Her Dirty Bartenders (Men at Work #5) - Mika Lane Page 0,52
but shook it off. “You know, I have some money saved up. How much do you need?”
“In order to keep Dad from selling Tableau, we’d have to completely buy him out. Once he no longer had a financial interest in the club, he’d have no hold over me.”
I leaned on the bar, closer to my sister. I didn’t need any patrons knowing about my financial woes. “I need a quarter of a million dollars. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s do-able if I can buy some time. Our private parties are ten grand and above. If we did one or two a week, we’d have enough money to buy him out in a few months. Thing is, I’m not sure he’s giving me that long. You don’t happen to have a quarter million bucks, do you?” I asked with a weak laugh.
“Um, no. I do not have that kind of money,” she said.
Shit, shit, shit.
She patted my hand. “So, on another subject, you seem to be having fun with Stell. Just like old times, huh?”
Not a moment went by that I didn’t thank my lucky stars the lovely Stell had reappeared in my life. She might not be in it for long if she decided to take off for LA, but for the time that she was here, I planned to revel in her company.
“I am having fun with her. All us guys are,” I said, thinking back to the last time she sucked my dick. “Marn, I feel so bad about what I did to her.”
Hell, if there wasn’t a lump stuck in my throat. And I was at goddamn work.
My sister looked at me and was silent. There really wasn’t much to say. I’d fucked up.
“Well,” she said quietly, “you were young and Dad manipulated you.”
Still. If I’d had any balls, I’d have told him to fuck off.
“Why does he hate Stell’s dad so much, anyway?” I said.
I’d grown up knowing there was bad blood between my father and Congressman Kline, which became even more awkward when Marni and Stell became friends. But to get in the way of a budding romance? That was seriously shitty.
Marni took a deep breath. “I think it might have to do with—a very long time ago—some sort of affair.”
I’d figured as much. The Congressman was not known for being faithful to his wife. I didn’t know who fucked whom, and I didn’t want to know.
“Crazy shit,” I said, shaking my head.
Marni reached across the bar and touched my cheek. She knew better than anyone how I’d suffered over what I’d done, and the pain it had inflicted on Stell. And yet she never took sides.
She smiled slyly. “Does she know yet about… your sharing thing? She hasn’t really mentioned much to me. I want to wait for her to feel comfortable talking about it all.”
I nodded, watching a band of frat bros filter in, raising hell like they owned the place. They probably weren’t going to last the night. They’d get kicked out long before closing. I’d seen it so often I could tell in advance who was going to behave and who wasn’t.
“We have… broached the subject. Understandably, at first she was a little taken aback. Shit, maybe she still is. We asked her to stay here in Denver. I hope she does.”
Marni tapped her fingers on the bar. “Speaking of Stell, she shared with me that Vaughn was still harassing her.”
“You’re kidding me. We bounced that creep out of here on his ass and warned him to leave her alone.”
Goddammit. My mood shifted from just plain crummy, thanks to my dad, to downright shitty, thanks to Vaughn.
“He’s threatening to go to the press with a photo of her dancing on the platform. I told her not to worry about it. She did nothing wrong. She’s a freaking adult. But you know how dutiful she is.”
I scowled and I had a feeling I would continue to all night. “When you’re brought up surrounded by an obsessive preoccupation with what your family’s public image is, I guess it’s hard to let that go.”
“It doesn’t help that her dad’s up for reelection.” Marni looked at her watch and stood. “Anyway, I gotta get over to the gym and take care of some paperwork. And from the looks of the girls down at the end of the bar, you’re going to be having fun making a lot of fruity drinks.”
Holy shit. Was that another bachelorette party? Jesus. Was everyone in Denver getting married?
But