He’d seemed more intrigued than anything.
“Not for me, but my brother Nick is a Sous Chef at Eva’s,” Luke said, heading over to the booth. Michael raised his eyebrows. Eva’s was one of the top restaurants in the city; some of his theater friends still served there.
Patrick immediately scooted over to make room for him, which would put Patrick between Luke and Michael and keep Luke from looking down on them as he talked. Michael scrubbed his hand over his mouth to hide his amusement at Patrick’s subtle power manipulations, but he knew the other man saw it anyway. Fortunately, Luke either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, he slid right into the booth in the space Patrick had opened up for him.
“So he’s looking to be an Executive Chef?” Patrick prompted, folding his hands in front of him and zeroing in on Luke.
The other man nodded. “He’s been at Eva’s for about ten years now, been the sous chef for two of those. While he loves working there, he really wants to be able to make his own stuff. The Exec there lets him do some dishes, but my brother’s ambitious. He’s also picky about where he goes; I think a new place he could shape from the ground up would appeal to him in a way other offers haven’t.” A proud smile flashed across his face. “And I have no doubt he’d be happy to sign a non-disclosure. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up wanting to be a member.”
Michael and Patrick exchanged a look, and Patrick gave Michael a nod, giving him both his approval and final decision.
“Ask if he’s interested and tell him about the non-disclosure,” Michael said. “If he is, we can set up a tasting and go from there. No promises obviously, but if he’s working at Eva’s, I’m sure his food will be great. Hopefully our personalities will get along.”
“And he’ll have to get along with Olivia,” Patrick murmured.
Yeah… Michael had a lot of experience working in the restaurant industry from when he was younger. Executive Chefs could be very abrasive. Something Olivia would definitely not tolerate, although hopefully as long as they didn’t step on each other’s toes…
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about too,” Luke said. “Which will have no bearing on whether or not my brother is hired.”
Curious. Michael tilted his head at the same time Patrick gestured for Luke to continue.
“I’d like in as a partner - a silent partner,” Luke said, quickly clarifying when both Patrick and Michael frowned. “I don’t need to be an equal partner if you two would like to keep control, but I’ve been doing some research, and I think you two are going to be more successful than even you realize. And I’d like into the club.”
“You could just get a membership,” Michael pointed out.
Luke shrugged. “I will if you aren’t interested in having a silent partner, but I’d prefer the partnership.”
“Are you a silent partner in a lot of places?” Patrick asked.
The smile which spread across Luke’s face was anything but modest. “I have my fingers in quite a few pies. I like to diversify, and I like success. There are some places where you’re cutting corners or choosing lower quality products to save money. Not that the outcome is going to be bad, it’s going to be really good, but I’d like to help you make turn the final product from good to outstanding. Think about it. Preferably before we start doing any of the tile work in the bathrooms upstairs.”
Rapping his knuckles on the table, Luke grinned and took his leave in an obvious tactical retreat. He’d managed to hook both Patrick and Michael’s interest, although they were obviously going to have to talk about it.
Still… Michael’s mind was already working. Some of the changes they were making upstairs were ending up being pricier than they’d originally planned because of the way they were changing how the third floor private rooms were going to be used. They’d scaled back on some of the plans they’d previously made; Luke was right, they’d still chosen things which were good, but maybe not quite as luxurious. Not quite what they’d initially pictured.
Being tempted with an influx to make everything exactly the way they wanted it… yeah, Luke had known exactly how to tempt them.
******
The club was already hopping a bit for a Thursday night. Ellie had planned to stay away, rather than torture herself with what she couldn’t have since her scene with Michael wasn’t until tomorrow, but… Masochist. Plus, if she were being completely truthful, she wanted to see him. And the only safe way she could do that was in the club.
Although, she may have made a mistake. Because as soon as she saw him sitting with Patrick, Lexie, Jake, and Chris, all she wanted to do was run over and jump him. She was so wound up and he looked so good in his leathers, a dark green shirt which hinted at his musculature, and strands of hair brushing against his cheekbones. And when he saw her, his entire face lit up, taking her breath away.
He’d told her he was going to be here tonight, and she’d said she might be able to make it, but she still hadn’t expected that reaction from him just for seeing her.
For a moment, it felt like her chest might crush inward on itself under the weight of whatever expectations had made him look like that when he saw her, but she shook herself free as he stood up and obviously excused himself, moving around Patrick to more open space and holding out his hand. Ellie moved towards him, very aware of her steps on her very high heels and the way her wet netherlips slid against each other as she walked. As she came to him, he pulled a small case out of his pocket which she immediately recognized.
Yeah… small chance he’d have left that behind.
The collar was already around her throat since he let her take it home during the week, but he had to be the one to insert and remove the plug apparently. The reasons he wanted to were probably very similar to the reasons it made Ellie uncomfortable… which were also the reasons she was secretly glad he insisted. Andrew had been right about her; she needed to be pushed and she let Michael push her more than she would anyone else.
Probably because she normally didn’t care if she pushed a Dom away. With Michael, she definitely did.
“Hey there beautiful,” he said, his eyes skimming approvingly over her pleather mini-skirt and silver corset.
“Hello,” she said, sliding her fingers into his. Immediately, she felt a little better, a little more grounded, a little less anxious. Was it fair to make Michael her lifeline? Probably not, but it did work.
He turned his head back to the others. “We’ll be right back.”
