“I love to gamble. I’m betting that this is your first time in my club, and you don’t know all the rules.”
“Your club?” she replied.
He nodded.
She looked at her glass, took out the toothpick with the olive on it, and held his gaze before she whispered, “What rules?” in a seductive tone. Then she ate the olive, letting the toothpick slowly glide from her lips. He watched her intently.
“I’ll explain them to you, personally.”
“You think I need such intimate instruction?” she asked, holding his gaze.
He licked his lower lip and replied softly, very close to her ear, “Oh, I’m thinking you’ll need lots of instruction. Step by step along the way.”
He let his lips graze her ear, and she shivered but held firm.
“What’s your name, beautiful?” he asked.
“Lana.”
He smiled. “Well, Lana, why don’t we go someplace more comfortable, and less noisy?” he suggested as he eased his hand along her arm to her elbow. She looked at the other women.
“I’m here with friends. Besides, I don’t know you, and I wouldn’t just walk away with some guy who just approached me at the bar.”
She felt the hand on her shoulder and then a warm breath against her ear. The other guy, Miklos, pressed up against her.
“He’s the boss, honey. You’re safest with him. Besides, what he says goes. That’s one of the first rules of Phaze.”
She slowly turned toward Miklos and looked into his dark, evil eyes.
“I’ve never been a rule follower,” she said and Miklos grabbed her arm.
She gasped.
“Miklos, release her,” Aces stated sternly. Miklos gave her the evil eye but released her upper arm.
Aces took her hand.
“Come have a drink with me. Let’s get to know one another.” She slid down off the stool and even in the high heels, Aces towered over her. His black button-down shirt, the ace of spades tattooed on his neck, and the dark expression made him appear so intense and scary. She had a job to do and apparently her angle was working.
“Do you need your bodyguard to explain your rules, Aces?” she asked and then gave Miklos the evil eye before she looked back at Aces. He gave a small smirk.
“He’s blood, and always looking out for me. He’ll look out for you, too. Maybe make sure you’re as sweet as you appear to be.”
“Sweet?”
He leaned closer and brushed a thumb along her lower lip then whispered against her ear, letting his lips touch her intimately. “I hope to find out just how sweet you are, tonight. Come on.”
As she walked along with Aces, and Miklos right behind him, she felt Aces’s hand on her lower back, and then his thumb grazed along her skin and right where her tattoo peeked out. She shivered, trying to resist the urge to pull away when every inch of her warned her to do just that.
She wondered if she played her part too well. But one glance toward an undercover trooper as they made their way toward the staircase told her she was doing exactly what was needed to get the job done. Her confidence kicked up a notch.
They climbed the stairs, people moving out of the way as they approached the hallway and then a door. Miklos punched in a code as Aces pressed his body against her back. He whispered against her ear and neck. Something he sure seemed to like to do a lot.
“You smell very good, Lana.”
She went to step away and stop before they entered the large balcony area, but he wouldn’t allow it. He gripped her hips and ushered her forward toward the set of red couches in a semicircle. There was a low cocktail table and a great view of the dance floor and bar below. She could see the other undercover agents and female cops she arrived with.
Aces watched her line of sight, and she waved at one of the women who shyly waved back.