Red

C H A P T E R T H R E E

He was hot as fuck.

I didn’t think it was possible to meet someone who was capable of knocking the air right out of your lungs, capable of drying your mouth up because your brain is convinced that only the taste of him will clench your thirst. I felt my whole head follow him as he crossed the room and took a seat next to his men.

His clothes hugged to his body in a way that made him appear professional but oh so fuckable all at the same time. His eyes were surrounded by a metallic silver mask, made from silk. He wore black smart trousers, black smart shoes and a shirt that I’m guessing used to be stark, crisp, clean white. Except now it was stained with huge crimson splatters. He wore the blood of his victim like it was a trophy.

He waved the server over and a lady in lingerie seductively walked to their table. I watched them engage with her and my chest tightened because I wanted to be the one to serve their table. Her hips swayed as she walked back over to the bar and begun preparing their drinks.

“Are you deaf? I said fuck off whore.” My eyes fell down on the table of men that I had insulted and narrowly missed getting shot from. I gave them a disgusted look and then quickly took on my heels to the bar.

“Hi, I’m Willa. I’m new, you need any help with that?” I held my hand out for the barmaid and she shook it with a smile.

“Blondie.” She replied “And we don’t use real names here, but sure, if you could grab that second tray and follow me that would be great.” I picked up the tray of mojitos and followed her to Ace’s table. I copied her exact action, she took a glass off the tray and loaded them down on the table one by one.

Ace didn’t look up at me, he wore a scowl on his face and didn’t look impressed at all. Now that I was closer I could see blood splatters on his face and covering the backs of his hands. He looked like the monster from a horror movie, a chiseled, sharp, beautiful monster hand crafted by Satan himself.

I spent the rest of the evening wondering how I was going to get myself close to this man when he didn’t even know I existed.

Toni, my so called ‘protector’ had gotten himself drunk and lay past out with his cheek pressed against a dirty napkin on the bar. I had been clearing glasses and bringing men drinks for hours, my feet hurt for standing in stilettos so long and Ace hadn’t so much as looked my way. This mission was fast sinking ship.

“The sun is up, we can leave.” Blondie whispered to me at silly-o’clock in the morning. The room had basically emptied out of men and only Aces table remained. I wasn’t going anywhere until he left though. I said my goodbyes to her and watched as she disappeared through a door.

It was exactly two hours later when Ace was sat alone at his booth, still drinking. There were a few men left dotted around the room, probably about six in total. I hovered close to his table, clearing away glasses in order to look busy.

“How about a dance?” I stood up straight and glanced his way, two blue eyes, glossy and alive peered into me from the peepholes in his mask. Did he want a lap dance? I stood conflicted for a few seconds, I told myself I wasn’t going to do anything against my will, I wasn’t going to degrade myself or let them disrespect me. Yet here I was contemplating giving Ace a lap dance, just to get myself on his radar.

He leaned forward in his seat and placed his empty glass down on the table in front of him. Then he sat back casually with legs parted and waiting.

I placed the tray of dirtied glasses down and walked up to him, swaying my hips and maintaining a decent thigh gap. He watched me, brooding bedroom eyes trailing my whole body with interest. I pulled on the black curtain and closed off his whole booth to the roaming alcoholic eyes of the six or seven men dotted around the room.

I caught frown lines appear on his forehead for a small second but then he lifted his expression to an impassive stance.

I walked slowly over to him, circling around his body only once. I positioned myself behind him and leaned over his shoulder, grazing my hand downwards over his left pectoral, feeling the expensive bloodstained cotton of his dress shirt.

My hand traveled further south caressing over the smooth material of his trousers, feeling everything he had to offer. His body tensed beneath my hand but then my feet started moving around to his front.

I parted my legs widely in order to climb on top of his lap and straddle him. Instinctively his hands landed on my ass and I moved up and down grinding myself on him in time with the beat of the music as he rubbed and squeezed my behind.

Subconsciously I located three guns on his person, one tucked into his trousers and two under his shirt sitting just above each of his hips. I convinced myself how easy it would be to pull them from his body and blow his brains out right here, right now. But I kept my twitching fingers still, or rather I kept my twitching fingers clutching the back of his neck and tugging in his dark hair because killing him now would be too easy.

I arched my back, forcing my breasts into his face and moved my fingers through my own hair while I moved my lower body against his seductively. He seemed to be enjoying himself judging by the raging erection pulsating against the outside of my lingerie. His hands found my hips, gripping them tight enough to leave finger marks in my flesh.

Then I landed my focus on his eyes, the windows to his tarnished soul. They looked brighter surrounded by all of that silver. Inside those blue eyes the professional man was lost, replaced with someone capable of loving deeply.

His captivating eyes held a million hues of a cloudless sky and had the power to draw me in further. Laying behind them was a mystery waiting to be solved, they were the passion in ice and sparkled with a mischievous glint. A mere hint at the man behind the mafia.

In a nano second Ace pushed me to the floor like he was wiping fallen crumbs off his trousers. He stood up straight and towered over me, casting a shadow on my face.

“Who are you? Who approved you?” He roared aggressively. I fumbled to my feet and straightened out my underwear but I daren’t answer him in fear of saying the wrong thing. He gripped his hands around my arm, pushing in at my flesh in the most constricting, painful way and then dragged me away through a back door.

My poor feet must’ve had blisters on by now and he was forcefully dragging me somewhere but I couldn’t quite keep up. I wasn’t expecting this mission to crumble so fast and I kept silently questioning what I did wrong. Ace brought me to an office, he bent me down over the desk.

My cheek pressed against the cold, hard wooden surface and he gripped my hands behind my back, pinning me in place. The position seemed erotic but the whole situation couldn’t have been further from pleasurable.

“I’ve had a really shitty day and I’m not in the mood for some whore on a power trip. That wasn’t one of my dances and I’ve never seen you around here before. Who approved you?” His voice was drenched in authority and judging by the grip he held me down with I wasn’t so sure I could wiggle my way out of it. He was strong, I underestimated his strength. I won’t make that mistake again.

“Some guy called Toni.” I mumbled among my struggle. I tried to break free from his grasp but I was unable to move so I just lay there head down, ass up, captive under his strong hands. He released one of his hands and pulled out his gun, pressing the cold metal into the bones of my bare spine. He bent down, over my body, pressing his lips close to my ear.

“If I pull this trigger right now the bullet won’t kill you but it will paralyse you. It will blast right through your spinal cord and I’ll make sure it causes permanent damage.” He pressed his dick against my ass and my eyes widened. He was still hard from the lap dance. “I’ll give you a week to learn how I like things around here, seven days from now if you fail I will put you in that damn wheelchair myself.”