Page 13 of Ties That Bind Us

“We have a few,” Leo boasted. “We just don’t normally have clients out on them.”

Unless they’re dead and we’re taking them out to sea to ditch the body.

“Enjoy yourselves and I’ll catch up with you later.” Kyle slithered into the crowd. That guy gave me the creeps. It seemed he was always up to something, and it was rarely ever good.

“I say we take him up on that private table offer. I don’t feel like playing sardines all night with a bunch of drunk hipsters.” Zane groaned, eyeing the room.

“I’ll lead the way,” he said, and then pushed a pathway through the crowd until we eventually reached the back of the boat. It wasn’t necessarily quiet, but it was slightly more bearable than the front.

As promised, Kyle had had a table set up with our name and a bottle of Grey Goose on top of it.

“Of course the motherfucker would give us the cheap shit.” Leo laughed and picked the bottle up.

“I’m going to get a real drink,” I said.

Zane and Leo settled themselves at the table and I started my trek to the bar. I wanted to scope the place out myself anyway, and see what exactly I was dealing with. There had to be someone here who could get my mind off of her, but the prospects weren’t promising. The place was crawling with girls, but most of them I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Bleach blonds with caked on makeup and that annoying high-pitched voice girls get when they’re drunk weren’t exactly my type. This was going to be a little more difficult than I had originally thought. Story of my damn life lately.

It took a while, but I finally shoved my way to the bar, which was just as busy as everywhere else. I stood a little ways back, trying to see where I could fit in and grab the bartender’s attention. I wasn’t about to wait around all night.

As I waited, a woman standing a few people in front of me caught my attention. She had her back to me, but she looked pleasant enough. The gold dress she wore did justice to every inch of her long, lean body. It looked like it was painted on. Brown curls were tied up loosely at the nape of her neck. The way she leaned against the bar, popping that round ass out, ignited a twitch in my pants that hadn’t happened for weeks. Maybe this would work out after all.

I made my way closer, positioning myself so I would be the first thing she saw when she turned around.

“See you later, Ava,” the bartender yelled over the noise after he handed her a couple of drinks. Ava’s a sexy name, I could be into that.

“Bye, Rick!” she called over her shoulder as she spun on her heel. She wasn’t watching where she was going and stumbled right into me, sending the drinks she was carrying sloshing over their rims as I dodged out of the way.

“Oh my gosh, I am so—” she began to say, looking up at me. The second our eyes met she stopped suddenly.

I let out a sharp laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Ava

“Come on,” Bella said, slipping her arm underneath mine and leading me to the side of the yacht parked in the marina. I was already second-guessing my decision to join her. Bella’s fiancé’s friend was having a party, and since Max couldn’t be here himself, Bella had taken it upon herself to make an appearance. She didn’t want to go alone, of course, so she dragged me along. “This is going to be fun, I promise.”

Fun was the last thing this was going to be. A hundred drunk sweaty people crammed on a boat that could sink any minute was not exactly my idea of fun. But I indulged her, mostly because she had listened to me bitch and moan the last few weeks about my mystery man. As hard as I tried, I hadn’t been able to get him off my mind, and this was her last ditch attempt at helping me out.

This place was a nightmare. The air was heavy with the stench of sweaty bodies and alcohol, and the music was so loud I could feel my eardrums pulsating. “How long do we have to stay here again?”

“Give me a break. You had nothing better to do tonight than sit around and mope, so why don’t you enjoy yourself for a change? Kyle set us up at a table in a great spot, and it’s free alcohol all night. There will even be appetizers.”

“Right, because free alcohol is the exactly what I need. Dad will shoot me if I come stumbling in drunk tonight.” The thought of it made me shudder. He was a Mafia Don, so shooting me wasn’t entirely out of the question. And honestly, it sounded better than the arranged marriage alternative he had thrown out last month. I hadn’t been able to get his threats out of my head since that day, and had been on my very best behavior since then. I wasn’t about to give him a reason to marry me off.

Bella couldn’t quite comprehend what I was trying to say. “Avs, I think you’re being a little dramatic. Dad wouldn’t marry you off just because you’re enjoying yourself. You’re young, this is the kind of thing you should be doing! I’m sure Dad’s forgotten all about it.” I let out a sharp laugh. “Besides, you’re out with me. He knows I’ll watch over you, so it’s fine.” She waved me off. “Go get us some drinks.”

“Fine. But if this night turns south, I’m blaming it on you.” I forged through the swarms of people until I finally reached the bar. I was going to need a strong drink to make it through this disaster of a party. At one point in my life, I’d thrived on this kind of environment. The booze and the partying and God only knew what else was going on below deck. A few months ago, I would have been all over it. Now, all it did was make me feel uncomfortable.

I was happy to see a familiar face working behind the bar. Rick had bartended several of my dad’s parties and was a really nice guy. He’d fallen in somewhere between boyfriends, and lasted two dates. Luckily, the feeling was mutual, and we both agreed we were better as friends.

“Ava! Good to see you! What can I get for you?” Rick smiled, filling a few cups in front of him with alcohol. He worked so quickly it was mesmerizing.

“How about two whiskey gingers?” I smiled as I slipped a fifty-dollar bill toward him.

“You can tip me later if you want.” He smirked, sliding it back to me and getting to work on our drinks.

“In your dreams, bar boy.” I laughed, teasing him. He wasn’t being serious either. There hadn’t been anything between us for years now.

He put his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt, and turned his back for a few minutes. When he returned, he handed me the drinks. “Have fun tonight. I heard it’s going to be quite the shindig. You here with Max and Bella?”

---