Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Audrey
I would have been lying to say it took me three bourbons to get me on the stage with a bunch of male strippers but it wouldn’t have been the truth. I missed this, I missed me, and getting on that stage with a male stripper was everything I missed even more.
The man was hot too. Not Alexei hot, but certainly hotter than any man I’d ever gone to school with or even passed on the street. This man made many women’s fantasies come to life and his moves were enough to entice daydreaming. When his hand wrapped around the back of my neck while he ground on me, I almost closed my eyes. I almost reveled in it but I was on a stage surrounded by hundreds of women, my best friend, and the grannies .
They were actually the ones who shoved me up onto the stage and gave death glares to the women trying to get up there before me. I was pretty sure Grandmother even whacked a few with her cane to keep them from getting near the stage. When the dancer’s hips came in contact with mine, it was the closest thing I had to an orgasm without a toy in years. My eyes rolled back in my head as he spun me around and did some more grinding.
Was this heaven? I was pretty sure it was close. I was close and just when I thought I would combust— it was over and I was blinking into the spotlight, remembering exactly where I was.
Heat flushed my face as I was ushered off of the stage. I glanced over my shoulder and the man that was grinding on me held his fingers up to the side of his head in the shape of a phone. I was sure I was as red as a tomato as I stumbled down to my seat.
Carina’s phone was held up videoing the entire thing. A giant grin was spread across her face. Oh gosh, everyone back at my old home would see this. I grinned back at her.
Good.
“Oh my gosh!!!” She yelled over the music. “Are you going to follow him on Instagram?”
I looked back at the stage and he still hadn’t taken his eyes off of me. His skin was light but his hair was as dark as night. He was the best dancer out of all of them on stage. A grin split my lips again. Was this really my life?
Strippers in NYC and grannies who took you to banana hammock restaurants? I couldn’t believe it. Not a single bit.
“I bet,” Carina yelled again. “He would take you home tonight!”
I laughed. “I live with you! I couldn’t ever bring someone back there!”
“Ohhh, I bet it would impress him!”
“I’m not looking to impress anyone, especially with things that don’t belong to me!”
She shrugged as if it didn’t matter. For me, sex wasn’t just sex, even if it did sound nice to have an orgasm. Even if it did sound nice to finally go off the deep end and do something that was totally not me .
“I think you should fuck him,” Nana shout-whispered next to me and Carina bent over at the waist laughing.
Oh man. Oh man .
After a couple of hundred dollars worth of dollar bills, there was a commotion at the back of the room and my stomach sank. I knew immediately what was happening. The music was shut off and the guys on stage shuffled to the back and then there was Ace like a dark knight.
He stalked down the aisle with a look of murder on his face. And right behind him? Alexei.. with the same look.
I groaned. Even if I had wanted to go home with hottie on the stage, it would not be happening now. Buzzkills.
“This is all your fault,” I whispered to my best friend.
She gave me a forced grin. “Just act natural.”
“Natural?” They were getting closer now and we both had wads of ones in our hands. We shoved the money at the grannies and they cackled. They openly cackled. Oh, this was great.
Everyone was filing out of the room now but that didn’t stop the two brothers from stalking toward us. No, the people simply milled around them like they were parting the sea. If it wasn’t so terrifying, I would have thought it comical. There was nothing comical about their expressions.
Ace stopped in front of Carina and lifted a brow. “What are you two up to?”
Carina pointed right at the grannies. “It was their fault.”
Ace didn’t even bother to glance in their direction. “Uh-huh.”
“We’re having fun!” She offered with a weak smile.
He shook his head. “Are you ready to go?”
“No,” she replied weakly and uncertainly.
“Too bad.” As quickly as I could blink, he had her over his shoulder.
It was Alexei’s turn. My head swam from the alcohol and strobing lights but my eyes were fixated on him. He looked yummy tonight. His dress pants were black, as well as his henley. He wore a short gold chain around his neck and a large Rolex on his left wrist. His dark hair was brushed away from his face and I had this odd thought to touch it. Was it soft?
“Time to go.”
“I was going to go home with that one!” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.
“Oh, no you aren’t.” He glanced around me at the grannies and glared at them.
“You can’t tell me who to sleep with!”
“She really needs to get laid, I heard the last one sucked in bed.” Nana pursed her lips. All I could do was glare at Carina’s ass as she was carted out of the building like a sack of potatoes.
Grandmother whacked her with her cane. “We don’t talk about pre-marital bliss.”
Nana rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You like the male form just as much as any other woman in here. You’ve had plenty of premarital bliss since your husband passed away .”
“At least I was married at one point!” She didn’t even look embarrassed. If it wasn’t for Alexei, I probably would have focused more on her and why she was insistent that we not sleep with our partners unless married, but my attention snagged on tall, dark, and broody. There was no way I could look away from him now. His eyes were murderous but his mouth… Oh gosh, why had I looked at his mouth? I couldn’t seem to look away as the corners of his lips curled.
Sin. Pure sin.
I planted my fists on my hips. “Regardless. You can’t come in here and tell me what to do.”
The look in his eyes turned predatory as he swept me off of my feet and threw me over his shoulder. “I can and I will.”
“Who do you think you are?” I beat my fists on his back, now staring at his perfectly sculpted ass.
How long did he spend in the gym?
No.
Those kind of thoughts would get me nowhere. They weren’t productive at all.
“You cannot just walk in here and flash money around and get us to leave!” This time I kicked my legs. In response, he smacked my ass like a child. The nerve of this man!
He hiked me up higher on his shoulder. His chuckle vibrated through me. It was erotic and annoying . “I own this fine establishment, Malaya . I can do whatever I want. I didn’t even have to flash money.”
I sputtered. “You what?”
“I also own Hanging Heavy.” The banana hammock place.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to react. All fight left my limbs and I simply hung there, limp as a stupid noodle.
“Nothing left to say?” He asked as we stepped out onto the street and the driver opened up the door to his SUV. I expected to see Ace and Carina inside, but instead, it was empty.
He hefted me into the vehicle and slammed the door closed behind us. “Where are Ace and Carina?” I looked out of the window wildly. “Where are the grannies?”
“You nicknamed Nana and Grandmother?” He actually smiled at that. “Never mind. They have their own car coming to get them but they decided they wanted Mcdonalds first.”
What a pair.
“As far as Ace and Carina go, he wants his penthouse to himself tonight so he can show Carina who she should be lusting after.”
My mouth gaped open. Where was I going to stay? I pressed my palm into the center of my forehead. I knew this would happen.
“He will give me the go-ahead when he’s ready for you to come home. He just wants to ensure all the rooms are completely soundproof before you arrive back there.”
Once again, I was stunned speechless. “We could have avoided all of this if you would have let me go home with that dancer.” I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.
I didn’t know why I kept saying that either. Maybe it was that I wanted my own independence but I knew I would never find it in this big city. Did the Cristofs own everything? Just my luck.
“If you wanted to go home with someone, I wouldn’t have stopped you but it needed to be anyone but him.”
All I could do was glare at him.
He tilted his head back against the headrest. “I don’t know why the grannies brought the both of you there but that isn’t one of my finer establishments.” He held up a finger. “For one thing, they aren’t required to get checked regularly. They are allowed to do what they please after each show. My other establishments have stricter rules. The grannies probably brought the both of you there because she didn’t think I monitored them as closely.”
I snorted. “It isn’t as if you own all of the strip clubs in NYC.”
He leveled me with a look and I rolled my lips.
“What?”
He shrugged. “If I don’t own it, one of my other brothers does.”
Why had I chosen to live here again?
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was wonderful. Fantastic.
“It can’t be that bad,” his voice was low and it made me look up at him in the dim light of the car.
“What?”
“Spending time with me.”
He sounded so sad that it did something new to my insides and all of a sudden I realized I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to be sad. I wanted him to be smirky, overly confident, and annoying. More than anything I wanted him to be annoying.
“Um,” I tilted my head. What did I say now? “I’m sorry.”
His lips curved slightly but they didn’t look amused. He closed his eyes and I took the moment to really look at him. His jaw was clenched and there was a little bit of stubble. His hair was a little messy now and no longer pushed back from his face. His eyelashes were so long they looked like they were resting on his cheeks.
“You shouldn’t stare, it’s rude.”
I continued to stare at him. “Where have you been?”
His eyes opened half-mast. “Have you been waiting on me, Malaya ?”
“What does that mean?”
His gaze skirted down my body and I found myself regretting the conservative wear I’d donned earlier in the night. Quicker than I could blink, he sat up and was in my space. He brushed my hair behind my ear and I watched as he swallowed.
He shook his head slowly and leaned into me. His nose ran up the side of my neck and for the first time in forever, I didn’t think of one reason to say no—to stop what was happening. I closed my eyes and goosebumps erupted over my flesh.
The car came to a stop and we both jumped away from each other. “I hope you don’t mind, sir, but Ace texted me and let me know I could bring her home.”
Alexei’s lips parted as he stared at me. I couldn’t breathe. What was happening?
“Thank you, I’ve got it from here.” Alexei opened the door for us and let us out. “I’ll walk you up.”