Chapter 38
Joey
I don’t think my dick has ever been softer. Especially with hot women hanging all over me. The escorts at Club X are used to all of us coming in to check up on things, but that usually includes taking one of them into a private room to make sure they’re still performing the way our clients expect. It’s not unusual for them to flirt with us in hopes that we’ll pick them; they know they’ll be treated relatively well and paid handsomely.
Ever since Elise came into the picture, I haven’t had the desire—or ability, if I’m being honest—to be with anyone else. Tonight, a small group of the escorts have been hanging around our table ever since we sat down. They’re pulling out all the stops to get our attention, but I just can’t bring myself to care. A quick glance over at Frankie and Enzo tells me that they’re over it too. Sal is on babysitting duty at Enzo’s house, and I’ve never been more jealous of him.
When the hot brunette that’s been shaking her tits at me for the last five minutes finally gives up, I turn to the other two. “Sitting out here isn’t even fun anymore,” I complain. “What’s the point of owning a sex club if you can’t even muster enough interest to sample the product?”
“Fuck if I know,” Frankie grumbles. “The only two people I want touching me are probably making out on Enzo’s couch like a couple of horny teenagers.”
“Let’s go upstairs,” Enzo suggests, standing abruptly and taking off for the office before either of us have even registered what he said.
“I don’t think he liked your ‘making out’ comment,” I observe. “We probably shouldn’t keep poking the bear.”
When Frankie looks at me in surprise, I smirk to let him know I’m planning to do much more than just poke the bear. I’m going to throw darts at it and make it snap. Maybe not today, but the time is coming. At some point, we have to either force him to admit that he’s not down with sharing or get him to see that fully sharing is in everyone’s best interest.
By the time we get upstairs, Enzo is sitting stoically behind the desk and looking far too serious for what was supposed to be a relaxing check-in night at the club. We already checked in with Karissa, and she still doesn’t have anything for us.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” I ask as Frankie and I drop into two of the chairs across from him.
“Do you think we have a rat?”
I glance nervously at the floor. “Why? Did you find little pieces of rat shit or something?”
Frankie smacks me in the arm. “You dumbass. He means a rat in the Family.”
“Oh!” My happiness that there isn’t a little rodent scurrying around is dampened when I realize that the other kind of rat is much worse. “Oh. Shit. You think Elise was right?”
“I was already considering it before she brought it up, but I think we need to give it some serious thought.”
“Do you have anyone in mind?” Frankie asks. “I’d been wondering the same thing but can’t pinpoint who I think it is.”
“Who are our options?” I think through why someone would betray the Lombardi Family and risk certain death if they were discovered. As the possibilities occur to me, I tick them off on my fingers. “The old timers who are still butthurt about your dad being gone. Some pissed-off friend of one of the guys you’ve killed recently. Or someone with unknown ties to whichever organization is doing the trafficking.” Glancing at the other two, I see them both nodding while looking deep in thought. “Is that everyone?”
“That is literally everyone,” Enzo says with a sigh. “It could be absolutely anyone. Besides the four of us and Elise.”
“It could be Elise,” Frankie argues.
“No, it couldn’t be.” Enzo’s voice is firm and brokers no argument. “The whole reason why she went undercover is to bust the trafficking ring. She’s not helping them.”
“No,” Frankie corrects him. “She told you that was the reason she went undercover. And you believed her because your dick told you she was trustworthy.”
Enzo’s face turns white with shock and then quickly morphs to a shade of red I’ve never seen on human skin before. Oh, fuck. He’s going to kill her.
“She still might be telling the truth,” I offer. “Frankie has a good point, but he doesn’t have any proof. She could just as easily be on our side. Don’t shoot her just because Frankie has trust issues.”
“We could’ve vetted this issue weeks ago if you’d told us the truth about who she was,” Frankie says, rising from his seat. Before he leaves, he adds, “Shooting her would save us the headache of figuring out what to do with her once the trafficking issue is over with. It’s not like she’ll want to stick around anyway, and you know you won’t let her leave.”
When the door shuts behind Frankie, Enzo turns his chair around to look out over the club. He doesn’t say anything, but I can’t leave without knowing I did my best to help him make the right choice.
“I think you’ll be surprised by what she wants when all is said and done,” I tell him from my seat. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. At all of us, really.”
“I fucked it up when I called her a whore.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Not your finest hour. But you can still make it up to her.”
He pauses, and I get up to leave when I decide he’s not going to answer. But then he does. “How?”
“Apologize. And give her the one thing she’s been wanting.”
“You mean permission to fuck whoever the hell she wants?”
“Are you afraid that she won’t want you if she has us? Because I guarantee she wants you too. It’s not a situation where she has to choose between you and us. Unless you make her choose.”
“Why would she want or need all of us? We’re overbearing and demanding and dominant and—”
“And we’ll all do everything we can to take care of her and keep her safe and make sure she never has a shortage of orgasms,” I finish.
Finally, he turns to look at me. The vulnerability in his eyes isn’t something I’m used to, and I’m honored that he’s choosing to open up to me.
“I can’t let anyone know that she might be more to me than a sexual object. Not right now. Not until we find the fucking rat. Once he’s dead, maybe it can be different.”
“How are you going to convince Frankie not to kill her?” I ask.
He shrugs. “She’ll have to prove herself to him.”
That answer doesn’t reassure me, but I know better than to push my luck. If I need to, I’ll stand between Frankie and Elise and just hope he doesn’t kill me with her.
Before I leave, I throw out one last piece of advice. “If you’re going to keep treating her like an emotionless sex doll in front of the Family, you at least need to warn her. Otherwise, it really might be too late to fix things by the time this is all over.”
I pull open the office door and walk out, hoping with everything in me that he takes my advice. Life without Elise is looking more and more like a life without pleasure, and I’m too young to never get a fucking erection again.