“Okay, so you’re two years older than me. When’s your birthday?”
“March thirty-first”
“What do you do for a living?”
I pause before answering her. At this point I could just tell her about the legal businesses I own and leave out the illegal shit, but I did tell her she could ask me anything.
“I own a few gas stations, rental property, and I’m a silent partner in Zar’s club.”
“And what type of club does Zar own?”
I smirk before replying, “It’s a gentleman’s club.”
Hailey raises her eyebrow. “You mean a strip club?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I say, “Tomato, tomahto”
“Do you partake in extracurricular activities with the dancers,” Hailey questions.
I sigh. “Look Hailey, I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, I’ve had interactions with some of the dancers. I was single at the time and was not looking for anything other than a hookup. We conduct family meetings there in the conference room. Now that I’m married, I won’t be hanging out there like I used to. I’ll just attend the meetings and that’s it. I promise you will never have to worry about me stepping out on you. There will never be another woman to take my attention off of you.”
Hailey’s quiet momentarily before adding, “You mentioned ‘family meetings’, what type of meetings are these?”
Now we’re getting to the meat and potatoes.
“Well, other than the businesses we own, my family is also a part of the Greek Mafia,” I pause to catch her reaction. Hailey frowns but doesn’t say anything, so I continue. “You’ve been around Andre most of your life, so I’m sure you’re used to seeing illegal shit. We, on the other hand, do not fuck with drugs. We’re more into gaming houses, arm trades, shit like that. My family, the Kourakos, is the head of all the Greek families. Grandfather runs everything, with my Father by his side. Someday, Father will take over, and when it’s time for him to step down, Zar will take his place. I’m the second son, so unless something happens to Zar, which I will never let fucking happen, but if something did happen, then I will take his place. Xander is Zar’s right hand man, and I, on the other hand, am more like his enforcer. My job is to make sure my brother makes it to the top alive. I am my brother’s keeper.”
“Will your ‘family business’ spill into your personal life? I don’t want Devyn to be affected by it. I’m used to that type of lifestyle, and even though Devyn has been exposed to it by Andre, I want to keep her away from it,” Hailey explains.
I squeeze her hand. “I’m going to be honest with you, I can’t promise that, but what I can promise is I will do everything in my power to keep the both of you away from it. Sometimes it will fall into our laps without us knowing, like the situation Zar and Nina are dealing with, with Trent. But please don’t worry yourself about it. I won’t bring family business home at the end of the day.”
Standing, I pull her up. “Come on. Let’s go get Devyn so I can take you guys to the city for a while.” Hailey smiles as I escort her back to the house. I couldn’t help but smile also, because this will be the first time I get to be alone with my little family.