Kane took a deep breath, like he always did when he was preparing to serve up some bullshit lecture. This time, though, he just shook his head and said, “No. I’m a man, not a boy, Stef. I know what I do here affects all of us. It isn’t just about what my cock wants anymore.”
“Well, good for you. I hope you’re happy with yourself,” I said in response, unable to think of anything better. I hated when he did the whole responsible brother thing. That was Cash’s role, or at least it always had been. Kane used to be fun, but ever since Olivia tamed Cash, it seemed like Kane was angling to be the next poor sucker to settle down. Not that there was a woman in his life, as far as I could tell.
“You know what screwing around with Shank’s daughter means, don’t you?”
Closing my eyes, I silently reminded myself not to make the mistake of coming up to this floor again until I was the ruler of this place. “No, Kane. I don’t know what that means, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“It means you better not mess up with this one.”
My eyes flew open. “What does that mean? I’m not planning on marrying Lo, if that’s what you mean. This guy isn’t lining up for a life of misery. No, thanks.”
“Stefan, screwing around with Shank’s daughter isn’t like screwing around with some ordinary bartender. We need Shank to keep this place open. Cash is working on getting more help in that area, but until he does, Shank is someone we have to keep happy.”
“So, what? All of this falls on my head?”
“Welcome to adulthood, Stef. Responsibility sucks, doesn’t it?”
“Why is this all on me?”
“Because you’re the one who thought it was a good idea to get into Lola’s pants. You don’t see me or Cash screwing around with her, do you? This is on you.”
“Well, maybe someone should have told me who she was when he found out.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. I didn’t find out until after you started sleeping with her.”
“Yeah, I bet. How would you know when we first got together?”
Kane stared at me for a long moment and then rolled his eyes. “Do you think you’re fooling anyone down there? All I had to do was walk through one night and notice you not around and I knew what you were up to. A few minutes later, I saw her leave your office and knew.”
“Whatever. So what are you saying? I don’t have a choice as to what I want to do with her anymore? Now I have to sleep with her or what? Shank will ruin us?”
“You have to make sure she’s happy because if she’s not, her father might not be so willing to help us.”
The realization of what Kane was saying hit me like a fist to the face. Now I had to sleep with Lola. I had no choice. Suddenly, what had always been a good time felt like an obligation, a responsibility.
“Well, how the hell am I supposed to do that and still live like a single man should?”
My half-brother laughed right in my face, as if that question hadn’t been one hundred percent serious. “You’re not very slick, are you? Have you been exclusively sleeping with Lola all this time?”
“No, but now with all this riding on it, it sounds like I’ll have to. I can’t do that. It would be like living like a monk!”
“Stefan, monks don’t fuck women in their offices when they’re supposed to be working.”
“You know what I meant. And how the hell am I supposed to live up to my part of our bet if I can’t sleep with anyone but Lo?”
“You’ve got some strange priorities there, baby brother. I just told you that a lot of our safety here is riding on your keeping Shank’s daughter happy, and you’re worried about how you’re going to get into another woman’s pants.”
“The fact that who I sleep with means so much to this place is fucked up, Kane. Even you can agree with that. But our bet isn’t something I’m planning on just letting slide because you and Cash can’t find friends in high places.”
Kane stood from behind his desk and walked to right in front of me. “You got yourself into this. You get yourself out of it. Don’t forget that whatever happens with Shank’s daughter will affect all of us, though.”
“What about if you hung out with her? She’d probably like you well enough. I mean, you’re not me, but you could cozy up to Lola and then I could do my thing like always, including Shay.”
The look in Kane’s eyes told me he wasn’t on board with my plan. “Go back downstairs and do some work, Stef.”
“C’mon, it could work. Lo’s okay, and she’d probably go for it if I told her you were into her. You look like you could use a good time, and she’s definitely that. Even better, you could probably handle Shank, if push came to shove. You know, put that body of yours to good use on all counts. What do you say?”
“I say don’t screw this up or we’ll all suffer.”
And with that, Kane closed his office door in my face, leaving me to deal with this huge burden all by myself. As I walked down to the bar area, I couldn’t believe that once again everything in this damn place was put on my shoulders. While Cash spent his time at museum parties drinking champagne and schmoozing with the city’s upper crust and Kane trolled the upper floors surrounded by gorgeous women who basically did his job for him, except for the occasional asshole he and his henchmen had to deal with, I had to make this club the best in town. And now I had to act like some lovey dovey boyfriend to Lola to make sure the guy we paid protection to remained happy.
This was definitely going to put a crimp in my lifestyle.
BY SEVEN o’clock I was back at Club X and ready to make some good money and some good headway on playing Stefan March. The nightly bartender meeting hadn’t begun yet, so I found Lola standing near the back bar. A pretty girl with bleached blond hair, big blue Barbie doll eyes, and boobs I was sure had to be at least a big C cup, she knew her stuff behind the bar, and I could appreciate that. The club’s members appreciated the other things about her, I’d noticed.
She seemed to have a tremendous crush on Stefan, so I thought I should feel her out as to just how close they were. It was one thing to play a player, but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and if she and he had something together, all plans to make Stefan finally see how much of a jackass he was would be off.
“Hi, Lola! You ready for another night at Club X?” I asked as I grabbed myself a glass of water.