Protecting The Princiepessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 9 ~

She ignored the look from Adriano because she knew he would question that statement. After all, it wasn’t like females tended to visit female strip clubs. She shook her head though, telling him to let it go. He did, but his smirk spoke volumes, yet she still refused to comment.

“Are we getting out?” she questioned, looking at the building. It wasn’t tacky or rundown, in fact, it was rather nice. And unless the sign was on showcasing what it was, one wouldn’t think it was a strip club.

“Do you want to?”

“Is the car still around?” she countered, finally looking around yet she didn’t see anything.

“No, I think we lost him. But to be safe, let’s go.” Her head snapped around to look at him again and she quickly started to shake it.

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Too bad, Ignazia. Come on. Besides, I need to pick up payments and get an inventory. If you want to stay at my house, without asking me, then you have to do some of my jobs with me. It’s the only way I can keep you safe, like I’m told, and like you wish.” She narrowed her eyes slightly before climbing out of the car. Okay, this wouldn’t be bad, it wasn’t a bad place, she could handle this. Izzy fell into step with him, noticing that he didn’t use the front door but went around to a side door that was open.

“It’s empty,” she noted, looking at the empty lot.

“Well, most workers don’t come in until later. And the business isn’t open for another four or five hours.” With that, he allowed her to go in first and she stepped in, rather shocked by the smell. She was assuming it would be some dirty place but instead was surprised by the scent. “Go to the left, the manager should be in his office.” He lightly sat his hand on her back and led her down the walkway and to an office where the door was open. “Skye, glad to see you’re in.” The man behind the desk lifted his head and smiled at Adriano before standing up to shake his hand.

“Adriano, I was expecting you a little later. Sorry man, I have no one here to wait on you.”

“No worries, I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by. Were you busy?” Skye shook his head before taking a slow appraisal of Izzy.

“No, just going over some numbers. Who is this?”

“Ignazia, a friend of mine.” That caused Skye to raise his brow and Izzy gritted her back teeth. f**k, was her look so damn abnormal that everyone questioned it?

“I see. A pleasure, Ignazia.”

“Likewise,” she told him, although she hardly meant it.

“Why don’t you go sit at the bar while I talk to Skye? I need to see if he needs anything.” She nodded, fully understanding what he meant; he needed to take stock of the drugs that were left and what was needed. A smart move coming in early and surprising Skye, she thought, although he didn’t seem like the scummy type to try and weasel out some money for his own keeping.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, turning back around.

“You can have anything you want to drink. A friend of Adriano’s is a friend of the bar,” Skye said. She tossed him a smile before going down to the bar. Slowly, her eyes looked it over, rather shocked by the lack of organization behind it. She searched the cupboards, trying to find any glasses, and then gave up, grabbing a can of soda out of the fridge. Izzy popped the lid and let her eyes look around, taking in the clean seats and stage. Yeah, this was a far cry different than the club she had gone to. Maybe made men made sure their business was nicer kept so that they couldn’t get busted. Or so that they wouldn’t be seen in such a place. She had no doubt that many mob men came to places like this.

“Ready?” 15 minutes later, Izzy turned at the sound of Adriano’s voice and nodded.

“All you got was a soda?” Skye asked. Izzy waved her hand at the bar.

“It’s a total disaster. I’m not sure how your bartenders can find anything, actually. Nothing is grouped together to make grabbing stuff easier. And since I didn’t know how long it would be, I didn’t want to waste the time finding stuff. So, yeah, the soda was fine, thanks.” Skye glanced at Adriano who merely stared at Izzy, rather surprised by her knowledge.

“Sorry about that, I’ll talk to the bartenders,” Skye told her, but Izzy shrugged.

“No worries to me. It’s just not what I would have done, but if it works for them.”

“Right, we need to go,” Adriano said. He shook Skye’s hand, told him he’d be back in a day or two and led Izzy back out. “What do you know about bars?”

“Bars? Or clubs?” she questioned as she climbed in.

“Bars. You said that was disorganized, how would you know?”

“I have a license in bartending. I worked at a few. There’s no way I could work at one like that. The liquors are all mixed and not fully displayed so therefore your patrons can’t see what they want. Of course, you’re not really going into a place like that to see what’s being served.”

“Huh, you might be surprised about what actually goes on.” She turned in her seat to look at the man. His tone had changed, and it brought concern to her.

“What are you getting at? It’s not like I would ever see, you know,” she told him.

“Right, of course.” She doubted those words and had a sinking suspicion that he would be bringing her back to another joint, or this one, sometime soon. “When’s the last time you worked at a bar?” Izzy shrugged as she thought about it.

“About a week ago. I had to quit when mom got really sick, but it was my job.” Her eyes narrowed as they looked at him. “Why?” She wasn’t too sure she wanted that answer actually.

“I might have the answer I need to the problem at hand.” When he didn’t elaborate, she crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. However, he choose to ignore it and she groaned in displeasure.

“Are you going to bother enlightening me on what this grand idea is or are you going to make me guess?” He pulled out of the parking lot and got back onto the main road.

“I’m going to assume you haven’t been to New York?”

“Not since I was 12, what does it matter, Adriano?”

“I’m going to also assume, Ignazia, that you haven’t heard of Hell, the high-end and well-established nightclub?” She hadn’t and she shook her head, glancing at the smirk he was sporting. “Didn’t think so. I have one in Vegas too. Both bring in cash loads for me.”

“Okay, cut the s**t, what does your club have to do with me?” She paused and then her mouth fell open. “Please tell me I’m not a dancer or some s**t!”

“God damn, no you aren’t! Hell is not a strip club, it’s a dance club, an elite dance club. And I can do a lot of my work from the office there, so having you work as a bartender will make my life a little easier in watching you. And besides,” he added, glancing down at her well-endowed chest, “the uniform shirt we have will highlight those girls and you’ll rake in the tips. I can do my job and you can get some cash.” The idea wasn’t a bad one and it gave her something to do. She was almost afraid that she’d be stuck at home, doing nothing but watching some stupid daytime tv.

“I...don’t find a problem with that. I think that suits us both. What will my dad say?”

“Yeah, that’s the part I’m not sure about.” He pulled into the garage and let her out. “I need to go back to his house to talk to him anyway. I’ll be back by dinner. And don’t open the door to anyone.” Izzy rolled her eyes as she climbed out of the car and went into the house.

-----

Adriano knocked on the boss’s door and waited for the man to call out before entering. He walked in, smiling at the frown the older man was sporting. In fact, he was sure it wasn’t because Adriano was here, but because Ignazia wasn’t, which meant she was alone.

“What are you doing here?” Carlo asked as he leaned back in the chair and looked at Adriano.

“I needed to talk to you about Ignazia,” he said, sitting down. “I have things to take care of for you, which I can do from my club. Everyone wouldn’t have a problem meeting me there and we all know it’s secure.” Carlo narrowed his eyes at that.

“I told you I had no problem with you doing it there. However, now that my daughter is here, I don’t think you should.”

“Well, I think it’s perfect. Especially if she’s working and I can keep an eye on her.” It took Carlo a moment to let those words click and then he stood up and slammed his hand on his desk.

”Fanculo con quella merda, assolutamente no! Non sarà allo scoperto in quel modo! (f**k off with that s**t, absolutely not! She will not be out in the open like that!)!”