I was starting to be glad we’d come here. Troy had been the one who’d convinced us to hit up a fancy joint instead of one of our usual haunts. With any luck, I’d be causing chaos in places like this more and more often.
“How you doing, my man?” Troy asked, tossing an arm around me. His suit jacket was tucked neatly around the elegant back of his chair, but his cotton shirt was drenched with sweat. Truth was, I’d taken a few good hits, but feeling that damp cloth chilling my neck might have been the worst of all.
“I’m great,” I said, shrugging him off. “I’m feeling fucking lovely.”
“Yeah? Then why ain’t you drinking? Come on, Louie is putting in twice as much as you are.”
“That’s cause Louie is higher than a damn hot air balloon,” I said.
The guy had nearly collapsed out of his seat in laughter, his redneck face even redder without air. Silvio snickered next to him.
I shook my head. Fucking potheads, that’s all these two were, but Silvio was my boy and I was glad to have him and his friend here lightening the mood.
“Alright, alright,” I growled to Troy, picking up my wine glass. “Salut.”
The wine puckered up my tongue as it washed down. Why the hell had this bottle cost a hundred bucks? Give me Guinness over this any day. The fancy wine waiter had nearly popped his eyeballs when I asked for a pint though.
Right then, I spotted another tall glass of dark goodness heading my way. Our waitress picked her way past tables towards us with three servers in tow weighed down by our orders. Her eyes met mine for an instant, and I saw the rich amber of them. Somehow they came to rest not quite on me but above me, attentive but distant. Maybe it was a fancy restaurant thing, or maybe she just used to ignoring rich geezers eye banging her.
She probably got plenty of it, with her soft little heart-shaped face, her slick dark hair tied up behind her and that rich immaculate skin that glowed like darkened honey in the room light. I didn’t much go for dark meat, but the sight of her had had me watering since I’d walked in. It gave all my unused adrenaline a point of focus.
“Alright, gentlemen,” she said, beaming a Cheshire smile at each of us. “We’ve got two spaghettis with Bolognese.”
“Right here,” Silvio said, jabbing his finger at himself and Louie.
“Excellent. A lasagna.”
“Yeah,” Rudy said, grabbing the plate from the Mexican server himself. The way our waitress went bug-eyed, I figured the thing must be scorching, but Rudy’s gruff look didn’t change any. He started shoveling food into his gullet.
“Ok, a veal primavera.”
Troy snapped his fingers at her. “That’s me, sweetheart.”
“And finally, two porterhouses.”
I waited in anticipation. Not for the food, but for the girl’s eyes to flicker to mine once again. As they did, I flashed my eyebrows.
The girl’s breathing stopped a moment before she forced it back. It was quick, but I knew a feint when I saw one. She had noticed me. Of all the effects my actions had had that night, this one I relished the most.
“Well,” she said. “I hope you enjoy guys. If you need anything else-“
“This is so fucking good,” Silvio moaned with sauce covered lips. “Just get me two more of these.”
“I, uh-.” She glanced at me for instructions before she caught herself. “Really? Two more?” she asked Silvio.
“Just get him another,” I said.
“Sure, sure. Anything else, you let me know.”
“I need something,” I said.
“Yes, sir?”
That threw me off. No one had ever called me sir. Well, outside of court, at least.
“Never mind,” I said. “For now, just stop calling me sir.”
“No problem.”
She turned and started away. I started slicing the steaming meat on wood pallets before me, but then her voice hit me again.
“What should I call you then?” she asked.
The corner of her mouth crept up. The game was on.
“Sean,” I said. “That’s what I want to hear out of your mouth.”
“Alright
Sean
. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
“Tell me what I call you.”
“It’s Gabrielle.” She pointed at her name tag, looking confused.
“No way you go by all that,” I said. “What do your friends call you?”
She swayed in place a moment, looking childish. “Gabi,” she said, then turned and headed off through the tables.
I sat entranced by the sight of her firm rear bouncing away behind that dark curtain of a skirt. The steaks lay completely forgotten.
“You gonna hit that?” Troy asked.
“Oh, I want to do all sorts of things to her,” I said.
“One girl?” Louie asked. “Come on, you gotta get up in at least two, three tonight. Get all that energy out of your system.”
Spaghetti hung out of his mouth like Lady and the Tramp. I doubted that guy knew what a workout felt like outside of gym class at school.
“I’ll get whoever I want,” I said. “Whether that’s one girl or five hundred.”
“Let the champ get what he wants,” Troy announced, swatting my back again. All that answered him was the snuffling of people inhaling food.
I tucked into my first steak. The meat oozed with such flavor, I almost forgot the girl, lost in heaven. A couple bites in, though, and the protein set off another hunger in me.
Our usual victory lap had me in a bar or club by this hour. I never lacked for attention, but still, there was nothing like a fight night. My sweat must ooze pheromones, or maybe it was the bruises that showed what I took and still stayed standing, but all the little kitties came to clump on me. I could pick the ones I wanted to keep for the night.
Today had been the biggest win yet, but my hunger had never been so focused. Maybe I was just trading in quantity for a higher quality of woman. Gabi must be a cut above the rest to be working in a place like this.
“So Sean,” Troy leaned in. “We should talk about the money. I know it’s triple anything we’ve seen before, but I think it’s still best…”
“Yeah, man, you invest it and all that,” I said. “I know you got me.”
“Most definitely. Thanks for the trust, brother.”
Troy clasped my hand on the table and sank back into his food. We’d grown up together down in Taylor. Silvio, too. That pothead I wouldn’t trust with a dime, but Troy had always been the responsible one. He had managed me since I’d started winning the Detroit circuits and I doubted I’d have booked half these fights without him. I know I wouldn’t be anywhere near as rich. The big prize money in this game came only once you got to the UFC officially sanctioned fights. Luckily, Troy got us paid well beyond the purse by booking odds on me.
His management allowed me to focus on what I did best, which was getting guys to stop moving for ten seconds in the cage. It let me enjoy what I earned without worry.
On nights like this, it let me focus on the hunt.
I spotted the dark bob of Gabi’s hair bouncing as she hurried up to another table. I wasn’t an idiot. She could just be after tips with her friendliness. But I could tell there was a piece of her that wanted something more. A part that responded to the sight of me in naked lust of her.
“Where we headed to party after this?” Rudy asked me. The others glanced from him to me. He was an up and comer in the MMA circles that I hung with now and then. The guy was clueless reading others outside of the ring, though.
“You guys take Troy’s car and head where you want,” I said. “Drinks on me. But I’m fine right here.”
Far away, Gabi’s other table started to rise and put on their coats. The place was emptying out, but the night was still young.
Soon she’d have no one to face but me.
CHAPTER THREE
Gabrielle
“They tipped you fifty percent?”
Alice gawked at the receipt in my hand.
I had checked the number myself, wondering if that nine had really been a four, but nope. There it was. I handed the slip to Alice with my fingers trembling. Deciding to take on those guys had been a calculated risk, but I’d never expected it to pay off like this.
I glanced back to see the men still chugging glasses of wine. They’d ordered another couple bottles before getting the bill. It didn’t seem like they were in any rush to leave, though I wondered if that was a group choice or if it all came down to the guy at their center.
Sean.
His emerald eyes seemed to glimmer as bright as any of the overhead lighting. They glanced my way, and I snapped my head down.
He’d been the one arranging the tip, I was sure of it. He’d tried to pay in cash before the guy who’d come here in a suit tossed in a card. What money had I just been paid in? Drug money? Blood money?
I shivered thinking about where the cuts and bruises on that man’s face might have come from. He looked so clean cut without those - why would a guy who looked that good waste it on a life of crime?
Wait…they were out celebrating right? I considered the chiseled body again and the answer came to me in a flash.
This guy must be some sort of athlete. I’d heard Detroit was a hotbed for underground fighting. Some of the guys back in high school had liked to sneak in and make bets. The idea of paying to see a man get hurt sounded so brutal though, even as a guy thing to do.
I snuck a glance back at Sean. He sat erect and with that silent smile just pulling up his lips as he surveyed his entourage. All the muscles on him made sense now, and I could see a purpose in each of them. Each was an essential part of the chemical reaction that had let him explode at his opponent tonight. Watching men fight seemed bad, but the idea of a guy putting himself in the ring and coming out still smiling…
Sean didn’t seem all that terrifying anymore. I was more scared by the flash of heat that accompanied that realization.
Their table set off in another glass-clattering earthquake of a laugh.
“Christ,” Alice said. “Now I know why they paid extra. They’re planning to trash the place.”
“No,” I said, more as a hope than a word of comfort. There were only a couple tables left occupied and they were far away. What few inhibitions these guys might have had were out the window, and they still had wine in their glasses.
“You need to get Terry to deal with this,” Alice said,“or he’ll have you eating the damages.”
“I’ve got this.”
I could get them out. I’d asked for them, I’d deal with them.
A little part of me was thinking that there was just one person that I needed to get away from me. Something about Sean was volatile, unsteady. I was at risk every moment he was here.
At risk of what? I didn’t dare explore that feeling.
I hustled back through the tables and squared off at theirs, directly facing Sean.
“Hey guys,” I said. “I just wanted to let you know that we’ll be closing up soon.”
“Aw, man,” said one of the smaller guys, as he reached for a wine glass. “Yo, it’s barely eleven. What time’s closing?”
I started to speak, but Sean’s voice boomed over mine.
“They’re not closing,” he said. “She’s trying to get rid of us.”
I’d been staring so deep into his eyes that I startled when he winked.
“No, no,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you have enough time to finish your drinks.”
Sean grabbed the wine glass by the bowl and downed it in a gulp.
“Thanks for the sweet thought,” he said. “The boys and I owe you.”
His guys started gulping down the wine, but his teasing smile never left my face, only now his lips were just parted. I studied them without anything to say. This was what I wanted right? Him looking at me like this.
“You don’t need to rush,” I said. “You still have some time.”
“It’s better spent doing other things.”
I shivered at the words. Sean ticked his head at the door and all of them got up. They jabbered to each other as they filed past. Sean came up last. He leaned in to me, still half a head above.
“If it’s closing time, you must be almost done here,” he said.
His scent washed down on me: sweet with wine, minty with some sort of aftershave. I could barely think.
“Yeah,” I said, letting the implications mingle with everything else in the air.
“Glad to hear it.” He nudged in closer, then suddenly pulled back. “I’ll be seeing ya.”
He strode past me, his bare arm brushing past my sleeved one. I stood where I was, too dizzy to even turn and see him walk out.
What on Earth had just happened?
One second, he was bent a breath away from me and the next he’s out the door. I checked the places on the table, but there was no note, no number. The servers came back to bus the trays to the kitchen, and I dumbly watched them carry the remnants of the visit out.
The other guests left on their own not long after. The staff had no meetings that night, so all there was to do was sort out tips.
Jada’s eyes popped out at my total. “What in the heck did you do tonight?”