Dirty Assets

by Rumer Raines

  “No. You will not.” She closes her eyes and stares out the windshield. “I’ll just call Nick.”

  The minute those words left Adele’s mouth I think I literally see red. She will not call Nick for anything. How in the hell could she even mention his name to me? I already told her that I would be taking care of her and she brings up some other guy? I close my eyes to contain my temper. I want to remain calm and not scare her. Adele has been through a lot of shit so the last thing I need to do is scare her.

  “Adele... I said I will bring you to work and give you a ride back to my place. Nick is no longer an option.” I turn away from her and open my door to get out of the car. Adele is still sitting inside so I walk over and open her door for her. Once she is out, I can tell that she has the look of shock on her face. I don’t move at all and keep her slightly pinned against the door.

  “If anyone says anything to you about me, you’ll tell me and I’ll take care of it,” I inform her and I stare down at her lips as I move closer and tilt my head. I am inches away from her and I can tell she wants me to kiss her as badly as I want it. The minute I start to move closer “Oh my. Am I interrupting?” I move away from Adele and Angie is standing behind the car watching us. I can tell Adele has tensed up as Angie continues to make her way over to us.

  Angie stops in front of us and looks between us as she glances over Adele. I shake my head and remind everyone that we all need to get inside since it’ll be a busy night. Angie walks past us and I place my hand on Adele’s lower back to slightly push her inside. I know this won’t go over well. She was already paranoid that someone would see us coming in together. Now Angie, of all people, sees us in the damn alley about to kiss. I head up to the office as Angie and Adele head to the lockers to put their things away. When I get into the office, my cell phone rings and it’s Oliver.

  “Do you have anything new for me?” I ask the minute I pick up the phone.

  “Hello to you, too, Alex. None of my people can find him. Why are you looking for him anyways? Does he owe you money?”

  “No, he doesn’t. I told you he is making trouble for one of my waitresses,” I tell Oliver and I hear him chuckle

  “Bullshit, Alex. You don’t give a fuck about anyone, but yourself. If you can’t spend it or fuck it you could care less.” Oliver says and maybe at one time he was right, but I do care about Adele.

  “If anyone would know that, it would be you Mr. Sex Club. I don’t know how you got Frank to not only build that onto the club, but he let you open the shit. How is the sex business going, Oliver?”

  “It’s going very well, Alex. You find the right clients and they will keep you in business. Maybe you should come in one night and test the waters,” Oliver suggests and my mind goes straight to Adele.

  “I’m good, Oliver. I’ll keep my kinky shit in the comforts of my own home, where it’s free.”

  I walk out of the office and look out over the club. It’s been several hours since we’ve been open and as always, we’re busy as hell. I glance around looking for Adele and making sure I don’t see anyone resembling Garth. I am watching Adele when I have a feeling that someone is watching me. When I look away from Adele, I notice Angie standing behind the bar, watching me. She narrows her eyes at me and looks back at Adele who is waiting on a customer. I motion for Angie to come upstairs to the office. She says something to Teddy and points to me at the top of the stairs and when he looks I nod my head to let him know that she is coming to talk to me.

  I leave the door slightly open knowing that Angie is on her way up and I sit on the edge of the desk waiting for her. She strolls into the office and closes the door and walks over to me practically standing between my legs and I just look at her. Angie has never been just one of my waitresses. I have fucked her several times, but we never had a relationship despite her wanting one. The minute she started getting too clingy, I stopped touching her. The only problem is it’s a little hard to fire an employee you have fucked.

  Angie reaches her arms out to me and moves her hand to my crotch and squeezes.

  “I have really missed you, Alex,” she says and I grab her hands to remove them as I stand up to move her away from me.

  “I didn’t call you up here for that. I wanted to talk to you about Adele.” The minute I bring up Adele’s name Angie gasp like I just slapped her. I tilt my head at the response and she starts to back away from me

  “Is that the way it is. Alex? You're done with me so you’re going to move on to the new girl? I know shit and you won’t just get rid of me because you’re ready to hit it and quit it with her.” I start to laugh and Angie narrows her eyes at me.

  “Did you really just say hit it and quit it? I have no idea why I even fucked you? Oh, wait a minute. I do know. I didn’t have to work to impress you and you would drop your panties without me asking twice.”

  Angie gasps and I manage to catch her hand before it reaches my face. I hold both of her hands as I pull her close to me.

  “I am not asking you, I am telling you, Angie. You are to stay professional and be the perfect co-worker to Adele. My name is to never come out of your mouth when you’re talking to her. Since you say you know shit, you also know I am not the person you want to piss off. I will become your biggest fucking nightmare.” I turn Angie loose and the minute I do, she grabs my face and starts to kiss me. I put my hands on her waist to push her off me and when I finally pry her off she stands back wiping her mouth. She turns around to leave and we both notice Adele is standing frozen in the doorway.

  Adele

  I have received nothing, but attitude from Angie all night. I ask her a question and she is snippy with me. I try to ignore it and make small talk and she practically ripped my head off. I was waiting on a table when I noticed she was headed up to the office. She probably is going to complain about me for talking to her. She is such a bitch and not the best waitress. I don’t understand how she keeps her job. When I can finally catch my breath, I stand at the bar with Teddy and watch the closed office door. Teddy taps me on the shoulder and asks if I can go to the office and mention to Alex that we need to take money out of the drawer. I practically jump at the chance to get to that office to break up whatever they are discussing. I feel like I am moving in slow motion to get to the stairs as I walk in between dancers. I finally find myself standing in front of the office door and I hold up my hand to knock. I stop mid-air and decide that since I am living with him, maybe I can just walk in. We have gotten closer so I don’t think he would mind if I did. I open the door and I think I am going to throw up.

  Alex and Angie are kissing. She is embracing him and he has his hands on her hips holding her in place. I know I should turn around and walk out, but I can’t move. I am in shock and at the same time sickened. Last night, he told me what he would do if I was his and today he’s treating Angie like she is his. I thought there was something happening between the two of us and I feel so fucking stupid. I sure can pick them! I went from woman abuser to womanizer and I can’t blame either of them. Alex and Angie finally break away and she turns around and they both finally notice me standing in the doorway. I feel like a deer in their fucking headlights. Angie wipes her lips and smiles at me as she casually walks out and bumps into me. I close my eyes and open them to follow her out, but before I do Alex has grabbed my arm and is slamming the door shut.

  “It’s not what it looked like,” he says as I pull my arm from his grasp and back away from him.

  “It’s none of my business. You can do whatever you want, Alex,” I tell him as I turn around and head to the door.

  Alex pushes the door closed before I can get out and he has his arms above my head and cages me in against it. I take a deep breath and lower my head.

  “I need to get back downstairs, Alex. Please let me out,” I practically whisper while trying to fight back the tears.

  “Adele... We need to discuss what you just saw.” Alex’s voice is softer and he almost sounds like he is pleading.

&
nbsp; “Teddy needs you at the bar right away. He said something about money. I need to get back to my tables. If you want to talk, we can do it later,” I tell him, but the last part is a lie. I have no interest in talking to him later.

  Alex moves away from the door, letting me leave the office. I walk quickly down the stairs as I feel him walking behind me to head to the bar area to talk to Teddy.

  The rest of the night dragged. I spend most of it avoiding Alex and Angie. I wanted no part of either of them. I hate them both and just want the night to end. Alex spent most of the night at the bar and I felt his eyes on me the entire time. I would take my orders to Teddy and avoid making any eye contact with Alex at all. That didn’t stop him from staring at me. The worst part is whenever I would be at the bar Angie made sure she was there too. I wanted to let her know she didn’t need to stamp her territory, I see it clearly, bitch.

  When I can sneak away for a few seconds, I pull out my phone and send a text to Nick. I will be needing a place to stay and I be damned if I go back to Alex’s. When I tell him everything that happened at the club and at Lola’s, Nick agrees with me that I need a new place to stay. He’ll pick me up after work and take me someplace safe.

  At the end of the night, I watch as Teddy and Alex head to the office to put the money from the night into the safe. When they walk into the office, I walk out the back door to meet Nick. I silently thank the universe that he is already here and waiting. I jump into his Suburban as Angie walks out of the club and smiles at me as she waves goodbye.

  “I take it she’s not a friend?” Nick asks me as I look away from the waving Angie.

  “Can you please just hit the gas so we can get out of here?” I lean my head back against the headrest as Nick finally pulls out of the alley.

  Nick looks over at me and I turn to look at him.

  “We’ll be staying at a hotel. You’ll be safer there.” Nick advises as he stares at the road.

  “Did you say, ‘we’ll be staying at a hotel’?” I ask as I shake my head and close my eyes.

  “Yes, I did. We’ll have adjoining rooms. You’ll still have your space. We’ll only be there until Frank comes back.”

  I turn my head away from him as I look out the passenger window.

  “You’re not worried that you won’t be able to keep your hands off me, are you? I should tell you that I am taken,” Nick asks and I whip my head back to look at him as he starts to laugh.

  A few seconds later, my cell starts to ring. I ignore it and the ringing stops. It starts again and I ignore it again. This goes on for several minutes and I get an alert that I have a voice mail message. A few seconds later, I have a text message. Nick looks over at me and I can tell the ringing and alerts is starting to annoy him.

  We get checked into our room and Nick ask me if I need clothes from the house. I only have to go to work, so I don’t really need anything until then. He pulls a shopping bag out of his duffel bag and takes out a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap. I am surprised that he thought of these things and I pick up the soap and smell it. I have also loved the smell of soap and I start to think about when I met Alexis, which led me to where I am today. Nick decides he is going to turn in and tells me to yell if I need anything.

  I take off my clothes and my cell phone starts to ring again. I ignore it and climb under the covers and turn on the tv. I hear the voice mail alert beep. A few seconds later I hear the text message received alert. I grab the phone and look at the last text I received.

  3:24 Alex: I am coming to get you!!!

  I sit up in bed and decide I better look at the other text.

  3:15 Alex: Angie just told me that she saw you get in a black Suburban. She described the guy you left with. I told you NOT to leave with Nick!

  3:10 Alex: I am starting to get worried and pissed Adele!

  3:05 Alex: Will you please answer your phone?

  2:55 Alex: Where are you?

  The voice mail messages were basically the same thing. They were all a pissed off Alex telling me that I wasn’t supposed to leave with Nick and that he isn’t happy with me. He’s telling me that he knows the hotel I am in and that he’s locking up and he’ll be on his way.

  I get out of bed and throw back on my work clothes. I have no doubt that if he said he’s coming he’ll be here. I pace the room and stare at the door that separates me and Nick. I don’t know if I should let him know that Alex is coming? Should I tell him that I don’t want to leave with him? I decide I’ll do the adult thing and I’ll call Alex and tell him not to come. He answers on the first ring.

  “Adele. I’ll be there in five minutes.” He advises before even giving me the opportunity to address him.

  “I am staying here with Nick. Don’t come, Alex.” I say to him.

  “Is he in the same fucking room as you Adele? You’re not staying there with him!” Alex is practically yelling and I close my eyes as I walk back over to the bed.

  “Alex--” he cuts me off.

  “Adele… I’ll be there in five minutes.” He hangs up on me.

  I fall back onto the bed and I have no idea what I am supposed to do. I stare at the ceiling and finally realize that I don’t have time for this shit. I walk over to Nick’s door and knock. A few seconds later he pulls open the door and he is only wearing boxer shorts. I tell him that we have a big problem that will become bigger in approximately five minutes. He walks into my room and sits on my bed as I tell him about Alex. I tell him how I had been staying with him since Lola’s house was no longer safe. I left out all the information about being pissed that he was kissing Angie. That would be too confusing to explain and he’d probably want to know why I even cared.

  “I am confused, Adele. Staying at Alex Deluca’s house was the safest place for you to be. Why would you call me to pick you up and risk staying here?” Nick ask and I can tell he is questioning my sanity.

  “He’s a jerk and hard to get along with,” I say as I cross my arms belligerently.

  “This is Alex Deluca. He has a reputation for being a jerk. He also knows people, Adele. He can keep you safe. He has a lot more connections than I do. It’s also a lot safer for you to be in his house rather than in this hotel, where anyone can walk in and get a room.”

  “Are you saying that if he really does show up and I refuse to go with him, you won’t fight him for me so I can stay here with you?” I ask and Nick raises an eyebrow and looks at me.

  “Hell, NO. If he shows up, I’ll help him throw your ass into the car if needed.” I shake my head in disbelief and there is suddenly banging on the door.

  “Adele! Open the fucking door!” Alex shouts.

  Alex

  I am pissed off. Adele is testing my patience like no one ever has before. The worst part is I only have myself to blame for any of it. I never think before I act. Everyone in my family has told me this for years. It is finally catching up to me and I hate it. My first fuck up was trying to kiss Adele in the fucking alley. She already told me that she didn’t want any of the other girls to see her coming in with me every day. I knew that was an issue for her. What did I do? I make a move on her and Angie caught us. I acted before I thought with Angie several times. I should never have touched her. Frank always told me never to get involved with the girls, it can lead to lawsuits. I didn’t care and I thought with my dick instead of my head. I noticed how she kept looking at Adele, so I called her to my office.

  I only wanted to warn her against messing with Adele. The bitch tried to threaten me. When I finally put her in her place she kissed me and this time I couldn’t stand the taste of her. I never minded it before, but for some reason when her lips touched mine my first thought was Adele. I wondered what Adele would taste like. I pushed Angie off me and when she turned away, Adele had seen it all. I felt a pain in my chest that I had never felt before. Adele tried to leave the office, but I wasn’t going to let her just walk away from me. She practically begged me to let her out, but when she brought up Teddy and money I remember we wer
e at work, so I had to let her go.

  Adele wouldn’t make eye contact at all with me. I could never get her to look at me. I made sure to stay at the bar so she would feel my presence. I just need ten minutes to make her understand. Whenever I thought I would get the chance, Angie would show up and ruin it for me. I need to get rid of Angie and I don’t think it can be done legally.

  At the end of the night, Teddy and I went to put the money into the safe. When I came back down, Adele was gone. I looked by the lockers, I checked the alley. I even checked the ladies’ room. She bailed on me and I immediately got pissed. No one just walked away from me or didn’t follow my instructions. I told her we would leave together. I know she is pissed at me, but that is no reason to put herself in danger. When I stomp back into the bar, Angie is waiting for me. She shakes her head and smiles at me and the sight of her starts to make me sick.

  “I guess she went with option B,” Angie smirks.

  “What are you talking about, Angie?” I am in no mood for her shit.

  “I am talking about Adele. I saw her leave with a guy,” Angie advises as I walk closer to her.

  “What was he driving?”

  “A black Suburban,” Angie practically drools. I spend the next few minutes humoring Angie as she fills in the blanks of who the hell Adele disappeared with. I throw Angie out of the club and lock up as I decide to give Adele a call. She ignores me and doesn’t answer. I call her repeatedly and eventually I start to leave her voice mail and text messages. I walk into our security area and pull the tape from the alley. I manage to pull the Suburban's license plate as I seethe while watching Adele get in.

  I know two things about this Nick. I know he is mob connected and I know he’s connected to Lola’s family. Everyone connected to the Delucas has tracking devices on their cars. You never know when someone will want to make a name for themselves by taking you out. I call Thomas and have him get me the location of the black Suburban owned by Nick. Thomas texts me the name of a hotel and I try calling Adele again. She is still ignoring my call and I rub my hand through my hair. This girl is going to be the one thing that kills me.