Page 69 of Embrace the Darkness

I made the mistake of only staring at Mark on my way back to the bar. My shoulder bumped into someone, knocking the tray from my hands. “I’m so sorry,” I said as I started to bend to retrieve my tray from the floor. The gentleman was faster, moving fluidly as he bent over, scooping it up, then returned it to my hands. I gave him a brief once over, not wanting to take my eyes off of Mark for long. His pretty gold eyes and his tailored charcoal suit stood out. Besides that, I didn’t pay him much attention. “Thank you.” I smiled genuinely and returned to the drink drop off station.

Setting my tray on the counter, I tried not to blatantly stare at Mark and glanced at him every once in a while. A man dressed very similar to Stefan’s personal security—black tight T-shirt with a black suit jacket and black slacks—approached Mark at the same time a bouncer of the club and a dancer approached me.

“You’ve been requested for a private dance,” the bouncer said.Huh? I thought the cocktail waitresses didn’t have to give lap dances! “Come with me.” He turned, expecting me to follow, and left with the dancer trailing behind him.

Fuuuuck!I hesitantly followed. Searching for Mark, I noticed the bouncer was leading me in the same direction he was being led, toward a somewhat private room off to the side of the showroom.Maybe I’m dancing for him? But why the other dancer?

Mark disappeared into the private room. The bouncer I was following stopped just outside the open archway and gestured for us to enter. The dancer strutted in there like this was just another day at the office. I supposed it was. Me, on the other hand, I was wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into as I followed her in.

The private room was small with mirrored walls, an armless upholstered bench bordering the entire U-shaped room, and a pole in the center. Stepping further into the room, we passed the guy who'd approached Mark at the bar. The way he stood guard at the entrance cemented my assumption he was security. Mark was sitting on the right side of the room, body tense despite the at-ease facade he was failing to pull off by a relaxed pose, one leg resting on top of his knee. I could only assume his nervousness was due to the man sitting across from him. Achieving the relaxed look with one arm draped across the back of the bench was the gentleman I had bumped into in the showroom. I recognized his gold eyes right away. How could I not? They were locked on me, assessing me from head to toe.

The first thing I noticed as I actually took the time to take all of him in was that I recognized him. From where, I didn’t know. All I was certain of was I had seen him before.

He was Italian. His thick hair and designer stubble were dark as coffee. He had a strong, lean build and a sharp jawline. He was devilishly handsome. There was something about him that put me on edge, though. It was the way he held himself—confident, superior, dangerous. He reminded me of Stefan.

“What do we have here?” Mark asked the man seated across from him. “Are we finally going to get some entertainment during these meetings?”

The man removed his eyes from me to stare at Mark. “I figured I’d humor you this one time.” A small yet excited grin pulled at the corner of Mark’s mouth. “Mind if I have the blonde?” the man asked.

I glanced at the other dancer’s raven hair, confused. Then I remembered I had a wig on. Mark shrugged as ifhe didn’t care either way. My fellow dancer made her way over to him, unclasping her glittery neon green bra before straddling his lap in only her matching neon green thong.

Fucking hell. Am I really doing this?

Mustering the determination I needed, despite the overwhelming urge to run out of here like a bat free from hell, I reached behind my back and unclasped my black bra.You can do this, Maura. They’re just boobs. Just channel your inner stripper and gyrate that ass.

I straddled the man’s thighs, but instead of facing him like the other dancer did to Mark, I went about it reverse cowgirl style. I took in a calming deep breath and exhaled, willing my stiff body to relax. Thinking back to the dancer who'd given Tina a lap dance all those years ago, I reenacted some of the same moves she'd done the best I could, grinding my ass against him as I moved along to the music. After that first awkward minute passed, I started to actually relax. My body embraced the beat and I gave my first lap dance, ever.

CHAPTER 30

Dancing sensually in a strange man’s lap, I multitasked by listening in as he and Mark began to talk.

“My delivery is late,” the man said.

Mark tilted his head to the side so he could see past the raven-haired stripper currently gyrating her practically naked ass in his lap.

“That’s why I’m here. It’ll be here tonight. Our boat transporting the shipment ran into a weather issue,” Mark explained. He was talking about the cocaine we had coming in from Columbia. According to the flash drive, we were expecting one hundred kilos to be smuggled in. It had cost us one point five million dollars, paid via wire transfer to the Columbians. After we'd paid the couriers,the goal profit was two million. Lately, we’d only been making half of that.

“A weather issue?”

Mark nodded. “A storm. Our boat took damage. Delayed the shipment. Dylan sends his apologies.”

“And why isn’t Dylan here himself?” the man questioned, sounding put off and the tiniest bit distracted. I didn't think Mark noticed as he was pretty distracted himself with the stripper rubbing her boobs in his face.Shit, do I have to do that?I still hadn’t turned around.

Fingers lightly touched the tattoo on my lower back, pulling me from my internal debate. I stood abruptly and spun around on my heels. Stepping between his legs, I moved my hands seductively up his chest, around his neck, and into his hair. Straddling his lap, our eyes locked. His golden eyes were captivating and scrutinizing. It was distracting. Breaking away from his intense gaze, I stared through the mirror behind his head at Mark as I rocked my hips over his hardening bulge.

“He meant no disrespect, Nicoli. He’s ensuring there are no more delays.” Mark’s voice held a hint of nervousness.

The name Nicoli made my fluid dancing stagger for only a breath. Flicking my eyes back to the man beneathme, I finally realized why I recognized him. He was Nicoli De Luca, the don, a.k.a. the boss, of the Italian Mafia.

A few days ago, Stefan had handed me a file with profiles of the other crime lords and their top affiliates. I'd briefly looked over each profile. I'd had enough shit to research as it had been, but I'd made a note to go back and intently study them all later. If I could kick myself right now, I totally would.What have I gotten myself into?

“What about Samuel? He’s the one in charge, is he not?” Nicoli pushed, clearly unhappy. His alluring honey eyes met mine again. I wouldn’t have said they were intimidating. Hypnotizing, definitely. They sucked you in, making it difficult to break the compulsion of getting lost in them. I forced a sultry smile and stood again to get back into reverse cowgirl position. As the other dancer and I faced each other, I did my best to mimic her moves.

“Samuel handed the reins over to Dylan. He stepped back into an advisory role.” That was a big fucking lie. There was no way in hell Samuel would step down and allow Dylan to run things unless forced. He was too power hungry.

“What time tonight?” Nicoli asked, seeming placated.

Mark outwardly relaxed.Why the hell would Dylan send him to negotiate with Nicoli?He reeked of unease. Itwas clear as day he was intimidated by Nicoli and the don knew it, too. “Ten tonight. Same spot.”