Chapter 20
Sal
C lub X is pretty much always busy. I’ve been the owner—on paper, at least—for long enough to know that there are depraved people in every circle in this city. Granted, most of our customers are criminals, but there are plenty of outwardly upstanding citizens who live a secret life behind closed doors.
This afternoon, Joey and I are here to find Karissa and see if she’s up for a little side job to help us with our pesky trafficking issue. For some reason, we haven’t been able to make any headway in figuring out exactly what the process is that the traffickers are using. We know from people we have embedded in other organizations that Club X is the hub, but no one has been able to tell us if there is a code or a certain time or date when the communications take place. We aren’t even sure how so many other people seem to know about it when it wasn’t on our radar at all. Frankly, it’s embarrassing, and it’s pissing us off.
“Do you think she’ll do it?” Joey asks from his seat next to me at the bar.
I shrug. “I think she will, but maybe not if she thinks it’s too dangerous.”
“It’s definitely dangerous. We have to make sure she knows that.” Joey sips his drink and surveys the room. Some girls are dancing, some are sitting on the plush furniture, and some are walking around so the men in attendance can get a good look at what they’re offering. This isn’t a strip club; it’s a sex club. The men who come here know exactly what they’re looking for, and they can almost always find it. There are some lines we won’t cross—which is why we’re so determined to end this trafficking ring—but, for the most part, the escorts set their own boundaries with their clients.
A familiar head of blonde hair catches my eye, and I turn to the left to see Karissa coming out of the hallway that leads to the break room. She’s our best bartender, and people tend to talk about things around her as if she can’t hear them. I’ve witnessed it myself, and I bet she could tear this city down with the secrets she knows.
When she steps behind the bar, I tilt my head to gesture for her to come this way. Since it’s not quite evening yet, the Club is busy but not overwhelmingly so. There are a few patrons sitting at the bar, but the closest person to us is a few feet away.
“Ah, my two favorite bosses. What can I get you tonight?” She bats her long eyelashes and winks, effortlessly flirting with us the way she does with everyone. Her tip jar is usually overflowing long before her shift ends.
“We actually have a proposition for you,” Joey starts, leaning forward and returning her flirtatious attitude. Anyone watching would think he was trying to get her to ditch the bar and come into one of the private rooms with him.
“Oh, come on, now,” Karissa teases. “You know I’m not in that line of work.”
Joey laughs and shakes his head. “And you know I’d never put that kind of pressure on you. No, our proposition is one that just involves observing the club and reporting back on anything out of place.”
She tilts her head to look at him, then flicks her gaze over to me. “You want me to be a spy?” Leaning closer to us and resting her elbows on the bar, she gives us a smile that’s pure sex. If my dick wasn’t set on Elise, I’d be rock hard right now. “What exactly am I looking for?”
Joey and I exchange a glance. We’d agreed to give her some information, but not all of it—both for her safety and out of an abundance of caution. Just because we like her and trust her doesn’t mean that her loyalty hasn’t been bought by someone else.
“This might seem strange, given what we do for a living, but we have reason to believe there are criminals running an illegal operation through our club that is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Lombardi Family. And we need to put a stop to it.”
“And you need me to, what, figure out who’s running this operation?”
“Who and how are the two main questions we haven’t been able to answer,” I tell her. “Before you accept or decline, just know that it could put you in danger if they realize what you’re doing. But you’ll be compensated handsomely for your efforts. And we’re not asking you to leave the bar. We’re hoping they’ll be careless enough to talk about it in front of you.”
“People forget about the help,” Karissa agrees.
“So?” Joey asks. “What do you think?”
“I’m happy to help, of course. But it might help if I knew what the operation was.”
He nods. “It’s human trafficking,” he says, his voice low so as not to be overheard.
“Oh, fuck.” Her eyes widen in horror, and it looks genuine, further affirming our decision to ask her for help. She’s always been one of our favorite employees, and I’d be genuinely shocked if she turned out to be a traitor.
Of course, that would make her the perfect traitor, but I’m choosing to trust my gut. It’s never steered me wrong before, and I hope it won’t start now.
Elise
“And she agreed to help?”
I pause by the kitchen door and strain to hear the rest of Enzo’s conversation out in the hallway.
“You told her the dangers?”
I don’t know who he’s talking about, but I have to assume they’ve looped someone in to help with the investigation. Since it’s a woman, my best guess is that it’s someone at the club. There aren’t any other women in the organization, as far as I’m aware, and even the club girls are just employees.
“Now we wait. And hopefully those assholes will slip up and say something damning while they’re at the bar.”
Ah. Karissa, then. She’s the only full-time bartender who has been at Club X long enough for them to trust her like this.
Enzo ends his call and then pushes the kitchen door open, forcing me to jump out of the way. He narrows his eyes in suspicion when he sees me. “What are you doing in here?”
I hold up my sandwich. “Early dinner,” I explain. “Can I go with you when you get the updates from Karissa?”
Rage burns in his eyes, but I ignore it and casually take a bite of my sandwich while I wait for him to answer. “Were you eavesdropping?”
“Noooo,” I say, dragging out the word slowly. “You were speaking within earshot. That’s not my fault.”
“I’ll have to go to the club to talk to her if she has something,” he says, ignoring my response and making his way over to the refrigerator. “She can’t be seen coming here or meeting us out in public.”
“Okay. I’ll go with you.”
He laughs. “No.” He shuts the fridge without taking anything out of it and moves to the cabinet where he keeps his protein powders.
“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t been there before.”
“Why would you want to go back? I obviously don’t know every detail, but it can’t have been a good experience for you.”
While he shakes the cup to mix the powder and water, I fume at how easily he dismisses me every time I ask to be more involved in the case. When he’s done, I say, “It wasn’t what I would call a fun job, but I liked the girls, and I miss the ones I’d started to become friends with. Including Karissa.”
He eyes me over the lid of his drink. “You can go visit after we solve this thing.”
My face scrunches up at the implication that I’ll still be at his beck and call after the traffickers are safely behind bars. “Once we solve this thing, you won’t own me anymore,” I remind him, even though I’m still not entirely sure what will happen after this is all over. I haven’t been letting myself think about it.
Enzo takes a few big swallows of his shake and then turns to leave the kitchen. “We’ll see,” he says over his shoulder before pushing open the door and leaving me standing there, still holding my uneaten sandwich.