The Carrero Contract - Selling Your Soul (Mafia Romance)

Chapter 24

I still feel shaken, even hours after coming down here and welcoming the first flow of Alexi’s clientele and I cannot shift the feeling of foreboding and anxiety gnawing at my bones. He has yet to appear, he never followed me out of the apartment when I fled, and he hasn’t summoned me back upstairs either. I would be happy if he stayed upstairs for the rest of the night and sobered up, but I know he needs to be down here for his club’s very first night.

I don’t like the side to him I met, and I have no desire to see it again so soon. The confidence in the opinion I formed of him over these last weeks has been shattered, and I am back to feeling like I don’t know him at all. That sinister man from my hospital room and how in awe I was. I should have realised then that he had more layers than an onion and I have barely taken the top one off.

Alexi aside, everything is going smoothly. We have drunk men molesting half dressed women as they all sit and smoke, getting high in the lounge. The strip act has turned lesbian show on our new stage and drinks are fast flowing as they are served to both the lounge and the bedrooms where some have already taken their spoils. Alexi has two important suits in the VIP lounge upstairs and our trio of experienced Dom ladies are up there giving them a private party. Everything is ticking along like a well- oiled machine, even if I am a complete nervous wreck.

I am the hostess with the mostest. Smiles with charm and tending to everyone’s needs, making sure security are watching every room discreetly, keeping an eye on all that is going on while appearing to be sipping champagne and schmoozing enjoyably. I have double checked that all weapons were checked at the door and put under lock and key. Alexi has this club set up for maximum control, thought of every detail, and yet he’s nowhere to be seen on his first night. I can’t stop watching the door in angsty anticipation, dreading the moment he does appear.

I expected him down hours ago. He is too anal about being in charge to not show at all, so I am under no illusion that he will stay away.

I wander around checking drinks, checking the supply of precious white powder and that other preferred narcotics are being dished out in low doses. We want fun not death, and we have the men keeping limits on all they hand out. We must take care of our members when they become too intoxicated for their own good. They come to kick back and relax and it’s our job to make sure it stays that way.

One of the men nods my way and I take it as a gesture to go over, moving across to where he’s stood, and he nods towards one of the boudoir doors that is sitting open. I frown, pissed that we gave every member a personal key card for these rooms and told them to keep them closed when in use. Our security has access that overrides all locks should we need to rescue one of our escorts and yet here we are with one sitting open while in use during busy time. Anyone could wander in and start unnecessary drama or embarrassment.

Some of these men prefer their kinks to be hidden—discreet is the whole point of the boudoirs. I walk over and push my head in before closing it, in case there is a reason it’s sitting that way and get a complete eyeful of a naked old man pleasuring himself in the middle of the room, while Candy our school girl fetish jumps on the bed singing nursery rhymes to him. It’s more than enough for me and I yank the door shut so it latches with a loud click over the top of the loud house music. I could see the pleasure he got from being seen and I guess he is a bit of an exhibitionist who likes to be watched while getting off. He hoped someone would walk in and check the door, it was just my luck it was me. I may have to bleach my brain later to remove that ugly eyeful.

‘‘Make sure his door is always closed. Don’t bother checking inside first, just pull it shut and he will soon get the hint.’’ I tell my burly man and figure I should learn the new security by name if I am going to be dealing with this kind of weird shit. Our members have no idea the rooms are filmed for safety, and I am not about to tell our kink prick in there he can be watched with his door closed.

I leave him to watch the doors in the narrow hallway and move to head out to the quiet part of the bar on the far end, nearer the main entrance where it’s quieter. There’s no one over here as the lounge

seems to be the favourite spot so far, and we still have guests to arrive tonight.

‘‘London?’’ Alexi’s voice startles me from behind and I turn in fright, losing my calm demeanour in a flash and I try to reel it back in without being too obvious. Blood pressure immediately back up to dangerous levels and loss of all calm.

‘‘Carrero?’’ I reply warily, avoiding looking him directly in the eye. Heart resumes previous unearthly pounding as my body runs cold and hits high alert. I feel awkward around him, like the first night I ever met him. Out of my depth and unsure how to act.

‘’Can we talk … Upstairs?’’ He seems normal once more, maybe a little too normal for my liking.

It’s almost like he’s trying to be reasonable and show me he has sobered up completely, but I am more than wary of him right now. Even if he has come down from his artificial high, I saw that other side and now I can’t undo it. ‘‘I can’t leave your first night unsupervised. It’d be very irresponsible of me, Boss.’’ I smile softly hoping I sound genuine, look relaxed and unaffected, when really, my sweaty palms and trembling body tell me that is not entirely true. Truth being I don’t want to be alone with him.

He sighs heavily and clicks his fingers at the bartender, motioning two at him and points at the wall of expensive whiskies we had imported for his members. He serves only the best in here and his drink of choice is anything that puts hairs on your chest with one sip. I don’t refuse the drink choice, knowing better than to find fault with a command right now.

The tender goes straight to it as Alexi motions for me to sit on one of the high leather stools instead of leaving here and I sit obediently. Relieved he has compromised for a ringside seat and I can at least relax that he would not publicly flog me. There is enough security around here to deter any Alexi psycho moments. I hope.

‘‘I want to apologise for what happened. I normally avoid sampling my own shit on top of drinking all day, but Gino has a way of getting inside my head.’’ He sits next to me and rests his arms on the bar

and I just sit stiffly, regarding him quietly. Not sure if this is another charm offensive to smooth over, seeing glimpses of the real him, or a genuine apology. I know I don’t know him. In fact, I have not even nearly begun to graze the surface of this man in the last few months.

‘’He’s your brother; I believe that’s what siblings excel at. I’m sure being twins must be worse.’’ I jest with an empty smile plastered in place and a smooth tone to mask how uneasy I feel. The bubbling tension tying my stomach in knots is unsettling. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

‘‘I didn’t mean to scare you. Gino didn’t mean half the shit he said either, so disregard it. It’s about getting back at me and nothing to do with you. He’s still sore about me hitting him when we were teens and when he’s on something he turns into a shithead, a bit like I do.’’ He gives me a one-shoulder shrug and dips his head as he works out a knot in his other. Avoiding my eye for a second and I think I am seeing the very first hints of genuine emotion from the man. A sincere apology and a touch of remorse for Gino.

‘‘So he said … Did you really put your twin in intensive care? How mad must you have been to almost kill your own brother?’’ The shiver which runs down my spine makes me visibly flinch, and he sits back when the bartender slides our drinks to us and walks away. The club staff know not to hang around the people who come here, to listen in. That shit will get you bumped off.

I focus on my glass and not on him.

‘‘I hit him once. I didn’t beat him or even try to seriously hurt him. I was just pissed and lashed out … I just caught him the wrong way and it almost killed him. He had a bleed on the brain and he will never let me forget it either. For some crazy reason he tries to make me snap like that again whenever he’s on a high.’’ Alexi looks odd, sort of guilty I guess although it’s hard to judge a facial expression that I am not used to seeing on him. I can tell underneath all that shit earlier he really does care about his brother even if the two of them are fucked up in the head with how they are together.

Who knew the beast actually has a heart?

‘‘Your brother's got mental issues.’’ I mean why else would you poke the bear that is Alexi, that takes all kinds of stupid and a lack of caring about your health. I’m sitting here sweating buckets over his change in persona and Gino is over there intentionally aiming for one. Guy's crazy.

‘‘I think it runs in my family.’’ He nudges me with his shoulder and it’s a weirdly friendly manoeuvre, not him at all and catches me a little off guard. A moment of that guy who sporadically shows his face and for a second seems a million miles away from the guy I know.