Amanda brushed her long hair off her shoulders, shaking her head. "We’re friends. More or less. They don’t really get involved with outsiders, but they like me enough to remember my name and talk to me whenever they are here. Especially Elio. He’s the more approachable one."
Inéz nodded. "What about Alberto and the owner?"
The blonde swallowed, clearly looking for words to describe the men. She pulled the girl to the side. She seemed not to trust the other dancers.
"Alberto can be cruel to us. You’d better stay in your lane and do as you’re told. Gastone has a rule not to beat women, so his people won’t follow his example and do the same, but Alberto is a master ofpsychological abuse. And as you seem quite fragile, you need to know that. Don’t get on his bad side, Layla. Believe me, it’s in your best interest," she whispered. "Gastone’s willingness to sleep with his employees can be nasty. You will talk to him later and see whether he’s interested in you. Ifso, the only option of avoiding to go to bed with him is to stayclose to one of the twins. Gastone doesn’t care who the women fuck unless they are his sons. He doesn’t want to ever share with them for some reason. The sense of morality of these men can be quite strange sometimes."
"That’s why you spend time with the twins?"
"One of the reasons, yes," she admitted. "Most dancers are up for bedding the owner because it might get them more money. But the money is good regardless of whether you sleep with the owner or not. So don’t turn into one of those girls, please. Tell me if you need a way out. Elio seems to like you. Maybe he would be willing to help."
"I won’t sleep with Elio just to escape sleeping with his father. Any kind of sexual intercourse is out of the question for me."
Amanda sighed and smiled whole-heartedly. "I hope that works out for you somehow. You seem like a decent person. Don’t let these men ruin it," she stated and left her to get ready. There was only half an hour till the night started.
§ § §
As she was walking out of the room fully dressed for the night, she saw Gastone closing the doors next to her. It must have been his office as she was forbidden to go there unattended. At least it was what Alberto had said to her an hour before when she’d come in. When the man saw her, he smiled but it didn’t look pleasant at all to Inéz. Heavy desire clouded his eyes.
The answer as to whether he was going to try to sleep with her became clear. The mere thought of it made her shiver. But through sheer willpower, she returned the smile.
"Layla, just the person I wanted to see. How do you like my nightclub?" he asked, but Inéz doubted he actually wanted to know or cared about it, for that matter. Again, she ignored the underlying motive.
"It’s alright," she answered. "Alberto said you wanted to talk to me. What is it about?"
The man chuckled, tucking his hands into the pockets of his black pants. He had a jacket on, but Inéz could catch a glimpse of the holster underneath. She decided not to acknowledge it or anything else related to the mafia altogether. It might be easier if she acted like she had no idea the organization was ruling this club or Las Vegas. Just as she’d ignored the mention of outsiders during her talk with Amanda earlier.
"I want you to come to me when you finish your performance. I’m not sure whether I’ll be in a booth or here in the office, but just look for me," he said bluntly.
Was he seriously thinking of making a move on her the first day on the job? Was he that forward? And it wasn’t even the same kind of forwardness that Noah had. With the Capo, she at least didn’t feel the need to run as far away as possible. At least not always.
She nodded, hoping it would not be as bad as she expected. "Sure, but I promised Amanda to help her before her performance with something. Would you mind if I came a little bit later?" she asked, remembering that an hour later Amanda was supposed to dance on the main stage. If asked, the woman probably wouldn’t deny her story. She was smart enough to quickly catch on to what was happening. After all, she was the one who’d warned her about Gastone earlier.
Was it really for the best to actually ask Elio for help?
That was the only thing crossing her mind. However, she didn’t know any of the twins at all, so why would they bother helping her? It might have just been Amanda’s idea. The attraction wasn’t enough to make any Made Man want to help anyone. She had learnt as much during her short period of being a member of the Famiglia.
Gastone moved closer to her, stroking her cheek. As if she caught on fire, she stepped back, letting his hand fall. She knew that she shouldn’t have done it. Noah wanted his Capodecinato be interested and even needed her to get close to him. But the revulsion was too strong. Amanda thought of her as fragile, but she wasn’t. What she was, however, was scared.
Anger surged through her. Towards Gastone, her Capo, and even Lynette for disappearing.
To her relief, Fabro came up to his father, ignoring her. He started saying something about a shipment, which gave Inéz the opportunity to slip away as fast as possible. She could have hugged the twin for interrupting. That had already been too much interaction with the Capodecina for her taste.
Her work wasn’t actually that bad. Inéz quickly learned how to turn a blind eye
