Chapter 9: A freaking strip club?!.

"Gor being annoying."

I glare at her as she points toward the bathroom.

"Get dressed."

I fold my arms.

"No."

She raises an eyebrow and i raise mine back.

She reaches toward me again, I immediately jump off the bed.

"Fine!"

She smiles triumphantly.

"Good girl."

"Don’t."

She laughs as h grab the dress and disappear into the bathroom, I hear Cassian call from the hallway.

"Is she alive?"

"Unfortunately!" Olivia shouts back.

"Hey!"

Their laughter follows me into the bathroom.

I shut the door.

For a moment, I simply stare at my reflection.

The girl who used to live under Papa’s roof feels like someone I once knew.... A long time ago.

I pull the dress over my head and smooth the fabric down.

Then I look at myself again, I barely recognize the woman staring back. Maybe that’s because I spent years trying to become someone my family couldn’t control, someone who could make her own decisions,someone who could live without a Don’s protection.

Someone ordinary.

I reach for my earrings.

Something about tonight feels strange, I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because Uncle Lorenzo doesn’t usually summon all of us for dinner without giving a reason.

Maybe it’s because Cassian has been unusually tense all evening.

Or maybe...I’m simply imagining things.

I shake the thought away, tonight is just dinner.

That’s all.

I finish getting ready, step out of the bathroom, and immediately find Olivia waiting with her arms crossed.

She looks me over.

This time, she nods approvingly.

"Much better."

I grab my purse.

"Happy?"

"Very."

Cassian appears in the doorway, hs eyes land on me and he smiles.

"There she is."

I roll my eyes.

"Don’t start."

He chuckles.

"Come on, kid."

I glare at him.

"I’m twenty-four Cas."

"And I’m still your older brother."

"Unfortunately."

He reaches over and ruffles my hair.

I swat his hand away.

"Stop doing that!"

He laughs.

Olivia grabs her purse.

"Let’s go before she changes her mind."

I follow them toward the door.

——-

The moment we leave my apartment, I expect Cassian to head toward Uncle Lorenzo’s house.

Instead, he turns in the opposite direction.

I notice after about five minutes.

"Cas?."

"Hm?"

"Where are we going?"

He keeps his eyes on the road.

"Out."

I stare at the back of his head.

"That’s not an answer."

"It is technically an answer."

"No, it’s not."

Olivia, sitting beside me in the back seat, laughs softly.

"Just relax, Rissa."

"I am relaxed."

"You’ve been staring at him for the past thirty seconds."

"Because he’s driving us somewhere we weren’t supposed to be going. I thought we were late?"

Cassian glances at us through the rearview mirror.

"You two talk too much."

I narrow my eyes.

"Where are we going?"

He finally sighs.

"Uncle Lorenzo’s bar."

I sit upright.

"The bar?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because that’s where he wants us."

I look at Olivia t see She looks just as surprised.

"Since when does Uncle Lorenzo want us anywhere near that place?"

Cassian doesn’t answer.

The Luciano bar isn’t somewhere Olivia and I are allowed to visit.

Not now.... Especially not when Papa was alive.

Not after he died.

The place has always been strictly business, at least that’s what we’ve been told.

Fifteen minutes later, the familiar neon sign appears ahead.....it’s familiar because my stubborn ass once tried to get in and I got caught.

LUCIANO’S.

My stomach tightens.

Cassian pulls the SUV to the curb and puts it in paek.

I’ve been here before....(asides the time I got caught of course) just never inside.

I remember coming here once when I was younger, sitting in the car while Papa went inside for less than twenty minutes.

He’d returned with a completely different attitude. When I’d asked what was inside, he’d simply said,

"Business."

Apparently, that word covers a lot in this family.

Cassian gets out first and I follow after Olivia.

The moment I step onto the pavement, music reaches me through the walls.

Heavy bass with people shouting over the music.

I glance up at the building.

"Why do I feel like I’m about to regret coming here?"

Olivia loops her arm through mine.

"Because you’re dramatic like that."

Cassian walks ahead of us ans We follow.

The main entrance is crowded wirh Men in expensive suits, women dressed for the nightlife and security guards standing near the doors.

The atmosphere is nothing like the quiet family gatherings I’m used to.

It’s loud, chaotic and alive.

Cassian doesn’t stop at the main entrance.

Instead, he leads us around the side. We pass a narrow hallway before he opens another door.

I step through and stop. Mh mouth falling open.

"What the fuck?"

Olivia grabs my arm.

"Rissa."

"N No way."

This isn’t a normal bar. At least, not entirely, the music is louder back here, rh lighting darker with women performing on small stages completely naked while wealthy men sit in private booths, drinks in hand. There are rooms along the corridor with closed doors and different labels on them.... I read one in passing voyeurism.

I feel something cold settle in my stomach.

"What is this?"

Cassian doesn’t answer.

I look at him.

"Cas."

He keeps walking.

"Don’t."

I follow him, lowering my voice.

"Since when does our family run something like this?"

He finally glances over his shoulder.

"Keep your voice down."

"Why?"

"Because this isn’t a conversation for the hallway."

My eyes sweep over the room again.

This isn’t simply a strip club or bar. There are transactions happening here that have nothing to do with drinks or entertainment.

The whole place feels dirty..

I swallow.

"Papa would never have allowed this."

Cassian’s expression becomes unreadable.

"You don’t know everything Papa allowed."

That stops me.

I stare at him.

"What does that even mean?"

"Nothing."

"Cas."

"Not here rissa."

Before I can push him further, he reaches another door with two armed men standing outside it.

They straighten the moment they see Cassian.

One of them opens the door.

"Mr. Luciano."

.