Page 67 of Possession

I don’t want to hear the answer to that, so I raise a quiet hand to get a server’s attention. I notice that another new girl is working in the main room of the club tonight, and I wonder what’s going on. Why is there such a staff turnover? I thought Gage had a handle on things.

“May I help you?” the server approaches. Like most of the women who work at the club, she’s relatively young and attractive, but something about her reminds me of when Megan first started, almost like she’s like a fish out of water.

I can tell by the way she directs her greeting to Vaughn that she doesn’t know who I am. It’s how I’ve always preferred it, though. I like to watch new hires from a distance and make sure that they fit in here. This is not the easiest place to work. One night, there may be a table of haughty investment bankers, and another night, a party of rowdy motorcycle gang members—a true reflection of how wide my reach is in the city. Servers who work here need to know how to navigate the personalities of all sorts of people.

Vaughn grins, taking pleasure in the fact that the new server is flirting with him—something she should have been told not to do the minute she was hired.

“We’d like everything on the sampler appetizer menu and another round of drinks for the table, beautiful.”

She blushes at Vaughn’s lame flirting attempt. “May I ask what you all are drinking?”

“The bartender will already know,” I interrupt. “Just tell him another round for Table 21.”

“Okay.” Her face drops, probably a reaction to my abruptness. When she starts to walk away, Vaughn calls after her.

“And don’t forget our appetizers, beautiful.”

She turns her head to smile and almost bumps into a customer by mistake. “Right away, sir.”

“I think my dick just got hard,” Vaughn chuckles.

“It’s been so long that you don’t know the difference?” Christian quips.

“I thought you wanted to go out to celebrate,” I say to Vaughn, annoyed that he’s just flustered one of the new hires.

“I do, but I would rather eat here first. With Lena in the kitchen, at least I know the food will taste good. Then we can go and drink somewhere else.”

“You and Christian should go hang out, but my mind is on other things. Happy for you, though, friend. Now you can move on.”

“Just say what you want to say, dammit.”

“Hmm, let me think,” I quip. “Maybe that your impulsive marriage was a mistake from the beginning.”

“Or how about you can’t turn a whore into a housewife,” Christian laughs.

“You two are the worst friends a man could ask for,” Vaughn sucks his teeth and takes a swig of his drink.

“We tried to warn you,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“And you never listened,” Christian scoffs.

“But now that you’re free, just make sure you don’t celebrate with one of my employees,” I warn him as I watch the new girl get an earful from Gage.

“You mean with your hot new server over there? Did you see the ass on her? Is that thing real? You know how the ladies are getting butt implants nowadays.”

“Good thing you’ll never find out,” I say.

“Why? She could be just the woman to convince me that not all of them are bad like–”

“Don’t say her name!” Christian abruptly interrupts with a laugh. “It’s like saying Valdemort’s name out loud. Bad things will happen.”

“Just don’t do it,” I tell Vaughn with a grin, knowing that he’s just talking crap about messing with the new employee, or at least he better be. I’ve got enough on my plate without having to worry about his extracurricular activities.

“You don’t play by a fair set of rules, Hunt. Why are you the only one who gets to pursue a hot employee, whisk her off to Paris, move her into your building, get her pregnant, and live happily ever after.”

“Watch yourself.”

“I’m just saying.”

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