Chapter 156


    He tells me things like this, he told me about things even before, so I have no doubts.


    I walk in, this time keeping my eyes off my sulky bastard of a man and slide the tray down in the centre


    of the seating on one of the low tables. I have to avoid looking his way and get with the programme that


    we can barely stand each other. Jackson slides his beside mine neatly, an eerie silence of men staring


    at us, and as I go to follow him out, I’m halted by that snappy tone.


    “Pour it … get your head out of your ass, Walters.” A harsh cutting tone that signals I’m not done here.


    Alexi sounds pissed still, and I spin to catch him ring at me as though I havemitted the ultimate


    sin by expecting them to pour their own. They expect servitude of women in his world, even I know


    that. What I didn’t expect was him to still be in the throes of prick mode and singling me out again.


    Why the fuck did he make mee up here if he was going to be like this? He could have got any of


    the staff to run after his arse and serve his buddies. This all feels a little too personal.


    And when does he ever call me Walters? Never, not in the whole time I have known him. It’s always


    Cam or London.


    I re right back, this time upset reced with an ignited fury that he should talk down to me like a


    piece of shit in front of these men. I don’t care who they are. He has no right to treat me so badly when


    I run this fucking club and make it what it is. I’m not just one of the low wage staff downstairs. I own


    part of the fucking building! I earned my respect.


    Santagato sits back and getsfy, lounging like a fat cat who owns the joint and I can almost feel his


    eyes boring into me, enjoying my humility. Smug and getting off to a woman being put in her ce. A


    woman he was denied not so long ago and nausea swirls in my stomach, my skin crawling as his eyes


    eat me up like fresh meat. Hating him with a passion for enjoying this.


    “How awful of me to forget my ce.” I grind out thest word, oozing disdain with every syble,


    throwing Alexi a dagger of a sneer and pull the tray towards me to put the cups out. I grit my teeth to


    stop myself mming them on the polished surface and rein in the bubblingva threatening to explode


    out of me.


    WANKER, ARSEHOLE, TOSSER, PRICK, ARSEHOLE!


    All of the above and then some.


    Alexi ignores me and talks right over the top of me like I’m nothing. Not everything, not his everything


    … just the worthless nothing he said I wasn’t.


    This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org.


    Actions speak louder than words Alexi. Don’t you know that?


    “Can’t get the help nowadays.” He smirks and Santagato lets out a dirty gratingugh. Like nails on a


    chalkboard and I shudder inwardly. Anotheryer of my skin threatening to peel from my bones as


    cringe overtakes me. I really despise Santagato with a passion only my hatred of Alexi rivalled; maybe


    he can have it back.


    “Well, if you have to choose between efficient or fuckable, I guess it’s hard to tick both boxes. I can see


    her assets are probably best carried out on her knees.” He snorts dirtily and my whole body stiffens as I


    try not to react. I start inwardly reciting a mantra to myself.


    You know this is how this world works—ignore and breath.


    Don’t react.


    Don’t reply with a catty remark.


    For the love of God, just keep your mouth SHUT.


    I can’t even bring myself to look at Alexi and all the blood drains from my face as his voice cuts in.


    “I’ve had better. She is good at keeping the papers in order though.”


    I swear I feel like I might be sick, listening to him like this. The way he just dismissed sex with me in


    such a degrading manner. It’s too much. I just can’t.


    The same cold bastard he has been for months and even though I know it’s not real, it’s so hard to


    separate. How can I believe he is capable of more when it’s so easy for him to revert to kind? How can


    I have faith in someone who is capable of still being this way after telling me he loved me?


    It’s unnecessarily cruel. It’s cold and hurtful and it’s what I should have expected from a man who used


    my past to destroy me. He isn’t any different. He is exactly who he has always been.


    I pour a few mugs full of ck coffee carefully, keeping myself in check to show nothing outwardly. My


    mask moving in to shield me from prying eyes and I make very practised deliberate movements to hide


    how my inner self trembles and breaks, ready to sob her day away. I slide them in front of the men


    sitting, stomach tight and throat closing, pushing the sugar bowl and creamer jug to them, only too d


    that I can escape now I’m done. I turn to push one at Alexi knowing he takes his ck with no


    sweeteners at all.


    “Do you take anything? Sugar, creamer? Arsenic?” I mutter thest word under my breath at him but


    it’s obvious by the tiny, angry flicker in his jawline that he heard it, and I get a cold re thrust at me


    from under furrowed dark brows. Those pale eyes stirring with a hint of a storm, and I sense a


    foreboding that makes me want to run.


    “Go be a good girl and find something to polish downstairs. Maybe tidy up your makeup while you are


    at it, I can’t stand looking at sloppy women.” Alexi growls at me, pointing out that my liner is probably


    smudging from unquenched tears on the way up here and earns himself a seething, hateful re. The


    air bristling between us with a static that makes the hair on my skin stand on end. In this second, I


    loathe him.


    I lift my chin, swoosh my hair back with sass and turn on my heel without a further response, I don’t


    wait a moment longer. Ready to storm off on stilettos and screw him to hell and back—I hate him.


    Fuck that wanker, I will never let him touch me again.


    “That ass … I would love to fuck her ck and blue and still get hard for a second round.” Santagato’s


    filthy mouth follows me out the door and I inwardly cringe once more, skin crawling and aware of the


    fact Alexi has not once warned him off this time. His lewdments go unchecked and no show of


    possessive ownership at all.


    Alexi the bastard wouldn’t let Santagato near me, but the person in that room said nothing about his


    sexual remarks. In fact, he fucking encouraged it. I hesitate for a moment and wonder if this version of


    him would let him touch me and I have no clear answer. I’m confused, heartbroken and angrier than


    hell. No clue what the hell happened to him in such a short space of time and just wishing I never came


    down at all.


    I m the door as I storm out, fire and tears battling to be dominant and I head straight for the lift.


    Jackson close at my heel and he seems to sense he shouldn’t say anything this time or get too close.


    An icy silence emanating from me that speaks volumes. Jackson sheepishly gives me my venting


    space and I refuse to let myself crumble for someone who doesn’t deserve my tears.


    Fuck you, Alexi Carrero. I should have known this is who you would be.


    I look up from my seat at the bar where I’m sorting through receipts as the group of men walk past.


    Alexi deep in conversation with Santagato amid them and I try my best to nk thempletely. Still


    pissed as hell and overly prickly from earlier. He pauses as theye level and looks at me coldly,


    pulling my eyes to his with just the power of that stare and I curse myself for the tingles that spread


    across my body like wildfire. Averting my gaze just as quickly and trying to zone him out.


    “Walters?” He almost barks it, prickish tone and bossy shithead demeanour fully engaged and I slowly


    lift my head deliberately to hide the fact I’m hating on him and he is not exactly helping the situation.


    “What, Mr Carrero.” I ooze hostile charm and sarcasm as I re right at his smug bastard face and his


    eyebrow twitches slightly. Think he has finally realised I’m so livid I’m beyond furious and maybe he is a


    little too convincing.


    It’s not a game for me. It’s not an act. I’m genuinely wounded and right now I could easily stab him in


    the face with my pen.


    “Inform my guest for the club tonight that I won’t be here. I have ns, won’t be back before dawn and


    will rearrange during the week.” Doesn’t skip a beat, just a smoothmand with no hint of anything in


    it. Another reason to up my level of anger at him.


    I know he has no specific guest for tonight, so this is code for ‘baby I’m dumping you and fucking off


    with my Mafia sidekicks for sex and drugs and wanker antics somewhere else tonight. Don’t wait up’.


    “I’ll get right on that.” I droll, bitch and frost so intense even Jackson looks at me with a questioning


    nce, and then at Alexi and walks off. Knowing he should keep out of the firing line and not able to


    react.


    I just stare Alexi down, pull my gaze back to my paperwork as if I don’t give a rat’s ass and try to go


    back to pretending that he is dead to me. I will freeze the arsehole out and see how much he likes it.


    Let him dangle at the other side of this and see how it feels to be treated as unimportant.


    I don’t bother looking up again when I hear the footsteps progress towards the main door and try not to


    get hit with that wave of pure disappointment as he leaves with them. No real attempt to smooth things


    over, even if they were close by and just fucks off and leaves anyway.


    Does he not have a clue that when your woman is contemting packing her bags and heading for the


    hills because of your arsehole behaviour, then thest thing you should do is leave her to go cavort


    with men she fucking hates!


    It’s not even 2 p.m. and Alexi is obviously nning on making an entire half day of whatever they are


    doing. I don’t even want to know.


    As far as I’m concerned, Alexi can go fuck himself.


    You don’t treat people that way, for any reason. You don’t try to make amends for the past by turning


    right back into the same arsehole who made me hate you in the first ce and think I will be fine with it.


    Because I’m not, in any shape or form, and he has underestimated the importance of my hostile mood.


    I don’t care if he doesn’te back for a week. I don’t want to see him after this.


    I go back to my papers, scattered across the marble bar in a haphazard mess, determined to just put


    him out of my head and my heart and forget everything he said to me in thest two days.


    Dismissing it all because really, how can I feel anything warm and fluffy when he’s shown he can still be


    an evil sadist who doesn’t give two shits about my feelings.


    He has me seething, restless and utterly deste inside. As though a cold front moved in and killed all


    my internal organs so that even crying is impossible. My tears have frozen like jagged little icicles


    inside me to inflict even more pain.


    Just bloody dandy and my ns and hopes that today would be a great day are defunct. Killed my


    mood, brought down the sun and just ruined everything. Like a typical boorish pig-headed son of a


    bitch whose internalpass points only at his own egotistical needs and thinks nothing beyond that.


    I won’t let him get to me like this. I will bury my head in my work, pass the time with tasks before the


    club opens tonight and then go to bed and ignore him when he shows face. No doubt drenched in the


    smell of cheap perfume, tacky whores and booze. I don’t doubt he will continue to y the part of a


    Mafia boss and enjoyp dancers, whores and free fucks if they are offered. I mean, look how quickly


    he changed to amodate his buddy and his disgusting remarks about me.


    If he thinks he can cosy up to me after this, he will soon learn that he had only one chance and he blew


    it. I won’t let him pull me around and mess with me like he did before. I meant it when I said I would up


    and leave so he could never find me again. I will not let him hurt me.


    About a half hour after he left, while I’m still smarting and pping papers around willy-nilly, frustrating


    myself with an inability to concentrate, my phone lights up on the bar and Alexi’s name shes on


    screen. No doubt calling to exin his shitty behaviour, flicking my go to hell switch, and I just red


    button him and mutter a ‘fuck off’ under my breath. Impulsively hostile and not ready to hear anyme


    excuses or half-assed attempts at smoothing it over.


    Like he could anyway.


    I push it away, no ounce of remorse at hanging up on him and try to focus back on the paperwork I


    have been badly attempting for thest hour. I grit my teeth when it immediately lights up again with


    that arsehole’s name. He’s persistent anyway but if he wants stubborn, then that’s what he will get. I’m


    sure I have a will to match his and I won’t back down no matter how he is on the phone. He can’t


    sweeten me up for anything.


    I pull it over to pick it up and press answer before snapping down the line at him, no hint of anything


    except rage. I want him to know right off that I’m so mad my blood’s boiling.


    “What the fuck is it?” I half yell at him, fuelled on bruised feelings and major nose out of joint syndrome.


    Temper frayed and taking no shit. Come in hot and ‘let him have it’ mentality. He started a fight when


    there was no fight to be had, so he can suffer the consequences.


    “What kind of way is that to answer the fucking phone to me?” he snaps right back, angered by my


    reaction, really not being the smartest in how he should handle me. The appropriate response should


    sound nothing like this, and I lose my shit at him.


    “Oh, I thought this was how we were ying nice nowadays. Isn’t this lesson one from the Alexi school


    of charming beloveds? I mean, I thought that’s what upstairs was. Public disys of affection.” The


    sarcasm is so thick it’s practically dripping off my tongue and the long silent pause only adds to the


    crackling tension between us.


    “Use your head, Cam, and stop being pissy. I’ll be back after midnight. We will talk then. I don’t have


    long before I have to go back inside.” Alexi’s tone softens a little, but it’s the whole no apology and


    annoyed attitude that really gets to me on every level, making my skin bristle. Insides lurching and that


    moltenva that dwells inside pours out effortlessly over my battered exterior.


    “I’ll be asleep. I have a headache and to be honest, you’ll just make it worse. Go fuck yourself!” I hang


    up on him before he can reply and m it face down on the surface, not caring if I crack the screen


    because that prick pays for it anyway. It was one of his stiptions of working here, so he could always


    get hold of me whenever he deemed me worthy. I get a few seconds of smugness, tapping my nails on


    the bar for being brave enough to cut the call, before groaning out loud when it immediately vibrates


    again. I flip it, scowl at his name then instantly red button him and switch the damn contraption off. Not


    about to get into a heated match over the phone and I have work to do. He can stew and go vent his


    annoyance at Santagato. I have no fucks to give.


    “Go to hell, you obnoxious, prick faced, arsehole of a man.”


    I yell at it, loudly, erupting in sheer frustration then look around when a muffled cough catches my


    attention. Suddenly aware of my surroundings and the fact I’m not alone as I’m sitting in the club’s bar


    surrounded by hustle and bustle.


    Jackson, my ever-present looming shadow shifts ufortably in the corner where he is sitting,


    reading a paper and pretends he isn’t eavesdropping. It was obviously him who alerted me to myck


    of solitude, and I redden as I absorb that little titbit of information.


    I nce around the bar and realise a lot of my staff are milling around doingst-minute prep and


    organising, trying not to look my way and Joanne is eyeballing me from the main lounge where she is


    polishing champagne flutes. Probably fantasising about my death or something equally pleasant,


    judging by the pinch-faced expression on that bitch’s ugly face. Constipated or startled, I can’t decide.


    Either way, it’s not attractive and I dismiss her with a snooty frown. I still hate that cow.


    I duck my head and try to ignore them all, cursing Alexi out and hating on him even more. Annoyed that


    I just flouted my temper in front of my staff because of him and adding it to my tick list of reasons to


    never want to talk to him again. I turn back to my papers and sigh when I realise, I have done nothing


    but make a mess with my ounts; I scrunch up my paper to start over. This is all I have done for the


    last hour or so because of him. Unable to focus or think straight and screwing up my maths


    stupendously. It’s going to take all day at this rate to just bnce the ounts for the week.


    “Hey … umm, she’s not, no. I think she went for a lie down with a headache.” Jackson’s voice filters to


    me softly, waving across the echoey room and I nce back over my shoulder at him. His face


    reddening, a sure sign he is telling a lie. He is the shittiest liar ever with people he knows. He throws


    me a shady look and a half smile, and I realise Alexi has called him instead of me. That’s why he is


    squirming. I tense as I listen, poised like a cat, straining to hear even though I shouldn’t give a toss


    about what he is saying.


    “Sure boss, I’ll tell her to call you when she err … umm wakes up.” Hopeless at it, sopletely


    hopeless it’s borderline adorable. He really is just a big goofy puppy.


    I can hear the unease in his tone, the strained way he is choosing words, and he is squirming


    uncontrobly as though his seat just got to extreme heat levels. Nervous fidgeting from a guy who


    works in yet is useless with dishonesty. Irony at its finest.


    Alexi may be his cousin, but he looks up to him as the almighty power in his family and it strikes my


    heart softly that he would lie for me. That is probably something he has never done before, judging by


    how badly he’s doing it.


    Jackson my sweet protector drawing a line in the sand between Alexi and I and choosing the right side.


    It gives me a warm gooey feeling that slightly dulls all the chaos coursing through me. A moment to


    ponder the fact that maybe trust is something I have for Jackson at least, my friend.


    He’s a good man, and that deserves an extra-long trip for sorbetter.