Page 25 of Laila Manning
“I’ll look into it.” I took the burden off his shoulders; it was my job as right-hand man to figure this shit out for him.
“Thanks.” He sighed, going back to his own spreadsheets on his computer screen that I’d interrupted. I walked away to the mirrored glass overlooking the main stage below, scanning the crowd absently as I played different scenarios out in my head of how a hundred thousand dollars of cocaine could come up missing in the four-day trip from Mexico to our warehouse.
But any logistics I’d been playing out mentally froze mid-thought as my eyes landed on the back of a head in the VIP section below.
I stepped closer, looking almost directly beneath the window to try to get a better view of the brunette in the velvet booth with her back to me. The heavy curtains were pulled shut, encasing the large U-shaped booth in privacy as two dancers gave a private show, just feet from the main stage. I couldn’t see her face. But I didn’t need to either.
I knew it was Laila.
But I also knew it wasn’t.
The woman with her back to me had streaks of copper in her dark brown hair, and it was a couple of inches shorter than Laila’s, but still, something inside of me recognized her.
“I’ll be back,” I mumbled to Ryker, leaving the room and his own mumbled response as he essentially ignored me for numbers.
I walked down the hallway to the staff entrance for main floor and exited, keeping tabs on the comings and goings in the room like always, while keeping the closed booth in my peripheral on my way to Theo, stationed at the bar watching the room.
He was the club host, tasked with matching clients and girls through the night. He knew the ins and outs of Lux better than even I.
“Theo.” I called, walking up to him, “Who’s in booth four?”
His eyes flicked to the curtained booth and then back to me, and his neck tightened as he swallowed. “Uh, I’ll have to check.”
“Theo.” I squinted my eyes down at the man, who was as bad a liar as a nun. “Who’s in booth four?”
“Um—,” He hesitated again, flicking his eyes that way once again like he was looking for the right answer.
“Theo. I’m not going to ask again.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t say.” He rushed on, “Customers deserve privacy.”
I raised my eyebrows at him, and he shrunk into his flashy silver suit as he swallowed audibly.
“You’re fired.” I barked, stepping back from him as I headed toward the booth myself.
“What?” He cried dramatically. “I—” He stammered, “You can’t—” I ignored his theatrics and crossed the room. “Mr. Evans!” He called after me, but I just kept on walking until I got to the curtain.
Taser, a bouncer who had been with the club for almost as long as Ryker owned it, watched me approach the booth with a questioning glance over my shoulder to Theo. “Boss.” He nodded.
“Who’s inside?” I questioned, ignoring formalities.
“Sunshine.” He replied instantly, “She brought a friend and is getting a dance from a couple of girls.” He looked back at Theo again, who was audibly throwing a fit. “Everything alright?”
“Who’s the friend?”
Taser shrugged his shoulders, “Never seen her before. Pretty little thing. Scared as a kitten with a mile-long tail in a rocking chair store, though.”
Something bloomed in my chest at the description, confirming my original suspicion.
It was Laila.
“Move,” I ordered him, and he instantly stepped aside, pulling the curtain open for me to step through as he went.
The two dancers looked at me in surprise, but when they stepped aside, Carly just smirked and rolled her eyes. “I knew we wouldn’t get away with it for long.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she looked at Laila.
When I looked at her cohort, sitting next to her in the large plush booth, everyone else in the room ceased to exist. Laila’s big brown eyes were wide and almost fearful as she gazed up at me. Her hair was different, she’d been to a salon today, and judging by the swell of her breasts peeking through the deep V of her fresh shirt, Carly had taken her to Mav’s too.
Her long legs were crossed at the ankle as she sat still as stone, silently watching me take in the changes to her appearance. “Ladies, give us a minute,” I said, never taking my eyes off Laila.
