Page 9 of Obsession

In all my thirty-five years, I’ve never had a woman challenge me like this. It was almost as if she was daring me to kill her and yet terrified I would do so. I purposefully don’t interact with the staff except for management, so I’ve never met her before. I doubt I would have forgotten her face if I had.

Entertaining little thing, I muse to myself as I go through her cover letter.

“Let’s see whether you really do come back to work today.”

I'll be waiting.

Chapter 4

A Girl’s Got To Eat

HUNTER

When I bought The Blue Whiskey, the first thing I did was tear down the original building and rebuild it. It seemed like the perfect place to set up my operations. I needed a home base for my network in Los Angeles, and a club was the best front.

Despite being a nightclub, the building is built like a fortress for my protection. The whole club is sectioned into different portions. The ground floor contains the bar and the dance floor, while there are private rooms on the first floor that are paid for by the hour. My office is on the second floor in the back of the club, next to the offices for my bodyguards and other side ventures.

LA is a party city, but all that glitters is also tainted by dirt. The number of gangs and criminal factions in the city has grown at an exponential rate. Havens like The Blue Whiskey allow members of those groups to meet openly with an unspoken rule of no bloodshed. The few times that rule has been broken, the consequences have been dire for those individuals.

I have been sure to be ruthless in enforcing the rules, which is why most will always toe the line. After all, I have a reputation to uphold as Los Angeles’s underworld mediator. The sole man who can help negotiate disputes or help make a problem disappear.

Because that’s what I do.

I fix problems and make them go away by using whatever means necessary. However, while I play the role of the puppeteer in the underground world, I have my own set of rules and morals that I live by.

The people who work in any of my establishments are under my protection. I also have strict rules in place about how the staff is supposed to be treated. The Blue Whiskey is my base of operations in LA, but I don’t interfere in the running of the place. I trust the people I hire. So, to see the way the manager that I hired personally, refusing to step in when a server was being assaulted out of fear for his own safety had my blood boiling. I gave him ample time to step in, but it was the hissing kitten who did so, fangs bared, armed with expensive wine.

Obviously, Steve has to go, but I need to hire a replacement for him before I get rid of him. Fortunately for me, I have my eye on a petite woman with deep, honey-kissed skin and a penchant for justice and violence.

As people dance and grind against each other, I make my way around the dance floor toward one of the open-mouthed booths. I can see my security team mix into the crowd and take up discreet places around me. However, I’m not interested in them.

I have a clear view of the bar, and just as I had predicted, Megan slips in to relieve the bartender they call Harry. From across the room, I watch her chatting with the clientele, smiling at them as they keep finding excuses to talk to her. But I can see how tired she looks. Her eyes give it away. I’m learning that Megan’s eyes may always tell me the truth.

I track her every movement, and I notice one of the customers getting a little fresh with her as she turns around to prepare his drink. My eyes narrow, and my body is automatically moving toward them when I go still. She’s stepped away in a deliberate act and slides his drink across the counter to him. While it’s smart of her to remove herself from the situation, it bothers me to see her have to smile at that little fucker.

I glance towards Lars, who’s sitting at a table close to me. He’s worked with me the longest and understands my non-verbal gestures. He immediately stands and strides over to the bar.

Megan sees him and blinks.

Her eyes widen as he grabs the customer, who had been trying to feel her up, by his collar and throws him at the bouncer’s feet. The bouncer is quick to respond as he further drags the man outside. The whole thing happens in under five seconds, and Megan is left staring.

Lars returns to his seat, and I see Megan looking around the room. Suddenly, as if she senses my gaze, she meets my eyes.

The color drains from her face once she recognizes who I am.

I lift my hand and crook a finger in her direction, silently ordering her to come here. The flash of quick defiance in her eyes is so fascinating to watch, and then her jaw tightens before she deliberately looks away. It’s been years since somebody turned down an order from me. Under the flicker of anger that flares within me, there’s also a subtle curiosity.

She’s really going to make me go over to her.

When I stand up, my team looks confused. They’re not used to me approaching a woman or an employee in my club...ever. I typically wait for people to come to me. I shake my head at them discreetly before making my way over to the bar. Megan is serving a skinny-looking man with tattoos all over his face when she looks at me and freezes.

“When I tell a woman to come over to me, she usually obeys,” I say to her.

Although the music is deafening, she hears my words, and her pretty eyes turn into slits, “Congratulations, that’s quite an achievement.”

The corner of my lips quirks at her response. “I see you’ve decided to come back to work.”

Her face turns stiff at my casual statement, and she gives me a wary look. “Yeah, well, a girl’s gotta eat.”

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