Chapter 3 #2
“I wouldn’t say I’m heartbroken, theíos,” Nikos said, chuckling as he scratched his jaw.
He tried to speak again, trying to find some joke to lighten the mood, but every time he opened his mouth, he didn’t know what to say.
Heartbroken seemed too sappy for his taste, but he did feel guilt. He felt it a lot.
“I know that exact look on your face. Every man has a woman who sticks like a thorn in their heart,” Antonis said. “Ask your father. He’ll tell you. From what I hear, it’s happening to your brother too.”
Half a year ago, Evelyn Jones had gotten on a plane to Paris and left his brother, and he had become different.
More wild, more untamed. And he didn’t like to hear a whisper of Evelyn’s name.
The last time Nikos had mentioned her, they had gotten into a fight, so Nikos knew for certain that Evelyn was sticking like a thorn in his brother’s heart.
His brother had never been this way with anyone else before, and now Nikos was starting to suspect that his brother was truly in love, though Pierce would never admit it.
Knuckles rapped against the door twice, and Antonis told whoever was behind the door to come in.
Nikos peered over his shoulder and saw three dancers come inside.
He drank in their beautiful bodies, and instantly all the guilt disappeared.
This place wouldn’t be so bad being surrounded by beautiful women like this.
“It doesn’t seem like I’ll have a thorn for long if I get to see beautiful women like this every day, theíos,” Nikos said as he fully turned around in his chair to get a better look.
It was no wonder why business was booming in this place with every seat filled on the floor.
The women here were beautiful, and there was nothing Nikos liked more than beautiful women besides flying.
“A new worker?” said the tallest brunette, who seemed to be around his height. She smirked knowingly.
“Hello, ladies,” Nikos said as he clutched his chest. “I hope you’ll be able to take care of me and try not to break my heart too much. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it.”
The shortest brunette, who looked to be under five feet, giggled as she coquettishly held her mouth, and when Nikos winked, she blushed.
“We’re here to pick up our pay,” the last girl said.
As his uncle reached into his drawer and passed both of the brunettes thick envelopes, Nikos looked at the last girl, who didn’t seem to be impressed by his charm.
Nikos looked at her from head to toe, taking in her thighs, wide hips, and well-toned flat belly where a piercing hung from her navel.
She wore a blue bikini that matched the color of the ocean and wore a diamond-sparkled harness strapping over her bikini bottom that strained against the thickness of her thighs, and when he finally took in her face, he was struck by one thought.
“Honey,” he said, finally understanding what Theo and Rickman meant when they were speaking of the one exception here. She was Black with caramel skin, the color of toffee. She was darker than Mia but lighter than Evelyn, and Nikos was struck by the many beautiful shades Black women could be.
The woman in question lifted a brow, a frown of confusion settling on her face as her eyes finally bothered to take him in. “Do I know you?”
“No surprise if you do,” the tallest brunette said with snark as she took her pay and left with the shorter brunette, who tossed him a wink before she did.
“Do you know her?” Antonis asked, and the question wouldn’t have bothered Nikos if it weren’t for the tone in his uncle’s voice which was much different than the welcoming tone that he had given him just mere seconds ago.
“No, we’ve never met. I… I’ve heard of you,” Nikos said. Honey didn’t seem to believe his answer before she shook her head subtly, seeming to think the better of it. So far, out of all the women he had seen here, she was the most beautiful.
“This is my nephew Nikos Drakos,” Antonis introduced. “He’ll be working with me from now on, so you’ll see him around here more often.”
Honey continued to look disinterested, but that only made him more intrigued. He always liked a challenge.
“I hope we can be friends,” Nikos said, giving his best smile, but even the corner of her mouth wouldn’t twitch as she looked at him. She would definitely be a challenge. Even Raelyn hadn’t been like this with him when they first met, and she had been purposely avoiding him.
“I have enough friends,” she said as she turned her attention to his uncle, who closely watched their interaction before he held up her pay, which was an envelope filled with cash.
Honey went to reach for it, but the moment her fingers touched it, his uncle grabbed her wrist, and instantly Nikos felt the thick tension in the room that hadn’t been there with the other two girls.
“I heard you were doing floor performances while I was gone,” he said, staring intensely into her brown eyes.
“It was just a few,” Honey admitted as she tried to pull her wrist back, but his uncle wouldn’t let go.
Nikos tensed up in his seat, not particularly liking how his uncle was holding this woman.
It didn’t matter if she was attractive or not.
He had never liked seeing men be aggressive with women.
As men, it was something they shouldn’t do.
“I don’t want you out on that floor again,” he told her firmly. “You can only get on the main stage.”
Honey looked like she wanted to argue, her mouth parted, ready to fight, but then her eyes fell on him, and she seemed to think the better of it, gathering enough strength to snatch her wrist back from his uncle’s hold.
“Fine,” she said as she took her pay before she swept out of the room.
Nikos’s eyes followed her, wondering what that was about.
He didn’t understand why his uncle didn’t want her to have floor performances.
He was certain that with a face and body like hers, it wouldn’t matter what most of the customers here preference was because Honey was everyone’s preference.
She would certainly wrack up money, and Nikos knew he would be one of them throwing bills.
When she finally left his sight, Nikos turned back to look at his uncle and was surprised to see a serious glare turned on him. Nikos froze, wondering what he had done wrong in such a short time. His uncle had never looked at him like this before.
“I know that you’re a playboy, and that’s fine,” his uncle said, fixing him with a piercing stare. “But Honey is off limits.”
Questions swarmed Nikos’s mind, wondering if his uncle and Honey were in a relationship.
Honey was definitely younger than his uncle, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone like his uncle were able to get someone twenty years his junior.
He had money, and much like his father, he still carried himself well in his older age.
But something about their interaction didn’t give that.
But Nikos didn’t see the point in analyzing their relationship further.
To be honest, he didn’t care. He barely knew Honey, and though she was a beautiful girl, it wasn’t worth stirring up trouble with his uncle, especially since his uncle was serious, fixing him with a deathly stare that reminded him of Pierce when he was ready to kill.
At first, he thought this would be a punishment of some sort, working here with his uncle. But after being inside the club, he saw the potential for fun. The building was filled with beautiful women, and one woman being untouchable didn’t take away from the rest of the beautiful women there.
“Okay,” Nikos said, repeating his uncle. “Honey is off limits.”