Page 89 of Broken Prince

I took a deep breath, stopping at the back door of Effeuillage, the strip club we owned on the edge of the city's bad area. I didn’t tell Benny about the visit; I wanted to surprise him.

He had thought that giving a strip club a French name would give it some class, but it hadn’t fooled anyone. It was still a seedy club with washed-up dancers way past their prime.

When I tried to open the back door, a guard all dressed in black stepped in my way.

“No trespassing.”

“I’m here to see Benny.”

The guard stayed in front of the door, his glower deepening.

“Do you know who I am?” I had to give the guy a chance to rethink his actions before I broke his leg. “I’m Luca Montanari.”

“Unless the capo tells me to let you in, I’m not letting you in.”

I let out a chuckle. “Okay, the capo is telling you to let him in. I am the capo.”

The guy gave me a half-grin. “Sure you are.”

Yep, that guy wanted to die but he was lucky I didn't have the time to start a fight today.

I picked up my phone and dialed Benny’s number.

“Where are you?” I asked as soon as he answered.

“Gianluca? I’m at the club.”

“Your goon…” I looked at the guy in front of the door. “What’s your name?”

“Fabrizio.”

“Fabrizio is not letting me in. He said the capo ordered him… Ironic, don’t you think?”

Within a couple of minutes, the door opened by a breathless Benny. I’d not seen him in over a year and Lord, he seemed even shorter and fatter than in my memories… He could be Dany Devito's body double.

I chuckled under my breath. That was a joke Dom would appreciate later.

“Ma cazzo!” He barked at the guard. “He’s my nephew!”

“And the capo of the famiglia,” I added calmly.

“Not really, but he shouldn’t have stopped you! You’re family,” he added, his thick mustache twitching to the side, a clear sign of his nervosity.

I frowned. “Yes, Benny, really.”

He wiped his damp hands against his black dress shirt and motioned me in.

I grimaced as soon as I walked in, thanking God I had not taken Cassie with me. It smelled like cheap alcohol and sex in this dump.

I shook my head and followed Benny to his office.

“Why did you come?” he asked as soon as he closed the door behind him.

I looked out of the one-way windows of his office to the stage where a stripper with saggy breasts and a thong moved for the handful of customers under a less than flattering red light.

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the room. I kept my back to him on purpose; he needed to be reminded of his place. “You've been asking me to come for a while now. Didn’t you mean it?”

“Of course I did! Gianluca, you’re my nephew.”

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