XXXXII

My laugh comes out hesitantly.

"You're joking, right?" I ask in disbelief.

"There's no way in hell I'm dancing for some rand-"

"He'll give you a million."

I snap my head around.

A million. Hearing that is like music to my ears. Aside from my family, money is my favourite thing in the world. I have too much for my own good, but I sure love being rich.

"Bullshit." I call her out, knowing that her words probably have some truth to them. I know a real Gucci biker jacket when I see one.

"He will give the money up front in cash, or you can wait a few days and-"

"I'll do it." I comply.

She smiles.

Money isn't the only reason i'm doing this, well it is, but I wanna find out who the hell this guy is and the money is a bonus.

If he was attractive it would make things way easier, but he looks at least 40, and I hate to say it, but is nothing compared to Marco.

Shit. I completely forgot about him. He's so fixated on me 'staying out of trouble' like I cant look after myself.

He shouldn't know about this.

Rich guy steps up on the stage next to me, and holds out his hand. "You ready, darlin?" He asks, his voice coming out thin and raspy. I ignore his outstretched hand, and shudder at the thought of him, somehow managing to keep my composure and follow him up to the private rooms.

He forces his way in front of me, and leads the way into the room, shoving the red curtain aside. My gaze falls on a velvet couch and a bottle of champagne waiting for us.

"Take a seat gorgeous." He says with a wink that sends shivers down my spine. He chuckles to himself, exposing an array of cracked teeth that I certainly did not want to see.

"So," I begin, trying to stay sweet enough to receive the money. "Why'd you bring me here?"

He cracks open the champagne and pours an excessive amount into his glass, "I liked what I saw on the stage earlier, the way you're ass jiggled in the air."

I swear I almost threw up in my mouth. I am not attractive to this guy at all. It's weird, if Marco said anything like that to me it would turn me on, with him it makes me sick. From the way he talks, to the way his eyes scan me up and down like I'm an animal due to be hunted.

I stay silent, afraid that hearing anything else like this will make me run out of the room.

"Drink up baby." He orders, practically forcing a champagne glass into my sweaty hand. He instigates we sip together but I place my glass to the side. "I'm up here to dance for you, not to get wasted." I explain.

He sprawls out on the sofa and pats his lap, "Come on then." He growls.

I hesitate, knowing how fucking disgusting this is going to be, but also think back to the words "He'll give you a million"

I could feel my brain ripping apart trying to fight the urge not to just walk out, but money is my weakness. My eyes divert from the floor to the stranger, and look on at him with challenge.

"Don't be shy, baby." He whispers, trying his best to be seductive. His hand laps forward, but fails to grasp my thigh, and instead flops down onto the seat. I hold in a laugh.

I sit on his lap.

"Lets talk about your money." I whisper seductively.

He purses his lips and hums loudly before the curtain flies open.

Before it stands Marco, looking as if his fury could spring to life any second. But he wasn't mad about me and this guy, he was clearly mad about something else.

Resentment takes a hold of him, as he grabs my hand and begins pulling me out of the room. He shuts the curtain, obviously not before shooting the guy a dirty look, and pulls me to one side.

"You shouldn't fuck strangers, you know?" He blurts out.

I tilt my head to one side, "What makes you think I was gonna fuck him?"

He rolls his eyes, before straightening his jacket.

"Never mind, thats not what I care about right now. There's some goons here looking for you." He explains before whipping out a cigarette. I stay silent as he lights it and takes a drag, breathing out slowly.

"Great. What do they want?" I question, focusing on the cigarette in his hand more than anything. "The same thing Luca's always wanted. Your head on a stake." He explains.

I roll my eyes.

"Pathetic. I deal with new people every fucking day. Where are they now?" I ask, impatience running thin. He glances over his shoulder and into the doorway. "Downstairs at the bar."

I grab his hand and begin to lead him downstairs to the bar, however, he spins me around and practically crushes me into the doorway with his body. "You're not going anywhere near them." He demands, pressing me into the wall. I shove him off me and cross my arms, "Why the hell not?"

He pauses for a moment. "I won't let them do anything to you, I promise. But if you go down there, It will mess this whole thing up."

I step back in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I already told them that you left. They are hanging around to see if I'm lying. So don't go down there. Please."

I cross my arms, and struggle to look up for any longer, the bright lights of the rooms deteriorating my vision. "Okay. But can we at least go somewhere else?"

He tilts his head to the side. "You wanna sneak out?" He asks.

I smile and nod, knowing the question wasn't even up for debate.

"Follow me."

He grabs my hand and leads me through the everlasting halls. They spiral out for what seems like miles, but the further we walk, the more the lights fade.

I look to my left to see an array of windows plastered on the walls, slightly open. He lets go of my hand for a moment and marches towards the window, hands outstretched.

He pulls the window open in one long movement, and signals for me to go over. "Ladies first." He says with a smile.

I laugh. "What, you want me to fall to my death?" I ask teasingly. His arms fall to his sides. "You'll be fine, just watch your step."

His words do not reassure me in any way, but my mind drives me forward. I reach out and balance myself, before slipping through the window and onto the ledge beneath.

I land perfectly, before snapping my head up and catching sight of Marco making a perfect jump.

"You ever noticed how we always end up sneaking around together?" He asks, overtaking me and climbing down to the floor.

Just like old times.

I nod to myself, saying nothing.

We both stable ourselves on the concrete, eyes glued to cars and taxis flying by. It's dark, but the street still remains illuminated by the club.

"So you're just gonna ditch your club?" I ask, slightly confused.

"The club isn't important right now." He replies, biting his tongue.

Hm.

My thoughts catch up to each other and it clicks to me what he is actually saying. Maybe he does care about me, even just a little.

My feet work themselves and I try to catch up to him as he sneaks through the streets.

The cold city air brushes against my face as we move through the shadows, the towering buildings our only companions. My eyes scan our surroundings, every alley and street corner unfamiliar. New york is my playground, however, Philadelphia is not.

This city is too unfamiliar to me.

We weave our way through the city's labyrinth, carefully avoiding the glaring street lamps. Our footsteps are hushed whispers, lost in the city's ceaseless hum.

The distant sounds of traffic are our soundtrack, a constant reminder of the world that exists beyond our mission.

Just as I get lost in the silence, he turns around.

"Look, I'll get you back safe, I promise. But there are a lot of people here - bad people. And I may not be enough to protect you around them." He explains, taking a long lasting breath.

"What kind of sick and twisted bullshit is this? Lucas dead, so why are we still being fucking targeted?" I question, anger lingering in the space between us.

He steps forward and inhales sharply.

"I couldn't tell you. But what I do know is that we cant have killed every single one of his men, they are angry Lana." He explains, his gaze softening ever so slightly.

I swallow, knowing he's right. But this is dragging on now, and I wont give up until every single one of them are gone for sure.

"We just have to find out who is in control now, and me and you together can figure out what to do from there." He says reassuringly.

"Fine. But I'm not wasting any more time. I wont let us make the same mistakes we did last time." I snap, maintaining the eye contact.

He holds his hand out.

"Come on then."

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