Illicit Temptations (Tempted Series Book 1) (9 page)

“I said I’m sorry for being a dick,” I held her gaze, trying to figure out what was running through her head but Nikki had a pretty good poker face.

“I wasn’t all that serious about that,” she said taking a few steps towards me. “I just figured you had a lot of shit going on.”

“You give me too much credit,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure, I have some shit going on but don’t kid yourself I’m a dick,” she laughed at me forcing me to smirk.

“I won’t take offense then,” she said with her lips still curving into a smile. The wind was stronger by the water and her hair was blowing all around her face. I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s been a long time Nikki…”

“Yeah, I guess it has,” she replied, not missing a beat.

“You’re all grown up,” my fingers lingered behind her ear as I stared at her. “I hardly know the girl in front of me,” I cocked my head to the side trying to choose my words. “Or maybe I knew the girl the woman standing before me once was. I’d like to know who are now, though.”

“Everyone says I’m a pain in the ass,” she said. Her words were accompanied by a little nervous laugh.

“Probably,” I smiled. “Still, I’d like to come to that conclusion on my own. You okay with that?” I dropped my hand from her ear shoving it back into my pocket as I waited for her to reply.

“Sure,” she whispered. I smiled at her before throwing my arm around her shoulders and bringing her against my side.

“Good, but can we start tomorrow? Because I’m freezing my balls off and I’m pretty sure your lips are turning purple,” she laughed, and I decided I really liked the sound of her laugh.

“Okay, Mikey,” she said pressing herself against my side. I know she was only doing it to seek warmth, but I let myself enjoy the feel of her anyway. We walked briskly back to her car and cranked the heat once we were inside. The ride back to Anthony’s apartment was a quick one not allowing much conversation. She pulled up in front of Anthony’s apartment and left the car running. I guess she wasn’t coming in.

“Thanks for getting me out of there tonight,” I said as I unclasped the seat belt.

“Anytime,” she twisted her body in her seat so that she was facing me. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?” I asked as I lifted my hips and pulled my phone from my pants pocket. I handed it over to her. Nikki rolled her eyes, her fingers maneuvered my phone quickly before she handed it back sporting a pretty smug smile. I glanced down at the screen. She had stored her number in my phone.

“Call me when you’re ready to get to know me,” she said.

I leaned over the center console and pressed my lips quickly to her cheek.

“I will,” I murmured against her cheek. I regretfully pulled away, allowing myself one more glance of her before getting out of the car and walking into Anthony’s apartment. I heard her car peel away from the curb as I closed the door.

I turned around and flicked the lights on. Anthony was sitting on the edge of the couch staring at the gun that was on the coffee table. I didn’t think he realized I was standing there. He didn’t look at me or try to hide his gun. He remained perfectly still as if he was in another world. I wasn’t sure how to approach him or if I even should, I was afraid that if I startled him, he’d shoot my ass.

“Nikki drop you off?” He asked. I sighed a breath of relief maybe I wasn’t meeting my maker after all. At least not tonight.

“Yeah,” I said. He leaned over taking the gun in his hand. He did something to it something like they do in the movies. I wasn’t sure if he was putting the safety on or off. Fuck. I should’ve read a handbook or at least watched The Godfather before coming back here. He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans before he shrugged on his leather jacket. He lifted his eyes to mine. He was a scary motherfucker.

“Be sure you want to work for Victor,” he said his voice cold. “Because once you do there is no getting out of it. You will be at his mercy. You’ll be feared. You’ll be detested. You’ll be all alone. Forget about the people you love because they’ll never look at you the same. You won’t be respected and the life that maybe you thought you wanted will be your biggest nightmare.”

I didn’t say a word. What does someone say to that? He brushed passed me and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him. I fell onto the couch allowing Anthony’s words to sink in. I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know where he went from eagerly working for Victor to hating that he did. His words made me wonder what exactly he had done for him and what had caused him ultimately to resent the man he worked for. The same man I had agreed to work for. The thing was I didn’t have to worry about the people I loved looking at me any kind of way. They were all dead. I’d probably be best suited for this job. Time would tell.

So much for sleeping in and tripping up Victor’s plan to show me around Temptations. He and Jimmy were at Anthony’s house at eleven o’clock in the morning to pick me up and drive me to my new stomping grounds. The bastards didn’t even make a pit stop for coffee. I quickly learned these guys were all about business and making a buck.

Victor spared no expense when it came to Temptations. The contractors were still working on the final touches on a few things, but overall it was beautiful. Everything was modern and top of the line from the fixtures down to the stemware behind the bar. The bathrooms looked like something you’d see in an upscale hotel with their marble floors and granite counter tops. The lighting system alone had cost him fifty grand. God only knows what this whole venture had cost him if he had spent fifty thousand dollars on light bulbs. All right, so maybe they weren’t simply light bulbs, but shit, I bet a disco ball would’ve been cheaper and just as efficient.

When we arrived the guy who was temporarily in charge started firing off some issues at Victor. The couches for the lounge were on back order and Rico still hadn’t made it his business to test out the sound system. Opening night was in a few weeks, which really didn’t leave much time for back orders, and jerk offs who didn’t do their job.

“Call the manufacturer back. Tell him I’m very disappointed and was hoping I wouldn’t have to pay him a visit,” Victor said. I studied him carefully watching as his fist clenched at his side and his jaw ticked. “I’ll deal with Rico personally.”

I don’t know why Victor hadn’t thrown Rico a beating yet. The guy was bad news. Even I could see that and I hadn’t been in his company all that much. There was something about his cocky, arrogant demeanor that rubbed me the wrong way. I pushed aside the fact that he was Nikki’s boyfriend and that he was all wrong for her.

Victor turned to me motioning for me to walk along with him as he walked through the club. “That’s Sal. He’s been running things for me here while I searched for a manager,” he smiled slightly. “Now that I’ve hired one he will resume his normal job, and you will take over.”

“What does he normally do?”

“Let’s just say he unloads cargo,” Victor said casually. He turned a corner and opened a door, stepping
aside to allow me to enter first. I stopped dead in my tracks taking in the expanse of the oversized room. A large desk stood in front of a glass wall that overlooked the club. On the opposite wall there were four flat screen televisions divided into four equal security screens monitoring every inch of the club. There was a large white leather sectional couch and across from that was an impressive bar similar to the main bar in the club.

“This is your office,” Victor said shocking me out of my thoughts. I turned around to stare at him. Was he out of his mind?

“This is
my
office?” I asked.

“If there is anything else you think it needs just let me know before the contractors finish. Of course, the
bar will be stocked by opening night. There
is going to be an intercom that is connected to security, the sound booth, and all of the bars. There is a safe built into the floor underneath the desk.”

A safe? Jesus. I was still marveling over the glass wall. How hadn’t I noticed that when we were in the main room?

It was as if Victor had read my mind because he walked over to the glass and knocked on it with his knuckles.

“It’s black on the other side so no one can see in,” he said helpfully. He cocked his head to the side and studied me for a moment. “You look confused.”

That was an understatement. I didn’t know the first thing about running a nightclub and if I was being perfectly honest up until five minutes ago, I took this whole thing as a joke. Clearly, that was not the case. Victor had high expectations of me. I better fucking deliver or fuck knows what he’d do to my sorry ass. I had to pull my shit together and put my game face on. I cleared my throat stepped towards the desk and sat down on one of the chairs positioned in front of it.

“What’s the deal with the safe?” I asked curiously.

“You’re going to be responsible for cashing out the club at the end of the night. That’s a lot of money son. Throughout the course of the night, you are going to collect money from the registers at the bars. I don’t want too much money sitting in those drawers. I have many enemies Michael any one of them would not think twice about hurting one of the bartenders and robbing me. That being the most likely scenario I won’t tell you the worst case scenario. The way I see it this can go a few different ways. I’m not going to have you walking around carrying that kind of money by yourself. So either you have a guard with you one of my guys or you carry a piece.”

A piece? “You mean a gun?” I said, leaning back in the chair trying to figure out how I felt about that. I watched as he unbuttoned his suit jacket, pulling out the chair behind the desk to sit down. He crossed his leg over his knee and leaned back. I had never seen a more confident, relaxed, or controlled man in my life.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I meant what I said I want to give you a legit job I don’t want to corrupt you and have you work the streets. Your mother would be rolling over in her grave and I’m not so sure that your father wouldn’t either. However, you are working for me and I will not take any chances. You are connected to me Michael whether you like it or not my enemies will become your enemies. I will not have you become a casualty when I say I want you to carry a gun it is for your protection. I’m not suggesting it and giving you a list of people to use it on. I’m suggesting it so that if a situation arises, you’re not standing there with your dick in your hands helpless. You get what I’m saying?”

“Victor I’m not my father,” I felt at that moment it was time I made that clear. I think Vic saw me as a chance at reclaiming what he once had with my dad. Maybe he thought I’d be just like my old man, but the truth was having all this dumped on me, I wasn’t so sure I had the chops to be anything like my dad.

“I know that. I’m not expecting you to be your father,” he shook his head. “I don’t want you to be your father and by that I mean I don’t want you dead either. It is your decision, but know that I would never ask you to use that gun unless you were in danger than I’d ask you to do whatever the fuck you had to do to protect yourself.”

“I don’t know how to use a gun,” I admitted. I tried to picture myself with a gun. Anthony had no emotion when he held it last night in his hands. He wasn’t afraid it would go off in his hand like I was or that I’d aim it at someone only to discover it wasn’t loaded
. Wouldn’t that suck? So much for protecting yourself. By the
time, I would have figured out that I forgot to load the fucking thing my brains would be splattered on the floor. Yeah, I don’t know how I feel about carrying a gun. Maybe I should start out small like a BB gun. I swiped my hand along my forehead. Jesus Christ, I was breaking out into a sweat.

“I’ll have Anthony take you to the shooting range get you licensed to carry and everything. I said I want you to be legit, and I meant it,” he paused for a moment and I took the opportunity to study him. He looked torn almost as if he was wrestling with his conscience or something. “Michael, I want you to feel comfortable with what you will be doing. If you aren’t comfortable than I will hire a guard for you.”

Against my better judgement or the voices in my head, I replied quickly. “I can do it. I’ll carry the gun,” I wasn’t about to be dubbed a pussy who wouldn’t carry a gun and needed a babysitter. No, I was Michael Valente’s son how could I dishonor my father’s name like that. There was some sort of code or something that I felt I’d be betraying if I didn’t take Victor up on his offer. I felt as if I’d be embarrassing my old man. “Just get it registered and all that. I don’t see the problem if it’s a registered gun and I’m trained to use it. It’s for my own protection right?”

“One hundred percent,” Victor said affirmatively.

“Okay then,” that settled that. “Is there anything else?” I desperately wanted to get the fuck out of there.

“Are you familiar with the night club scene?” Victor asked curiously.

Back home I wasn’t really a club goer. There weren’t any clubs in our town anyhow, which meant if you wanted to go to one you would have a drive out of town to go to one. I was more a neighborhood bar type guy. Give me a beer and a pool table and I was happy.