The Carrero Contract - Selling Your Soul (Mafia Romance) novel Chapter 50

It’s not like me to give a shit where someone else is concerned as long as I get paid, yet it hits a nerve and Alexi sees it too. ‘‘Watch it, London, soon you’ll be burning your bra and making poster boards. You might have to rethink the company you keep and where you work.’’ Sarcasm at its finest and I just exhale heavily at him.

‘’Anything else?’’ I gloss over it, not willing to be picked apart or give him more fuel for the fire he started under me. I’m in no mood to fight with someone who doesn’t let you win, EVER.

‘‘Room seven. We ordered a specific brand of champagne for it, make sure it’s the only room served with it and keep it topped up. Five grand a pop, so keep it's exclusive and bill him on top of his member rates for what he consumes. He’s also bringing a guest.’’

‘‘Okay, so we have fifteen members and five male guests, twenty-five girls on the floor and however many four is bringing to play with himself. I’ll call in a few reserves to bump up the number of women available and make sure every man has his choice of multiples. Servers will be picked accordingly for your family to make sure I send up the most efficient.’’ I rattle it off like a checklist and Alexi looks pleased.

‘‘For everything you are, London, I never regretted making you the hostess of my club. Efficient and beautiful, a perfect little package. You look nice today, just make sure you keep your distance and watch Santagato tonight. He’s booked in too, let Joanne deal with him as she has the skill in which you lack.’’ He raises that arrogant brow at me and I literally have to claw myself inside out to not react. So many veiled digs in such a short statement after softening me with a compliment.

He never fucking changes.

Fucking wanker!

‘’Am I going to meet my competition any time soon?’’ I sound bitter, stupidly so, and I can’t help the bite of tears that hit me. I swear this crying thing is getting ridiculous.

‘‘Soon. I’m taking her with me for a lunch date, I need an escort.’’ He seems to smile through his words as his eyes bore into me with intensity, picking me apart and looking for that reaction. It’s like the deathly blow to my soul. I swallow hard, trying to curb the shooting pain of bitter jealousy, and he just looks satisfied at my subtle reaction, testing out his new weapon I guess. Seeing if my reaction at the house was a one-off.

‘’Have fun.’’ I practically choke the words out and turn on my heel to get the fuck away from him before I start bawling like a child. He knows how to wound me and I hate him for it. If ever I found moments of weakness concerning him, forgetting what a bastard he is for a stupid insane second, then I can be rest assured he will always find ways to keep reminding me.

* * *

I don’t meet the imposter until the club is starting to fill up.

Music filling every dark nook and men filing in with wandering hands and smarmy smiles. I’ll give Carrero his due, his club is never empty and his client list grows still.

Give a man his basic carnal needs and you own him. All these rich powerful suits and here they are, wagging their tails like puppy dogs because Alexi lets them unwind, let loose and practice their perversions with minimal restraint. The club has its skill where secrecy is concerned, and these men have faith in the Carrero ability to keep it under the cover of darkness and hidden from the outside world.

He is the king of the party and not one guest since we opened has had a bad night or a bad trip on his grade ‘’A’’ product he keeps dishing out. From what I hear his sales in his magical white powder has quadrupled as his members get a little bit adoring for it outside of their visits.

Tall and narrow, nestled in a row of other run down and some derelict buildings, it’s obvious he chose this with the idea of making it inconspicuous and easy to bypass. From the outside, he has made this building look closed off and unused. Blacked out and sealed with no signage or anything that would suggest its interior purpose and in a back alley with only two entrances, both heavily guarded, and you have no way of getting in without an access card or pin. It is soundproofed to the hilt, so you can be standing outside while the music blares and you will hear nothing. It’s like an alternate secret universe nestled so innocently in the poorer streets of New York. He even runs a car service to pick up and deposit his patrons, so no vehicles sit outside bringing attention to the building. He really did plan this down to every little minute detail.

Standing in the midst of the room as it starts to warm up, Alexi appears with a tall brunette in tow by the side door he tends to use so his car can be kept nearby. Only staff can use that door as it’s accessed from almost behind the club, and a necessary fire exit should we need it.

I try not to feel anything, pushing it all down as she wanders in, holding onto his arm like a fucking queen.

I don’t think he is a man who wants to share his crown and she should pipe down before he puts her in her place publicly. Tall, slender, I would put her at five feet Seven or thereabouts and dressed well. Long waving hair tucked over one shoulder, and I can almost immediately tell this one has been a career Tom.

A girl who went into escorting for the money and the sex, like a hobbyist. She makes it her life’s goal to excel at it; she’s me but without the scars, which ultimately gives her an edge, she’s probably always controlled who, when and where and likes to get adventurous. I have met many Toms like her over the years. The ones who enjoy it, live for it and love the money it makes them. Nearly all of them came from stable childhoods and made this a career decision to satisfy a craving for expensive things and nymphomaniac tendencies.

It was a girl like this who taught me that embracing and enjoying sex takes away some of the power they have over you. Back when I tried to form a bond with anyone who could show me a little affection. Catania never wanted to be my friend, but she did feel sorry for me.

I was thirteen, immersed in a seedy and dirty world of control and pain, and she tried to give me pointers to help myself rather than intervene and help me escape. It wasn’t in her interest to get invested in some scrawny little kid crying out for someone to see her. She told me to learn from it, use it and embrace what it could do for me.

Men can be controlled by their desires and an accomplished seducer can lift herself above the rest. She helped me realise that I could control how much it damaged me, and that gave me the strength to survive and turn it all around. She saved my sanity without even knowing she did.

Looking at Joanne, I can see a born seductress who does just that, and she’s almost draped over Alexi like she owns him. I hate her already.

‘‘London … Joanne.’’ Alexi comes level as I plaster on the smile I greet our patrons with. Fake, oozing charm and yet inwardly wanting to stab the little wench a dozen times in the face with my shoe. I hate that he used that fucking pet name to introduce me to his new skank.

‘’Pleasured.’’ I smile smoothly as Alexi removes her from his side. She eyes me up and takes my outstretched hand to shake it loosely.

Cold hands, a sign of fear, a weak handshake and I can tell she’s just all act. Learning to read shit like this has always given me an edge. She is not all that the first impressions imply; there’s an awful lot of fakery and play-acting on her part and I double take her with closer scrutiny.

Up close she doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of smarts going on, it’s hard to explain but I can usually tell from a set of eyes at how bright someone is, and she has dumb bitch stamped all over her. Her designer dress that impressed at a distance is also fake. I know knockoffs when I see them and despite it being a good fake, it’s nevertheless a copy.

‘’So, you’re my back up.’’ She smiles sarcastically, and I raise a brow and laugh at her with complete amusement. Alexi raises a brow at my reaction, watching with that quick eye and calculating mind. I think he expected me to break like a weeping heartbroken little girl as he is so used to seeing me that way lately and it only makes me more determined to be the girl he first met when he walked into this club months ago.

‘‘I think you mean alternate, for nights I am too busy to take over and have better things to do.’’ I lift my chin and make a point of bringing my height up, even if she stands over me on equally high shoes. Alexi seems to be silently observing with that damned smirk in place and just clicks his fingers at a passing server for a drink.

Arsehole!

Enjoying the show as his two cats fight over their territory.