"Let me rephrase that."
Yes, please do, Sydney thought wildly as her mind rushed to come up with a proper response to the CEO's comment. Alex sat back in his chair and pinned her with a measuring look. She straightened in her chair, feeling like a fourth grader in the principal's office. She threw another hail Mary glance toward the kitchen, and was startled to see Alexios leaning one elbow on the quartz countertop visible through the doorway.
Their gazes collided, his calmly reassuring as it landed on hers, and Sydney felt the tightness in her chest ease with that connection. He hadn't thrown her into the deep end without a life preserver; he would be there if she needed him and, because he was there, she knew she wouldn't. If she could face down the son when she met him, the father couldn't be any more difficult. And there wouldn't be that sexual pull to fight like she had with Alexios. She returned Alex's look.
"What I mean to say is, what are your qualifications?"
Ah, she could answer that one.
"I've worked in a highly successful bar for the last four years. If you go on any review site, you will find that patrons of Jimmy's leave feeling like they've been to the party of the year every time they go there.
"I also have a Bachelor's degree in Hospitality with an emphasis on hotel management. But more importantly, I know what sells. I listen to our clients, hear if they're grumbling about the lighting, or the wait to get in, or how few tables there are. I watch the dance floor. If you can lob a bowling ball down the center of it, your choice of music sucks. And lastly, I study bartenders. If you have preoccupied, low-energy staff, your patrons aren't going to return. Ditto if they're slimy with your female customers. Nobody wants to be hit on by the guy serving you your drink. A woman wants to feel safe at the bar.
"Unfortunately, sir, your lounge delivers on all those counts."
As the seconds passed, Sydney knew what it meant "to be so silent you could hear a pin drop." She faced Alexios's father squarely, even lifted her chin a little. She felt little quivers of fear crawling down her spine like spiders, but maintained eye contact.
As if cast in iron, the senior Verga sat motionless in his chair. She saw a dull flush grow under his complexion. His lips thinned into a single straight line, neither a smile nor a frown. If she were to wager a guess, Sydney figured he was pissed.
She didn't like making anyone angry, especially a man as proud as she imagined Mr. Verga to be. But she'd only spoken the truth. Besides, what could he do to her? Fire her? She hadn't wanted to work here in the first place, though now the thought of leaving sent dread shooting to the bottom of her stomach. Not now, not with Alexios branded on her memory, his taste on her lips, his mouth at her—
"Alexios, paidi mou, come here. You would never leave her to face me alone, so I know you are near. Ah, just like I thought."
Alexios entered at the first pronunciation of his name, but he never looked at his father. Rather, his gaze remained trained on Sydney, dark with just a hint of ironic humor in it as he pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. Once more his hand closed around hers in her lap. She resisted the sigh that begged to escape at his touch. Oh, how deep had she allowed her feelings to get for him?
"Did you hear what Sydney said? What is your reaction?"
Sydney's eyes shot from the father to the son. She bit her lip. She already knew Alexio's reaction. He'd kissed her in the storage room when she'd gone off on him. She didn't expect his father to react in that way, thank goodness. She could learn to be more subtle, but to what end? This pussy-footing around the boss had to stop. He was dragging the casino and lounge down with his outdated ideas, and someone needed to show him.
"I did, Papa, and I back her completely."
Whoa, had she heard right? A look of triumph seeped into Alexios's expression as he gazed back at her. He knew she hadn't expected his unswerving loyalty. This was his father they were talking with, after all. But, she should have known better. For all his haughty ways, Alexios had always supported her ideas, had never said no to any of them. Even when she'd lit shots, he'd questioned the safety aspect, not her showmanship abilities.
He squeezed her fingers under the table. "I back her completely, Papa, because her opinions support mine, and, since you haven't listened to me, perhaps you will now listen to someone outside the family. You want me to make a success of the Midas Lounge, yet you tie my hands with your outdated vision. Which is it that you want?"
Sydney heard the slight catch in his voice, and it was her turn to tighten her grip. He had never spoken with such passion for his job before. He always acted like the bored aristocrat, the playboy too busy to be bothered with his inheritance beyond spending it. But today he voiced a frustration, a hesitancy that said he cared more than she'd previously thought.
With that in mind, she turned her attention to his father and fought to control the glare she wanted to skewer him with. She ignored the reason why she felt this sudden protectiveness for a man who could hold his own, had held his own, in any situation so far that she'd witnessed.
But Alex wasn't looking at her. Instead, father and son held a silent battle of wills with their locked gazes. She was forgotten in their awareness of each other. Finally Alex nodded, even though no one had spoken.
"At last I hear passion in you, Lexie. For too long it has been nothing but resentment out of your mouth, in your behavior, but that has changed. You speak from the heart, and it warms me." With an abrupt move he gave Sydney his whole attention, even took her hand, the one not holding Alexios's, and raised it to his mouth, kissing its back. Her jaw dropped open. Whatever she had expected, it had not been a kiss on the hand.
"Sydney Hughes, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing my son the importance of his legacy. For bringing out an enthusiasm for the business that he has never displayed before. You have taught him more in a matter of weeks than I have in a lifetime. You have my undying gratitude."
Sydney felt her face flush. His profuse thanks, coupled with the old world kiss on her hand just like his son's when they'd first met, embarrassed her. She refused to look at Alexios, though she sensed his eyes upon her. She stuttered her response.
"I—I didn't do anything, sir, really. I just told him the same thing."
"Yes, but your words come from a much prettier package than his old father."
Now she knew her face was on fire. She made the mistake of glancing at Alexios, who grinned back at her. She got hotter.
"Lexie, I've changed my mind. I think you and Sydney are right. You have shown a marked improvement in leadership and decision-making, and I will reward that with carte blanche when it comes to the lounge. You two may put your heads together and work up a suitable renovation for the lounge. I don't want to see the plans; I don't want to be involved in any way. It will be your sole responsibility." He leaned back in his chair with a Cheshire cat smile upon his face.
Sydney blinked, stunned. Alexios looked just as shell-shocked. He stood, and his father did also. They clasped each other in the one-armed hug proud men adopt when they want to show affection but are at a loss at how to do so. Sydney rose also, though more slowly.
"Thank you, Papa. You won't regret this. Sydney and I, we share the same vision for the Midas Lounge. We'll start immediately. It will become the most popular hot spot on the Strip, guaranteed."
"I have no doubt it will, my son. You seem to have grown into your responsibility, and I can see that I must move with the times, and trust the two of you. I think you will make a good team."
"I concur, Papa." Alexios smiled openly at Sydney now. He looked so boyish. She smiled back.
"Good. Because I have had a grand idea. I would like to invite her—you, Sydney—to the hoteliers' convention that is being thrown here at the Midas next Saturday night. It is admirable that you bartend for your father, and have helped me to see the error of my ways, but I believe you need to use that education you have. I imagine your father wants you to, as well.
"You can make a lot of contacts at this event. Even if you don't choose to leave your family business at this time, you'll have the connections for when you are ready. If you are in agreement, I would like you to be my guest at the convention, and I leave Alexios to work out the details with you.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go check and see if Mama needs help with the dessert." Without waiting for her reply, Alex gave a short nod and then disappeared through the kitchen doorway.
Sydney and Alexios stood awkwardly in the dining room, not sure of what had just transpired. In the space of a few minutes they'd been granted full rein to do whatever they wanted with the lounge, Alexios had received his father's beaming approval of his more businesslike manner, and Sydney had been invited to a Who's Who of Hoteliers much like Cinderella going to the ball.
"We did it." Alexios took both Sydney's hands in his. She fought the insane impulse to throw herself into his arms.
"It didn't seem to take too much pushing to get him on our side." She searched his dark brown gaze.
"I think he could see the writing on the wall. Besides, faced with a woman as beautiful and determined as you, how could he continue to resist?"
Sydney rolled her eyes at his blatant pandering, and he grinned and pulled her against him. The solid wall of his chest invited her to snuggle, as did the steady beat of his heart under her ear. Only the knowledge that the rest of the family was in the next room kept her from doing what she wanted. That, and the sound of Orrin's disgusted voice coming from behind them. "Not again. Are you serious?"
Sydney couldn't resist a giggle.
***
"Oh, Daddy, is it wrong to like a dress this much?"
It was the Saturday of the hoteliers' convention, and Sydney stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom. Her father remained just outside her room in the hallway, and the glowing smile on his face mirrored the one on hers.
"Not when it looks like that on you."
Sydney laughed and twirled, watching the silver sequins catch the ceiling light and reflect it back like millions of stars. The dress was full-length and form-fitting, with spaghetti straps and a slit up to her thigh that displayed her legs with every step. Her shoes were silver and black and six stories high, but surprisingly comfortable. She'd smoothed her hair back into a French twist, and finished off her face with sultry makeup. A few bangles on her wrists and her mother's diamond studs in her ears were her only jewelry.
"I do look good, don't I?" She answered on another chortle. Really, she'd laughed more this past week than she had in the last few months. She'd enjoyed shopping for a dress way too much this week, and her excited giddiness was beginning to grate on her nerves. She refused to believe it had anything to do with Alexios and his continued attention. She couldn't be that shallow that her moods were linked to a man's interest, could she be?
Pushing the thought aside as she'd become adept at doing, Sydney looked at her father. Her smile became forced. Even with his doting expression, he seemed tired. Tired and gray. His appearance bothered her, enough that, since her day and evening spent in Alexios's company earlier in the week, she'd been doing double duty, serving at the Midas and then doing much of the ordering and inventorying at Jimmy's. And her father still refused to take bartending help from the Vergas.
"Like Cinderella, sweetheart," he said now. "It was time you spent some of that salary on yourself." He'd been ecstatic that she was going to the convention, had told her this was what he and her mother had always wanted for her: the chance to make something of herself. And she wanted it too, but not at the expense of his health. This past week seemed like she'd played more than helped him, and the guilt from that belief kept nipping at her.
Now she looked at him in the reflection of the mirror.
"No one would care if you closed up a little early tonight, Daddy. You look tired."
"I'm sixty-two; I always look tired. Relax, sweetie, and enjoy your night." The doorbell rang downstairs, and Sydney's father grinned and rubbed his hands together.
"And there's your Prince Charming. Do I look like a forbidding father?" He struck a lord-of-the-manor pose with his chest puffed out and a constipated look on his face that made Sydney laugh out loud in spite of her worry.
"Never, Daddy." She gave him a hug, stepping back and taking a deep breath, hoping she could squash the butterflies that swarmed inside her belly from the ringing of the doorbell.
Alexios was here, picking her up at her house and taking her to a party she would only have read about in People magazine up until a few weeks ago, when he'd stepped into Jimmy's and hadn't taken no for an answer! She might have to pinch herself to know this moment was real.
"Just as well. I'm too excited for you to act stern. And remember, give me a quick call if you plan on staying out...later. I won't say a word. I just need to know my baby is okay."
They'd started down the stairs, after Sydney had grabbed up her sequined evening bag, but she stumbled on a step at his words and their veiled meaning. He'd reached the bottom floor and looked up at her as she squawked, "Daddy!" His face was all innocence.
"What? I know these shin-digs have after-parties. You don't need to come running home like you have a curfew. Just give me a holler. Now hurry up. I'm answering the door."
***
She was driving him nuts, Alexios thought for perhaps the tenth time that evening as he watched Sydney work the room with her special blend of sass and sex-appeal. He'd brought her to the convention to make business contacts, and she was doing that, and then some. He hadn't spent five minutes with her since dinner, and now the band was tuning up.
She was flipping gorgeous in that silvery, sequined number that covered her body like shimmering stardust. It clung to her curves like a silvery skin, and the long skirt revealed a tanned length of leg with its deep slit up the side. She looked like a moonbeam, and he was caught in her encompassing glow.
When she'd appeared on the stairs at her house earlier that evening he'd had to roll up his tongue, and his reaction hadn't improved over the course of the evening. He imagined he'd told her father he'd take care of her, he hoped like hell that he had, but he couldn't be sure. He'd never been this mesmerized by a woman. The feeling was foreign to him, like the vestiges of a hangover. He could function while in her presence, but the edges of his awareness were fuzzy and incomplete.
He grabbed a champagne flute off the tray of a passing waiter, and downed it in one gulp. Right now Sydney was talking to the head of a major Vegas hotel conglomerate across the room, and by the way that man was hanging on her every word, it was apparent he had fallen under her spell, too. Alexios couldn't really blame him. She had brains and beauty, the whole package for which CEOs and intelligent men were always on the lookout.
Unfortunately, he wanted to be the only one to unwrap this particular package.
The spear of jealousy he felt every time a man walked up and engaged her in conversation was unfamiliar. Alexios had never been envious before. If he wanted a particular woman, she ended up as his, plain and simple. He wasn't ashamed to admit it, either. He'd been taught to go after what he wanted, and he hadn't confined that practice only to business. But now he was in a quandary.
They'd been at this party all evening, through cocktails, and dinner, and speeches, and he'd yet been able to have a private conversation with her since the car ride over. And even then she'd merely peppered him with questions on what to expect tonight. Now, with the music starting up, he was edgy and pissed off and aroused all at the same time, while she continued to flit from one group of power players to the next.
His edginess came from being able to predict how the rest of the night was going to go. If he managed to get her in his arms for a dance, it wouldn't be for long, for all these big wigs would be cutting in to get a chance to dance with Sydney, and maybe cop a feel at the same time. And the idea of their groping her was what made him pissed off. He should be the only one to be allowed to do that. Which segued into why he'd been aroused all evening.
He was so hot for her she should have melted under his gaze right where she stood. From the moment he'd spied her in that dress he'd been sporting the erection that continued to keep him company tonight. And it didn't help to see all those men salivating after her like Pavlov's dogs at the ring of a bell, wanting a piece of her. He snapped.
Dropping his empty glass into a potted palm, Alexios entered the dance floor, which had recently filled to the strains of a song the older generation seemed to like. He was done with sharing his date. His father's suggestion to expose Sydney to all the hoteliers on the Strip had been a good one, but Alexios was through with benevolence. He wanted Sydney for himself.
He shouldered the bobbing and weaving couples aside, his gaze trained on his prey. She was twisting and wiggling and smiling at her smitten partner, unaware of his stalking her. Until he tapped her companion on the shoulder. That man looked up into Alexios's unsmiling face at the same time Sydney did, and his grin faltered. Alexios figured he looked like an angry son-of-a-bitch, but he didn't care. He was fed-up with watching Sydney in someone else's arms.
"Do you mind?" He managed to rasp out, and the older man shrugged. "Not at all, mate. You have my card, Syd." This last he directed at Sydney, who nodded but didn't switch her attention from Alexios's face. Her partner faded away.
Alexios placed his hands, one at her shoulder, one on the flare of her hip, and pulled her into a tight dance hold. He felt her jolt when his arousal probed the V of her thighs. He met her startled gaze, cocking his head with feigned nonchalance.
"I'm tired of sharing you. Can we go get some air?" In case she didn't understand what he meant, he slid his hand off her hip to splay across her bottom. He pressed her even closer to his hardened length. She licked her lips, a nervous gesture.
And nodded.
A/N: What a difficult chapter to write! But now we are right where we need to be. Yum, yum :) Be prepared; the next chapter will be on the mature side, though I don't think I'll need to change the rating for the entire book. Of course, I'd love to hear from you in votes, comments, and follows!