04

“Nothing, I'll handle this myself.” I snap the file closed. “Tell Hunter to send me the club owner's contact information.”

“May I ask what you intend on doing with it, Sir?”

I can't help but smile at the thought. “I'm going to see my Farfalla.”

Luca doesn't respond, but Yuri does, voicing his useless opinion. “I like this, Sir.”

“I don't remember asking you to like anything, unless I forget, you don't tell me what to do. You don't run your mouth unless asked.”

“Sorry.” he bows, as I lift from my seat. Sure, Yuri is loyal to a fault, he came as a bargain when I married Tatiana and when she died I offered her to have him repositioned in the New York bratva, the Cosa Nostra heir, Enzo Valenti has ties to the Russian mafia and so Yuri would have easily been placed in their care despite his family rank being low but he chose to stay with me and I allowed it, he's very useful.

“Luca, you're driving.” I order, heading out to the car. I didn't take more than four guards on this trip, when my soon to be brother in-law Hunter invited me to his scandalous bachelor party I was inclined to accept and momentarily desert my duties as Capo.

Luca seems to have little faith in himself as he takes Tristan with us, another of my loyal men. The trip to the club is swift, or maybe I'm too consumed by thoughts of Tatiana to notice the flow of time.

“Adrian Moretti,” a Man I've never met before greets me with unmatched enthusiasm.

“Rocky, I presume.” I don't even try to feign a smile and shake his hand. He nods, pressing his intercom. “Lacey, get our guest a drink.”

“No, thanks.” I promptly refuse, “I'm not here for a drink.”

Rocky nods repeatedly, “What can I do for you? I hear you caused a racket last time you were here.”

“That's not what I would call it.” I gotta my teeth, what happened was a natural reaction to seeing one's wife after desperately dreaming of the encounter. “I have an offer for you.”

“I'm not selling my club,” he frowns. “I am aware you own a wide chain or whatever but there's only one Elusive and I like it that way.”

“Small minded I see.”

“Happy,” he counters.

I nod, “That aside, I came here to inquire about a dancer of yours.” my fists ball at the thought of him not only seeing my wife naked but making her dance naked. “Hunter chose her.”

“Oh, you had four last night, pick one.” his gaze trails off to the TV I didn't pay attention to. Five dancers are displayed, with numbers underneath. Tatiana is number one on his fucked up scoreboard, no surprise there my wife is incredible in every aspect. “First one,” I tell him.

“Medusa,” he grins proudly. “Aah, I see you've taken a liking to the master herself. She's a talent isn't she?”

I want to strangle him and watch as all air leaves his lungs. Not only has he marketed my wife, but he's also interested in her. “I'm not here to discuss her talents, I want to know how you know her.”

“Sure.” he nods, surprisingly so agreeable. “She used to be a favourite back in a rival club but I guess they weren't paying her enough so she came here.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Two years, I think.” he nods again. This fucker likes bobbing his head a lot. “One of my mates brought her in, she owes him a huge debt.”

“So she's here for money?” I ask, my face placid. I can't imagine my wife dancing for change when she's got billions are her disposal and if she beer desires more, I'll give that to her.

“Oh yes,” Rocky agrees. “Starr, I mean–Medusa loves money. Between you and me, I think she has a money kink.” he snorts, a comment that makes me reach for my gun but I remind myself I can't kill anyone in Vegas, it'll start a war. A war I would have gladly taken up two days ago but now I have better things to tend to, my wife being one to hundred on that list. “We have a separate pay for girls who tend to our guests' sexual needs and she's one of the most requested.

He's pimping my wife out?

“You're a friend of Hunter's, so I can push a few men around to accommodate you but let me just say I don't do this for everyone.”

“Really?” I lose my grip on my gun. “Because it seems to me you're money hungry as opposed to the principles you're trying to sell me.”

Rocky laughs, “No, me Moretti. I indeed love money, I didn't deny it. But I'm just telling you a night with her is hard to get, more so lately, she's suddenly got peculiar taste.”

“I see.”

“So, is that what you want?”

No.

I'm not paying to have sex with my wife, and I'm also going to walk away with her in the next few days. I have pending business back home.

“I want to talk to her, can you do that for me?”

Rocky nods, again. “And how much are you paying for this talk?” he snorts out a laugh like he thinks talk is an anomaly for sex. “Starr is very stubborn and what you pulled last night might make her say no to attending to you. I don't make the girls do anything.”

I frown, my lips twitching with a smile at how ridiculous he sounds. “You whore them out for scraps of what they actually earn you, but you don't force them to do anything?” I snicker, “There's no don't need to pretend with me, I'm not interested in your work management practices.”

“I see why Hunter said to watch out for you, you're fast.” he smirks.

“Can you get me Tati–Medusa tonight?”

He pauses as if considering how much to pawn her off for. “Yes, I owe Hunter one so why not? And you're in luck because she just earned her Saturday night's privileges back.”

I don't ask what those are, I'm afraid the answer might make me shoot him between his eyes while I still need him to get to Tatiana. “Do you know her address?”

“I do, but I can't give it to you.”

“How much?”

“Wow, Capo.” Rocky gasps, “You won't pay me to have her service your machine but you'll pay me for her address?”

“Yes.” I blankly retort.

“Well, it's unfortunate that I can't hand out that information for security purposes. And you'll not find it anywhere, I pay good money to keep their homes secret but Medusa will be here. Her show is at eleven pm.”

Eleven on, eight hours from now, I can wait I've waited three whole years, a few hours won't bruise my eagerness. “See you then.” I rise to leave, but he whistles. fucking whistles at the leader of the Camorra. Did Hunter tell this prick who I am?

When I turn, glaring at his absolute audacity I note him smiling at me. “If you want to capture her attention, money works better than yapping.”

I leave, ignoring him.

Flashing money only irritates my wife, she made that very clear when I tried to compensate for my absence by showering her with diamonds and money.

On our way to the hotel, I take the opportunity to stalk my wife, and I must say this is more fun than the first time I did it. She was a prime and proper mafia princess with a mild social media presence but now? This new life she's faked for herself is something no one would imagine her doing, she even has an adult site in her social media bios. There are multiple pictures of what my sister likes to call thirst traps. I notice a butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder, the wings of the butterfly look town on one end, leaving petals in their wake. When I zoom in on multiple pics, I don't find her strawberry birthmark. Is she concealing it? This can't be the life she wants, I know my wife, this is far from her nightmares. But why did my Tatiana fake her death? Why is she pretending to not know me? Or has she truly forgotten about who she is?

My thoughts come to a standstill when a new post pops up, actually–a live stream. In mere seconds, the views pick up while she's hardly doing anything at some restaurant with a few people I assume are friends of hers. She's clothed and yet showing too much cleavage. “Ouuu, good afternoon guys!” she rubs her hands together, smiling way too much as she looks at the comments which are in real-time. Men and women gushing over her like some local celebrity. “Baby,” she looks over her phone. “Baby, get me another salad” she grins, and some male responds, “No olives?”

"No olives." She repeats. Her attention turns back to the phone, “You guys should check out Ernie's if you're ever in Vegas, he makes the best salads, and he has a picture of me on the wall...” she trails off shifting the phone to a different angle, on that allows us to see the picture in question. She looks as natural as ever, holding a bottle of champagne. “Look! I know it's messy, but I was hungover when he took it.”

Messy? Far from it, she looks perfect, she always does.

And hungover? My wife has never had a drop of alcohol in her life. “Oh, my salad is here and so is my husband.” she blows a kiss.

“Stop lying.” A girl giggles, in the background making Tatiana frown.

“Hmm, no. I think I can claim him too, I take care of him.” her gaze shifts back to the phone. “He's so spoiled, guys. Right I'll show you his scene next time, but now, I have to go, see you tomorrow or tonight if you get lucky.” she winks, waving at the camera before the live ends.

I shift in my seat, unable to keep my smile to myself. “See you soon, wife.” I grin to myself.