I couldn't breathe as the pudgy mafia boss walked away with his men in tow. Kill Boss? What kind of person did this guy think I was?
I'm a temptress, not a killer.
I set my glass down, grabbed the packet and walked back to the girls completely unsure of how to process what I just heard.
"Sophie? Are you okay? Those looked like scary mob guys." Nothing got past them. I sat back onto my towel and put my knees up to my chest, resting my head on my knees. Kaitlyn and Lexi took up either side of me on their own respective towels and put their arms around me, the packet still in my hand but words hidden from public view.
"What's that?" Kaitlyn asked and I pushed it under my legs and flattened them out so that they wouldn't reach for it.
"He was a business man that my Boss works with. He was giving me some information to give to him when I see him again." Lies flowed freely from my lips. I was used to them by now, my friends protected by the lies I told. If they knew about the group then Boss might threaten them as well and make them do unspeakable things like I did.
"Then why didn't he just give them to your boss instead of you?" I shrugged and in an attempt to lighten the mood, I reached down and folded the packet up and shoved it into my wallet.
"No more gloom. Let's hit the water and have fun. We are on vacation aren't we?" They gave me weak smiles and stood, the three of us running for the water but moving ever so slowly in as it was freezing compared to the heated day. With splashes we all dove in to quickly adjust, breaking the water like dolphins and squeaked at the frigged temperatures.
The afternoon was spent having fun and chatting while swimming back and forth amongst the throng of people who only increased as the day grew on. After about two hours of chatting in the water we went back to our room for lunch, ordering a pizza from the hotel's list of local shops and changed into more comfortable wear. While changing, I had put the papers from earlier into the bottom of my suitcase in a flap that wasn't easy to detect and went back to trying to forget what I had been asked to do.
I don't know how Mr. Mario expected me to kill Boss seeing as how my feelings toward him would never allow for me to even do such a thing. Taking a person's life sits with you forever. Nothing can wash that stain off of your soul. Tattoos you can laser off. Death... that is permanent.
The pizza took little time to arrive but when it did we chowed down and chatted about the guys down at the beach. There were few who were agreeable visibly while we had swam but they were obviously taken by gorgeous women much prettier than even myself.
"Tonight I say we go out somewhere to party and meet guys. Say like a bar. Kaitlyn and I had no luck last night finding any. Some creeps but no one hot enough to meet our standards." Lexi bit into her second piece and Kaitlyn reached for her third.
"I like it. Should we make it a game then? Find a guy and bring them back here. First one to get laid wins?" Kaitlyn shrugged. She didn't seem the kind to do such a thing but it was vacation. All bets are off when abroad.
"Or if not laid then kissed? And it can't just be you grab a guy and kiss him. You have to seduce him and have him make the first move." My words seemed to convince Kaitlyn and Lexi and we all shared a devious look of competition.
"Oh I'm so going to win," Lexi boasted after another bite and took a sip of water.
"We shall see"
---Later That Night---
Since the night before had been all business, this night was going to be for pleasure. And with any hope maybe my own. Ever since Mr. Mario's appearance on the beach, my brain had been running over and over about what I should do.
The most obvious would be to tell Boss about what the other mafia boss had said. But the peace of my vacation would be short lived and I would likely be sequestered home via private jet and locked somewhere safe until the war that was sure to begin had died down. But would me taking so long to respond make Boss doubt my trustworthiness?
Yes it would.
The next option would be to tell Mr. Mario no and let him and Boss fight it out amongst themselves. But with no warning that his life was in danger Boss could get hurt and thus the Dorian group would be hurt.
I'd be hurt.
The last option... to agree and take the life of the man who took my freedom of a small peaceful life. He took such a quiet life from me but in turn gave me a life more full than it ever had been. Singing and getting my voice out there for the world to see. Having enough money to support Perse and Donnie and my beautiful stallion Julius and the lifestyle of a high class shareholder. If I took his life, I would end all of that, might as well never show my face in that town again and go on the run for the rest of my life. Not even considering my feelings toward Boss and how I wanted to be more to him than just his song bird.
But maybe that was why I was hesitating so much. My feelings for him would never be reciprocated. I would forever remain as a pretty face to take money from the rich.
Whenever I thought of him and the look he had given me not just last night on the dance floor but also the heated look from the plane, I felt warm and the urge to go to him and have him embrace me.
However I could never do such a thing and didn't bring my toys along to help relieve that want in my body. That was why I felt more like a predator tonight than most nights at work. I needed to find a man who could sate my needs and help me to get over Boss.
What better way to get over someone than to get under someone else?
As we walked to a bar two blocks away, I kept my eyes open for a potential male who could pass as a date tonight. A few had caught my eye and me in turn for them as well but after seeing me with my girls as a group we seemed like a powerful front against a guy we probably wouldn't even be able to understand.
The club we had finally arrived at was called El Diabla and was like a small hole in the wall where the DJ booth was elevated as soon as you entered and tables were scattered here and there against the walls. The bar was off to the left with a beautiful mosaic of mirrors and the bathrooms were off to the right back a darkened hallway that I was sure lead just out back.
Perfect place to be seen and not heard. Spotting a few seats at the bar we sat down and ordered our first round of drinks. The bartender was a beautiful woman wearing a pair of black shorts and a black tank-top that had the picture of what looked to be a big boobied, big bootied devil woman with a tail and horns to go with it. From the name tag sitting just above her breast, Brianna was busy with making drinks alongside another girl or two who would come back behind the bar from the floor to help serve.
"You ladies look like out-of-towners. What brings you here?" Brianna was wiping down some glasses and putting them into a nearby freezer to cool the glasses. I made a mental note to do that later for glasses of cold wine.
"Vacation. Finally had a few days off to relax." She nodded and looked around at the bar before reaching for another glass to store.
"I don't think I could ever get a vacation working here. We are always so busy." Kaitlyn raised her glass a little toward the woman and sipped.
"I agree. Work sucks." As Lexi and Kaitlyn started chatting up the bartender, I glanced around for attractive males. It seemed that bars were a good way to find them because there were many to be found here, some already scoping out females who were dancing over by the jukebox.
It was a few more cursory glances around that had me catching my eye on an attractive man who was more than qualified to be a model. His chiseled jaw and angled cheek bones framed his face well and his black hair was trimmed short on the sides and hung just out of his eyes enough to allow the piercing blue to shine back to me. His build was tall and muscular, just right for a man with endurance.
When he made eye contact with me, he couldn't seem to look away. And who could blame him. Wanting to relax and not worry about the wolf on my back I had worn a tight black dress that covered just enough of my legs to be comfortable with only a minor risk of panties showing and the straps curled up around my neck from both the front and back with a little slit in the front of the dress to show off cleavage.
"Girls, I think I've already found my guy for the night," I said low enough for them to hear me but not loud enough that the bartender could hear. When they followed my line of sight, Lexi whistled and quietly barked in a whisper.
"He is a hot one isn't he?" I nudged Lexi to stop her barking before he heard and got the wrong idea. But when I had glanced back to his table he was not there.
"Hola, senorita. Puedo invitarte otra bebida?" I spun around and he was right behind me, white silk shirt open a few buttons down to show that he was smooth on his chest and had a very favorable physique.
"Oi. No hablan espanol. Ellas hablan ingles," Brianna provided for us and a clarity washed over his features.
"Oh, pardon me. I would like to buy you another drink Miss..."
"Sophie. And I think I would like that very much Mr...."
"Esteban Cruz." I grinned and nodded for Brianna to make another. While she did I started chatting with the very attractive male. Lexi and Kaitlyn would comment from time to time but realized quickly that they were likely to loose the game we had said about earlier as the guy and I talked more and more about our likes and dislikes.
After about two more drinks, I made the bold decision to go back to the hotel with Esteban. He found this idea favorable and after paying my bill and whispering encouraging words to the girls, followed Esteban over to his friends where he left the money for his part of the bill and said for them not to wait on him as he would be home late.
The wild grins on their faces were that of males seeing a fellow predator catching a lamb. Little did they know...
We had barely made it a block away from the bar to the hotel when he pulled me into an alley and pressed his lips to mine. The heat from the initial contact caused me to go wild and I dove into the kiss with a fevered passion rivaled only by my singing. He answered back by pushing me gently up against a wall and lifting my legs up so he was holding me up by my hips. He ground his lower body against mine and I moaned at the pressure that started to build. I wanted this more than anything.
Just when I was about to beg for us to head back to the hotel to finish what we had started, the voice in the back of my mind spoke up. She voiced her thoughts on our feelings for Boss and how even though this guy was hot and attractive, he wasn't him. He wasn't Boss.
"No," I managed out in the kiss and he stopped and pulled his face from mine. I used my hands to try and push him away.
"No?" I shook my head and pushed at his arms to let me down. He did so with confusion in his eyes.
"I can't- I can't do this," I rushed out and with a sorry I sped away from the alley toward the hotel. Surely drunk and very turned on, my fingers dialed the number before my brain could process just what a crazy mistake I was making. It rang twice before a deep voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Where is your motel? We need to talk."