Club Prive: Un-Leashed (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A Bad Boy Crime Family Romance Book 1) (5 page)

I didn’t follow her. “Sophia Teresa Alessandra Bianchi!” I deliberately yelled out her full name to get her attention. “I’m going to meet them. Dinner and nothing more. You can either come along, or go home alone.”

That stopped her dead in her tracks. She spun around on her high heels and hurried back to my side. “Shit! Fine. That’s just great!”

I saw a lit up yellow cab in the distance and held out my arm. It changed lanes and inched forward, stopping at the curb beside us. “So you’re coming, I gather?” I asked calmly, opening the back door to get inside.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and cursed some more under her breath. “Yes. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Paige

The city lights blurred as we zipped through much lighter traffic of familiar back streets that led to the restaurant. Sophia didn’t have another word to say to me on the topic of Angelo Salvatore during the drive, or when the taxi finally stopped. I just wished I knew what she was hiding.

We walked into Rinaldi’s, a stately two-story turn-of-the-century gray brick restaurant. The maître d’ informed us that our party was already waiting, and led us through the quaint entry hall into the dining hall. We had been here for dinner before, but not since the owners had done an extensive renovation. It was a long, narrow space, like many restaurants in the area, and now its high, gilded ceilings, partly-mirrored mahogany walls and nicely spaced dining tables made the place seem much larger. I couldn’t wait to eat one of their celebrated steaks. Sure, everything on the menu here was expensive, but I was ready to celebrate. Plus Sophia was paying.

Our dinner party was in a secluded, close-off private dining area at the back. The room was elegantly decorated in a brick and beam style, which must have been a separate, more recent remodeling from the rest of the place. A cascading crystal chandelier with wrought iron shading hung above the long table at the center, which large enough to seat twelve, but was set with seven place settings tonight. Angelo was the only familiar face of the five men waiting for us. The energy in the room was relaxed and inviting, and all their welcoming smiles set me at ease right away.

“Ladies,” Angelo greeted us warmly, getting to his feet. “Glad you could make it.”

Sophia nodded. “Thanks.”

The men all stood up. Wow. Every one of them was at least six feet tall, ridiculously fit and attractive. No. Smoking hot was the best way to describe them. All except one wore well-pressed dress shirts, and either slacks or dark jeans. From left to right, there was Angelo, someone who looked like him, which I guessed was his brother, a broad giant with blond hair, an equally tall and wide African-American, and a trim but fit guy wearing eyeglasses. 

“I should probably do some introductions,” Angelo announced. “Sophia and Paige, this is Jeff, a friend of mine.” He pointed at the man to his left. We shook his hand in turn as Angelo went around the table. “Next to him is Clive, then Tre, and you may remember my brother, Franko. Clive and Tre are his friends from college. They’re up from Baton Rouge for the weekend.”

“Good to meet you,” I said.

“Look at you, Franko!” my sister exclaimed, heading over to Franko’s side. He was the only one in a three-piece suit. “The last time I saw you, you were yea high.” She waved her palm down to waist height.

He grinned. “I’m all grown up now, sweet thing.”

“That I can see, and still all charm. Paige, don’t you remember him?”

“I…I don’t think so,” I said, smiling stiffly. I still didn’t enjoy being put on the spot about all those years ago.

Angelo pointed to the two chairs between him and his brother, and they each pulled one out for Sophia and me. I wasn’t surprised to end up beside Franko, with Sophia strategically positioning herself between Angelo and me. She could be fiercely protective at times, and clearly wasn’t taking any chances now that she knew he was interested.

Menus and bottles of wine were already on the table, so I checked the menu while Franko poured me a glass of red. Sophie made small talk with Angelo.

“You really don’t remember me?” Franko asked after my glass was filled.

I gave him a good long look, and shook my head. “I wish I did. Sophia was the outgoing one…why?”

He placed his napkin back in his lap and picked up his glass. “I’m pretty sure my sister had both of you over for sleepovers. I don’t believe she had any other friends at school who were twins. Italian identical twin sisters with green eyes…you’re not that easy to forget.” Noticing the looks he got from his friends, he put the topic to rest and picked up his menu. “We should get to eating. Jeff’s taking us out after.”

Dinner was ordered and eventually served. The conversation stayed light and lively, with much of the talk being led by Franko about football, as both of his friends played on the college team.

I excused myself from the table to use the second-floor restrooms while we waited for the first course. On my way back, Angelo was waiting on the landing. My breath hitched when I met his gaze across the hall. My sister had essentially cut off any possible chance for either of us to be more acquainted over dinner, and now, with no barriers between us, all I wanted to do was get closer. That was the problem with Sophia’s warning to stay away from him—it only pushed me to get closer. Not that I was a rebel, but it was hard enough to keep my distance given the fact that it was the third time I’d seen him today, he was instrumental in helping me line up the most promising job opportunity I’d had since graduating from college, and he was hot as hell. Oh, and the energy between us could probably light up a city block.

Wrapped up in his intense stare, and setting aside everything Sophia had said about him being a mobster, man-whore and totally wrong for me, I approached him like a moth to the flame.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I told him when I got to him.

“Or never leave each other’s side,” he murmured, stepping closer until only a few inches separated us. He loomed over me in the most seductive way. “Can you guess what I’d like to know?”

“I’m not great at guessing,” I breathed out, neglecting to mention that any activity requiring coherent thought would be near impossible for me while I was standing this close to him, inhaling his clean, citrusy cologne mixed in with his masculine scent. At this proximity, I should have taken a step back, but I didn’t. I didn’t move, other than to brush a stray strand of her hair behind my ear. “Maybe you should just ask.”

“A few things. Well, more than a few. I’d like to learn everything there is to know about you…but that may take a while. So let me start with something both simple and confounding to me. What is it about you that makes me sure we’ve been here before?”

“Here… as in Rinaldi’s?”

“No.” He leaned closer, sliding a hand around my waist. “Here as in so close I can taste you.”

“I don’t…know.” With his hand on me now, I could feel the heat his body gave off. It was warm and inviting, pulling me in without any effort at all on my part, burning me up from the inside out, spreading heat out from my core like a wildfire. I was aching, and there was no avoiding a force this magnetic.

No.

I had no intention of staying away.

After a moment, I couldn’t stop myself. Saying nothing more, my hands pressed against his chest, I drifted up to him, and our lips connected. I kissed him. His hand moved from my waist to the small of my back, causing me to moan when he pulled me in tighter. Our light kiss turned into something hungry, new and thrilling, yet so familiar, I was beginning to believe we’d done this before.

Déjà vu.

No doubt about that.

If it weren’t for the glaring fact that we were standing in the hallway of a restaurant with our dinner party waiting for us, I would have let him take me somewhere private so we could continue. Realizing where we were again, I pulled apart long enough to say, “We should get back.”

Eyes still half-closed and lustful, he nodded. “I guess we should.”

I floated downstairs ahead of him, heady, aroused and grateful that the night was young. It was a miracle that I could carry on a conversation after Angelo and I returned to the table.

At some point, Sophia led a toast to celebrate my new job, and I learned that Jeff was actually
the
Jeff Henderson, self-made billionaire and owner of eVaultify, a billion-dollar technology software encryption firm with main offices in Manhattan and Silicon Valley. And that he was also good friends with my brand spanking new boss’s boss. I wasn’t surprised. The insanely wealthy of New York stuck together.

They were competitive too.

Before we made it to the main course, Jeff was ready to have me leave Neville Industries and try out working for him.

“Oh no. Not a chance. Not yet, anyway,” Angelo objected.

Jeff narrowed his eyes and gave him a confused sideways glance. “Why the hell not? You’re playing favorites now?”

“Christ no, but I just put in a good word with Vic to give her a shot.”

“And?”

“Do I need to spell it out?”

“Yes.”

“One word. Loyalty. You wouldn’t want me poaching your people their first day on the job, would you?”

“Give me a break,” Jeff scoffed. “She’s barely got her foot in the door. She’s what I’d like to call
fair game
.”

“Hang on, gentlemen,” Sophia said, getting way too comfortable with the power player she’d just met at the same time as I did. “She’s right here. It would be nice for her to have a say.”

“What she said,” I added after taking a big gulp of my wine.

“So…what do you want, Paige?”

I looked at the faces around the table one by one, pausing for effect now that the alcohol buzz was starting to kick in and tear down some of my inhibitions. “Angelo’s right. No poaching the new girl, Jeff.”

“Crap. I had so many ideas for how you and your sister could spook the hell out of some of my VPs.”

Sophia shook her head. “Seriously? That’s why you want to hire my sister? Not because she has relevant education and work experience, but on account of the fact that she’s a twin?”

“Not
just
that, though you’d be impressed to know I’ve hired people on much less, and they went on to impress the hell out of me.”

“Impressed may not be the word I’d choose.”

“Well, your choice, Paige.” He pulled out a business card and passed it across the table. “If you ever change your mind, now you know where to find me.”

Really?

This was all it took to have two promising job options come my way?

A chance meeting at a coffee shop?

Dinner out with Sophia?

Had I known, I’d have clung to her coat tails more often.

And maybe I’d have visited expensive coffee houses regularly.

“Thanks,” I told Jeff, accepting the card. 

I gave Angelo a wink. Meeting him definitely helped. Tonight’s seating arrangements didn’t allow for much more than a few words between us, but every so often, my eyes would wander over in his direction. My stomach did a flip every time I caught him staring. After that smoldering kiss upstairs, I didn’t mind the butterflies. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been remotely interested in anyone. I figured that the second Sophia left, we could pick up where we left off. And he had my number.

Six courses and just as many bottles of wine later, I was stuffed, relaxed and tipsy. As a first generation Italian myself, I always believed that dinner at Italian restaurants should have mandatory stretchy pants rule. Tonight was no exception. A long walk was definitely in order. After coffee and dessert, Sophia paused her chat with Angelo and leaned over to me. “I’ll be skipping out soon. I’m working tonight.”

“That’s too bad,” Franko said when he overheard us. You’ll miss the fun.”

“Where are you all heading?”

Franko raised his eyebrows. “I’ll let Jeff do the honors. He’s the one who scored an invite for the group. Right Jeff?”

Straightening his eyeglasses, Jeff cleared his throat and ran a hand through his light brown hair. “We’re going to Club Privé. Have you heard of it?”

I hadn’t, but Sophia nodded. “I’ve been there… a few years back, I think. Is it that club with the pool on the main floor?”

“That’s the place.”

“Nice. It’s pretty classy. Didn’t they close down?”

“They did, a while back. They reopened about a year ago.”

“I was there for drinks or happy hour, I think.” She tapped my arm. “You should go, Paige.”

“Sure. After all this food, I could use a little exercise.”

Sophia turned to Jeff again. “It’s a dance club, right?”

“It used to be.” Jeff glanced over at Angelo, then at Franko. I noticed a marked contrast to his demeanor a second earlier.

“Full disclosure, ladies,” Angelo spoke up, glaring at Jeff now. “It’s now a sex club.”

Sophia leaned forward in her chair. “Come again?”

“Club Privé is a sex club…but we’re only going for drinks.”

“And to watch,” Jeff added, smiling.

Tre, Clive and Franko looked at one another for a second, waiting for someone to continue, and the three of them cracked up with laughter. Who could blame them? They were so young, I was fully expecting a lot more immaturity than they’d shown all through dinner. A few giggles over the mention of a sex club was minor. Not that I had ever been to one. I had barely been to regular dance clubs, tightly wound chronic homebody that I was.

I leaned back in my chair, allowing my full stomach some extra room while patiently waiting for Sophia’s reaction. I didn’t have to look over at her to know she had probably gone from zero to crazy-eyed, and ready to scold someone at the table for assuming we would ever entertain the idea of joining them.