Omerta (The DeLuca Family #1) (22 page)

Chapter 52

Mia

I walked into the kitchen the next morning showered, dressed and in search of coffee. I hadn’t expected anyone else to be awake yet so I was surprised to find Pauline leaning against the counter sipping a cup of coffee. She smiled at me when I entered the room like she had been waiting for me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked.

“Not really,” I said,
more like not at all.
The clock on the coffee pot read 6:30 am.

“Me either. Have a seat I’ll make you a cup,” she motioned for me to sit across from her at one of the barstools. I complied and waited for her to continue. I’d been around Pauline enough over the years to know when she was gearing up for one of her ‘talks’. “Sweetheart, you know we love you like you’re our own, right?” she asked as she poured some creamer into a mug.

“Of course,” I said, wondering where she was going with this.

“And you know we only want what’s best for you, yeah?”

“Yes?” I drew out the word like a question. She was starting to scare me.

“I’m fucking this up, aren’t I?” My mouth dropped open. I had never heard Pauline swear. She was the kind of woman that would say fiddle sticks before she dropped an f-bomb. Noticing my expression she laughed, “Oh please. You’re an adult now, you can handle my swearing.”

“I guess, it’s just weird is all.”

She laughed again, “You’ll understand when you have children. It took a long time after having Gina to kick my dirty mouth. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” She set the cup of coffee in front of me and continued, “I want to talk about that,” she said, pointing at the ring on my finger.

I looked down at my hand unable to keep the smile from my face, “What about it?”

“I just want to make sure you’re making your decision with a clear head. This is a big step and there are a lot more hurdles to jump when you love a man like Carlo.”

“What do you mean?” I asked confused.

“Well, what about this mess that we’re in the middle of right now? Honey, this isn’t going to be the last time someone tries to hurt you or Carlo and you need to think long and hard about that. Can you handle it if this happens again and again? Is your love going to be strong enough to endure it?”

I sighed and looked down into my coffee, “I know it might happen again, but I love him. I can handle the bad as long as I get the good, you know?”

She smiled widely at me, “That’s what I needed to hear,” she said patting my hand, “If you ever want to talk, I’m just a phone call away, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling lighter than I had before. I didn’t even know I wanted her approval but now that I had it, it felt right. Pauline wasn’t my mother but she was the closest thing I had ever had to one.

…

We arrived back at the house a little after four that afternoon. We’d gone shopping for an outfit for Frankie and to the salon to get her ready for her audition. When we entered the house the men were once again in the front room, this time with Mouse and Sal as well.

“Is everyone caught up to speed?” I asked, instantly slipping into ‘Boss-Lady mode’ as Frankie so affectionately called it.

“Yeah, we’re all ready to go when you guys are,” Antonio said with a nod. I had been unsure of him before but I was starting to warm to him.

“Okay, we’re going to get ready. We’ll leave here at six,” I responded with a nod, following Pauline and Frankie up the stairs.

…

“I can’t believe I let you guys talk me into wearing a slutty school girl costume. I think I just single handedly set feminism back twenty years,” Frankie said trying to tug the skirt down as she stood in front of the mirror. “How the fuck am I going to wear this outfit on the street without getting arrested for indecent exposure?”

“Relax, it’s a means to an end. It’s not the end of the world if you play up the patriarchal fantasy for one night,” I said, “Besides, you don’t go to the club in your costume. You change there. No one is going to see you. At least no one that will be alive in the morning.”

“Oh, okay, that makes a lot more sense,” she turned around to look at me, “How do I look?”

I took a minute to study her, “You look hot,” I said truthfully. Her fire engine red hair was done in full layers with the ends curled. She had put her foot down when Pauline tried to give her pigtails. Her makeup was heavy but not to the point where she looked like a hooker, maybe just a slutty club girl. The white cap sleeved button down tied just below her breasts. Underneath she had a white bikini top which peeked through the open buttons of the top. For someone as tiny as she was, she had a decent amount of cleavage to work with and filled out the top perfectly. The skirt was about the size of a belt, just barely covering everything in the front, but if she turned around you could see the bottom of her ass cheeks sticking out underneath the material. Knee socks and seven inch Maryjane’s completed the look and brought her five foot nothing frame nearly to eye level.

There was a knock at the door, walking over I opened it. “Hey, what’s up?” I asked in way of greeting.

“I came to tell you…” Angelo trailed off, his eyes locked onto where Frankie was standing behind me. “Oh, shit. Enzo’s going to, fuck, this is
not
good.”

“Well, he’s just going to have to suck it up,” I said, feigning confidence, “What did you come up here for?”

“Right, everyone is ready to go when you are,” he said, he tried to focus on me but his eyes kept wandering back over my shoulder to Frankie.

Fucking men.

“Okay, we’ll be down in five,” I said shutting the door in his face.

“Hurry up and change before Enzo comes up here,” I ordered as I turned around. “If he catches you looking like before we leave he’ll go ballistic so move your ass!”

Frankie nodded and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and t-shirt, packing her costume up in a duffle bag I handed to her.

I snuck a glance at myself in the mirror. I had opted for skinny jeans, knee high boots, and a long sleeve black thermal top. My gun was tucked into a holster at the back of my waistband, my thin top doing little to conceal it. I had knives tucked into right boot and another small pistol secured in my left. My hair was pulled away from my face in a high ponytail. I looked and felt like I was ready for battle.

“Are you nervous?” I asked as Frankie zipped the duffle and turned to me.

“Not about dancing. Maybe a little about taking my clothes off but, like you said, all the guys that see me are going to be dead before the end of the night so it doesn’t really matter, right?”

“Exactly. Once we’re in, you’ll go out the back and meet up with Mouse and the others.”

“Okay,” she nodded and we headed downstairs.

Chapter 53

Frankie

The car ride to the club was uncomfortable to say the least. Enzo kept glaring at me like I would catch fire if he just stared hard enough. I understood that he was protective and he didn’t want me in any danger but this caveman act was getting ridiculous. I tried to keep my mouth shut, I really did, but by the time we got off the highway and into the city I had had enough.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I hissed at him across the seat.

“Are you fucking serious, Frankie? What’s my problem? You cannot be that fucking naïve. You’re going into a fucking strip club operated by a fucking Russian mobster without backup to audition to be a motherfucking stripper!” he hissed back at me. “You’re going to take your clothes off for the man that just fucking killed Eddie!”

I reared back like I had just been slapped, “That was a low blow,” I seethed, “I’m doing this so you have a way to get in, kill that fucker, and save Carlo. Stop taking your shit out on me.”

“Franny, I—“

“Don’t you dare Franny me right now, don’t you fucking
dare,
” I said, my voice wobbling a little. He used to call me that when we were kids before I wised up and got people to start calling me Frankie, now he only used it when he was in trouble or trying to convince me to do something.

“Enough!” Mia shouted, turning around in the passenger seat to face us, “Enzo, we fucking get it okay. You don’t want her in there, but she is an adult and she made her choice. You need to stop acting like a little bitch and pull up your big boy pants. She’s doing this as planned, all of us are. So get your goddamn head in the game and focus on your fucking job!”

They glared at each other for a full minute before she turned back in her seat. Enzo didn’t as much as look at me for the rest of the ride.

…

Walking up to the front door of the club I handed the bouncer my brand new ID courtesy of Mouse. The license said my name was Emma Milligan, all the other info aside from my address and ID number was the same. The guy barely even glanced at the birthdate before handing it back to me.

“I’m here for an audition?” I said nervously, “I don’t have an appointment or anything but a friend of mine told me you guys were holding auditions for new dancers,” I rambled on.

God I’m bad at this.

He just waved his hand towards the door, “Go see Lana at the bar. She’ll tell you what to do.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said, trying to sound sweet, it did
not
work. He just grunted and went back to playing with his phone.

I pulled open the heavy door and walked inside. There was a hostess podium but it was empty so I wandered past it and around the heavy black curtain. The room was long and narrow and curved slightly to the left. There was a large stage set up directly in front when you walked in. I could see part of a second, smaller stage towards the back of the building and off to the left. There were large high-back booths set up all along one wall and tables set up on the main part of the floor. Looking to my right I saw a long bar, but nobody was behind it.

Walking towards the bar I called out, “Hello?”

“Just a second,” A female voice called back from somewhere off to my left. I turned to where the voice had come from in time to see a petite blonde woman emerge from the hallway. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. I heard you were holding auditions today for new dancers?”

She looked surprised, “Yeah we are. You’re early, I like that. Most of you don’t know how to use a fucking watch. No offense,” she said.

“None taken,” I responded.

“Anyway, I’ll show you to the back where you can get changed. Here,” she pulled a huge three ring binder from behind the bar and handed it to me, “these are the songs we have, pick one out. I’ll get it from you when I come back to get you for the audition.”

“Okay,” I said and followed her back down the hall she had come from. As we turned the corner to the dressing room I spotted the door that would lead to the alleyway.

Lana caught me looking, “If you need to go out for a smoke you can use that door, just remember to wedge something in it so it doesn’t close all the way. Otherwise you’re shit out of luck and you’re going to have to walk all the way around to the front.”

“Got it,” I said with a nod and followed her the rest of the way into the dressing room.

“You can put your shit in one of the empty lockers. If you make it through the audition I’ll get you a lock for it. We don’t have assigned stations, no matter what the other bitches tell you, so sit wherever and get ready. Just make sure you pack up all your shit before you leave the room otherwise someone will snatch it, yeah?”

I nodded again.

“Okay, I’ll let the boss know you’re here. Get changed and pick out your song, I’ll come to get you in ten,”

After I changed I opened the binder Lana had given me. The binder was divided into sections by genre so I flipped to the tab labeled ‘rock’ and started going through the pages looking for something I was used to working out to. I had just found my song when she walked in again.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I showed her the song and followed her back out to the main room. Lana walked over to the DJ booth and queued up my song choice before guiding me over to the main stage where four men were seated at the rack, waiting.

“They’re going to ask you a few questions then they’ll signal me to start your song,” she whispered into my ear.

“Sounds good,” I said and walked up the small staircase to the stage.

Grabbing the towel off the railing along my way, I stalked across the stage making my footfalls heavy and adding an extra swing to my hips. I grabbed the pole with the towel in my left hand, and turned so my back was to the men, with the pole directly in front of me, and my legs spread shoulder width apart. I made a show of wiping down the pole all the way to the floor, keeping my legs straight so they had a full-on view of my ass. When I was done, I threw the towel off to the side and turned around to face the men, hand on hip and attitude in full force.

Ivan sat on the far right, arms crossed in front of him. I didn’t recognize any of the others. The man in the middle spoke up, “What’s your name?”

“Emma,” I replied.

He nodded, “Stage name?”
Shit
, I hadn’t thought about that.

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “Mercedes.”

“We already have one of those, pick another.”

“Clementine.”
Where the fuck did that come from?

“Okay,” he said, nodding to Lana to play my song, “Show us what you’ve got.”

I turned around to face the pole as the beginning of Halestorm’s
I get off
started to play. I started out slow, holding onto the pole with one hand, leaning my body out and letting my hair fall to one side while my other hand untied my shirt. I took it off and tossed it to the side leaving me in my white bikini top. As the song started to pick up, I gained more speed and as soon as the chorus started I hopped up, hooking my leg around the pole never breaking the spin. I continued to climb as I spun around and around.

Using my upper body strength, I braced my arms and let go of the pole with my legs so my body was parallel to the stage for a few turns. Swinging my legs back in, I wrapped them around the pole above me so my head was pointed down and the front of my body was facing my audience. The momentum from my body weight threw me into an insanely fast spin. Releasing my hands I stretched out and arched my back. Untying my top, I flung it to the side of the stage.

For the next three minutes I danced my ass off, pulling off the most intricate moves I knew in an effort to secure what would be the shortest employment in history. I opted to only go topless for the dance, mostly because I had no idea how I was supposed to remove my skirt while I was dancing and didn’t want to look like an idiot. The song was coming to an end so I started climbing again. Once I was at the top I flipped upside down and let myself drop until my face was less than a foot from the stage right as the last words of the song rang out over the speakers. Placing my hands on the stage I released my legs one at a time bringing them back down so I was doing a bridge before I slowly stood up. Walking over to my clothes I calmly, but quickly secured my bikini top.

Once I was finished I walked back over in front of the men, “So?” I asked.

“You start tonight,” it was the same guy that had spoken before, “We open at nine so stick around and pick out your set list.”

“Sounds good,” I said and made a beeline for the dressing room.

I was pulling my small purse out of the locker when Lana walked in, “You did well out there, how long have you been dancing?”

“About three years,” I said honestly.

“Wow, that’s impressive. Here’s your lock, the combination is written in tape on the back. You’ll need to pick out eight songs for your shift tonight. You can get them to me or Puck it doesn’t matter which.”

“I’m sorry, Puck?” I asked.

“He’s the DJ, he’ll be here in an hour or so.”

“Oh, right. Okay, thanks.”

“No problem, why don’t you come sit at the bar and wait? It’s still early and none of the other girls have shown up to audition, you can pick out your songs up there.”

“Umm, sure okay. I’ll be right there.” I said. As soon as she walked out of the door I turned back to my purse, pulling out my phone and sending a text to Mia.

Me: All good, got hired on. You guys ready?

Mia: Perfect, ready when you are, how long?

Me: 5 min.

Mia: How many are in there?

Me: Four men and a female bartender, DJ will be here in an hour. No other girls are here to audition yet.

Mia: Got it, the boys will keep out any new girls. I’ll text you when we’re at the back door.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing bitch?” Lana’s voice screeched from behind me, I hadn’t heard her come back in. I turned quickly but she was standing right over my shoulder and caught me by the hair, forcing me to lose my balance on my heels and crash to the floor. “Who do you work for? I knew you were up to something you skank!” I tried to wretch free from her grip but her hold was too tight. She had moved behind me now, pulling me up by my hair she continued to scream at me, “I asked you a fucking question, who do you work for?” she asked throwing me face first into one of the vanity mirrors. I felt a pop when my face hit the mirror and blood started gushing from my nose. She had let go of my hair when she threw me so I was able to turn around and face her. My hand cupped my nose and when I pulled it away there was blood pooled in my palm.

“You fucking cunt,” I yelled, my voice nasally from the impact. I may be small but I was not a pussy. This bitch just barked up the wrong fucking tree. I lunged for her, catching her off guard and forcing her back into the lockers causing them to rattle. I prayed no one would be able to hear us over the music that was playing on the main floor. I punched her in the face with my free hand.

Fuck that hurt!

The bitch had a hard fucking head, I shook my hand out which gave her the opportunity to pounce. She knocked me to the floor and we rolled around struggling for the upper hand. She easily had six inches and thirty pounds on me but I was a scrapper who’d grown up with two boys nearly twice my size. I quickly maneuvered my body so I was on top of her and she was facing down.

I frantically searched for a weapon since hitting this bitch with my fists seemed to cause more damage to me than her. I spotted a bottle of Jack Daniels on one of the vanities just out of reach. At that exact moment she bucked, trying to get me off of her, it gave me the boost I needed to grab the bottle by the neck. I swung as hard as I could and the bottle exploded over her head, cascading bits of glass and liquor over both of us. She dropped like a fucking rock and didn’t move. I stood up on shaky legs and made my way to let the cavalry in.