Christy
I was terrified. Leaving King behind in the courtyard below felt like an idea that was destined to go wrong, and I knew that it was. The men must have known that splitting us up would make us nervous, or at least make me nervous, and for that I commended them. If their goal was to rattle me, then they had succeeded.
Meeting Romano in the state that I was would end up being a disaster. I just knew it. I had been counting on King standing by my side, supporting me, while we tried to strike up a deal with Romano. What was I going to do on my own?
My mind wandered to King, who would be waiting downstairs for my arrival. I had to get this right. I couldn’t go back down empty-handed—not after what I’d just made King go through. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t known there would be a test. I still felt wholly responsible for the fight downstairs, and that guilt wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
King and I should have known nothing would be easy when we’d decided to come here. It was the Mafia, so of course they would have a test and only let one of us go up. The brawl had been intense, even if I was only watching. King had been calm and restrained the entire time, analyzing the prospect’s movements and waiting for a time to attack. I’d never seen him so calculating and controlled. For a moment, I’d been worried that he’d lose, when his bloody nose had snapped his concentration, and he seemed to freeze for a moment. Thankfully, he’d come out on top, though I had no idea what was going on there now. For all I knew, they were ganging up on him, and I would go down to find him in an unconscious state, like I had that one time in the club.
If only King were with me, then I would feel infinitely safer, and I would know what to do when I met Romano. As it was, I was scared out of my mind and didn’t have a clue what to say to him. Would I just blurt out my theories, even though I didn’t have any substantial proof? King had been right. I should’ve thought this through more.
The trip up the elevator seemed to last a lifetime, as the man and I rose to the highest floor. He was entirely silent, though I hadn’t expected him to say anything. I felt nervous laughter bubble up in my throat, and it was a substantial effort to force it down. I was glad that I hadn’t started speaking out of nervousness, like I often did. I had a feeling that the man wouldn’t have taken to kindly to it
Finally, a ding sounded out, and the doors slid apart.
“You may enter,” the man beside me gestured with a hand. I stepped out of the lift, onto the top floor, and looked around curiously. Opening my mouth to ask the man where to go, I realized that he hadn’t stepped out of the lift. I turned to see the doors slide shut behind me and realized in the resounding silence that I was on my own.
To calm my nerves, I took in the top floor of Romano’s building. The place was beautiful; it had windows on all sides, with a great view of the city around us, a plush sofa on one end of the room, and an office at the other.
I could see a light on inside the office, a dim one that cast an eerie glow through the glass doors. The entire place was extravagant, but somehow exactly what I had expected.
Taking a few hesitant steps, I reached the office door and rapped three times on the glass.
“Enter,” a voice called.
It was now or never. Steeling my nerves and suppressing any fear, I strode confidently through the doors.
The sight that awaited me caused a loud gasp to leave my mouth. In front of me, pouring wine into two glasses was Andres Romano. That’s not what shocked me, though. I was shocked because I knew who he was. I’d spent time with him. I’d danced for him. He was my favorite client, for crying out loud. How could he be the one I was looking for?
King had been right all along. He’d probably realized it as soon as we arrived here, too, but I’d been entirely distracted and didn’t stop to think for a moment about who Romano might be. This changed everything.
“Would you like a drink, Christy?”
He held out the wine glass to me, and I hesitantly accepted it. “Thanks.”
There was a moment of silence as he stared me down, and I adjusted to the shock of seeing him.
“Do you want to sit?” He gestured to the empty leather seat on the other side of his desk, and I complied again, sitting down hesitantly and placing my glass down.
“I’ve never heard you say so much,” I said then, immediately cursing myself internally for my stupidity.
To my relief, he let out a loud laugh. “Oh, Christy, there are plenty of things you haven’t seen or heard me do.”
I smiled slightly and raised my glass to my mouth again.
“I hear that you are here after Jarren Rossi. Is that correct?”
“Yes, it is.” I looked up at him with another smile. There was really only one way that I knew to be around him and that was my club persona. If that was what it was going to take, then so be it.
Standing up again, I sat down on the edge of his desk, crossing my legs slowly and deliberately, and arching my back as I turned to look at him again.
“He’s stolen my money and set up a robbery at his own club, one that King interrupted.”
“Has he now?”
Romano leaned back in his chair, and I took that as my cue to ramp up my efforts. Sliding off my side of the desk, I sauntered over to his side, squeezing between his chair and the desk, so that my ass was planted at the very edge. I leaned forward a fraction, so my breasts were mostly visible to him and bit my lip innocently.
“He has. And I really needed someone to help me—to believe me. I asked around, and everyone pointed me to you. So, can you help me?” I batted my eye lashes at him, and slid a hand absently over the tops of my thighs, ‘accidentally’ drawing my skirt up a little indecently. I had no idea what I was asking him, or what I expected him to do. If King was here, then maybe he would’ve had a plan, but I was just winging it and resorting to the only skills I had.
“What proof do you have?”
I almost frowned at the tone of his voice. It sounded… uninterested?
“Well, I don’t really have anything concrete,” I began.
“I can’t help you until you do,” he said flatly, rolling his chair back, so that I slipped forward off the desk.
On the inside, I began to panic. This wasn’t working how I wanted it to at all. Maybe I needed to step up my game a little.
“Andres,” I said, my voice soft and seductive. I reached over and placed a hand on his knee, trailing it up slightly. “Please help me, Andres. You’re the only option I have.”
Despite me turning on the seduction to full blast, Romano seemed completely disinterested in me. He rolled back his chair again, so that my hand fell off of his knee, and gave me an impassive look.
“Christy, we’re not at the club. This is my business here, and I don’t work without proof.”
Fuck. What the hell was I meant to do now? We’d come all this way, gone through what we did downstairs, and he wouldn’t even help us out? How could he be so unaffected by my charms? I thought he would be wrapped around my finger, but, so far, all I’d managed to succeed in was making a fool of myself.
“But how do I do that?” I asked.
“You’re a resourceful girl, Christy. I’m sure you’ll think of something. Come back when you’ve got something of use to me.”
He looked down back at the papers on his desk, and I recognized my dismissal.
That was it?
“All right. King and I will be back soon,” I said, then turned to make my exit.
“Oh, Christy?” he called out, stopping me in my tracks and causing me to spin to face him. “I’m afraid Mr. DeLeon won’t be leaving just yet.”
“What do you mean?” I asked anxiously.
“Send him up when you get down, will you? Him and I need to have a bit of a talk.”
My heart went into overdrive as I left his office and went back into the lift. What did Romano want with King? Was he planning on doing anything to him? Maybe he wanted to teach him a lesson about the prospect. Maybe he was going to threaten him, or try and recruit him, or make him do something.
The possibilities were endless, and I had no trouble overreacting and thinking of every possible scenario as I descended in the lift.
It’s okay, I told myself, in an attempt to calm myself down. King knew what he was doing. He could handle a little talk with Romano, if that was all that was going to happen. He’d probably get more out of it than I did during my chat, not that that would be hard to do.
I made my way back to the courtyard and saw the men standing exactly how they were before. King rushed over as soon as he spotted me.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
“Romano wants to see you,” I blurted out.
I saw a multitude of thoughts flash over his face before he settled on calm and accepting.
“All right. It’ll be okay. These men won’t hurt you. Just stay here, and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Okay?”
I nodded apprehensively, and King gave me a reassuring smile, though I knew it was just a front.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” he said again, turning around and making his way quickly inside the building.
It didn’t really matter what he said to comfort me. I wouldn’t calm down until he returned. Turning slightly to eye the men behind me, I felt a sliver of fear run down my spine. I hoped to God that he’d be back soon.