I was surprised Knox was able to smile back. I was on the verge of throwing up my cookies.
"Thank you," Knox said.
Brasov briefly glanced at the rest of us. "My reservations clerk said one of you was getting married?"
"Oh, no." Knox shook his head. "My associate Crosby already got married, but he and his husband got married up in Canada and we didn't have time to celebrate with him, so we thought we'd plan a post bachelor party."
Brasov's smile widened even more. "And you chose my humble establishment?"
Knox chuckled as if they were old friends. "We were told you had the best entertainment."
"Yes, yes. All of my dancers are the best." Brasov waved his hand toward the roped-off VIP area. "Please, sit. I'll arrange for some dancers for you and a bottle service. Champagne?"
He sounded so hopeful.
"We'll start out with your best bottle of scotch," Knox said, "and go from there."
"Of course." Brasov snapped his fingers, and one of the wait staff hurried over.
The man who came over could barely be legal, and I had serious doubts that he was. He was cute enough in a twink sort of way, a lot of wavy blond curls and enough skin showing to get most men interested, but I wasn't most men. I didn't do youngsters, and this guy looked as if he didn't even shave.
"See to it that these men have whatever they want," Brasov directed.
The young man's eyes rounded. "Yes, sir."
I grew a little nervous when Brasov's gaze roamed over all of us again. What was he looking for? I knew for a fact that Ivan and Yuri were carrying. They'd made sure it was obvious in the bulges in their suit jackets. I also knew Brasov couldn't see the blades strapped to various parts of my body. I'd made sure I wasn't obvious.
Brasov didn't say anything, so I wasn't sure what that meant. He just waved his hand toward the side of the room. "Please, allow me to show you the VIP section."
I stayed behind my bosses as we followed Brasov to a large open booth area behind the security rope. Another one of those beefy-looking guys in the suits grabbed the red rope and moved it to the side when we walked up.
Knox didn't even stop his stride. He kept walking as if he owned the place until he reached the booth and sat down. Burke and Crosby followed him, so I did the same, sitting on the far side of Crosby. Ivan and Yuri took up positions on either side of the bench seat with their backs to the wall.
The waiter stopped in front of the low table in front of the bench. "Welcome to The Refectory. My name is Clark. I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you something from the bar?"
His speech was obviously rehearsed. I could practically hear him reciting the words in his head.
"A bottle of your best scotch," Knox said, "and four glasses."
"Would you like to start a tab tonight, sir?" Clark asked.
Knox reached into his suit jacket and pulled out his wallet. He grabbed his black American Express card out and handed it over. "We'll start a tab."
Clark's eyes rounded just a little bit more as he took the card. "Very good, sir."
"We'd also like to see a menu."
"Of course. I'll get that for you right away."
"Who do we speak to about getting some cash for the dancers?" Crosby asked.
"I can take care of that for you, sir."
Crosby pulled a stack of one-hundred-dollar bills out of his pocket and counted out ten of them. "I'd like them in twenty-dollar denominations."
Clark's eyebrows shot up. "All of them, sir?"
"Yes, all of them." Crosby chuckled as he glanced at the blond-haired dancer twirling around the pole on the center stage. "I think I'm going to need them."
