Page 20 of Bossy Ex's Brother

EIGHT

LUCA

“We have another problem.”

I looked up to glare at Brandon, who had just walked into my office. I’d had a nasty headache the entire day, and I wasn’t in the mood to put up with bullshit.

“If those idiots are stupid enough to get themselves in trouble again, I’m going to kill them myself.”

“No, it’s not that,” he said with a light repressed chuckle. “It’s the new manager you hired.”

I frowned. “What about her?” I hoped she hadn’t gotten herself in a mess already. I knew the crowd tonight might be tricky to control as a lot of them had more money than sense. It was part of the reason why I wanted her to come in today. If she couldn’t handle it, then she wasn’t right for the job, simple as that. Club Diamond wasn’t even the craziest of my clubs, so if she stumbled here, then it could only go downhill. Because if my employees or clientele smelled weakness, she was done. They would walk right over her.

“She’s trying to get Black kicked out of the club,” Brandon said.

Shock rendered me silent for a second.

Then I swore, instantly getting up and heading out the door.

Damien Black was one of our VIPs, and frankly, the man had a lot of fucking money. It was why we put up with his odious personality.

He wasn’t my favorite person, but part of keeping my business afloat was keeping the VIPs like Damien happy. Even if those VIPs were better kept in the gutters of the city. A lot of lowlifes frequented my club, and if I turned away every morally corrupt person who came here, then I’d be broke. Black wasn’t technically affiliated with any mafia, but it didn't matter. He could buy all the security he needed.

When I arrived at Black’s lounge, I swore to myself again.

Damien was reclining cockily and smirking at Jane, who was coldly staring down at him. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her back was ramrod straight, her face set in a haughty expression that I found so irritating but also kinda sexy at the same time. Two guards stood to the side, looking between the two of them as if they didn’t quite know what to do.

“You heard me,” Jane growled out then. “Get out. You’re no longer welcome in this establishment. If you don’t leave on your own, we’ll have you removed.”

We?I raised my eyebrows at her back.Who was ‘we’?

The guards must have had the same thought because they glanced at themselves, bemused.

This was going to be a shit show.

“Oh yeah?” Damien retorted, smiling even wider. “You and what army?”

Jane glanced at the guards, but when they didn’t move, her lips tightened. She turned back to flash those angry eyes at Damien. “You must feel very tough, don’t you, assaulting women? I bet it makes you feel like a strong man, doesn’t it? Is that why you do it? Because know you can’t measure up to real men in any other way?”

Shit. That was the absolute worst thing for Jane to say. I could tell it struck a nerve because the smile instantly vanished from Damien’s face. The music was still pumping, but the tension in the room just ratcheted up by several degrees. Everyone on the street knew Damien had a lot of problems with his old man, and it was partly because the latter continuously and constantly told him shit like that about being a real man. It was a raw nerve. And to prove it, Damien shot to his feet, now towering over Jane.

“What the fuck did you just say to me, you uppity bitch?” he hissed, anger lining his features.

Jane, to everyone’s surprise, still didn’t have the good sense to back down. “I hope you’re not as deaf as you are stupid because I’m not going to repeat myself. And now that you’re up, you better get the hell out of the club before I do it myself.”

I was pretty sure I was gaping at her at this point, incredulous at her sheer guts.

There was no chance she could take on a man who was twice her size, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at her. She looked like she was just waiting for a reason to go postal on him. She cocked her eyebrow at him as though daring him to try it.

And as crazy as it was, I couldn’t help feeling my admiration grow. She wasn’t backing down. She had balls; I’d give her that.

Unfortunately, she had more balls than sense because anyone with half a brain would know not to provoke a man like Damien Black. And in the next second, he proved why. He took another step toward her, one hand reaching out to grab the front of her shirt, and that was when I lost it.

Before I knew what was happening, I was beside him, snatching him off his feet and pinning him against the table.

“Fucking hell!” he swore, his hands swinging out to try and catch me. “Get the fuck off me!”

“Back down, Black,” I commanded him.

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