Chapter 2- The Special Guests

Chapter 2

ALLESIA

What kind of man offers a girl such an outrageous amount of money just to get under her pants on their first meeting, a professional meeting at that? Of course, it had to be a crooked billionaire like Russel Mancini.

And so it was hate at first sight between us, I had sworn never to see his impassively stupid face again and I hope to God that our paths never cross again. I mean, on my part, he'll never see me outside the four walls of this place so where else will he get the chance?

He can go to hell and shove his dirty money up his ass!

I returned to the bar where I work later that evening, still sulking. I scoffed as his name found it's way back to my mind. Russel Mancini was the kind of danger I was running from. Aside his money, his personality had a dark unsettling aura that made me so uneasy around him.

No one had ever made me that uneasy.

"How was it?" Elletra, my best friend who had pushed me into this mess in the first place inquired with a grin when she sighted me.

"You sent me to the lion's den with those ridiculous ass questions, huh?"

Elletra pouted, "I'm sorry, Les. I thought you knew." She dramatically examined me, spinning me in a 360, "At least he didn't try anything stupid. Did you get the answers?"

Elletra reached for the pad in my hand but I quickly swatted her hand away, "I managed to get three answers from him. But I must warn you, stay away from that fellow if you love your life. He's as dangerous as you imagined, and even worse."

"What do you mean?"

Before I could answer again, Renzo, my elder brother, who was also working as the manager in the bar walked over to us and heaved a sigh of relief on sighting me, "Glad you are back. Come and help me in the mini bar."

I gave him a curious frown, he was dressed too smartly tonight, "What's up with your dressing, are you going for a white collar job interview?"

He grinned, "Didn't you hear? We are expecting some special guests in the VIP tonight."

My eyes lit up, special guests meant more customers and more customers meant tips."Who are they?" I enquired gleefully, "Musicians?, actors?, footballers?…"

"More than that." He cut in, "But you'll find out. Pablo made a list of drinks we'd need for the cocktail. Come and see if there's anything you'll need to add."

I gave Elletra a look that told her we'll continue our conversation later before following my brother out. But no sooner had we reached the mini bar than we heard a loud honk before the gate opened.

Different exotic cars streamed into the compound in their numbers, obviously the special guests were already arriving. The first thing I noticed was how incredulously black and expensive each of those cars looked.

God help me, I might get enough tips to pay for my mum's medication this week in just one night.

The cars were lined up next to each other in the parking lot, the passenger doors of each of the six cars opened almost simultaneously and six men dressed in black suits dropped from each.

I was still wondering why a man would dress in a black suit for a night out with friends when all six of the men rounded the car to the passenger door and opened them. I was passing my eyes from car to car to take in every detail of our special guests without even realizing that my mouth was hanging open.

"The mafia." I muttered as I saw them roll out of the car.

Anyone could tell just who these men were just by seeing their entrance, with the way some of them carried fancy walking sticks, others with big cigars and one particular one with dark sunglasses.

Who uses sunglasses in the evening? Pfft

One particular one stood tall among them, it was not like he was the tallest or the biggest, but his aura was just different. He was the one in shades, his sharply polished shoe shone in the light and his black shirt had three top buttons undone, revealing a smoothly muscled chest.

He was the only one without a jacket among them, I noticed, and unlike the others, he took a minute longer to observe the bar. I also noticed that his right hand was safely tucked to the side of his belt, like he was concealing something there.

A gun, perhaps?

"Bring the best scotch we have here." Renzo whispered before disappearing into the mini bar.

It took an effort for me to drag my eyes away from that mafia, and I was thankful that he had not seen me gawking at him. Dragging my feet, I ran back to the bar to carry out Renzo's order.

"Well, what's going on out there?" Elletra asked as soon as I came in.

I took a deep breath, "Apparently, the company we were expecting turns out to be the mafia!"

"What? Did Renzo know?"

"With the excitement I saw on his face, I think the idiot is moving on already."

Elletra sighed, "What can I say? We all need the money."

I scoffed, "Dirty money."

By the time I reached the VIP, the men had already lined up on their seats. I had let my hair down so they'd see as little of my face as possible. From a vantage point, I counted twelve of them before I even reached there. Renzo had already arranged their glasses, so I just kept my face down as much as I could.

"Where are the ladies?" One of them asked.

Renzo was beside me in a jiffy, "You want them right now?" He asked the man.

"What's a good party without the ladies?" A husky voice answered.

I looked up immediately I heard that voice, and that was a mistake because my eyes locked with the owner of the voice immediately.

Bloody hell! Talk about bad luck!

"Sure," Renzo answered with an obedient grin, "Sending them in now." He said before disappearing into the bar, leaving me there to face them.

Russel Mancini! Well, who else if not the man whore himself? So it was true after all, he was a mafia and a man whore.

This was a bad idea, I thought miserably as I saw the note of recognition suddenly registering on his face. As it did, a proud smirk crossed his features and he leaned back on his seat, took a long drag from his cigar and puffed out the smoke.

"The blonde." His voice was rough and low and he was nodding towards me while talking to the handsome man sitting beside him.

"What?" The man asked as his eyes traced from me to Russel and back, "You know her?"

"That was the blonde I told you about, the one from the interview earlier." Russel told his friend.

"Oh."

His friend's mouth was still hanging open as he looked me up and down until I cleared my throat and turned to leave.

"Come back." Russel called and I rolled my eyes before turning to him with a polite smile. "We'll be needing more bottles of your best scotch, angel."

"S–ure. I'll get them." I mumbled before turning on my heels.

Why was I even stammering? And why was he staring at me like I was his prized possession? Angel? He was calling me that again.

God help me! I had sworn we'd never meet again! This was risky business, but I know my brother was looking forward to the money he would be getting, so to him, the risk was worth it. Just if I had known earlier!

By the time I returned with five more bottles of scotch, I was disgusted to find a group of female strippers strolling into the VIP. The minute the men saw them, their faces lit up and they cheered and stretched out their hands for the girls to take.

I paused by the door and stared at Russel in particular, but almost at the same time, his eyes met mine and he winked. I quickly doubled my steps and brought the drink to their table. I placed the drink there but I did not go immediately.

Instead, I stood by the door on the pretext of waiting to see if they'd need anything else and stole glances at the devil.

Just then, a girl came around and started giving Russel a lap dance. She was rocking him and he was smooching her in all the wrong places, her boobs, her butt, all while blowing smoke from the cigar into her face.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin, but it was just Renzo, "You can leave now, Les." He told me, "I don't want you to be here too late. I can handle the rest."

I gave him a nod, but my eyes were still straying towards the VIP, "I have no plans of staying. I just want to make sure you don't mess up my register."

"I'm not that untidy."

"Not when you are dealing with deadly mafia men like these ones. You could get drunk with them."

"I won't."

"You'd better not. Because, Renzo, you know we have to be wary of the mafia. We are still on their wanted list." I told him with genuine concern.

He patted me lightly on the shoulder, "Yea, but something tells me the ones chasing us are chicken bones compared to these guys here. They can protect us." I scoffed, but he pointed towards the VIP, "Look at that one there, the one with the black shirt, he's the Capo of the Cosa Monsoni. He controls the four most powerful Outfits in the world. Now imagine what it would feel like to be under his protection?"

He had pointed at Russel and my heart was skipping several beats already. The question in my head was, imagine what it would feel like to be his enemy? dead.

"They are dangerous." Was all I could say, "Don't get involved with them, Renzo. We don't need that kind of trouble, not with mum's weak heart."

Before he could answer, the attention bell in the VIP rang and Renzo mumbled, "I can take care of myself. You get out of here."

I stood there longer and continued watching, two more guys had arrived and were now taking their seats. My eye scanned the rest of the room, only to find a girl giving one of the guys a blowjob while he was squeezing and slapping her boobs.

I blushed deeply, but at the same time, my eyes met Russel's and he smirked, my blush deepened at the realization that he had caught me blushing. The stupid bitch that was giving him a lap dance earlier was now straddling him, she had her breast out in the open and she was bitchily squeezing them in Russel's face.

What a manwhore!

With a snort, I stalked out of there. I had never watched porn in my life but it looked like these guys were here to act one right in front of me. I went back to the bar but Elletra was gone, so I decided to close the register and leave too.

I picked my things from the staffroom and left a small note there to tell Renzo that I had left. After shutting the door securely, I made my way into the dimly lit hall leading towards the back door, away from those disgusting mafia.

But just as I rounded the corner, I walked straight into a rock hard wall, when did a wall grow there? Except it wasn't a wall, it was a man, Russel.

"Excuse me, but you are not supposed to be here!" I stated in visible annoyance.

He ignored my tone, "Leaving already?

He was leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other and his hand clamped in his trouser pocket like he owned the place. My eyes traveled up until they met his eyes, oceanic green, glowing even in the dark. His look pierced my soul and I swallowed hard.

"Get out of my way, Sir."

He maintained his position, "Looks like we are boring you." He said again.

I took a deep sigh, "My shift has ended." I said under my breath.

His lips curled in a smile, "I think we have met before, don't you agree? 'We'll never meet again, chances are very unlikely, you'll be disappointed.' Eh?" He was mimicking me and that again made me blush, "Turns out miracles do happen, after all. I didn't even have to try."

I did not know if I should run or scream, I had hoped to God that he would forget anything about meeting me earlier, but it looked like our conversation was still evergreen in his head. Surely he should have enough whores to fuck to keep him busy enough to forget me?

"Excuse me." I made to pass but he blocked my way again.

"Tell me, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this? I knew I would find you but I certainly didn't think it would be in a bar."

I felt insulted, "A girl like me?"

"Inexperienced and shy."

"It's called honest work." I gritted angrily, "But that's not your forte so you wouldn't know."

I could not see his face but I could tell he was not smiling, "You are right. Here," he brought out a bundle of dollar notes, took my hand and placed the money in it, "I tip all my workers and whoever serves me well, that's yours."

My eyes rounded in their sockets, "What? I– I don't need your money." Who was I kidding?

"The offer I made to you earlier is still on, Allesia. And there's more where that came from."

He was walking away before I even had the chance to shove the money back into his hand, "Why?!" I yelled after him, "Why are you offering so much to sleep with me?"

He stopped walking, but he didn't turn around, "Because blondes do not interest me, angel. But you do, and I must know why."