Chapter 3
C H A P T E R
“WELCOME TO THE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB,” Theo told Nikos as they entered Antonis’s strip club.
Nikos had only been there one time before when his brother Aris needed to pick something up from their uncle.
Nikos had only gotten a chance to catch a glimpse inside then, but now he was in the thick of it, watching as half-naked women danced on poles.
The floor was packed with men sitting near the stage as they watched the main performance, while others played with their own personal dancers who gave them lap dances.
Money fluttered through the air, and booze passed around.
Nikos found himself grinning as he took in the scene.
Theo clapped his shoulder and led him over to the bar.
“Let’s get you a drink,” Theo said as he signaled over the bartender. “To celebrate you working with us now. This is Nikos Drakos, Antonis’s nephew and my cousin.”
“Welcome to the Gentlemen’s Club,” the bartender said. “I’m Rickman. If you ever need a good drink, come to me.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer then now.
An Old Fashioned on the rocks,” Nikos told Rickman.
The bartender took down his order along with Theo’s and started making their drinks.
Theo was going to drink to celebrate, while Nikos would drink to forget.
He didn’t see much point in celebrating, especially when he didn’t want to be here.
Already, he missed his home and the sky.
When Rickman finished, Nikos took a sip of his drink and could immediately feel the burn.
It was exactly what he needed. He nodded his approval to the long-haired bartender, who smirked as he tossed his towel over his shoulder.
Nikos looked through the crowd and saw a few women’s eyes on him, looking at him as if he were their prey.
Nikos grinned. This wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“I told you you’re a pretty boy,” Theo said, taking note of those same stares.
“Theo!”
A half-naked woman barreled over to them before she threw herself on his cousin. Theo grinned, hugging the red-haired girl back affectionately. Nikos lifted a brow as he took in the milky skin on her lean body. She was tiny and petite, and the most she could shake was her curly red hair.
“Amber, this is my cousin, Nikos. Nikos, this is my…uh…close friend, Amber.”
Amber did not seem at all phased by the uncertainty of the title of their relationship. She grinned, turning hazel eyes on him. Just before he could speak, two women walked past, making eyes at him as they did, swaying their hips seductively as if they were trying to trap a bear with honey.
Amber chuckled. “I can already tell you’re going to be trouble, pretty boy.”
Nikos smirked, turning on his charm. He couldn’t help himself. It came to him by nature.
Nikos grabbed her hand and kissed it, causing his cousin to glare at him. But Theo had nothing to worry about. Though she was a beautiful girl, Amber wasn’t necessarily his type. He didn’t necessarily flirt because he wanted someone. For him, it was breathing air. It came naturally.
“And what trouble are you trying to get in to with me?” Nikos asked, and Amber’s eyes sparkled as she blushed.
“You’re so different from your brother,” she said, shaking her head. Nikos lifted a brow in question, and Amber explained herself as she leaned her weight on her right hip, fixing him with a knowing smile.
“Your brother used to come through here, and all of the girls wanted him too. He had the whole tall, dark, and handsome look going for him. But he was so aloof that none of the girls could even get close to him if they tried.”
That sounded like Aris. When his brother was in business mode, nothing else mattered to him.
That was why Nikos had been surprised when his brother returned from America with a beautiful woman like Mia on his arm and didn’t marry Evangelia Petraki, even though it was what their father had wanted.
His brother had always been dutiful and loyal, willing to do anything their father asked for.
When he put love before that, it had been something that surprised them all, though Nikos couldn’t blame his brother.
If he had the chance to be with someone as beautiful as Mia, he would drop everything for her too.
“But I can already tell that you won’t be like your brother,” she said. “You’re definitely going to be trouble, but don’t try to break too many hearts. We have a ship to run in here.”
“And definitely don’t try anything with Amber,” Theo warned him as he possessively wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“But I thought she was just your close friend?” Nikos quipped. “That means there’s a possibility that Amber wants to know what it would be like with a real man.”
“You jackass—”
“Now, now, boys. No need to fight over me,” Amber said, grinning. “Though your cousin’s right, Theo. If you won’t take the bait, someone else will.”
They watched as she switched away, heading towards the back.
“I like her,” Nikos said and quickly stepped to the side to evade the weak punch Theo threw. Theo sighed, shaking his head before he began to inconspicuously point to areas and people in the room, showing him around in the lazy fashion that Nikos expected of his cousin.
“That guy over there in the blue and white pinstripe suit, that’s Georgios. Do you remember him?”
Nikos looked at the man hanging in the back of the room, nearly melting into the shadows if it weren’t for the light fixture a few inches above him shining a spotlight on him. He had a deep gash on his cheek that looked like it hadn’t had the chance to heal properly, and his hairline was receding.
Nikos shook his head.
“Antonis’s cousin. He’s been running the business for these past two weeks while Antonis was gone.
He works as a manager at this club, but Antonis has full power over everything here,” Theo explained as he took another sip of his drink before he pointed to the back, where two double doors were guarded by two men.
“Those are where the private rooms are for higher clientele. I’ll show you back there when it isn’t active,” Theo said, and Nikos suspected he wouldn’t be shown those rooms until the night was over and the sun was completely out. He could leave it up to his imagination for now.
“This club must make a lot of money,” Nikos said, surveying the grandeur of the room. Unlike other clubs that could only boast about the women they had there, the interior of the Gentlemen’s Club was well-designed, giving off a look of high class that you usually didn’t see in regular clubs.
“This isn’t Antonis’s only club. He owns most of the clubs in New York and New Jersey, even in the urban areas too.”
Nikos’s eyes roved over the crowd, looking at each girl. Most of them were white and Latino and weren’t darker than his own skin tone.
“Most of the men here like their women white, bright, or Asian,” Theo said before a thoughtful look crossed his face. “But there is an exception.”
“Honey,” Rickman said in passing as he attended to other customers.
“Honey,” Theo repeated, nodding.
“Honey?” Nikos questioned curiously.
Theo opened his mouth to explain, but he never got the chance to as their conversation was interrupted by the man who owned this club.
Nikos watched as his uncle crossed the room and pulled him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss upon his forehead.
It had been years since he had last seen his uncle, and though Nikos wasn’t as particularly close to him as he was with his other uncles back in Greece, he was still fond of the older man.
“Theíos,” Nikos said respectfully. “Sas efcharistó pou me échete.”
Uncle, thank you for having me.
“I’m glad you came,” Antonis said, clapping his shoulder. Nikos smiled gratefully. “Follow me.”
Nikos nodded at his cousin before he followed Antonis, who led him behind a different set of double doors from the ones Theo had pointed out before. They walked down the hallway with echoes of the music following them down the red-carpeted floor.
“How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while, kid,” Antonis said as he tossed back a wink. Despite a few sparse grey hairs, he still looked young, only in his late forties. The crinkle around his eyes held charm, and he still had a well-toned muscled body.
“I’ve been good,” Nikos said, though he didn’t mean it. Antonis chuckled knowingly. They walked up the steps to the second floor.
“Sorry I couldn’t come pick you up directly. I was out on business. That’s why I had your cousin come. He showed you around, right?”
Nikos nodded.
“How do you feel working for me now?” Antonis asked as he peered over his shoulder. “Your father has been trying to get you down here for years. I’m surprised he finally managed to.”
Antonis opened a door, and they stepped inside his office.
Immediately, Nikos’s eyes fell on the ceiling-to-wall windows just behind his uncle’s desk that gave him a wide view of his club.
He could see everything from up here. His uncle took a seat behind his desk, and Nikos took a seat in front of it.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m happy about it,” Nikos said, shrugging as he shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable in this environment. This would be his life now, after all. “But I’m here now, and I already told my father I would do it, so I’ll stick to my word.”
“Your father told me what happened,” Antonis admitted as he leaned back in his seat, causing the chair to creak under his weight. “You must be heartbroken.”
Nikos clenched his fist, wishing his father hadn’t said anything. It wasn’t something that he necessarily wanted to broadcast to the world, especially since he wanted to keep it in the past.