Page 17 of Sins and Secrets

ALESSIO

I hand the bartender the three thousand dollars I promised him before slipping inside the back door. Though his fee is high, the value of what I will be getting tonight is much higher. The music is pounding loud in the background as a man stands near a door hidden on a black wall, letting other men in.

As another group of men approaches the door, grinning and speaking amongst each other, I slide into the back of the group, nodding along like I’m listening to them, even though I’m trying to take stock of everything in the club.

People are milling about, doing laps around the entire place. They look like partygoers who are just searching for a table, but I catch a glimpse of a gun as one of them passes.

Paolo has this place filled with people who are ready to defend him. Coming here alone was a terrible idea, but it’s one I’m committed to now.

The man outside the door lets us in. I follow them into another section of the club before breaking away. I keep my hands in my pockets and stay in the darkest parts of the room as I look around at the tables and people milling about.

“And now, it’s time for our first woman. Lorelei is a petite blonde who loves to have a good time. If she isn’t out at the club, she is partying on a boat. Bidding starts at two hundred thousand dollars.”

I take a seat at one of the empty booths in the corner. A woman with a glass of champagne and a bidding paddle on a tray appears at my side. She puts the paddle down on the table before handing me the glass of champagne.

Her cheeks turn a bright red when I wink at her and hold the glass up in a silent salute. The waitress gives me a flirty smile before heading back to the bar.

Maybe that will keep her from trying to figure out who I am and running her mouth to her boss.

As more names are called and women walk across the stage, I take a look around, searching for anything that I might be able to use against Paolo. There are dozens of successful men and women spread throughout the club, but most of them are keeping to themselves.

Exposing the auction would make me more enemies than it would friends. The men and women here know what they are doing and what goes on in a place like this. If I were to out them in hopes of ruining one of Paolo’s businesses, that would put me on a blacklist throughout Atlanta.

To my left, people are passing around a mirror with white powder, but none of them are connected to Paolo beyond being here to buy a woman. At least, not that I’m aware of.

“You should have seen her,” Paolo says from somewhere behind me. I glance over my shoulder and see him sitting at a table a few feet away with a woman. “She’s definitely not the kind of person we get in here often.”

“Isn’t she the daughter of that consigliere?” the other man asks, his voice soft. “You know that you’re going to be playing with fire if you bid on her. Should Marchetti find out that she is spending time with you, both of you would be dead.”

Paolo chuckles. “She will not just be spending time with me. She will be mine to do with as I please. And let me tell you, those two months will be spent with her on her knees.”

The men laugh as my stomach starts to turn. If they are talking about me and a consigliere’s daughter, Billie has to be here somewhere.

I fight the overwhelming urge to get up and go look for her. If Paolo sees me here, it will start a war between our people. Though, that is his goal to begin with.

If people are going to die, I don’t want all their blood on my hands, though. I will not be the one to instigate the war.

Especially when I’m alone in a club that belongs to the enemy.

He would kill me before I finished standing.

Instead, I cross my arms and lean back in my seat, hoping that Billie isn’t stupid enough to enter herself into something like this.

“Alright,” the auctioneer says, his voice carrying through the room. “We have our last woman for the night. Emilia is a firecracker both in the streets and between the sheets.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Billie knows better than to come to a place like this. It’s the one saving grace I have at this moment. I don’t know what I would do if I saw her standing on the stage, wearing skimpy lingerie like all the other women had.

I might kill the first man to bid on her.

I’m about to get up and sneak out when the click of heels against the stage draws my attention to the stage. My mouth drops open as Billie stands in the middle of the stage, looking like sex and sunshine at the same time.

Her blonde hair shines under the lights. The green lingerie she wears leaves little to the imagination. Men start bidding immediately, their paddles raising high in the air.

I can’t tear my gaze away from her. All I can think about is sliding those garters down her long legs with my teeth. My cock hardens as I raise my paddle.

“Five hundred thousand,” I say, lowering my voice an octave. I don’t want Paolo to recognize me before I get Billie out of here.

“Our current bid is five hundred thousand. Do I hear five hundred fifty thousand?”

---