Page 68 of Cold Hard Cash

“The usual, Miss Legrand?” the bartender asked as they sat down.

“Please!” Rowena replied, waving at Jimmy. “And whatever he wants.”

“Uhm, appletini?” Jimmy asked politely, grinning when Rowena gave him a thumbs up.

“Having fun?” Rowena asked happily.

“Yes! I’m having a blast!” Jimmy said, surprised as their drinks appeared almost instantly in front of them.

“Here you are, Miss Legrand,” the bartender said. “Please let me know if you need anything else.”

Jimmy’s appletini had quite a punch, and Rowena’s margarita reeked of tequila. He noticed no money had been exchanged, Rowena humming happily as she sipped at her drink.

“Okay, you’ve gotta tell me,” Jimmy laughed. “Does everybody here know who you are?”

“Whose club do you think this is?” she giggled. “It belongs to the Gentlemen, sweetie.”

“Really?” Jimmy cackled. He should have known. Sipping at his drink, he bounced his hip to the music.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling sweetly. “Stick with me, sweetie. I’ll show you just how good it is to be gangster royalty.”

One drink turned into two, and then into a few rounds of shots before Rowena deemed them intoxicated enough to get back on the dance floor. They danced until Jimmy’s legs were begging for mercy, retreating back to the bar for another round.

Jimmy plopped on the barstool, stripping off his jacket and groaning, “Holy crap, no more!”

Rowena cackled, still standing and continuing to shake her hips as they waited for their drinks. “Wussy,” she teased. “Just take a breather. I’m gonna go make a few requests in a minute.”

“Can I request crutches?” Jimmy laughed, rubbing his aching thighs.

“Come on, it’s not that bad!”

“Nah,” Jimmy conceded with a grin. “Just whew. It’s been a while, and—”

“Hey, Rowena,” a voice called out, two men approaching them with friendly smiles.

Jimmy didn’t think much of it; after all, almost everyone here seemed to know her.

“What the fuck do you want?” Rowena spat, eyes narrowed viciously.

Jimmy blinked, surprised at the sudden burst of venom. That’s when he noticed that the friendly smiles were a little too friendly, and Rowena had picked up her glass as if to throw it right at their faces.

“Just being nice, cous’,” the taller of the two said with a sneer, staring at Jimmy. “Huh. This must be Cold’s new chippie.”

Gulping nervously, Jimmy instinctively backed up into the bar. He didn’t like how these men were looking at him at all. “Who are you exactly? And how do you know who I am?”

“The tall and ugly one is Vincenzo and the short and stupid one is Gary,” Rowena answered for them, snorting disgustedly. “From the very shallow end of the Luchesi gene pool. Pretty fuckin’ sure you know that you’re not welcome here.”

“Pretty sure it’s a fuckin’ free country,” Gary snapped in reply.

Vincenzo grabbed Jimmy’s wrist, his nasty glare moving to the ring on his finger. “Nice bling. Daddy Cold give you that?”

“Hey, get your hands off me!” Jimmy barked, trying to wrench his arm away. Vincenzo wouldn’t let go, staring in confusion at the ring, and Jimmy grunted, “Hey! Come on! Fuck you, dude!”

Vincenzo still wouldn’t release him, twisting his arm until he yelped in pain, and that was the exact moment everything went very wrong.

“You stupid cock guzzling son of a bitch!” Rowena growled, her temper flying hot as she swung her foot back, driving her heel into Vincenzo’s crotch.

He fell like a sack of potatoes with an agonized groan, and started crying when Rowena kept kicking him.