“Poor Franklin,” I agreed.
Luke returned to the bar and went back to counting.
I leaned back in my seat and tried to steady my pounding heart. I caught a grin from Marvin and he winked at me, and I smiled back uncertainly, not sure what the guy wanted—but Luke’s men were all right. German was quiet and intense, and the others could be sort of loud and obnoxious, and Vlad was a hilarious muscle-head, but they seemed to mean well and left me alone. I expected a bunch of gangsters to be a little bit more aggressive than they were, but Luke seemed to have them under control.
Marvin got up after another hand of cards and sat down at my table heavily. Luke shot him a look, but I waved him off and smiled at Marvin.
“You looked lonely so I thought I’d come say hello.” He grinned at me and sighed, leaning back in his chair.
“You don’t think the other guys are going to make fun of you for talking to the boss’s… prisoner? I actually don’t know what I am to him.”
Marvin laughed and shook his head. “Nah, they’re all just jealous you didn’t tell me to fuck off already, I bet.”
“Does Luke bring a lot of girls around here?”
“To the strip club?” He raised an eyebrow. “No, I think he’s got more class than that.”
“You know what I mean. Does he have a lot of, you know, girlfriends?”
Marvin stroked his chin. “The boss does what he wants to do, if you know what I mean, but I’ve never seen him with anyone serious before.”
“Is that what you think I am to him?”
He looked at me from beneath hooded eyes. “Let me be honest with you here. I’ve seen the boss with women before, you know what I mean, but the way he looks at you is something else. It’s like you’re his favorite thing in the world.”
“I thought his favorite thing was money.”
He grinned and shrugged. “Then you’re the second favorite, if you’re putting yourself up against the beautiful goddess that is cold hard cash.” He leaned forward toward me and lowered his voice. “Seriously though, the boss can’t take his eyes off you, and it’s kind of cute.”
I glanced over at Luke and sure enough, he was watching me from the corner of his eye. He smiled slightly and narrowed his eyes as if to ask, what the hell does Marvin want? I only smiled back then looked away and tried to calm myself, the worry in my gut, the strange shifting way my muscles seemed to want to keep moving.
“It didn’t start out that way,” I admitted, not sure why I was telling this guy anything at all.
“Hey, I’m not saying it’s anything, you know, it’s not my place to say it’s one thing or the other, I’m only saying, I see the way the boss looks at you and it’s not like in a friendly manner, you know? He looks at you like he wants to keep you.”
That sent a chill down my spine. Luke stood up, banging the cash on the bar to straighten it out before pushing it aside, then walked over to the table. Marvin leaned away from me and grinned up at his boss, the serious look suddenly gone, replaced by his goofy grin.
“I told you guys not to bother her,” Luke said, frowning down at Marvin.
“He’s all right,” I said quickly. “I could’ve told him to fuck off if I wanted to.”
Marvin laughed and gestured at me. “See, boss? Strong, independent woman. Just your type.”
“You don’t know shit about my type.” Luke turned to me. “Ready to go?”
“What, we’re not staying until this place opens? I thought we’d get a show.”
Luke snorted. “I don’t think you’d like this sort of show. If you want to see dancers, I’ll take you to a classy joint.”
“Didn’t realize strip clubs could be classy.”
“There are all sorts of places, darling,” Marvin said, stretching his arms above his head.
I stood up and kicked the base of his chair. He nearly toppled back and Luke laughed, punching him in the arm as he barely managed to straighten himself out. Marvin grinned and winked at me, and I smiled back. I had the feeling he liked me, whether I deserved that or not. At least I felt slightly comfortable around him—not comfortable enough to be alone in a room, but enough to have a conversation with him at least.
Luke turned to the door and I stood behind him. Outside, an engine revved, and Luke tensed slightly. The whole room went still, like a beach before a tsunami, the tide rolling out for miles and miles and miles, the wave building so far away it was impossible to see, but coming faster and faster.
The front door kicked in and three, four, five men piled inside. Luke shouted something and shoved me aside, diving on top of me and pushing me back into the corner next to the door.