Chapter 2

Dominick

The feeling of Chloe's soft skin beneath my fingers still burns. What in the fuck is she doing here? Anthony said he'd hired another server, but her ? Chloe?

I try to steady myself against the wave of arousal clawing through me. Chloe is so incredibly stunning, and she'd never been unattractive. Just your best friend's sister, you dumbass.

Sure, I'd been well on my way to violence and mayhem by the time she was in high school, but I'd made the odd visit to their house every now and then. Anthony is my buddy, after all.

So how in the hell did I not notice those tempting curves she's sporting?

"Because she's my best friend's baby sister, for fuck's sake." I drag my hand through my dark hair. "Ugh. Pull it together, Dom."

I walk up the stairs near the back to my office. I need at least five minutes to myself and a stiff drink. I don't really give a fuck that it's only a quarter to one.

"Shit. Not gonna happen, Dom. This cannot fucking happen."

Grumbling to myself, I walk to the small bar I have in the corner and pour myself a few fingers of whiskey. I don't tolerate the cheap shit here, so it's like silk when I swallow every last drop in one gulp.

"Okay. You got this." I glance at my reflection in the mirror above the small bar. "What, you can handle a mortar shell ten feet away but not some pretty girl?"

As I flop down in the chair behind my desk and flip open my laptop, I'm still thinking about Chloe, much to my chagrin.

But I remember this excited kid, ready to take on the world, talking nonstop about becoming a teacher whenever I'd be there hanging out with Anthony.

Clearly, you were dealing with your own shit because it's not like she just woke up one day at twenty-seven, hot as fuck.

And it hits me that she didn't seem excited or enthusiastic today.

In fact, at the end there, she seemed downright terrified. Now, I'm aware that I'm a scary fucker. It's done on purpose, but what was that all about?

One minute, I was helping with her finger and desperately fighting back the urge to crush my lips against hers, and the next she was out of the room like a bat out of hell.

My mind settles on how close she was for a moment, closer than I let anyone besides my brothers get, and I have to blink several times to refocus.

"And what, precisely, is a teacher doing working at Opal?" I shake my head. "No, no. We're not doing this. You do not need to know. Her business. Leave it alone."

After entering my password, I pull up the security feed on my computer, a familiar part of the routine during open hours, and I scan over the images of the floor and the back room.

Everything looks fine. There are no issues that I can see from here, and my typical security features are in place.

I've had my fair share of altercations in the club, and I'm over how much damage they cause, so I have a number of bouncers, scanners, and locks scattered throughout the club.

"Yes, good. Solid night ahead of us."

Relaxing back in my chair, my eyes hit the panel where the bar is displayed, and I see Chloe come in from the back to take her place for her shift. Shit .

Opal has been my baby since I thought up the concept, but I was always more interested in the construction part than the actual running of the club. As a result, the decision about what the staff would wear was not mine.

It was Luke's and being immature and the endless flirt my brother is, I have him to blame for what I'm looking at.

Chloe is decked out in the club's typical gear, which I'd never considered before, but now? I can't stop staring as I see how her tempting curves fill the shimmering, holographic shorts designed to "look like an opal," according to Luke.

Sitting forward in my chair, I lean closer to the screen, unable to pry my eyes away from watching Chloe. The white fishnets beneath the shorts hug her thighs, and the sheer top covers a white bra that barely contains her full breasts.

She even wears the stupid wig well. The opal-colored hair is a stark contrast against her warm, light tan skin, even if I miss her chocolate brown locks tucked underneath.

"Bad. This is very, very bad."

"What is?"

I slam the laptop shut like I was watching porn as Anthony comes strolling in, doing my best to tuck away the erection straining behind my slacks.

"Sales were slower than I'd hoped last month, and I'm looking to start that other restaurant."

Hell, that sounded pretty convincing. But lying comes rather easy to me, which is, of course, a whole thing, isn't it?

As confident as ever, Anthony approaches my desk and sits on the edge. He's a staple around here and has been in my life for as long as I can remember.

He may not be my brother by blood like Luke and Jay, but he's as good as family as far as I'm concerned, which means I can rib him just as hard for letting his kid sister into my club.

"I'm more than sure you'll be fine, Dom. Opal is doing great." He smiles, that megawatt grin enough to make any girl swoon, and I roll my eyes. "I've actually come to let you know that the interviews went well, and we should have two more part-time bartenders coming on to help with the evening shifts."

Ah, perfect segue.

"Speaking of…" I narrow my eyes at him, not about to let him off the hook for hiring Chloe without so much as a word to me about it. "Chloe?"

Anthony sighs as he grimaces. "Ah, so I'm guessing you had your first run-in with my good old kid sister. I promise she'll work hard. You know Chloe. She just needed a break. I couldn't say no."

Crossing one leg over the other, I sit back once more and eye him hard. "You didn't want to talk to me about it?"

Anthony frowns, rolling his eyes ever so slightly. "Oh, come on, Dom. Do you really care? She suddenly showed up back in town, desperate for a job. I had a way to help, so I did. What else was I supposed to do? She's family."

Jerk. He knows that's exactly the right cord to tug with me.

"A heads-up would have been nice." I sigh, losing the false frustration. "So, what's the deal? Why was your sister so desperate for work?"

"I didn't really ask." Anthony's eyes fall to the desk. "She's always been more than responsible, enough for the both of us, honestly, and to see her so down and out was literally a shock."

I raise my brows at him. "You didn't ask what was going on?"

"Look, it's not like I'm not curious. But Chloe has been off doing her own thing since college. She checks in, sure, but as far as I know, everything had been going well for her. She was teaching, had a fiancé, and was managing payments for our Gran's care on her own, insistent that I needn't help."

I can see the concern in Anthony's eyes when he looks back up, and deep in my chest, I feel an odd pinch.

"She said the guy's out of the picture now. So I assume her being here has something to do with him. Chloe seemed…upset about it, and I didn't want to push. It's on my mind to talk with her, though. I'm sure she needs more help than she'll admit. She's like that."

"Just out of the picture? She didn't mention anything else?" I quirk a brow.

"I tried to get more out of her. I am her big brother, after all, even if she's twenty-seven now. But she wouldn't say anything. Just that she left him."

It takes everything in me to ignore the burn in my gut. I don't like shitty partners. I've dealt with them enough on my mom's behalf.

I also know that it shouldn't bother me so much that a girl I knew way back when had a rough breakup. I'm not her boyfriend, and I don't plan on changing that.

Still, I can be upset about my best friend's kid sister going through a rough time. And that's all this is.

"All right. Fair enough. I get wanting to help her." I offer Anthony a sympathetic nod.

"Thank you. Chloe's not a slacker. I know that much, and she said it's not permanent. She taught back in the city. No doubt she'll want to start that back up in Hildale Port."

"I hope she finds a teaching gig soon, then. She sucks at bartending." I cock a smirk at him.

"Oof, really?" Anthony cringes again. "How about I get her to shadow Yasmin to learn the ropes?"

Standing and coming around to the front of my desk, I clap Anthony on the shoulder. "That's using that lump three feet above your ass."

"Gee, boss, you're so flattering." He shoves me off, getting up and heading toward the door. "I'll head down now and get Yasmin to help Chloe."

"See that she does. There are only so many glasses in this joint, and I don't want to order more."

"Ah, fuck. Okay, okay. I'm on it." He takes a few steps toward the door. "Not that you can't afford it, though. What was that line from the magazine? ‘Most Eligible Club Owner'? Or was it ‘Most Eligible Business Mogul'?"

I squint at him, raising my brows before I answer with, "Fuck off, Hamilton."

With that, Anthony leaves, and I'm left alone in my office once more. And unfortunately, I'm only more curious about what's going on with Chloe.

Who is this guy she left, and why straight up get out of town instead of just finding a new place like you do with any other breakup? I mean, moving to an entirely different city seems a little drastic, and Chloe never struck me as the drama queen type.

It doesn't sit right. Something is off about Chloe showing up here so randomly.

"You don't move away from the standard ex-boyfriend bullshit. Upending your life? No. What are you up to, Chloe Hamilton?"

I open up my laptop once more, and immediately, the screen switches to the camera view of the bar.

There she is, standing just behind the glossy surface, wiping another glass. Please, don't drop this one. I only want to play medic once today.

I watch as Anthony goes over and they chat.

I can see the surprise and then embarrassment flood Chloe's face as Anthony tells her about the good news. She needs a babysitter.

Chloe appears to quickly shake it off, however, and I see her look to Yasmin, our top bartender and oldest employee, as she struts over.

They shake hands, and I notice how much taller Yasmin is than Chloe. Must not have worn the heels. Good choice.

Yasmin gets to work doing her thing and makes teaching the newbie look like a breeze. There's not a day that goes by I'm not glad we hired her, plus helping her take care of college tuition is nice.

All the while, I can't break free from staring at Chloe as she works with her new tutor. Beyond the fucking stunning sex appeal of her uniform, her hands are still timid as she mixes drinks and learns how to work faster.

"It's so not like you. What happened to Glowy Chloe?"

I remember her grandmother teasing her with the name. And I remember Anthony teasing her with it.

But it had always been a nod to how she lit up a room. She looks like her light's gone out .

As I watch, for admittedly way too long, I feel a flare of anger set up shop in my veins.

"Someone did this. Someone made you lose your shine."

And whoever it was might have to face a dose of Shaw brothers medicine.