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1522 Words
Elijah Vega.
“Ten bouncers at each entrance. Extra bodies by the lounge—where the strippers are. If a customer starts a fight, put them in time out. If they’re VIP, give them a chance to cool off. If they don’t? Toss them out of my club.”
I ash my cigarette over the railing and scan the eighth floor of the Rio. This place is going to be a zoo tonight. Friday nights always are. Of all the clubs I manage, this one's the most high-maintenance. Flashy. Loud. Full of trust-fund kids trying to play gangster.
The rule is simple: guests have fun, but staff stays safe. I don’t care how much a guy paid for his booth—if he so much as breathes wrong on a bartender, I’ll make sure he leaves with a black eye and a story.
“Hey.” Caden swaggers over with his favorite stripper to his side like she’s on salary.
“You’re not supposed to be here—”
“I already handled downtown.” he smiles. “The boys loaded the bus; the accountant already settled the accounts for today. So, in about…” he checks his phone. “twenty minutes, they should get the delivery.”
Alex comes with two drinks in hand. “You didn’t tell me Rebekah and her friends were partying here tonight.”
“Didn’t know.” I take one of the glasses from him.
When Caden reaches for the second glass, Alex swerves and doesn’t let him have it.
“This one’s for me, fool.”
“Oh, I see.” Caden taps his favourite on her behind. “Baby, go grab me another.”
Alex watches her go, then turns back to Caden. “That a new one? How many favourites you got now?”
“She’s my most favourite. For this week, anyway—”
“Rebekah just walked in.” Alex shuts Caden off and I tilt my head down to the floor and yeah—there she is. Rebekah is all glammed up with an entourage.
And not just her. Right at Rebekah’s side, like some misplaced saint in a den of lions is Paloma.
I squint. Paloma in a club? Mercy. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere else—clutching her bag like a shield, those prim little ballet flats planted on the floor like she’s afraid it’ll swallow her. Still in that same modest dress from this morning. She looks like the perfect little assistant.
And for some entirely suspicious reason, Rebekah has her arm looped through Paloma’s like they’re lifelong besties.
I start down the stairs onto the floor Rebekah booked. The whole place is a fever dream because of course it’s drowning in pink lights, disco balls and enough flamingo decorations to make a grown man nauseous. This is her idea of a party.
"Elijah." Rebekah spots me first. "Didn’t think you’d be working at this hour. Figured you’d be off doing gangster nonsense."
Paloma, at her side, pales—because she’s the one I’m looking at.
“I brought Paloma with me. And some of her friends. This is—”
“Nice to meet you.” I step forward like it’s the first time we meet. I stretch out my hand to her, only Paloma and she stares at it. Warily. She keeps me waiting like I’ve got a gun there.
I think she’ll refuse but I think she's realized that I have not exposed her. If I wanted to, I would have.
. However, slowly but surely, she brings her hand to mine.When she finally does, her skin is different from mine. Soft. Small. My hand covers hers completely, and she tries to pull away fast.
"Paloma?" Caden is suddenly at my side. "What the f**k—"
"You know her?" Rebekah asks.
“Yeah, she met him through me at a bar we used to work at. Hi, I’m Eva.”
A girl I do not recognize says. From what I see, I think she’s trying to shield Paloma from the question.
“What?” Caden blinks at her.
"You recognize Paloma but you don’t recognize me, boss Caden? Pasiphae is also our friend. How can you not recognize me?" Eva says and I scratch my nose to stifle a chuckle. Yeah, she is a friend. A defensive one.
"He’s like that, always forgetting things. Hello, Rebekah." Alex jumps in with his weak attempt at a pickup line to get my sister’s attention.
Maybe it works for him, but I’m watching Paloma.
She looks like she wants to disappear and then Caden takes a step toward her. This is the moment I straighten my arm and block him off before he goes closer.
"Wanna sit?" I ask her directly.
She nods.
I signal the floor staff and they begin to gesture them. I look at Paloma as she moves past me.
Caden looks like he’s been gutted when I turn to face him.
“Is that Paloma or is my mind’s playing tricks on me!? Why is she with your sister?”
“She works for my mom.” I shift my shoulders so my body eclipses his completely.
“She works for your mom?” Caden grits. “I got her fired from the last job—”
“Yeah.” I shrug once. “And I got her hired the same day.”
“She’s my f*****g ex-wife!”
“Ex-wife. Not girlfriend. Not fiancée. So, what exactly are you mad about?” I look at him dead.
"You know my deal?" Caden breaths like a damn bull. "She divorced me and made me a fool in front of my parents who told me not to marry her in the first place. I haven't gotten my revenge yet. Dude, you've got to fire her. As long as I run this city—"
"No. I run this city. And I run the Vega estate too."
Caden grabs my arm and makes me face him. "You're putting Paloma under your protection? Is that what you're saying? I am your blood. Brother." His voice lowers, like he’s trying to pull some emotional card.
“You are losing your mind. So, I have to step in. That’s what a Skull rider does for a person in need.”
I take two steps from him and of course—Rebekah grabs me by the wrist like she owns my time.
“Elijah, come on! Can you be our bartender tonight?”
I look at her hand, then her. “Get your hands off me, Rebekah.”
“You’re so freaking mean. My friends are literally all here.”
“Yeah and because of you, the drinks are free. By the looks on the faces of your little man friends, they scared of me.”
“But some my girlfriends like you. Come on, meet Pasiphae at least.”
I hear her. But that’s not where my eyes go.
It reaches Paloma again.
She's smiling next to her friend across the table. That soft, small smile that probably got her out of every tight situation in her life. When she sees me coming close, she tucks a hair behind her ear as if she's heard bad things about me and those bad things keep her on edge always. Good. Stay sharp around me, Paloma.
I don’t bite. Unless I have a reason to.
“You guys met my brother, right?” Rebekah’s voice is way too loud for a girl pretending to be casual. “I’m sure you know of him already… He owns Rio. Drinks are on him tonight.”
She starts giggling.
“Hello, I’m—” one of the girls starts.
"What would you like to drink?" I ask Paloma, and this girl pretends like I'm speaking to a ghost. "Would you like a cigarette? A beer?" I lift a hand to signal the bartenders to get over here.
"I don't smoke or drink." Her doe eyes are always serious when she talks to me. Like she’s scared if she slips, I’ll read her whole damn soul.
"I'll have a beer." The girl next to her says and my attention goes there. She looks familiar.
"I'm Pasiphae, remember me? We met at your dad's 53rd birthday party.”
“Huh.” I try to dig through the fog of my memory, but nothing sharp comes up. “I’m sure we did.”
I’m already looking back at Paloma who suddenly shifts, getting up from her seat.
“Um, I have to make a phone call real quick.” she says, not even looking at anyone else.
Then stops right in front of me, close enough I can smell whatever soft scent she’s wearing.
“Sir, can I talk to you for a moment?” she whispers.
Did she just call me sir?
I don't think anyone else hears us. Not when Rebekah is chuckling with her friends and not when the music is already blasting so hard on this floor.
"Of course." I let her go first before I follow.
- Writer
