CHAPTER SEVEN #2
The dark-haired beauty before me rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently. “You know what? You’re taking too long. I’ll bring you a Tom Collins.”
She turned and started walking away.
“Wait! I’d like another whiskey. Make it a double.”
She turned and smirked at me.
I looked at Nico, who was chuckling softly.
“I’m not getting that whiskey, am I?” I asked, watching the beautiful Jelly walk away from me, her short skirt showing off a perfect ass and mile-long legs.
“Not a chance in hell, man.”
Jelly
Daisy walked by giving me a look. “Girl. He’s back. Again.”
I nodded, biting my lip. “Yeah, I saw him.”
“He wants you bad.” She said it in a sing-song voice, and I rolled my eyes.
“You’re one to talk. How many guys come in here every night just to see you?”
She waved her hand like it was of no consequence. “It’s not that many.”
It was. Guys loved her and they loved Glory. I was maybe a distant third favorite hostess after the two of them. And that was probably because I was different—not as sweet.
Carmen walked over. “Ray Ann, Paolo Lanetti is into you. He keeps asking for you and begging for you to go into the VIP room. I’ve told him you’ve expressed interest in the auction.
” She flipped her silky black hair over her shoulder.
“But he’s determined to have us create a new kind of auction. ” She rolled her eyes.
Paolo Lanetti was a terrible snob. I knew it. She knew it. Nico knew it. Everyone was well aware that he thought he was better than everyone in the club. At least the women. I didn’t know how he felt about the other club members.
“Anyway, make sure you’re the one serving his table. He’s never been in Sugar this often. Normally, he goes to Cayenne. Ever since he met you, though, he’s only been here.”
I looked over at him. He was sitting by himself at one of the tables and staring at me instead of Madeline who was delivering one of her raunchier sets onstage.
That was dedication. If he could pull his eyes off my Barbie doll look-a-like friend getting down and dirty while naked, then there was something about me he liked.
“Oh, I’ve got to go,” Daisy breathed, hustling towards the bar as a big group of guys motioned her over to their table.
“I do, too, I guess.” I started to walk off, when Carmen grabbed my arm.
“Look, I know you’re not ready to go into the auction yet. I get it. But he’s someone who could… change your life. And it seems like he’d be very willing to pay a lot to get to know you better.”
I frowned a little. “So, what are you saying?”
She cocked her head, her beautiful face studying me.
“I was going to tell you to be nice to him. But something tells me you haven’t been nice to him yet.
Just keep being yourself, okay? But don’t fuck him.
No matter how much he tries to get you to.
Just give him enough to keep him coming back for more. ”
“Gotcha,” I said. I wanted to tell her it didn’t matter what I did, he’d never want someone like me. But she was already hurrying off to handle one of the newer hostesses who kept dropping shit. I walked over to Paolo’s table. “What would you like to drink tonight, sir?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why do you do that?”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“I watch you with all of your other tables. You’re nicer to them than me. Granted, you’re not what I’d call ‘nice’ to any of them, but you are nicer.”
I shrugged. “Maybe they’re nicer to me.”
He grinned at me, and I tried not to be entranced by his physical beauty. God, but he was gorgeous. And he knew it. “Oh, I’d be very nice to you if you’d just let me.”
I leaned over the table knowing I was giving him an excellent shot of my cleavage. “And what would that entail?”
He leaned closer, not even bothering to hide the fact he was checking out every inch of my body. “Let me take you out. I’d take you wherever you wanted to go. And then we’d go back to my place, and I’d make you come more times and harder than you ever have in your life.”
He placed his warm hand over mine, and I couldn’t hide that my lips had parted just thinking about being with him physically. I smiled at him and stood back up. “You know that’s against the rules.”
“The rules don’t apply to me, bellisima.” He winked at me. “Nico and I go way back, as you know. No matter what Carmen says, Nico would back me up.”
“Ah, that might be the case for you, but would he have my back? I need this job.”
That made him pause, his gray eyes looking between my blue ones. “I see what you’re saying. Let me talk to him. I can make it happen.”
I smiled at him. “I don’t think so,” I said in a fake sweet voice. “I have plenty of chances to date guys at school. But there’s only one club this nice in all of West Bay.” I stood up straight. “Whiskey?”
“You’re cruel, do you know that?” his eyes dropped to my lips.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Jelly!” I turned to see two tables full of my regulars had just sat down. I smiled and held up a finger, letting them know I’d be with them in just a moment.
“I’ll be right back with your whiskey.” I winked at him and turned to go to the bar. I could feel his eyes on me the whole way. When I got there, Nora gave me a look.
“Nico’s friend is not going to take no for an answer,” she said. “Do you know who his dad is?”
I frowned. “Yeah, Daisy told me. His dad is Dominico Lanetti and he runs the ports right?”
“Exactly.”
I waited for her to give me the glasses of whiskey I’d put in for all my tables. “Is that bad? That his dad runs the ports, I mean.”
Nora focused her pretty blue eyes on me. “He just… has very specific requirements for his son’s life. That’s all. Just be careful.”
“I’m not planning on having anything much to do with him,” I gestured to Paolo, surprised to see that he was still watching me.
Nora looked skeptical. “He usually gets whatever he wants.”
“Here?”
“In life.”
“How do you know?”
She got a far-off look in her eyes, and her normal smile thinned out to a grim line. “Let’s just say I knew a friend of his once.”
“You’re being very mysterious, Nora.”
She suddenly smiled, but I could tell it was fake. One of the Salazars must be nearby. “Here you go,” she said. Then under her breath she whispered, “Just be careful.”
I hurried back to his table and dropped off his whiskey with barely a smile for him. I had to get to my other tables.
Nora didn’t need to worry. There was no way I’d let the handsome surgeon turn my head.