Chapter 18
C H A P T E R
THE NEXT DAY, WORD OF ANTONIS’S INJURY RACED THROUGH THE CLUB LIKE WILDFIRE, and it wasn’t long before those rumors reached Honey’s ears.
It was another two hours before the club opened, and all of the dancers mingled around the club, practicing before opening and trading whispers of the incident that no one had seen but only heard about.
Honey was on the corner of the stage with Amber, Allison, Rachel, Sweetie, and Rita.
They stretched together, getting prepared for their turn to practice before opening.
Honey slid down into a split before stretching over to touch her hands to her toes, knowing that if she didn’t now, she would be in for a world of hurt later on in the night.
She didn’t want to get an injury like some of the other girls got whenever they skipped out on their stretches.
“Do you think it’s true?” Rita whispered curiously, and they all knew what she was referring to without even asking.
“No, it isn’t,” Sweetie said, waving her off. “There’s no way that something like that would happen to Antonis. They said that he’s dead.”
“But I heard he got shot,” Rita said, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“I heard he was in a coma,” Amber said.
“See,” Sweetie said, shaking her head. “They are nothing but rumors. This is Antonis we’re talking about here. He’s practically untouchable.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with Sweetie here. No one would have the balls to do something like that to Antonis. Even the police are scared of him,” Allison said.
“Then why isn’t he here?” Rachel asked, which caused them to pause.
Sweetie shrugged as she tried to come up with a reason. “Maybe he’s busy with something. I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound like something that would happen.”
“What do you think, Honey?” Amber asked, and all the girls turned to look at her, the only one who had yet to add her opinion.
“Whether he’s dead, shot, or in a coma, I don’t know,” Honey said, shrugging. “But…I do think it’s true that something happened to him, and that’s why he’s not here right now.”
“Why do you think that?” Rita asked.
Honey couldn’t exactly tell them the reason because that meant she would have to mention that Nikos had been at her house last night.
She remembered the look of worry etched on his face when he got up to leave.
He hadn’t told her what happened, but the worry in his eyes alone let her know that something bad had happened.
And on top of that, there was an even more sure reason.
“Whenever Antonis goes away on business, even if it’s for a day, he tells me,” Honey admitted.
He had done that ever since she started working here, treating her like she was his wife, letting her know of his whereabouts as if she would be worried sick if he were gone, when in reality, he only gave her relief whenever he told her.
Antonis was always at the club before everyone else, and if he weren’t here, it was because he was out on business.
But he hadn’t told her anything this time.
Before any of the girls could get the chance to respond, the chatter in the room died. They all turned around to see Georgios enter the room.
Georgios clapped his hands together. “Come on. Chop, chop. We’re having a meeting, and I have something to tell you.”
Like the other girls in the room, Honey had to refrain herself from rolling her eyes because she didn’t like Georgios.
He was an asshole who often walked around like a tyrant with a crown whenever Antonis wasn’t around.
He thought just because he was Antonis’s cousin that he could do whatever he wanted.
He was rude and didn’t listen, and he seemed to take pleasure in having power over other people, always taking advantage of it.
She stood up with the rest of the girls and made her way to the front of the stage. Everyone grouped around Georgios, who stood at the bottom of the stage. Once he had all of their attention, he spoke.
“As some of you may have heard, as of right now, Antonis will not be here for the unforeseeable future.”
A chorus of gasps sounded off around them as if it confirmed people’s suspicions and rumors.
Honey felt uneasiness go through her as she processed that information.
She wasn’t nearly as surprised as anyone else because Antonis’s absence had been enough for her to realize that there was truth to the rumors, but she wasn’t big on change that could affect her negatively.
“So, is he really dead?” Sweetie asked, but she quickly closed her mouth when Georgios tossed a glare in her direction.
“You don’t need to know the details, but Antonis is very much alive. He’ll just be off the grid here for a while. So don’t expect to see him any time soon.”
“Does that mean you’re going to be in charge now?
” Candy asked. The expression on Georgios’s face turned even more sour, and Honey hadn’t expected that.
She thought Georgios would be ecstatic that he would be in charge for a while, even if the reason came from his own cousin possibly being hurt.
Because all that would matter to him was that he would be in charge of the club, and then he could run around and do whatever he wanted without being reprimanded by Antonis, who dealt heavy blows to Georgios whenever he did something wrong, whether they were family or not.
Honey still could remember the knots on Georgios’s face after he let her do floor performances while Antonis had been gone.
“No, I won’t be,” Georgios said, and a chorus of gasps followed again. “Anything you would have asked Antonis for, you should now ask Nikos for because he’ll be in charge for the time being until Antonis returns.”
An uncertain nervous excitement traveled across the room as everyone glanced at each other, surprised that Nikos was going to be in charge and wondering what that meant for them.
Everyone at the club knew Nikos by now, and they all knew that he was Antonis’s nephew and the son of some drug lord back in Greece.
But most of them had been expecting Georgios to take over the club, and it seemed that Georgios had expected the same thing, judging from his sour expression.
He clearly wasn’t happy with the decision, and Honey had to admit she was slightly perplexed herself.
If it weren’t Georgios, there were so many other people who could have taken Antonis’s place, including Antonis’s right-hand man, Evangelos.
Though Honey was glad that Georgios wouldn’t be in charge, she couldn’t necessarily say she was ecstatic like some of the other girls.
Though she had gotten to know Nikos now, and Amber had informed her sometimes about how Nikos was rising up in the ranks based on what Theo told her, Honey was still skeptical about it, wondering if he could handle such a task.
It wasn’t easy to run a club, and this wasn’t the only club he would be managing. All Nikos had done in this club so far was fuck damn near every woman there, dancers and bottle girls included. He was a master at that, apparently, but would he be able to manage them in the way Antonis had?
“Get ready for tonight. Nikos won’t be here tonight because he’s busy with other things, but in the upcoming days, you should see him, and you’ll be able to ask him any questions you want then,” Georgios said before he dismissed them.
After he left, everyone walked back to the spots they had been at before, including Honey, who sat back down, her thoughts filled.
She realized the reason Nikos had left abruptly was probably because of what happened to Antonis, and though Honey knew she should have felt bad about what happened, she couldn’t help but secretly be glad that she wouldn’t have to see Antonis for a while.
To be frank, the man scared her.
There was something about the way he treated her that she didn’t like at all.
He treated her as if she were a doll or a piece of property, not an actual person, and she hated it.
None of her opinions ever mattered to him, only his desire for her, and it only made her disgusted.
Honey would never be with a man like him.
Now with him gone, she wouldn’t have to worry about his crazy antics anymore. She wouldn’t say that she was wishing the worst on him, but she hoped that his absence would last longer than a few weeks.
“Wow,” Allison exclaimed. “I can’t believe that Nikos is going to be taking over. It’s going to be so fun.”
“You must think you’re going to get special treatment,” Rachel said.
“Of course, I’m going to get it,” Allison replied. “Nikos is a really cool, chill, nice guy. Hell, I might even get a raise.”
“If he gives you a raise, then he’ll give me a raise too,” Sweetie said, sticking her tongue out at Allison childishly, and Honey rolled her eyes. They had been in competition for Nikos’s affection ever since both girls slept with him.
“If both of you get a raise for sleeping with him, then that means all of the girls here will get a raise too,” Honey said, and the girls started laughing.
“All except you,” Amber said. “You’re one of the only handful of girls left here who haven’t done anything with him.”
“You and Rita included,” Honey said, but when she saw the sheepish look on Rita’s face, she corrected herself. “Well, just you.”
“Yeah, but that’s because of circumstance,” Amber said, shrugging. “If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve already been messing with his cousin, I may have tried my hand too. Nikos is a really charming guy.”
“Are you going to give him a chance now?” Rachel asked.
Honey rolled her eyes. “It would be a cold day in hell before I ever do something with him.”
Even with the position Nikos had now, she didn’t have any intentions of doing something like that with him.
And though she now knew that Nikos wasn’t the bad guy she had initially thought him to be, he still wasn’t a man she would be with.
He was too flirtatious and childish. When he was around her son, he acted the same age as him, and someone as handsome as himself probably didn’t know what the word monogamy meant.
So far at the club, all he had done was cause problems among the girls, and Honey wanted no part of it.
She would not be the next notch under his belt.
“Let’s just hope that he doesn’t ruin this place,” Honey said, having a bad feeling. She got back into position and started stretching again.
“That’s not possible,” Sweetie said.
“Anything is possible,” Honey retorted. “Anything.”