Chapter 11
Romeo releases my hand, his eyes narrowing in on me.
“Think it’s time you show me your office.”
I glare back at him as if he has to be kidding me, but what other choice do I have.
According to Jagger, he owns a bigger percentage of this place than I do.
I meet my manager’s eyes, and she looks back at me, worried.
“Sally, can you get started for the day? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She nods tentatively, and I know I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do when I get back.
I don’t give him another second of my attention, instead striding across the room, expecting him to follow along with me.
He falls into step beside me.
I can feel his smug-as-shit smirk from here, but I’m not looking his way.
I can’t give him the satisfaction.
I swipe us through to the back hallway, feeling completely out of control.
Letting him into my personal space is the last thing I want to do, but I know this conversation can’t be had in the common spaces where staff can hear.
I inhale deeply as I swipe us in, looking back toward Onyx, wondering if I should let him in for this meeting as well.
If things go south, I might need him.
But it’s also another complication I’m not sure I can deal with.
I know he’s insanely jealous of Romeo .
On a whim, I give him a nod, and he enters the room silently, moving in behind me protectively.
I need him right now.
“Please take a seat.” I smile tightly at Romeo.
He ignores my suggestion and remains standing, walking around my office with his hands in his pockets.
“You know, Sloane, this doesn’t have to be difficult. We both proved the other night we can get along very well.”
Onyx is standing so close to me I feel him stiffen.
“I can’t see how it’s going to be simple for you. You think you have some right to take what I have worked on for years, this amazing empire I have built from the pile of rubble Syd left it in. You think you’re going to take it from right under me. How fucking dare you. You know what this business means to me.” Anger radiates through my body.
I want to lash out at him, I want to fucking hurt him the way he’s hurting me right now.
It actually would be less painful if he tore my beating heart out of my chest while I was still alive.
Having to run this club alongside of him will kill me.
“It’s not personal, doll face. It’s business. Don’t look at me like I’m the asshole trying to destroy your life. More a partner in crime.” His lips twist up cheekily, and I know he doesn’t get it.
How could he, he hasn’t lived this life.
He didn’t grow up here, he’s not a female in a male-dominated world.
He doesn’t understand the fight.
I move across the room, closing the gap between us, getting up in his face.
“You don’t know the first thing about running a club like this,” I spit back at him, bitterness dripping off my every word.
The women who work here depend on me to take care of them, I can’t let them down.
“This isn’t just about me. I have over fifty staff who work here because they know they will return home to their families at the end of the night. They have placed their trust in me, their lives in my hands. This isn’t just a way of making money.” My body shakes all over I’m so fuming mad.
He watches me, his face an uncaring mask.
His kindness the other night was all a lie.
He didn’t really care about me.
Without warning, his hands land on my shoulders and he stares right back into my eyes.
I hear Onyx move across the room as well.
“Take your hands off her.”
Something washes over Romeo, and I feel him suck in a breath.
“Your staff will continue to be safe. I don’t know what kind of monster you think I am. Now they will just have two people looking out for their best interests,” he says more softly, like he’s trying to appeal to my nurturing side.
But I don’t trust him.
Onyx moves into view, his eyes dark and scary as fuck.
I see the anger radiating off him.
“Get your hands off her,” he says again.
Romeo raises a brow toward him but moves his hands back to his pockets, taking a step away from me.
He moves across the room to my wall of photographs.
He studies them, lingering longer on one in particular, my mother.
“Who are these?”
“None of your business,” I snap, collapsing down into one of the soft velvet armchairs feeling lightheaded again.
Onyx is right there handing me a bottle of water from the bar fridge.
I crack open the top and have a sip, still not feeling any better.
Romeo moves to sit opposite me.
“I’m here to help you, Sloane, take some weight off your shoulders. I know how hard you have to work to keep this place running.”
My eyes narrow in on him, remembering what my brother said about him spending months researching everything there is to know about all of us.
“Because you have been watching me. ”
His eyes meet mine, and I know it’s true.
The fucker has been spying on me somehow.
“Because no one could run a place this massive alone.”
“Bullshit.”
“Enough of the tantrum, Sloane, we have work to do.” His tone is harsher now, I have just pushed him too far.
He can’t even admit to me what he’s been up to.
At least now he knows I’m on to him.
He gets out his phone and types something into it, then slides it back into his pocket.
“I have just sent you my plans for the next six months. Please read them over and get back to me with your thoughts. You have created an incredible blueprint with this club, one I think we can replicate and make a lot of money in the process.” His eyes meet mine again, this time though, the warmth is gone, replaced with fierce determination.
“Your support is appreciated and will make the process easier for us both, but I'm doing this regardless of your decision to comply, so the only one missing out will be you.” He stands, still looking me over, I think waiting for me to reply. But I have nothing left to say to him. He nods and turns to leave. “One more thing. I’ll need one of these all-access security cards by end of day.” He opens my door then closes it behind him.
I grab the first thing I can find, a vase of white roses sitting on my coffee table. I hurl it across the room in the direction of the door he just walked out of. It shatters into tiny pieces, just like my fucking dreams, water and white rose petals littering my rug. My body is more tense than I have ever felt it. I feel like I’m going to snap. I stand and march to my computer, flicking it on and pulling up my emails. Sure enough, there sits an email from the devil himself, Romeo Moretti. The title: The Raven’s Nest Partnership and Proposal.
My skin goes all clammy. I glance back to Onyx who is reading over my shoulder. “I can’t do this with him. I’ll kill him. ”
“There has to be something we can do to stop him. Has Malachi come up with anything on his family yet?”
“Onyx, I think we’re fucked.” I look back at the screen, trying to read over the details.
“There will be an uproar, people won’t stand for an outsider coming in and changing things.”
“They will leave, but where do they go? It’s not safe out there on the streets for them.”
Effective immediately, all aspects of The Raven’s Nest—operations, management, and finances—will report directly to Romeo Moretti. While I appreciate the meticulous detail and hard work poured into building this establishment in the past seven years, I envision a future far exceeding its capabilities under the current management.
Through my direction, The Raven’s Nest will become a high-profit, diverse business, with multiple revenue streams, a strong brand presence, and a loyal customer base, resulting in exceptional financial growth. The changes outlined below are essential for achieving this vision. Your cooperation is anticipated and non-negotiable.
Fucking bossy asshole is all I can think. “Your cooperation is anticipated and non-negotiable.” I read it out loud, shaking my head as I do.
I’ll expect your confirmation of receipt and a commitment to this plan by five p.m. today.
All breath is sucked from my lungs, and the computer screen in front of me blurs. There is a list of points, but I only make some of them out, it’s all too much for me to take in.
My role will shift to more operational control when needed, is a line that stands out to me. Operational control? What the fuck .
I also see points about him taking all the earning control back from the working girls and the strippers. So, he will control all profits. But he can’t do that. It won’t work for anyone except him.
There is also another point about additional revenue streams. This includes private VIP lounges, targeted memberships, and event packages, some of which we already do. There is an asterisk next to that one, with a point that reads talk to Sloane about her idea for finding true love VIP event.
What the fuck? Is he talking about the shit I just spun in the VIP room to Detective Wilder? I was talking out my ass, that wasn’t an idea.
In a matter of months, he’s going to destroy the safe environment I have worked so hard to create for my girls. The images of the beautiful women I have lost stare back at me from my wall, telling me I can’t let this happen. Their horrific sacrifices can’t be for nothing, I won’t let them be.
Onyx’s strong arms tug me up and out of my chair and into his embrace. He holds me so close that for a split second I feel safe. “He doesn’t know how this place works, Sloane. You have to show him. Tell him what happened to you and your mom. I saw what he was like with you when the two of you were alone, he cares about you. This contract is bullshit, him trying to take control because you’re pushing him away. He’s just trying to get your attention.”
“The other night was all a lie, Onyx. To trick me.”
His eyes meet mine. “Why would he bother? He already had the ability to take what he wanted. That night was about you. Jagger is right, he wants more than just your business. You need to talk to him properly, tell him what this place really is. I think he might listen to you if you give him a chance. ”
I pull back from him just a little so I can see his face. He knows me better than anyone else, probably better than I know myself. I shake my head. “He got enough of me already. I’m not… I can’t.”
“It’s probably the only way to save what you have created. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for the girls.” His dark eyes meet mine, and I know he’s right.
“I have until five,” I say with a little more determination, my mind starting to race with the possibilities of what that could mean. I’m not going to roll over and let him take over my life, or let him in on why this place is so important to me, not yet, when there is still time.
As I run out the back door heading for my Porche, I dial Sally’s number.
She picks up on the first ring. “What the fuck is going on, Sloane?” Her voice is hushed.
“I’m so sorry, Sal, Syd is fucking us over from the grave,” I cry as Onyx and I get in my car and he starts up the engine.
“I don’t know what that means, but can you please try and explain in English? The staff are getting anxious.”
“Is Romeo still there?”
“He’s making himself at home, set up his laptop at a booth table and all. Please tell me what he said to the cops isn’t true, he doesn’t own this place alongside you.”
“If I can’t stop him by five today, then unfortunately yes. But keep that to yourself. I’m going to try and stop him, but I need you to cover for me.”
“Okay,” she says tentatively. “Where are you going?”
“Moretti Media,” I say with a sly smirk. There is only one person I know who can help me now.
“Good luck with that. ”
I glance at Onyx, and I know even he thinks I have lost my mind this morning. “Thanks, I think I’m going to need it.”