The decor was meant to evoke 1920s glamour, with black and white flapper girls in framed pictures all over the walls. The booths were deep velvet and draped in reds and black. The bar looked like it used to be nice, though the taps were broken and more bottles were smashed.
Three men stood on the stage. I recognized Biagio, but not the other two. Sitting at their feet, looking bored and annoyed, were eight girls wearing skimpy outfits.
Dante crunched over the glass and turned as I stopped near the door. He turned and beckoned for me, and for a moment I couldn’t move. I got a strange feeling inside of me, a voice telling me to turn around and get out before it was too late.
But then Dante smiled and gestured again, and I smiled back.
I couldn’t help myself. I walked to him and he slipped an arm around my shoulders. “This is Lucky’s,” he said. “Finest gentlemen’s club in the city. Or at least it used to be. This was one of Vlas’s most profitable businesses, and from now on, it’s going to be yours.”
I looked up at him in shock. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re going to run this place. You’re going to own it. I’ll take a cut of the money, of course, but the profits will largely go into your pocket.”
I shook my head. “Dante. I don’t know anything about… about running a strip club.”
He laughed. “You’ll learn. Come on, meet the girls. They’ve been waiting for you.” He tugged me along behind him and gestured at the eight bored-looking women sitting on the stage. Dante gestured at the guys standing behind them and they climbed down, looking relieved.
The girls stared at us and one of them, a blonde with big fake tits and one too many lip injections, shimmied up onto her knees. “Do you know how long we’ve been fuckin’ sittin’ here?” she said. “I’m so fuckin’ sick of this shit. Are you shuttin’ us down or what? Can I fuckin’ go home?”
Dante stared at her. “Sit down,” he said.
She opened her mouth but the redhead next to her tugged on her arm. The blonde grunted and slumped down.
I stepped up next to Dante and looked at the girls. They seemed tired, upset, and scared. Some of them seemed legitimately pretty. The youngest was probably nineteen, and the oldest was likely in her late thirties.
“Ladies, this is Aida,” Dante said. “She’s going to be your new boss. You’re all owned by the Leone Crime Family now. If you want to quit your job and move on, I won’t stop you, but choose now. Otherwise, this is your new life.”
The girls stared at us and the blonde leaned forward. “So you’re sayin’ some random chick is gonna run this place? Can she even, like, I don’t know, do the books or whatever?”
“I can do the books or whatever,” I said.
Dante smiled at me and raised his eyebrows. I stared at him for a long moment then reached up and touched his face.
“You like it?” he asked.
“I think I do,” I said.
“Good girl.”
I stepped closer to my new employees and surveyed them. “Things are going to change,” I said. “This place is going to make money. I need all of you to understand that I’m in charge now, and I’m going to start making changes. You might not like them, and I’ll listen to your suggestions, but my word rules at the end of the day. Any questions?”
The blonde raised her hand. “Uh, yeah. Who the fuck are you? You’re just some dumb bitch wearin’ that fake knockoff designer shit and you think you can just come in here and—”
I stepped up to her and slapped her in the face as hard as I could. My palm cracked against her cheek and stung my hand like hell, but her face snapped backwards and she landed back on one elbow, shock in her eyes as her cheek turned red.
“Get out,” I said.
“What the fuck, you fuckin’ bitch!” she yelled and tried to jump up, but Biagio was there. He grabbed the girl as she kicked and flailed and screamed curses. He carried her away, back toward the door, and tossed her outside.
I watched her go and felt something shift inside of me.
I’d never hit someone like that before. I’d never used violence to dominate before, never even considered it. But now that I’d hit her like that, I realized it felt good… felt really good. I felt strong for the first time in my life.
Dante was beaming at me like I’d just won some kind of prize.
I turned back to the other girls and smiled.
“Any other questions?” I asked.
“No,” the redhead said and looked at the other girls. “On behalf of everyone, I just want to say that watching you slap Janice like that was, like, the highlight of my life.”
“Seriously, that girl was so fucked up,” a dark-skinned girl with straight black hair said. “I hated her so much.”
“That was, like, the best thing ever,” a little brunette said. She was skinny, all knees and elbows, with tattoos on her skin.
Even the older woman nodded. She was a little heavier, with lots of makeup, but she smiled. “Welcome to the family, Aida.”
I grinned at them and nodded. “Good. You can all go home. Day after tomorrow, I want all employees to show up. We’ll clean this place up together and start over. But take tomorrow off.”
I turned back to Dante as the girls got up. The redhead touched my arm and smiled and they all walked past, chatting with each other, smiling and laughing.
“That was impressive,” Dante said. “Your first move as a club owner.”
“Just getting rid of the problems,”
