Page 3 of The Nanny and the Don
“Do I look like I give a fuck about any of that? It’s not up for debate.”
“Money might not be a thing to you, bro, but every dollar this place brings in counts,” he explained.
“You forget I just agreed to buy a quarter of this place. I’m not an unreasonable man. You have a week.”
“Play me for her,” Brendan suggested.
“What?” I scowled. I’d already said it wasn’t up for debate. He knew how I rocked, so I wasn’t even sure why we were going through this.
“Play me for her. One hand.”
I shrugged. “Just because I know you’re a gambling man, I’ll humor you.”
“Good. I’m taking three cards,” he said, taking three cards from the deck.
“Give me two.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what the folks call a straight,” he said, placing his consecutive hand in front of me.
I didn’t speak as I laid my cards out for his viewing pleasure. I had done more than enough talking.
“You have one week,” I said, standing from my seat and making my exit.
Two
Devlan Rose
When I took the job at Velvet, I had no idea what was in store for me. All I knew was I was tired of scraping and living from check to check. My best friend in the world, Kelsea, had been working there for almost four months by the time her wad of tips made me jealous enough to want in.
She was a dancer there, and she loved it. It was nothing new to her. She’d been working in strip clubs since the day we were smart enough to run away from our last foster home and make our own way. We had big dreams of moving to Atlanta and being discovered. I could sing, but my girl could blow. We just knew there was no way our duo wouldn’t end up making it big in the industry once we were in front of the right people. Little did we know, everybody, and their mama, wanted the same thing we wanted.
Every audition came with rejection or a dude wanting you to fuck your way to the top. It wasn’t my thing. Not that I was against money. I just didn’t want that for myself. Kelsea and I both ended up with someone in our faces making a whole lot ofpromises and never following through on the dreams they sold us.
After years of empty promises and bullshit, I got my ass in school. As much as I loved to sing, I loved working with children even more. One of the only reasons that I stayed in the group home where she and I met for so long was so that I could help look after the younger girls.
The waitressing jobs that we had helped keep a roof over our heads and the lights on, but I wanted more. I was tired of living from check to check.I take that back. It would have been nice to at least be able to make it from one check to the next.I couldn’t even afford that.
For a while, taking my GED classes at night had me running on fumes. Only being able to work at the diner part-time had the bills piling up and Kelsea nagging for more help around the house. She didn’t believe that education was the key to getting out of our situation. I knew it was. That’s why for the past two years, I had been enrolled in the local college to get my degree in early childhood education.
I was only a part-time student, but eventually my change would come. I just needed to stay down. Meanwhile, my bestie had found some guy who worked at the club to line her pockets. She wasn’t even staying in our apartment anymore, which only put more strain on me. My girl still paid her part of the rent, but I knew that would only last for so long.
Thankfully, I finally went down to the club where she had been making bank. I’d been afraid that they would think I was too awkward to fit in. I was used to not fitting in, so it didn’t bother me. I was taller than every woman that I had ever met in person. That bothered me my whole life until I just decided that there was nothing I could do but accept it. Not to mention the wild afro that I’d grown to love over the years.
Instead of shrinking to fit in with everyone, I let myself bloom into the woman I was meant to be. I was happy and at peace with myself, but that didn’t mean that everyone else could accept me.
“Come here for a second,” Brendan, the owner of Velvet, said, walking over to me.
My heart seized up when I realized that he was talking to me.What the hell does he want with me?I had only had the job for close to three weeks. The tips that I brought home on a nightly basis had covered the rent for two months and caught up our light and water bills. I had a refrigerator full of food and a little left over after getting a few things that I had been wanting. I needed my job. I said a silent prayer that I wasn’t about to get fired already as I moved over to where he stood.
“How you like it here so far?” Brendan asked once I was in earshot.
“It’s cool. The girls are nice,” I said, making sure to wear that smile I plastered on all night to make sure I got good tips.
“The customers treating you all right?”
“So far, so good.” I shrugged, wondering where this conversation was going.
“Do you remember the guy who was sitting with me earlier?” he questioned.
