We find Dylan on a chaise lounge, with a girl on each side of him. He opens his eyes, as if he can sense my presence, and then sits up.
“Andrew, why is this man in my club?”
I pass Andrew my card, and he walks away without speaking a single word to his boss. Dylan stands up.
“What do you want, Graves?”
“We need to talk.”
“Considering I was escorted from the Opal Room by force, I think it’s safe to say you are not welcome here.”
I take another step forward, and I swear Dylan actually takes a step back.
“We are going to talk, Decker. And we can do it here, where everyone can hear what I have to say, or you can take me somewhere more private. I think the latter would work more to your advantage.”
Dylan chews on that for a moment before nodding towards a door. It leads us down a hallway to an office, where he closes the door behind us.
“Talk,” he demands.
And I smirk.
“How did you pay for this place?” I ask.
“Money,” he answers.
“What money?” I press.
Dylan snorts. “If you haven’t noticed, I am a CEO. I have money. All CEOs do.”
“But here’s the thing about that. Not all of that money is legal to access. And if it’s spent, say without banks and investors knowing, there’s a word for that.”
“What are you accusing me of?” he grits out.
“Exactly what you’ve been doing. It’s enough to take you down, Decker. And even if it wasn’t, the fact that you don’t vet your employees, is.”
“Are you saying my girls aren’t clean enough to be here?” he asks.
“I’m saying they’re not old enough to be here. Not all of them. So here is what we are going to do. You sell everything to me, at a generously discounted price of course because of how generous I am being with you. And you get lost.”
“Or?” he growls.
“Or, I blow it wide open and you go to jail. Either way, what’s yours is mine. In every way, if you know what I mean.”
With that, I’m done. I see myself out, all the way to the front door. The night air is warm, as usual for Nevada, but it isrefreshing nonetheless. I am feeling lighter already, though the biggest hurdle is still on the horizon.
Chapter 43
Ellie
“Ithought you said you’ve never done this before,” Abby tells me as she watches me pour the perfect martini for a regular who will very much know if it is not right.
“I haven’t,” I say as I slide it in front of him with a smile. “But I’ve always been a fast learner.”
He takes a sip, narrows his eyes, clicks his tongue and huffs. “Could be better, but it’ll do.”
I look over at Madeline, the head bartender, and she smiles. “That’s about as good a compliment as you’re ever going to get from Tucker here.”
“So I did it right?” I ask, fishing for the affirmation.
