Lev (Shot Callers 1)

She turned, eyes wide, glancing down my body. “What are you doing, Sash?”

I couldn’t help myself. My hands came up to rest on either sides of her small waist. “I can make you forget him,” I muttered. My thumb ran over the elastic of her bikini bottoms. “I can make you forget he ever existed, Ani.”

And I meant it too. Lev didn’t want her. He had Mina. Her time to make a move was over. Lev was happy now. She missed out.

She glanced up at me through lowered lashes. Her melodic voice soft, she uttered a regretful, “You were never competition, Sasha. Not next to him.” She glanced over my shoulder, and from the way her eyes turned warm, I fucking knew she was watching him.

Jealousy screamed through me. I hated that she loved him.

She looked back up at me, reaching up to gently squeeze my forearm as she murmured, “You never even came close.”

When she took her drink and walked back to the deck chair, she lay down, her eyes discreetly watching my brother.

And there it was. The woman I loved held a torch for my brother. Figures.

It didn’t matter though. I would use every weapon in my arsenal to have her. Anika would be mine.

I fucking vowed it.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Mina

Shopping with Birdie at a prop shop had been…well…interesting, to say the least. Halfway through our shopping expedition, I was wide-eyed and stunned at the things one could find if they looked hard enough.

Who knew nipple pasties were available at lingerie stores? Or that tiny sailor costumes and fishnets were so readily obtainable?

Birdie knew—that’s who.

We left the mall with two shopping carts full of accessories, and Birdie had called the girls to meet us at the club after I’d asked Sasha for permission to meet there. Lev was busy working the books, but told me he’d meet me there later in the day.

We arrived at Bleeding Hearts just after two p.m. Most of the dancing girls had come, but two of them sent messages through the others that they weren’t able to make it. Birdie was kind of pissed at that. She warned me that Sofia and Martina were kind of slack. She warned both girls that if they couldn’t perform the new routines, they’d likely be let go. Both girls treated the threat with an aloofness that stunned me.

Didn’t they realize they were at risk of losing their jobs? I was shocked they didn’t seem to care.

Sasha watched from the sidelines as we unveiled the first box of props. Out came feathered fans, vintage silken fans, garters, feather boas, top hats, satin face masks, a large box of nipple pasties, satin gloves, retro white crocheted parasols, ostrich feathers of all colors, leather whips, and thin walking sticks, and the girls went wild.

A small woman named Lilah came forward, touching the feathers with a smile on her face. “Wow. They’re so soft.”

A green-eyed girl called Petra grinned as she picked up a lace garter. “And so feminine.”

A tall African-American woman I knew as Shonda wrapped a feather boa around her neck. “Would you look at this stuff? Mmmm hmmm. I am liking this.”

The rest of the girls came around to view the items we’d pulled out, and I counted eight women. I sighed mentally. It might be enough for opening night, but some of these girls worked part-time. If Sofia and Martina didn’t show up, we were going to be in trouble.

Birdie called out. “Come around here, ladies. I got some things for you that you’re going to love. Thank you for texting me your sizes; it helped a lot.” She struggled with the second box and I rushed over to help her. She smiled at me and turned to the girls. “Who wants to see the cool costumes we got?”

A cheer went around and Lilah squealed out, “I’m so excited!”

Birdie took each costume out of the box one-by-one, handing them to the girls who they fit. Each girl received a different color corset-bodied one-piece with thigh-high fishnets, and one additional costume. They weren’t all the same. Some girls got a teeny-weeny sailor outfit, while some were made to be bunnies. Others were French maids, policewomen, cats, and we even had a Red Riding Hood.

The way the girls chattered excitedly had me biting my lip to squelch down my smile. I was happy that they were happy.

When Lilah held up a pastie and asked, “How do we put these on?” Birdie assisted, telling Lilah to take off her t-shirt and bra. Lilah grinned as she undressed, and the other ladies watched carefully as Birdie showed them how to apply the pasties by using the glue on Lilah’s bare breasts.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I smiled down at the display.

“Hey, I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” I answered happily.