“Can I help with anything, Boss? More drinks? Cigars?”
“No. Meeting’s over.” Which reminds me that I didn’t bring up in the meeting that Donny had recently shown up here. But with the truce ... it means he can’t step out of line now.
My gaze zeroes in on Drew where she hovers near the bar, as if clinging to Stefano’s presence like a life preserver.Smart girl.I only have a second to make a decision, and I know what I need to do.
“Take Drew to the employee break room and show her out through the back entrance. Get her a car home. No one sees her,” I say, never breaking eye contact with Drew.
My new waitress blinks twice and her brown eyes widen. At ten feet away, she can hear me plain as day. I swear I catch a glimpse of color that’s not brown, but I’m too fucking riled up to know if I’m right or not.
“What?” Drew asks as Tanya goes rigid.
“You heard me. Go. Now.”
Tanya wastes no time rushing over to Drew, grabbing her by the arm, and hurrying her out of the main room just before the conclave door opens. Dom comes out and immediately scans the club, looking for Drew just like I knew he would.
I stride to the glass-enclosed room where the inventory is kept and unlock the door. As soon as I’ve retrieved the box of cigars, I turn around to leave with them in hand, and Dom meets me at the door.
“Where is she?”
“Who?” My question is total bullshit, and we both know it.
“I want to see you in my office. Tomorrow. Noon. We have things to discuss. Be discreet.” My father shoves his hands in his suit pants pockets and jangles the two coins he always carries. A reminder of how far he has risen since the days when he didn’t have two nickels to rub together.
“I know the drill,” I tell him from between clenched teeth.
“Good.” He glances at the box of cigars in my hand. “Bring me a box of those too.”
Fucking asshole.He doesn’t even like this brand, but he wants to make it harder for me to have the club show a profit. It keeps me under his thumb.
Welcome to the world of being an illegitimate Casso. It’s a fucking blast.
12
Drew
Tanya’s grip on my upper arm is tight enough to leave bruises as she drags me into the break room and presses a wooden panel that swings in to reveal another hidden door.
“What’s going on?” I jerk out of her hold and spin around to face her.
“Grab your purse and don’t ask any more stupid fucking questions.”
I fumble for the key to my locker, yank out my purse and folded clothes, and follow her through the secret exit. As soon as the panel slides back into place, lights glow just brightly enough for me to see the gray industrial carpet beneath my feet.
“This bolt-hole leads to Cannon’s private elevator, which is hidden from pretty much everyone.” She flashes a key. “Only trusted employees can access it, and we only use it when he tells us to, or if some really bad shit goes down. Like right now. Come on.”
She leads me to a set of stainless-steel doors and inserts the key to engage the elevator call button. As soon as the light is on, indicating the car is moving our way, she pulls out her phone and taps in a message. When she’s finished, we slip inside and she punchesG, I assume for garage.
“I don’t know what the fuck you did, but I knew you wouldn’t last long in this job. I just didn’t realize how right I’d be.”
“I didn’t do anything besides the things you trained me to do,” I tell her, crossing my arms.
Her blue eyes slice through me. “Bullshit. Because I wouldn’t be hustling you out to a car with an armed driver at one in the morning if everything was fine.”
I think of what Dominic Casso said. “Is it because ... because of Dom?”
If I thought Tanya’s gaze was cold before, now it’s ice. “Don’t talk about him. Don’t even say his name.” Her reaction is so much like Randi’s that chill bumps prickle all over my skin.
“What am I supposed to do then?”