Mina
Shopping with Birdie at a prop shop had been…well…interesting, to say the least. Halfway through our shopping expedition, I was wide-eyed and stunned at the things one could find if they looked hard enough.
Who knew nipple pasties were available at lingerie stores? Or that tiny sailor costumes and fishnets were so readily obtainable?
Birdie knew—that’s who.
We left the mall with two shopping carts full of accessories, and Birdie had called the girls to meet us at the club after I’d asked Sasha for permission to meet there. Lev was busy working the books, but told me he’d meet me there later in the day.
We arrived at Bleeding Hearts just after two p.m. Most of the dancing girls had come, but two of them sent messages through the others that they weren’t able to make it. Birdie was kind of pissed at that. She warned me that Sofia and Martina were kind of slack. She warned both girls that if they couldn’t perform the new routines, they’d likely be let go. Both girls treated the threat with an aloofness that stunned me.
Didn’t they realize they were at risk of losing their jobs? I was shocked they didn’t seem to care.
Sasha watched from the sidelines as we unveiled the first box of props. Out came feathered fans, vintage silken fans, garters, feather boas, top hats, satin face masks, a large box of nipple pasties, satin gloves, retro white crocheted parasols, ostrich feathers of all colors, leather whips, and thin walking sticks, and the girls went wild.
A small woman named Lilah came forward, touching the feathers with a smile on her face. “Wow. They’re so soft.”
A green-eyed girl called Petra grinned as she picked up a lace garter. “And so feminine.”
A tall African-American woman I knew as Shonda wrapped a feather boa around her neck. “Would you look at this stuff? Mmmm hmmm. I am liking this.”
The rest of the girls came around to view the items we’d pulled out, and I counted eight women. I sighed mentally. It might be enough for opening night, but some of these girls worked part-time. If Sofia and Martina didn’t show up, we were going to be in trouble.
Birdie called out. “Come around here, ladies. I got some things for you that you’re going to love. Thank you for texting me your sizes; it helped a lot.” She struggled with the second box and I rushed over to help her. She smiled at me and turned to the girls. “Who wants to see the cool costumes we got?”
A cheer went around and Lilah squealed out, “I’m so excited!”
Birdie took each costume out of the box one-by-one, handing them to the girls who they fit. Each girl received a different color corset-bodied one-piece with thigh-high fishnets, and one additional costume. They weren’t all the same. Some girls got a teeny-weeny sailor outfit, while some were made to be bunnies. Others were French maids, policewomen, cats, and we even had a Red Riding Hood.
The way the girls chattered excitedly had me biting my lip to squelch down my smile. I was happy that they were happy.
When Lilah held up a pastie and asked, “How do we put these on?” Birdie assisted, telling Lilah to take off her t-shirt and bra. Lilah grinned as she undressed, and the other ladies watched carefully as Birdie showed them how to apply the pasties by using the glue on Lilah’s bare breasts.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I smiled down at the display.
“Hey, I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” I answered happily.
Alessio sounded a little shy. “Yeah, well, I’m taking enough of your time. I didn’t want to bug you.”
I grinned. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
He made a light grunt. “Not sure if I should’ve called or not, but after I spoke to Dad, he told me I should.” He was hesitating.
My smile dropped. “What is it?”
Alessio sighed. “Just had two of your girls down here asking for work.”
I closed my eyes. “Let me guess: Sofia and Martina, right?”
“Yep.” He went on. “We told them we didn’t need them.”
My brow furrowed. “Why would you do that? You had people approaching the club to steal our workers away from us.”
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Yeah, well, shit’s changed. We’re not doing that no more.” He stated, “Tell your girls they’re not welcome here, all right?”
A small smile graced my face. “Is this your way of telling me that you’re not going to fuck with my work?”
He stayed silent a moment before saying, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“Thank you, Alessio,” I responded quietly.
His reply was just as quiet. “You’re welcome, Mina.”
I immediately made my way to the bar and approached Sasha. “So I just had an interesting phone call from my brother.”
Sasha’s brows rose. “Why the fuck you telling me?”
I bunched my nose at him, and raising my hand, I poked him in the chest. “You know, you could be nicer to me. I have important information to tell you.”
He sighed. “Whatever. Shoot.”
“Alessio told me that Sofia and Martina were at Aphrodite’s Kiss just now applying for work.”
Sasha’s jaw ticked, but as always, he spoke evenly, “Fucking bitches. They’re fired. Soon as they come in, tell ‘em to come see me in my office.”
I nodded, perfectly happy with both girls’ dismissal. “You know we can’t work with just nine girls. We’re going to need at least three more at a full-time level.”
He glowered at me. “How the fuck do you know that?”
I bit my tongue, but I really wanted to tell him to eat a thousand dicks. “I’ve done my research; that’s how.” I huffed out a breath. “Listen, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without Birdie. I think you should put her in charge of hiring the next few girls.”
For once, he didn’t disagree, looking over at the woman. “She surprised me with all this shit. I didn’t realize she was management material. I could’ve used her a few months back.” He nodded. “I’ll talk to her.”
Thank the Lord for small victories!
While I was on a roll, I decided to push my luck. “You wouldn’t happen to have a professional camera lying around, would you?”
His drab stare told me that no, he did not. His brows furrowed. “What do you need a camera for?”
“I always had a thing for photography and…” my face flushed… “and I was good at it. I thought if you had a camera, I could take photos of the girls for the flyers. I have something in mind, but I just need the tools to do it.” I waved my hands in dismissal of the idea. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll make do without it.” As I walked away, I turned and started to walk backwards while I told Sasha a genuine, “Hey, thanks.”
He frowned. “For what?”
My shrugged. “For giving my idea a chance. It means a lot. So thanks.”
I went back to the girls and listened as they projected their ideas for dance routines and solo performances. We worked out that each act would need to be between three and five minutes a piece, with two intervals during the night. I was impressed with these women. They were taking it all in stride and contributing. I was proud of them.
An hour later, a delivery came to the club and it was addressed to me. I signed for it with confusion written all over my face. When I opened the package, I gasped.
Inside was a brand new Pentax professional digital camera. My lips started to quiver. I knew who had done this.
From behind me came a stern, “You break it, you bought it.”
I gently put the box down on the bar before turning and asking, “Why? Why would you give this to me?”
Sasha looked down to the ground, clearly uncomfortable. His response was curt. “I didn’t buy it for you.” His voice softened. “I did it for the club. I bought it for the club.”
A small smile tugged at my lips, and soon I was beaming. “I’m going to take the best photos you’ve ever seen.”
His brows rose at the conviction in my tone. “The best photos I’ve ever seen?”
I grinned. “The best goddamn photos you’ve ever seen.”
He smiled then, but it was small. He sighed to himself. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
Sasha Leokov didn’t know who he was working with.
He didn’t know who Mina Harris really was. I needed to show him, and I fully intended to do just that.
I would win him over.
I would.
Lev called just before five to tell me that he wouldn’t be coming to the club as planned. He got caught up in those numbers of his and totally lost track of time. Luckily for him, I’d had a good day; otherwise, I might not have been so accepting.
After seeing some of the photos I intended to put on the flyers, Sasha was impressed. He didn’t show it, but I knew he was. Why else would he have offered to give me a ride back home?
Sasha and I were now your regular BFFs. Well, not really. But he would succumb to my charm. Eventually. I was sure of it.
Sasha drove up into Lev’s drive long enough to mutter, “Fuck me.”
I lifted my head to see what had brought out the curse to find my brother’s car already in the drive. And he was sitting inside.
“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you later,” I muttered distractedly before stepping out, walking over to Alessio’s car and knocking lightly on the window.
He was scowling down at a piece of paper in his lap, but as soon as he lifted his head to look at me, his face gentled. I opened the passenger door and sat inside, smiling, leaning over the seat to give him a light squeeze. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing here? And what are you doing outside?”
His arm came around me to hug me back, and he uttered, “I gotta talk to you. Alone.”
Crap.
I pulled back. “That sounds serious.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It might be nothing, but,” he passed me the piece of paper, “here, look for yourself.”
My fingers worked quickly to unfold the paper. When I read what was on it, my chest squeezed. “You found them,” I whispered. “You found the Petersons. Already?” I smiled and chuckled. “You do work fast.”
“Mina, that’s the thing,” he started cautiously. “How long ago did you ask Lev to find them?”
How long? I thought back. “About six weeks ago. Why?”
He cursed, running a hand down his face. “I don’t want to cause no trouble, you hear, but I think you need to know that someone contacted the Petersons a few weeks back, asking all sorts of questions about you.” I frowned. That couldn’t be right. He added quietly, “And I think it was Lev.”
“What?” I laughed humorlessly. “No. That can’t right.”
Alessio lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know for sure. I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to him about it. If it wasn’t him, I don’t know who could’ve been asking about you. It’s a creepy coincidence though.” He continued, “And I don’t believe in coincidences.”
My heart twisted.
Lev wouldn’t do that to me.
He wouldn’t.
I blinked out of my thoughts, moving on. “You spoke to them then? To the Petersons?” He nodded slowly. I was suddenly nervous. “What did they say?”
Alessio spoke calmly. “I spoke to Maggie. I told her I was your brother. That we didn’t know about each other until just recently and that you were looking for them.”
My throat tightened. I asked a hushed, “What did she say?”
His eyes widened comically. “Well, first she fucking cried like a baby.” My hand came up to cover my mouth as my face crumpled. Alessio laid a hand on my knee, patting it, and went on. “Then she wanted to know how you were and where you were staying. She asked if she could see you. I didn’t tell her where you were, but I said I’d take her details and that if you wanted to meet, you’d call.”
My voice quivered. “How are they? How’s James?”
Alessio smiled. “They’re good. They live pretty close to where they used to. I don’t know about James. She didn’t mention him.”
“Wow,” I muttered, looking down at the paper in my lap. I swallowed hard then huffed out a long breath. “Thank you.” I turned to him. “Thank you so much.”
Then he said something wonderful.
He shrugged. “You’re my sister. I’ll help where I can.”
Before I burst into tears, I threw myself over the seat, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him close. “Same goes for you…brother.” I released him, smiling. “I’d better go.”
He checked his wristwatch and nodded. “Yeah, me too. Gotta get ready for work.” His face changed then and he clicked his fingers. “Wait, before I forget.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old photograph then handed it to me. “Meet Enzo Scarfo.”
The face that looked back at me was handsome. Very handsome. With high cheekbones, a sharp nose, and low brows, he looked dangerous. He didn’t smile in the photo, his near-black eyes staring back at me. A shiver ran through me. “He was very handsome.”
Alessio sneered. “He was a cruel bastard.”
If the things Alessio had mentioned were anything to go off, I agreed wholeheartedly.
So when I took the photograph and gripped it tight between my fingers, tearing it down the middle, I muttered, “I’ve seen him now. My curiosity is sated. And I hope he’s burning in hell for what he did to you.” I tore the photo to pieces, holding them tight in my hand so I could throw it all in the trash.
Leaning over to kiss my brother’s cheek, I said my goodbyes. “Come by this week. We’ll have lunch.”
He didn’t hesitate in his quick response. “Yeah, okay. I’ll call.”
“Thanks again.” I smiled.
He winked. “Anytime.”
The moment I walked inside the house, I knew something was wrong. I found Lev sitting on the bottom stair, his head in his hands.
I dropped everything and rushed over to him, wrapping him up in my arms. “Lev? Sweetie, what happened?” I asked in panic.
He lifted his head to look into my eyes. “Irina’s dead.”
Out of all the things I expected to hear, that was not one of them.
My heart pounded. “Oh, my God.”
He ran his hand down his face and spoke in distress, “Why couldn’t she just give up? Why did she have to fucking push the way she did?” He looked up at me in anguish. “I just wanted my daughter.”
Confusion passed me. “What are you talking about, Lev?”
“It’s my fault she’s dead,” he spoke raggedly.
I sighed. Of course he felt it was his fault. He wanted his daughter so badly that he likely thought he was the cause. “No, sweetie.” I held his hands and spoke softly. “This was not your fault.”
He nodded firmly. “Yes, it was.”
I spoke sternly, “No it wasn’t.”
“It was.” His face turned pained. “I had Mirella plant cocaine in her house.” He closed his eyes, distressed. “She died of an overdose.”
Oh, shit.
We were in big trouble.