Page 14 of Don't Break My Heart
She shrugs. “Most nights.” She points to a dark section down the back. “Those are the playrooms for anyone who wants a more private experience. Upstairs is the main bar; only guests with access are able to come down to the basement. Mostly only businessmen with a lot of money or associates of my husband’s.”
“You just sit there all alone all night?” I ask, kind of horrified for her.
Her eyes flicker with something that looks a hell of a lot like shame. “Not always, but Valentine doesn’t like it when I talk to other men, and the only girls around are normally the dancers.” She takes my hand in hers, our eyes locking. “It’s nice to finally get to meet you, Ava. We need more girls in the family,” she says sadly, and I feel so sorry for her. She looks lost or broken, I can’t decide which, and I can’t help but wonder if she was married into this family by choice or if she was a business transaction much like myself.
“It’s nice to meet you as well. Please, call me Sloane, that’s what all my friends call me.”
That pulls a proper smile from her, and it lights up her pretty face. “Okay. It’s a strange nickname for you, though, right? If you want youcan call me Daisy. I don’t really have any friends these days, but that’s what the family call me.”
“Why don’t you have any friends?”
She glances back at the table where the three brothers sit in deep conversation. “It’s just hard when you’re married to a Moretti. You’ll see.” She sighs heavily, and I feel the weight on her shoulders. She is sad and lonely, poor girl.
I grab hold of her wrist and drag her to the bar with me. “You have a friend now. And this friend needs to block out her shitty day.” I turn toward the bartender dressed in black leather lingerie. “Two fireball whiskey shots, please.”
She gives me the once-over, judging me from under her thick dark lashes, then pours my shots, popping them up on the bar in front of me.
I collect them up and hand one to Daisy, grinning from ear to ear. “To making new friends.” I clink my drink with hers then throw it back. I enjoy the familiar burn of the spicy drink, a pleasant warmth spreading through me instantly.
She looks over the little shot glass with curiosity.
“You’ve never had whiskey before?” My lips quirk up at the sides, so ready to corrupt this girl. She looks like she hasn’t had a day of fun in her whole life, and that’s just not right.
She purses her lips. “Ladies don’t drink whiskey, Sloane,” she responds, a little too much judgment in her voice.
I huff out a laugh. “I’m no lady, sis, and tonight with me, you don’t have to be either. Drink it,” I encourage her.
She hesitates for a second, looking back at the bartender, who is well and truly turning her nose up at the two of us. Then she throws back the shot, shaking it off as the burn hits the back of her throat. “Kindof makes you feel alive, right?” She offers me a small cheeky smile, and I know I have already won her over.
I tap the bar, asking for another two. “Precisely.” I smirk, knowing she needs this just as much as I do. With a wicked gleam in my eyes, I throw back the second and watch as she does the same. Fuck, it feels so damn good to be back in public again, back in a club, even if it’s not my own.
She takes my hand in hers, her eyes twinkling. “Come dance with me, Sloane.”
I glance around, looking for any excuse not to dance. I literally want to bury my problems in this bottle, that’s my idea of a good time. “There’s no dance floor.”
She giggles, covering her mouth as she does, her attention flicking back to her husband. “I know a spot.” She tugs on my hand.
“Okay.” I look back at the bartender. “I’m going to need the bottle.”
A hand goes to her waist, and her eyes narrow. “And how are you paying for that, sweetheart?” She looks down her nose at Daisy, and I have to wonder why. She must know who she’s married to—her boss and the dude who owns this place!
I lean over the bar getting nice and close to the snobby little bitch. “See that table of gorgeous men over there?” I point my finger in the direction of the Moretti brothers. “They’re footing the bill. Any questions, just ask my husband Orlando.”
I hear Reef’s chuckle from behind me, and I throw him a wink. Onyx is more stoic, more on edge, and I know us being out in public is the last thing he wants. He’s worried, but can’t he see this is what I need?
The bartender’s perfectly shaped brow shoots up, and her gaze narrows. “Fuck, you’re her, aren’t you, that missing girl. You don’t look like your picture.” The way she says it like there is somethingwrong with the real-life version of me makes me want to jump the bar and body-slam her.
I cringe internally, trying not to let the horror show on my face as I snatch the bottle from her hands. “As I said, ask the men if you have any questions,” I snap back, bitchy as hell.
I let Daisy pull me past the golden cages with dancing girls shaking their asses and down to a quieter end of the basement, where she said the private rooms were earlier. I glance back over my shoulder to the men, knowing Orlando is watching my every move. He raises a brow, and I shrug. The girl from the bar is leaning over the table talking to Valentine, and the way she looks at him gives me a creepy feeling, like her look toward Daisy from earlier was more than just her looking down her nose at us for drinking. She’s jealous of Daisy. I have seen women like her before, way too many times. Valentine’s hand slides down her back, landing on her ass where he slaps her, and she grins back at him. Fuck. That prick is definitely sleeping with her.
Daisy tugs on my hand, oblivious to the scene behind us as she focuses on getting us into one of the rooms. She shoves open a heavy black curtain to reveal a dimly lit space, all charcoal walls and chandeliers. A plush leather lounge runs down one wall and there’s a stripper pole in the center of the room. “Normally it’s for private dancers, but we can make it our own.”
I grin back at her. I just knew she would be fun once she got a proper drink in her. “I love it.”
Onyx glances my way from his spot in the doorway, giving me a look like I have lost my mind. He knows I’m not this girl. But fuck it, tonight I want to be anyone but who I am. I have been locked away so long I just want to have a little fun. And Daisy looks like she needs it as well. “That girl from the bar, is she always such a bitch to you?” I ask, not able to help myself.
She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about her. I try not to.”
