Christmas Captive - Isabella Starling Page 0,16
ugly tattoo on his throat. He never saw my other hand coming, and I hit him in the face hard enough to knock him out.
He landed on the ground with a thud. Florian pulled himself out of the shadows and approached us, while I muttered, “Search him.”
Skull was a groaning mess on the ground while Florian conducted the search and showed me the contents of the bouncer’s pockets. “Money, a phone, and a knife, Sir.”
“How predictable,” I muttered. “Give me his phone.”
Florian handed me the cell, and I clicked on the camera icon before grinning at my assistant. “Pull his pants down.”
“What?” Skull moaned from the ground. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Showing you your place,” I replied simply before snapping a picture of his flaccid excuse for a dick. I sent off the image to his entire contact list, making sure to include his face in the shot. “Now at least the world knows you’re this way because you’ve got a sorry excuse for a dick between your legs. Sucks to be you, don’t you think?”
He snarled, but he was too weak to pick himself up. I handed Florian the phone, discarded the knife in the alley and pocketed the cash.
“You’re going to pay back everything you stole,” I told the bouncer. “Out of your own money. You’re going to apologize to Kitty personally, and then you’re going to quit this job and warn your little buddies what happens when you’re a piece of shit like you. Got it?”
He glared at me, attempting to get up and lunge at me again, but Florian stepped between us, blocking the hit. Not that I couldn’t have avoided it myself. I pushed my assistant out of the way, grabbing Skull by the shirt and muttering, “And if I ever see you near Kitty again, I’ll make you wish you had never been born.”
Chapter 5
Amicia
I didn’t work that day, and I was surprised when I got the call from management asking me to show up at Le Cabaret. It wasn’t to dance, and my paycheck wasn’t due another two weeks, so I had no idea what I was getting into as I walked into the building.
The moment I sauntered in, I spotted Skull, feeling a chill go down my spine. God, please don’t let him notice me. I couldn’t handle another altercation with the brutal bouncer. He’d already shaken me up enough the last time.
But he strode right toward me, stopping me before I could make my way to the changing rooms.
“What do you want?” I hissed, trying to remain calm.
“I want to…” He shifted his weight from one foot to another. The man looked nervous, his stubble growing in on his jaw like I’d never seen it do before. He also had a bruise that had swollen his right eye shut. “I want to apologize.”
“Apologize?” I stared in surprise. “For what?”
“For taking your cash,” he mumbled, pushing an envelope full of bank notes toward me. “It won’t happen again, you’ve got my word.”
“What?” I gave him a critical one-over. He really was in bad shape. “What’s happening here? Is this some kind of joke?”
“No,” he grunted, tight-lipped as I pocketed the cash. I needed it badly, and I wasn’t about to turn him down.
“Well, thanks,” I muttered. “It’s much appreciated, Skull.”
He nodded, sidestepping, and allowing me to pass. Just as I was almost out of earshot, he called out after me. “And good on you, Amicia. For making friends in high places.”
What the hell was he talking about?
***
Capri was waitressing when I walked into Le Cabaret. She kept sneaking glances at me. I knew as well as she did that the auction was that night. I’d already called and planned to be there, but I could still pull out at the last minute. But would I? First, I had a conversation with the boss I still had to sit through.
The boss of Le Cabaret was Pablo Capaldi, an Italian in his mid-fifties who was about as attracted to the dancers at the burlesque club as he was to a block of cheese. His boyfriend Marco lived with him in an expensive penthouse and had been leeching off him for years. Pablo himself was harmless, but Marco fed him dangerous ideas that often got the entire club in trouble.
I knocked on the door of Pablo’s office, and he called me in with a cheery voice. I walked into the room which was in its usual messy state. “You wanted to see me?”
“Ah, yes,