Marcus happily accepts a drink and a joint and before the girl has even scurried away, he’s leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the small table between us. “So,” he says, looking back at me as he lights his joint and takes a deep drag, blowing the smoke out in perfect rings. “What’s your take on a sex tape?”
I raise a brow and give him a blank stare, my eyes glistening with silent laughter. “With Levi? Sure.”
His jaw drops just a fraction and for a moment, he looks almost offended. “Take that back,” he demands as Levi attempts to keep a straight face while pretending to not give a single fuck about our conversation.
I shake my head. “You can hold the camera if you want, but I’m sure we’d get better results using a tripod.”
“Keep talking like that and I’ll be forced to show you the real meaning of a tripod.”
My brow arches, knowing exactly what he’s talking about and I find myself glancing toward Levi, the curiosity swirling deep inside of me. Marcus watches me closely, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, reading me like a damn book. “Keep looking at us like that and we’ll do it right fucking now for the whole world to see.”
I swallow hard and quickly glance away but as I do, the three brothers stand in unison. My eyes go wide and I watch as four men approach the brothers, each of them with a grim expression across their faces.
They don’t want to be here and they sure as fuck don’t want to be in their presence. Clearly they aren’t finding it as thrilling as I have over the past few days. You know, after I realized that their threats on my life were nothing more than scare tactics.
The four men move in closer, slowing their pace as they approach our table. “Julius,” Roman says, nodding toward the guy who stands front and center, the one who looks the least like he’s about to shit his pants. “Got our money?”
I lean forward, trying to get a better look at the guy as his name starts ringing bells. He’s one of the biggest dealers in the city and was barred from entering the club I worked at years ago. I’ve never had anything to do with him, but I know girls who’ve destroyed their lives over the shit he supplies them.
Julius nods to the guy directly on his left who steps forward and offers a black bag to Levi. He takes it and drops the bag on the table in front of me. “Count it,” Levi says. “50K.”
My eyes bug out of my head and I stare up at him in shock. “50K?”
“Make it quick,” he warns. “We don’t have all night.”
I quickly scurry toward the bag, knowing that they’re all just going to stand around awkwardly watching and waiting until I’m done. “She doesn’t need to count. It’s all there,” Julius says, panic lacing his tone. “I counted it myself.”
Roman takes a small step to his right, blocking Julius’ vision of me. “Then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about, should you?”
Julius pipes down and despite the hundreds of bodies crammed into the club, I can still feel the tension rolling off the boys in waves. I quickly get started, flipping through stacks of cash while trying not to focus on the fact that this is more money than I’ve ever seen in my life.
Fifteen minutes pass before I look up at Roman with a cringe, my stomach sinking, knowing what’s bound to come next. “It’s short two grand,” I tell him.
“You sure?” he questions, his gaze boring into mine, both of us knowing that if I had counted this wrong and his next steps are for nothing, that blood will be on my hands.
“I’ve gone over it three times,” I say, pointing out the stacks of cash on the table and showing how the final stack comes up a lot shorter than the others. “I got 48K every single time. I’m positive. He’s cutting you short.”
The three brothers turn back to Julius who looks as though he’s about to pass out, and before a single word can be said, Roman pulls his gun and shoots him square between the eyes. Gasps are heard all around as witnesses casually look our way, but seeing the DeAngelis brothers deep in business, they turn back and continue with their night as though they didn’t see a damn thing.
The three men surrounding the brothers stand straighter, pretending that their boss isn’t dead at their feet. “So, which one of you is stepping up?” Roman asks, his gaze shifting over the three men. “I have a shitload more product that needs to be moved and there will be a bonus included for whoever can sell my next batch and make up for what your boss was lacking.”