Page 30 of End It All

"If he sees us hanging around Blake, he might think something’s up," Benito said.

Was there something up?"Okay, and I'm fair game not belonging to the Vitales and all."

"Precisely, but not only that. Blake made up some shit that you two were friends."

Friends? The short fuck couldn't stand me.

"All right."

We hung up, and now with my night plans in order, I got dressed.

"Hey,baby girl, I'm ready to order," I called out.

Blake twisted on his heels and glared at me. His hair was gelled back and the suit he sported didn't fit him at all. Sure, it looked tailored, and expensive, but it seemed out of place on him.

I whistled. "Damn, you clean up like shit, peaches. What happened to you?"

For a split second, Blake sported a smile instead of the overwhelmed deer in headlights look he had on since I walked into Red Dawn.

"Fuck you, Quincy."

"That's a privilege only given to a few." I winked at him. "I want a mojito."

"A what?" Blake looked around at the bar and grabbed a random glass. He poured me a beer on tap. "There."

"This isn’t what I ordered." I could hardly contain my smile. The fuck was he doing behind a bar?

"Drink it," he hissed.

I took the offered drink. It was more froth than beer, but I wasn't going to point that out. It was easy to tell the other patrons were avoiding the shit out of him.

"First day suck?" I shouted as the music picked up.

Blake leaned over the bar and glared at me. "What do you care?"

"I don't." I drank more of the beer until it was empty. "Another."

Blake took the glass, filling it up a bit better than the first time. I took it and raised the glass at him before leaving the bar and finding an empty table. It was in the far back corner where I had a good view of Blake and the door at the same time. I peeped the few men scattered about that kept watching him. They had to be Cesare’s men.

Blake, none the wiser, stood behind the bar, moving around. His hands opened and closed next to him as if he wasn't sure what to do with them. His gaze bounced around the room as if he was looking for something to do. Blake was out of his element here. The other bartenders were fluid and good at what they did. He was clumsy. The one thing he was great at was flirting. There were a few customers who fell prey to his pretty face andsilk wrapped words but when he handed the wrong drink over it went downhill fast.

It was entertainment at its finest. I sipped on the beer, keeping eyes on Blake the entire time. Two men stepped in front of me, blocking my view. It wasn't hard to know what they were there for.

"What can I do for you two?" I asked sweetly. See, I could be the nicest person around when I wanted to be.

"Mr. Vitale doesn't appreciate you being here."

I finished off my beer. "That's strange, last I checked, we all had a good relationship."

The one on the left with a broken nose huffed out a laugh. "You're a nobody. Suggest you pack your shit up and get out of here."

Nobody? How many times had I heard that? Too many to count. "I'm a paying customer."

"Those two shitty beers are on the house so why don't you split," the other man said. His Italian accent was thicker than the other one's.

"Fuck, really?" I stood up with a smile plastered on my face. "Then I have to have another if it's free drinks."

The one with the thick accent stepped in front of me, blocking my way to the bar. We were the same height, our eyes level as he glared at me. He really was going to make this difficult.