Chapter 58

Andre gives me off lunch shift the next day since we were there until an insane hour, and when I meet Frankie in the kitchen yawning and seeking coffee, it’s far past lunch time.

“I hate you,” Frankie murmurs, handing me my coffee as he rubs his eyes. “You’re throwing off my sleep schedule, Bambi. I’m no longer getting my ten hours a night, and it’s ruining my usually sunny demeanor. And my glowing complexion.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask, smirking at him as I wrap my hands around my coffee cup and plop my butt down onto a stool. “Do we finally get to see Dark Frankie?”

“Do you want to see Dark Frankie?” he asks me, raising a wicked eyebrow as he walks around the counter, his movements graceful. My eyes move immediately to his muscled back, the way that t-shirt slides over his trim muscles.

I bite my lip before I raise my cup a little so he can’t see, peering over the edge of it as I grin. “Kinda,” I say, laughing.

Frankie laughs too, I think in genuine pleasure and surprise, before he leans on the counter and takes a long sip of his own drink, smiling at me.

Frankie, I think, considering him anew as we take a quiet moment to wake up before I head into work. He’s something of a surprise, isn’t he?

“You good?” Andre asks, looking me up and down as I come into Lupa that evening.

“Huh?” I ask, kind of confused as Frankie moves on to his usual corner at the bar, letting me deal with my boss by myself.

“Not upset? Not hungover?”

“Andre,” I say, frowning at him as I lift the bar up and duck beneath it. “Why did you think I’d be upset and hungover?”

“Because,” he sighs, “you had your boy drama last night, which usually results in my bartendresses having a meltdown and coming into work the next day a mess.” He narrows his eyes at me though. “But you look…okay.”

“I didn’t have boy drama,” I sigh, leaning against the bar, a little miffed both that he noticed and that he’s giving me shit about it.

“Oh yeah?” he says, smirking at me. “You call having Christian Romano and my idiot brother chase you into a storage room what then…just, Tuesday night?”

“Yes,” I say, stern and narrowing my eyes, “just an average Tuesday, boss. Nothing I can’t handle.”

He smirks, turning away from me.

“And stop calling Frankie an idiot,” I call, taking a quick step towards Andre and smacking him on the shoulder as he goes. “He’s really nice.”

Andre laughs, half turning to me. “Nice don’t make you smart!” he calls. “Now get to work, Bambi!”

I do as I’m told, prepping the bar the way that Andre taught me and making sure that we have everything that we need for a successful night. Everything is calm and busy, just the way I like it, and I feel my mind settle as my body goes about the routines of work. The whole mood shifts, though, about fifteen minutes before opening. Intuiting that something is off, I lift my head and look around, wondering why.

It doesn’t take more than ten seconds to figure it out, though, as my eyes fall on Don Romano, standing at the hostess stand, having a chat with Lucy. I sigh, even as my body tenses. Because when Romano’s here, there’s always a level of tension that I was really hoping to avoid tonight.

He smiles at Lucy, giving her a nod, and my body tenses even more as he walks into the room and his eyes immediately move to me. “Bambi!” he says, his voice cheerful even as it booms through the room. I force myself not to freeze, making myself finish polishing the glass that I’m working on as Romano crosses to me.

“Sir?” I say, lifting my chin to look into his eyes as he comes to lean against the bar in front of me.

“You did well last night,” he says, giving me an approving nod. “I was impressed. Andre is impressed too. He says you’re a strong candidate and a good worker.”

“Oh,” I say, my eyebrows going up. I mean, it’s not that I’m surprised by my review – I know I’m doing well here, and I know Andre likes me. But – I didn’t know that Romano was checking up on me. “Thank you, sir.”

“Come on,” he says, turning briskly away and moving towards the service area in the back. “Time for your performance review.”

I hesitate, looking towards Andre because…well, shouldn’t Andre be giving me my performance review?

Andre meets my eyes, his jaw tense, and doesn’t move at all. I hesitate further, glancing back over my shoulder at Frankie, who is looking at me with a very freaked-out expression, not even pretending to look down at his phone like he usually does.

“Let’s go!” Romano’s voice echoes through the bar and I put my glass down carefully before starting forward, moving fast, eager to obey and afraid to get in trouble. Andre doesn’t say or do anything as I pass him and duck under the bar, which just freaks me out even more.

As I move into the service room in the back, I’m surprised to see that Don Romano is holding open a door that I didn’t even know was there – a portion of the wall that closes seamlessly into the wall and disappears when the door is closed. He laughs when my mouth makes a little “o” of surprise. “Step into my office, young lady,” he murmurs, holding it open for me.

Anxious, I skitter past him and stand awkwardly inside while Romano flicks on the lights and lets the door drift shut behind him.

The office is little, but it’s very nice – especially in contrast to the service area in the back, which is kind of dirty and cluttered. But here the furniture is fine and well organized, even if it’s a bit cramped.

“So,” Romano says, crossing around to the back of his desk and taking a leisurely seat in his chair. He studies me as he speaks. “How do you like working in my bar?”

“I like it very much, sir,” I say, utterly honest. I remember, briefly, Frankie telling me to do a bad job if I wanted to get out of this job – but really, I love working here. Or at least, I did until right now.

“And you are getting along with the staff?” he asks, his voice bland. “Learning the ropes?”

“I think so,” I say, nodding and tucking my hands behind my back, prim and professional. God, what does he actually want? He can get all of this information from Andre.

“Come here,” he murmurs, his voice dropping lower in a way that I recognize. He pushes back in his chair, making a little room for me to stand between him and the desk. A very, very small space.

Hesitating, not knowing what else to do, I do as I’m told, coming to stand in the area that Don Romano clears for me. I’m in such a small area that I’m forced to stand so close to him that our knees nearly touch.

“I admired your work last night,” Romano says, not bothering to hide it as he lets his eyes drift over my body as I stand before him. “You were polished, precise…let yourself be seen but weren’t disruptive. Just…perfect.”

“Thank you, sir,” I murmur, shifting awkwardly, knowing that there’s more to this praise than just an employer letting their employee know to keep up the good work.

“The other men noticed you too,” he says, his voice still low, flicking up his eyes to hold mine. “I’m not sure I liked that as much.”

I don’t say anything, just starting down into his face, not shocked but…frozen.

“No,” he murmurs, leaning forward and letting his hand slip from its place on the desk, letting it drift casually close to me before his thick fingers wrap delicately around the back of my thigh. I inhale sharply, standing up straight. “No,” he continues, a little smile on his lips. “I don’t think I liked that at all.”