Chapter 7

“Yo, what the fuck are you doing? Don’t put that shit there. You gon’ have people tripping over bottles and shit. Put it in the storage room with the rest of the liquor. And if you break my bottles, I’m gon’ break yo’ ass.”

“I apologize Mr. Dillinger.”

“Don’t be sorry. Be careful.”

I frowned deeply as I headed back to my office on the upper level. Tonight was the grand opening of The Elixir Lounge, my newest legal venture. The staff was busy getting everything ready. With Aura being permanently closed, now was the perfect time to open the doors. I’d moved the grand opening up by a week. Of course, my house manager was furious with me. She was still hiring bottle girls and bartenders when I made the decision.

She cursed me from here to hell while I smiled in her face. It was funny that she thought managing this place took precedence over actually owning it. She could be mad, but I bet she made shit happen. I wasn’t playing her a six-figure salary for her job to be easy.

I vetted her for a reason. Leann Wallace ran a tight ship. She was a beast at keeping order and getting the job done. I had the pleasure of seeing her in action at another lounge a few years ago. That same night I offered her the deal of a lifetime, quit her job, and come manage the other four lounges I owned. She drove a hard bargain, but I wanted her, and I got her. Currently, she was downstairs vetting the new bottle girls. I caught a brief glimpse of them over the railing, but hadn’t paid much attention. I hadn’t been here since in a few weeks due to the demands of my family’s illegal dealings. Now that things had settled down for the time being, here I was.

I sat at my computer looking over inventory and making sure we were fully stocked and ready to go for tonight. The doors were opening at seven and with the buzz surrounding this opening, we were sure to be packed.

There was a knock on my door before it flew open. I didn’t even have to look up.

“Yes, Leann?”

She was the only person here that wasn’t afraid of me and was bold enough to barge in without a formal invitation. She took a seat in front of my desk and crossed her legs.

“When these girls fuck up your shit tonight, I don’t want to hear your mouth.”

“Them fucking up would be a reflection of you. You hired them.”

“Yes, I did. But you, sir, cut out an extra week of training. Some of them have it, some of them don’t.”

“Then the ones that don’t better get it and they better get it quick. We open in four hours.”

“Then maybe you should come light a fire under their ass.”

I looked up from the inventory and into her pretty face. Leann was fine as a muthafucka. She got off on telling me what to do and most of the time I let her because she was usually right. I’d never admit that to her, though. Closing out the checklist, I locked the computer and sat back.

“You love to sass me,” I said.

She smirked. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I could fire you.”

“You could, but you won’t.”

“You sure about that?”

“Positive.”

A stare off commenced before I kissed my teeth and conceded.

“Fine. I’ll talk to them and then I need to leave to get ready for tonight.”

“It takes the pretty boy four hours to get dressed?”

I stood and came from behind my desk. “Don’t ever call me that again. I’m a full-blooded nigga through and through.”

She giggled as she stood and walked ahead of me. My eyes drifted to her ass in the form fitting skirt she wore. I could just see that shit clapping against my thighs.

“Stop looking at my ass, Deuce,” she said, not even looking back.

“Tell your ass to stop looking at me.”

I followed her down to the main floor where the girls were huddled up talking amongst themselves. I had to admit, she hired some fine ass women.

Leann stepped forward and clapped her hands, gathering their attention.

“Alright ladies, listen up. This is Mr. Dillinger, the owner of this fine establishment, aka the head nigga in charge.”

They turned to look at me and smiles broke out on their faces. All but one, that is. My eyes landed on the one person I didn’t expect to see. I’m the one person who she probably didn’t expect to see me either.

Salima Navarro.

A frown was present on her beautiful face. I smirked to myself. It seemed as though she couldn’t get away from me, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. I hadn’t seen her in two weeks, and I hadn’t tried to call her yet. I could imagine if she had given herself a headache, trying to screen calls, thinking that it was me.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” I said, stepping forward to address the crowd. “I hear some of you are having trouble.”

The guilty parties avoided my eyes.

“It’s okay. Customer service isn’t for everybody. However, I don’t play about my business. If you know you can’t handle high traffic, the door is right there. If you can’t handle taking and delivering orders with a smile, follow simple instructions, or think on your feet, again, the door is right there. You can walk out right now and there will be no hard feelings.”

The girls looked around at each other, but nobody moved.

“Since you’re all still standing here, I assume you need this job for whatever reason. I also assume you’ll be able to perform your duties as expected and explained by Ms. Wallace. I’m sure she was thorough. With that being said, I’ll be watching tonight. If any of you fuck up this opening, it will be your first and only night working here. Do I make myself clear?”

They all nodded.

“I have a thing about verbal responses. Again, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” went up around the crowd.

There was the sound of a single scoff, and I didn’t need to guess who it was. I walked over to Salima and stood toe to toe with her.

Fuck she smells good.

“Is there a problem, Ms. Navarro?”

She smirked. “Not at all, sir .”

“Then what’s with the scoffing while I’m talking.”

“Whatever do you mean? I simply had a tickle in my throat.”

That condescending tone did something to me. She was begging me to hem her ass up in a corner somewhere. I had something to tickle her throat.

“Leann.”

“Yes, Mr. Dillinger.”

“Make Ms. Navarro here my lead tonight. If these girls fuck up, it’s on her. Not only will they be out of a job, but so will she.”

The smirk dropped from her face.

“How is that fair!”

“The hands of one are the hands of all. I suggest you get all hands on deck tonight. A team is only as strong as its leader. Show me you aren’t weak.”

“Since you’re the owner, wouldn’t that make you the weakest?”

A few of the girls' eyes widened. A couple of the ones standing next to her side stepped in the other direction. I could see she was going to be the one to try me. I smirked as I spoke, my eyes never leaving hers.

“Ladies, the rest of you can go back to training. Ms. Navarro, follow me to my office.”

Low murmurs met my back as I walked away. I didn’t hear the sound of her feet behind me. I came to a stop but didn’t turn around.

“Salima, let’s go,” I said, my voice deep and full of authority.

She kissed her teeth and finally started moving. We headed upstairs to the long dimly lit hallway where my office sat at the end. I noticed her footsteps ceased and turned back.

“Whatchu’ waiting for?” I asked.

She shook her head. Her arms wrapped around her torso as she hugged herself.

“I’m not going down there.”

“Stop playing and bring your ass.”

“Fuck you! You might as well fire me now.”

“You’re acting like you want me to fire you.”

“The last time I was in the dark ass hallway with you, you put a gun in my fucking face.”

I sighed heavily. We were back on that shit. I decided to do some shit that I rarely did and that was apologize. I walked over and stood in front of her, peering down into those beautiful brown eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry about that, okay? I shouldn’t have pulled my gun on you. I was never going to shoot you, but I shouldn’t have tried to scare. In all honesty, I was trying to keep you out of harm’s way. If somebody else on my team had seen you down there, they would’ve put a bullet in your head, no questions asked. What were you even doing there?”

“I was hiding from the masked men with guns running around the club. People in my hood might walk around with guns for show, but nobody is carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. The last thing I wanted was to end up with a bullet and bleeding out. That would’ve killed my mama. She’s gone through enough medically. I won’t have her having a heart attack because someone killed her child. I’m sure you can understand that. You have a mother, don’t you? A caring mother?”

“I do.”

“If someone took you out, that would kill her.”

“It would. Her last words to me are always be safe and I love you.”

“Even as arrogant an asshole you are, somebody cares for you.”

I smirked. “I’m cared for by many people. There’s an army behind me.”

She crossed her arms. “Like your sisters? The little one squared up at me.”

“Who, Mia?”

“Yes.”

“She didn’t tell me that part.”

“Did you put them up to inviting me to lunch?”

“Why would I do that?”

“You tell me.”

I chuckled. “Make no mistake. I don’t need help from my little sister when it comes to women. I can have any woman I want, including you.”

“ Especially not me. Do women really find your arrogance attractive?”

“Most of them come for the dick. If I put this shit in your life, I guarantee you’ll overlook my arrogance.”

She scoffed. “I would never fuck you.”

“You wouldn’t, because I do the fucking.”

I stepped back, allowing my eyes to trail her frame from head to toe. Salima was a bad muthafucka, and she knew that shit.

“You are a beautiful woman, Ms. Navarro.”

She sighed heavily. “Listen, I really need this job. You stay out of my way, and I’ll be your best employee. I’ll make sure the girls are on their toes. Just… please don’t make this hard on me, Stanley.”

“Please stop calling me that. My name is Deuce.”

“Your mama named you Stanley. I’m calling you Stanley.”

“You hardheaded.”

“I am. I’m not a lil’ baby that’s gon’ listen. You don’t run me. I may not trust you, but I’m not afraid of you.”

I cocked my head to the side as I watched her. She had this fire in her eyes that told me she meant that shit. I respected that. But more than anything, it intrigued me. Most women I came across were quick to do whatever I said. It was easy, but a nigga like me loved a challenge. Ms. Navarro, seem like she would make me work for the opportunity to even breathe her air.

“You can go back downstairs. I’ll be keeping an eye on you. “

“I’m sure you will be.” She turned and walked back toward the stairs. Stopping on the top one, she looked back at me. “I hope you have a successful grand opening.”

“Thank you.”

She left me with a smile. I walked over to the railing and watched her as she made her way back to the group. She looked back up at me, and I could’ve sworn she had a little extra sway to her hips. I smirked to myself. She could play hard to get. But before it was all said and done, I would have her right where I wanted her.