Page 17 of Liberated By Sin
But I could be anyone.
My life had been plagued by pain, loss, and death. But there was a time when the ugliness of the world hadn’t tainted me. The image of two little girls building sandcastles on a beach in Rio de Janeiro lit behind my eyelids. My childhood best friend.
Amara Carvalho.
8
Present Day
A Taste of Divine – Shaker, Azee, COBRA
“I wasstarting to think you wouldn’t show.”
Luca stood taller, filling out his suit more than when I’d seen him last. He wore a broad smile and outstretched his hand as he greeted me from the entrance of his late father’s establishment. Uncle Lorenzo was still cold in a morgue while his firstborn was all business and grins, summoning me at first light to sign over the rights to Illusion. As co-owner, I was here to forfeit my share or take on full ownership. While I wasn’t usually in the business of giving up assets, I didn’t particularly care for the responsibility of a gentlemen’s club in Miami.
I had plans to move back to Italy and lay low for a few years.
“Flight got delayed,” I said, pulling my younger cousin in for a hug and hard clap to the back.
“Glad you made it.”
“I’m sure you are.”
He pushed open thick metal doors and chuckled. “Oh, come on, Santino. I’m happy to see you. It’s been nearly four years, and we’repractically brothers.Papáalways saw you as a son, and I know he’d be honored that you came to say your goodbyes.”
“I’m not staying for the service.” I was no stranger to death. It was as natural to me as breathing. We all had an expiration date. And Uncle Lorenzo’s time had run up. Every second that ticked by was one closer to death’s door. And I was simply trying to be on a beach somewhere in the Mediterranean and, hopefully, buried to the hilt in good pussy when it came time to atone for my sins.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Home,cuginetto,” were the last words I spoke before music engulfed us, drowning out whatever rebuttal he’d given as we stepped into the darkened lounge.
Red lights gave life to the crowded space, illuminating a well-stocked bar on the far end and circled the ridge of the main stage, where a topless dancer worked the pole and guests. Her fiery red hair whipped back and forth, and her matching thong glittered against a flashing backdrop.
Thick smoke plumed from the patrons surrounding the stage as they watched with rapt attention, some in the company of who I could only assume were other dancers or escorts.
“Cambri,” Luca said into my ear, loud enough to be heard over the music. “One of our best. You should stay and enjoy the show,cugino.”
Not that her tits weren’t pretty, pierced with diamond barbells big enough to catch my attention from here, but jet lag was creeping in, and a hot shower and a stiff drink were calling my name.
“Maybe next time I’m in town.”
“At least let me offer you a drink, a private dance. It would be a damn shame for you to have come all this way, just to turn around and leave so quickly without so much as having a taste of the merchandise.”
I shifted my gaze back to Cambri, who now had her thong stretched around each ankle, arms above her head, grasping the metal pole as she undulated her bare cunt toward the crowd.
Maybe I could stay a while longer.
“I can clear her schedule for you tonight. Get you one of our privaterooms upstairs. It’s on me,” he offered and pulled out a stool at the bar.
“You that happy to see me?” Chuckling, I lit a Fuente and leaned against the counter.
Luca had always been an ambitious son of a bitch. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d had a hand in his own father’s death, just to inherit his empire and the millions in assets and power he’d felt entitled to. Lorenzo knew the kind of man his only son had become.
Stupid.
Lorenzo had spent the better part of the last decade bailing him out of debt, bargaining for his life, expunging records, and dragging his ass in and out of rehab.
I gave this place a month before he gambled it away or burned it to the ground.
