Chapter 35 Verity
Verity
Sweat trickled down my back as I stepped out of the cab. The driver muttered something derogatory when he saw my meager tip, but I was short on cash, and he'd been a surly asshole from the moment I jumped in his car.
Bunking in a crappy hostel wasn't my idea of fun, but hostel beds were cheap, and it would give me time to find paid work. Kate, the girl who worked at a hotel nearby, might not be here any longer; we hadn’t spoken in a while.
The only reason I knew she'd found a job here was her posts on Instagram.
And since I'd tossed my phone, I couldn't check it for updates.
Saoirse and Aoife were the only real friends I had, and I didn't even have them anymore. Aoife would take Saoirse's side when she found out about me and the twins. As an outsider, that was how it worked. Family first.
I picked up my bag and walked up to the reception, my nose wrinkling at the stench of weed drifting in from the terrace. A couple of girls wearing bikinis stumbled through a sliding glass door, and from the sound of splashing and pop music, the outdoor pool lay in that direction.
"Ciao, bella." The guy on the front desk gifted me a lazy smile as he lounged on his stool, an iPhone open on the Tinder app.
"Ciao. I need a bed for a few nights."
"You can share mine," he drawled while shamelessly checking me out. One of the bikini girls sauntered over and leaned over the desk. His eyes snapped from me to her tits almost immediately. I almost rolled my eyes at his blatant flirting, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.
"Thanks, but I prefer to sleep alone."
"Luigi, when do you finish work?" the blonde whined while twirling a lock of hair around her finger. I winced at how sunburned her shoulders were.
"In an hour, cara. Then we party!" He turned to grin at me. "Fancy joining us, bellissima?"
"No, thanks." Not to be deterred, the lovely Luigi sat forward, treating me to a glimpse of his too-tight shorts.
It was obvious the idiot thought he had something going on I'd want, but unfortunately for him, Ronan and Conal had ruined me for all other men.
"Long trip. Tired. So, is there a bed free? "
Luigi huffed dramatically but tapped on his keyboard for a moment. "It's fifteen Euros a night. Payable in advance."
I handed him enough cash for three nights. If I could find a job in that time, I'd look for somewhere else to stay. Noisy hostels weren't my jam.
"Bed seven, room five. Up the stairs, last door on the left."
I took the keycard and trudged upstairs as the music from the pool area ramped up by several decibels. It was going to be an interminable three days.
"Got any experience?" The fat guy behind the bar polished a glass and stared at my tits. This was the tenth place I'd tried in the last two days, and I was rapidly losing hope. Nobody wanted to hire casual staff now the high season had ended.
If I'd arrived two months ago, jobs would have been readily available, but not now.
This shitty club was one of the few places still looking for staff, or so Luigi had told me. Once he realized I wasn't interested in blowing him, he'd backed off.
"I've worked in bars for the last two years," I told the man while wishing I'd worn something looser. "I can make cocktails and serve food." My cocktail making skills were abysmal, but I could manage some of the simpler ones.
"OK, fine, the job's yours. Can you start tonight?" Hmm, maybe he didn't actually care how well I could do the job. He must be desperate.
At least that's what I told myself while ignoring the predatory way his gaze lingered on my tits. The thought of a paycheck was enough to squash any doubts I had. All I needed was enough money to book a flight away from here.
Coming back to Sicily was a mistake. There were no tourist jobs and everywhere I looked, I saw my father. Or men that reminded me of him. It was time for a change of scenery, and fast.
"Sure, no problem."
"Go through that door and ask for Luna. She'll sort you a uniform and shit."
"You sure you want to work here, honey?" Luna looked me up and down while chewing gum. She reminded me of Mrs. Gia, my old nanny, with her salt and pepper hair and tired eyes. I shoved that thought down the moment it hit my front-brain. Memories from my past were best left locked away.
Mrs. Gia was still missing. Thea said Milo had found no trace of her, although he continued to run searches periodically.
I liked to think her disappearance after Kyril and Dario rescued us meant she'd changed her name and moved away.
It was a lot better than picturing her rotting in a shallow grave on our old estate.
"I need the cash," I admitted while wondering if I'd made an awful mistake agreeing to work in this club. It hadn't seemed that bad from the outside.
The woman sighed. "OK, but be careful and don't agree to work the private parties. Ron will ask. You're fresh meat and the punters love new girls."
I frowned. "He hired me to work the bar. Nothing else?"
Luna's low chuckle sent a shiver of unease down my spine.
"Sure he did." I waited for her to expand on her comment, but she turned away and rooted in a cupboard for a few minutes. "This is your uniform. The top and shorts are one-size-fits-all, so they should be fine."
This club appeared to opt for the 'less is more' approach with staff uniforms. But if wearing a tight top got me extra tips, I'd suck it up for now. The more I earned in tips, the faster I could leave.
And if I could track down Kate and she got me a job cleaning hotel rooms, I wouldn't need to work here for long.
I just hoped my family or those Irish assholes didn't come after me. Although, realistically, it was bound to happen once they figured out where I was.
An incendiary memory flash of Ronan leaning over me, brushing his lips against my neck, hit hard, but I pushed it away. There was no point dwelling on what had happened between us. That part of my life was over now. A brief highlight in a sea of unrelenting gray.
Even if he had turned out to be a douche, at least I'd have some hot memories to fall back on in the long, lonely years to come. Conal might not have been such a player, but as a Kelly, he, too, was bad news.
They all were.
I figured I had a week, perhaps less, before my sister sent one of her husbands after me, probably Dario. And when that happened, he'd be told in no uncertain words that this was my life. I was an adult, and I didn't need my family's protection.
Dad might be out there somewhere, but the chances of him finding me were slim.
"I've put you on the roster for this evening," Luna said before lighting a cigarette. I tried not to cough as pungent smoke filled the small room. "Is that alright?"
"I'll be here." Anything was better than being my usual awkward self at the hostel while drunk backpackers flirted with each other.
My feet hurt and the stupid spandex shorts the club expected their female staff to wear kept riding up my butt cheeks. At least nobody had told me to wear heels. That would have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
"More drinks!" a drunk guy called from a nearby table. He and his bro friends shamelessly ogled me as I leaned down to collect their empty glasses. When his grabby little hands touched my ass, I almost dropped my tray.
"Sexy ass, come sit on my lap!" I grimaced as his friend tried to slide his arm around my waist.
"Luca, leave the bitch alone or we won't get our drinks." A third guy rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.
The men settled down and let me leave their table to collect a fresh round of drinks for them. More hands touched my ass as I weaved my way through the tables, but I pretended not to notice.
Light touching from drunkards, I could handle. If it escalated beyond harmless ass grabbing, I'd try using one of the self-defense moves Conal taught me.
"Can you work a private party room tomorrow night?" Ron appeared at my shoulder. Sweat stains bloomed under the arms of his shirt and I tried not to stare at the thick gold chain nestling among stringy gray chest hair. Gross.
"Does it pay more?" He half-smiled.
"Yes, plus there'll be tips." He licked his fleshy lips while his gaze drifted down my cleavage. "Big tips."
God he gave me the ick, but more money and big tips would help my financial situation. "OK, then yeah." Connie, the woman who'd showed me the ropes when I arrived a few hours ago, scowled.
"How come she gets the party room? She's fucking new!" I shrank back, regretting saying yes to Ron. The last thing I wanted was to upset the person who'd been mostly helpful to me thus far.
Ron scowled at Connie.
"The fact she's new is why. The boss wants a fresh face for the monthly party night." I'd assumed Ron was the boss, but clearly not. He must just be a manager or something.
"I could have done with the extra money," Connie grumbled before slamming some empty glasses in the dishwasher.
"Then quit shoving all your cash up your nose."
"Fuck you, Ron," Connie muttered before storming down the bar toward a group of businessmen waiting to be served. To my surprise, he just rolled his eyes. My guess was he ignored her attitude in return for sexual favors. He seemed like that kind of guy.
"Be here for 9 PM, cara. I'll have an outfit for you to change into, but you'll need heels."
"Um, I don't have any?" All I had was a pair of sliders and the sneakers I'd left Ireland in.
Ron huffed in annoyance. "Fine, give me your size and I'll ask Luna to find some for you to wear."
I told him, and he made a quick note of it on his phone before striding off.
The thought of wearing someone else's shoes made me cringe, but if the tips were good tomorrow, I might have enough cash to purchase a flight to Phuket sooner than I'd hoped.
A few months spent traveling around southeast Asia would help erase the memories of the three men I desperately wanted to forget.
No doubt they'd forgotten me already.
I took a deep breath and twanged the elastic band on my wrist, wincing at the swift bite of pain.
I'd read somewhere pain was good at rewiring the brain if you wanted to stop thinking about someone. The unpleasant physical sensation helped to redirect the brain's focus. So far, it had done fuck all, but I refused to give up.
"Hey, you, I want a fucking drink!" A fat man in a Hawaiian shirt leered at me and I sighed.
The sooner I quit this shithole, the better.