin planted on his face, making his way toward a group of men in tailored suits, sitting in one of the VIP booths.
“What the hell was that, Liam?” Mom hissed at me.
My eyes slowly moved away from Frank’s back and toward her. She looked like she wanted to repeatedly slam my head against the bar top. “Looks like you have some customers.” I nodded toward the three men standing at the bar waiting to place a drink order.
I turned my back to her and made my way to the front door. Four topless women attempted to pull my attention toward them, but I kept my stare straight and continued walking. I couldn’t even think about touching another woman when my thoughts were so transfixed on one brown-eyed hippie. In a matter of weeks, she’d managed to weasel her way into my life and turn it upside down. The feelings she evoked inside of me were foreign and dangerous. She was a weakness I couldn’t afford to have right now but had somehow inherited, and I didn’t have the slightest clue how to get rid of her—nor did I want to.