It had been hard enough to get out and celebrate this evening. Since his dad passed, Santino had taken over the family business. But things were a bit of a mess, and his uncle was causing problems.
He felt like he was being pulled in multiple directions and wasn’t sure if he really had time for a date, but this girl made him want to try.
“Would you like to grab coffee or something tomorrow?” he asked.
“You don’t know me,” she said nervously.
“No, but I’d like to get to know you,” Santino said with a smile.
Normally, when he asked a beautiful woman out, she didn’t question it. It intrigued him that this one would, especially since she’d been so relaxed on the dance floor.
“Why?” She frowned.
“What do you mean, ‘why?’” Santino cocked his head.
“Did Tally put you up to this?” She crossed her arms in irritation.
“Up to what?” Santino asked, confused.
“‘Poor Presley needs a pity date’ bullshit? She did, didn’t she?! Unbelievable!” She threw her arms in the air and stomped away, mumbling to herself.
Sonny was caught off guard. He laughed, watching as she walked toward the dance floor. She waved, trying to catch the attention of her friend. Her dress raised slightly, and he caught the curve of an ass cheek.
He turned and looked at Elio, who had been watching in amusement.
“Did that really just happen?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. It did.”
“I’m not sure what to do,” he said softly. “I’ve never been accused of being… what was it? A pity date.”
They all started laughing.
“Go get her number, sir. She’s unique. You can’t just let her walk away,” Elio said.
“Nah, let her go. You don’t need that kind of headache,” Paulie, one of his father’s newest members, said as he returned.
Santino had noticed a clubgoer slipping another guy cash earlier in exchange for a small packet, raising a red flag. He’d sent Paulie to handle it.
“Paulie, was that one of the East Side guys?” Santino asked as they headed back to the table.
Paulie nodded.
“What the fuck was he doing in my club?” Santino growled.
“I’ll find out, boss. I escorted him out to the trunk of my car,” Paulie said with a grin.
“I’m leaving this for you to deal with, Paulie. Find out who he works for.” Santino gave him a curt nod and sat.
Paulie straightened his jacket and left. Santino leaned back with a frown, trying not to look for the girl. He’d been watching her all night, working up the courage to ask her out.
Something about her made him nervous to talk to her. He had even requested the music be turned down. It had been unpleasantly loud, and he wanted to be able to hear their conversation if they had one.
“I could arrange for Gia to come over if you’re just looking for company for the evening,” Elio mentioned as he took the chair beside Santino.
“No. I can’t get rid of her as it is. Don’t stick your dick in crazy, man. Save yourself. Although, I don’t know about that one now.” He waved toward the empty stairs.
“She was a little drunk,” Elio admitted. “She must have had at least six glasses of champagne.”
Santino shook his head. He’d never been turned down before. Is that what that had been? He sipped his drink as he glanced around the club.
He couldn’t resist and looked over to where the girls were. The others were dancing around, oblivious to the world, but Presley was nowhere to be seen. He motioned to Elio.
“Where is she?” Santino inquired.
“Who, boss?”
“The girl you knocked over earlier. Presley.”
“She left a few minutes ago. Raised holy hell with the blonde about some setup. Grabbed her bag and stormed out.”
“Shit. I asked her to coffee tomorrow, and we didn’t exchange numbers.”
“So go talk to her drunk friend.” Elio laughed. “You become the boss, and all of a sudden you forget how to pull some ass?”
“Shut the fuck up. You saw her. She freaked out. Accused me of being a pity date or whatever.”
“That must have been what she was carrying on about.” Elio glanced over at the group of girls.
“Go fucking find her. I’m going to try to talk to the cupcake,” Santino said as he waved his hand at the blonde with the tiered tulle skirt and sparkly top.
Elio hurried down the stairs, followed by a few other men, trying to get through the crowd. Santino watched till he couldn’t see the group anymore before he rose and walked over to the group of girls.
He leaned down and spoke in the bubbly blonde’s ear. “Hi, sweetheart. I need to talk to your friend, Presley.”
“What did you say to her?” She turned on him instantly. “She was freaking out on me, asshole! What did you say?”
Santino watched as the tiny blonde stood on top of the glass table and tried to get in his face. Several men moved in, putting themselves in between him and the pixie that was waving her hands around.
“I asked her for coffee! Jesus fucking Christ!” Santino stormed off, grabbing his jacket and stuffing his arms through the sleeves. “I’m good. Fuck it. Let’s bounce. I don’t need this shit.”
He got an arm stuck and struggled to straighten it as they walked down the stairs. He noticed Elio still hadn’t returned, and that irritated him further.
It took them ten minutes to get out of the club and two more tries for Santino to put his jacket on correctly. He snapped at two of his men who offered to help.
He finally got outside and inhaled the cool night air. Elio was halfway down the block with Presley, her back turned toward Santino.
A large water bottle was in her hand, and a steaming cup was in his. Santino made eye contact with Elio and started storming down the sidewalk. He could make out part of what she was saying as he got closer.
“So, she did this to me for almost a year, paying guys just to ask me out and boost my self-esteem. Models, artists, whomever. They just popped up everywhere. It was humiliating. I thought your boss was another setup. That there was no way he was actually interested in me. And well, add alcohol, and I managed to make a giant ass of myself when he asked me for coffee.”
“Yes, you did,” Santino said.
She jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Oh, God! I’m so sorry, I don’t even know what came over me. Tally used to do this kind of thing, and she sent you guys those shots but said it was me. Then I drank all that champagne, and I thought no way would someone like you really be interested in me.”
“That made no fucking sense,” he said with a laugh. “Why wouldn’t someone be interested in you? You’re stunning. A little nuts, but maybe we can blame that on the alcohol.” Santino grinned. “It was very entertaining to meet you, Miss Stafford.”
He offered his hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of hers. Elio chuckled.
“Fuck my life,” she groaned, putting her hand to her forehead. “You’re handsome, nice, and actually interested. And I still managed to fuck it up. I can’t win. I just can’t fucking win. I have to go now, before I do something more embarrassing. Thank you for the water,” she said to Elio before turning on her heel.
“Hey, where are you going?” Santino asked.
Elio tried not to laugh as Santino stood there, watching her walk away again.
“To the rock I want to crawl under!” she shouted.
She waved her hand, giving Santino another peek at the lower curve of her ass. He groaned.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Santino asked.
“Something about a bad relationship and a cheating ex. I didn’t really catch the first bit, but whatever he did really did a number on her,” Elio said, giving Santino a sideways glance.
“Anyway, the cupcake would set her up with anyone and everyone who was hot, trying to boost her self-esteem and give her the courage to get back out there. She thought you were another pity date and, well, lost it. She had way too much to drink.”
“She thought I was hot?” Santino snorted with a grin.
“She did,” Elio confirmed, nudging Santino and nodding out the window. “She’s a stunner, boss.”
Santino looked out the window and watched Presley hail a taxi. As she bent down to talk through the open window, her dress lifted. He got a perfect view of her ass and groaned.
“God damn it. Go get her. She’s a fucking hazard in that dress,” Santino barked.
A few snickers escaped from the others in the car.
“Shut up. If anyone ever breathes a word of this conversation, I’ll cut out your liver and make you fucking eat it.”
