Image of Deceit

by Rumer Raines

  I can take any of these guys home, but they will never compare to Nick. One night of deceit in which they will think I am giving myself fully to them.

  “Do you want to dance, darlin’?” One of them asks me and the other two looks between us.

  “No. I want to stay right here and talk to all of you,” I tell him as I pretend to laugh.

  It’s the only thing I can do standing here with these three, pretend to laugh. They have all bought into it, and I continue to pretend what they are saying is funny. I have no interest in any of them. They are not my type… members of ‘the good old boy club’. I guess what attracted me to Nick was the air of mystery about him.

  I take a sip of my drink as the group of men start to crowd me in. I move away, and I bump into a fourth guy standing close behind me. I make a comment about them multiplying and we start to laugh, and I lift my drink to my lips.

  As I do so, I feel someone looking at me and find dark chocolate eyes staring at me. My heart starts to race as the group of guys surrounding me suddenly become background noise.

  I start to sweat as I stare into Nick’s familiar dark eyes.

  Noah

  “You fuck me and now you’re kicking me out?” Greer complains. She snatches the covers off the bed and wraps them around herself. Greer grabs her clothes off the floor and slams the bathroom door.

  When Greer finally comes out of the bathroom she is fully dressed, and her eyes are red from crying.

  “I’m sorry, Greer. I know asking you to leave sounded heartless, but I have to look for my brother tomorrow morning.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I am here to find my brother. When I find him, I am going back to my life in Boston. This is only casual sex. A no-strings-attached fucking between two consenting adults. Nothing more,” I tell her.

  “I understand,” she tells me.

  “How often do you go to that club? Deluca’s?” I ask.

  “Not often. I probably go once a month. There is a rumor the mob owns it.”

  “The fucking mob owns that club?” I ask her, and she nods her head.

  “Do you have any pictures of your brother?”

  “I do,” I say, and I grab my phone to show her the last pictures of I have of Nick. Greer smiles and looks at the picture and back at me.

  “You have the same eyes,” she tells me.

  “You think so?”

  “Yes, I do,” Greer advises and a few hours later I am in the taxi while it drops her off at her apartment.

  Alexis

  “Who wants coffee?” I glance at Chance as he heads toward me with two cups. It will only be the two of us this morning since Adele has the day off and Lola won’t be in until this afternoon. I smile at Chance as I grab one of the cups and I notice he doesn’t move away when I take it. “Thank you. I really need this today.” I tell him as I start to walk away, but I can feel him behind me.

  “Did someone have a late night?” he mumbles, and I turn around nearly bumping into him.

  “I did. I have to admit that I really needed it.”

  “Tell me about him, Alexis.” Chance pleads, and I sigh and look towards the clock.

  “He was everything to me and he was killed,” I respond, and I hear Chance catch his breath.

  “How was he killed?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Chance. The only thing that matters is that our time ended too soon. Have you ever noticed how short and cruel life can be? One minute someone you love is here and the next minute they can be gone. No warnings, no time to say goodbye… Just gone.”

  “We shouldn’t take time for granted, Alexis. When you care about someone you should just tell them and more importantly show them.” Chance advised, and I nod my head in acknowledgment. This isn’t the first time I have gone through a painful death. The only difference is I was able to say goodbye to my father and tell him how much I loved him.

  “Would you like to have dinner with me?” Chance spits out nervously, and I shake my head thinking that I dozed off and probably misheard him. “Excuse me?” I ask praying that he really didn’t ask me out to dinner.

  “Would you like to have dinner with me? I really like you, Alexis, and with all this talk of taking things for granted, it seemed like the perfect time to ask you.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea, Chance. I am your boss.”

  “You are one of my bosses, Alexis. I don’t think it would hurt if we hung out sometimes. Life is short right?” Chance notices my silence and turns to walk away, and I do realize that life is short.

  “Chance…” he turns to look at me.

  “How about tonight?” I swallow hard as Chance nods his head and smiles.

  Somehow the morning flies by and Lola is soon walking into the store with a big smile on her face. “Good morning!” she practically cheers. Chance and I look at each other in confusion. I walk over to her as she puts her handbag away and can’t help but notice that Lola is practically glowing.

  “I guess someone had a good morning?” I ask, and Lola practically giggles.

  “I did have a good morning and a good night. The twins stayed at your mother’s house last night, so it was just me and Frank,” she giggles, and I hold up my hand letting her know I don’t want to hear any more. The last thing I want to know about is anything involving sex and my brothers.

  As I turn to walk away, Lola follows me. “Alexis… I just have to tell you what he did to me…,” I stick my fingers in my ears as I walk away singing, “La-la-la,” and she finally stops talking. “I don’t want to hear anything involving Frank and you when aren’t dressed, Lola.”

  “Oh, come on, Alexis! You are one of my best friends. If I can’t talk to you about sex, who can I talk to?” Lola questions.

  “Adele is your other best friend correct?” I ask, and she nods.

  “Talk to Adele!”

  “Adele isn’t here. You are.” Lola whimpers.

  “Go call her then,” I tell her.

  At the end of the day, Lola is still beaming, and I start to wonder what the hell went on between her and Frank. No, I don’t want to know. She catches me looking in her direction and comes over to help me clean up my section.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Lola asks, and I start to laugh.

  “I can’t believe you. Still on your Frank Deluca high, apparently.” I shake my head and Lola sighs.

  “The man is awesome. Someday you’ll find…” Lola starts to say, and I see sadness in her eyes.

  “Someday, I’ll meet someone else, Lola,” I tell her hoping that she realizes that she can talk to me about having a future with someone that isn’t Nick.

  As Lola and I start to turn off the lights and head out of the store, Chance comes out of the back with a big annoying ass smile. “Where are we headed, Alexis?” he asks, and Lola’s eyes widen as she looks between the two of us.

  “Are you two going out?” Lola questions. I glance at Chance, not knowing how to answer the question. He, unfortunately, caught me at a low point. I was thinking about loss and time passing and now I am spending time alone with Chance, of all people.

  “Yes, we are, Lola darling, and it will only be the two of us,” Chance replies and I close my eyes wishing I could reverse time. “Oh. That’s nice” Lola practically purrs, and I shake my head and walk away from both to grab my purse. Lola walks over to grab her purse and hip bumps me with a smirk while Chance has his back turned towards us.

  “Alexis? Did you have anywhere special in mind?” Chance asks, and I turn towards him and give him the best answer that I can give him.

  “How about we go to Deluca’s?”

  “Deluca’s?” Chance repeats and I think I hear fear in his voice.

  “Is something wrong with Deluca’s?” I question him as I tilt my head waiting for his answer

  “Well, no. Deluca’s is awesome. I love it there. It’s the best club in Chicago as far as I am concerned,” Chance says. I turn to look at him as he opens h
is mouth to continue.

  “CHANCE!” I practically yell as I cut him off.

  “Well… it’s just that if we go there alone, people may think it’s a date,” he explains. I lift my eyebrows, somewhat puzzled.

  “What are you talking about, Chance?”

  “Okay. When I say people may think it’s a date, I am talking about your brothers. They are a little scary, Alexis, and to be honest I don’t think they like me,” Chance admits, and I start to laugh.

  “Why do you think they don’t like you?”

  “Well, the one named Alex, told me that he doesn’t like me and your oldest one has spoken to me specifically about his gun,” Chance advises, and I start to laugh.

  I think Alex and Frank have scared away every guy I have ever dated. None of them ever could be strong enough to withstand Frank or Alex Deluca. The one guy that could was Nick.

  “Alexis!” Chance raises his voice, pulling me from my thoughts as he stands at the passenger door waiting for me to get out. We headed straight to the club after I assured Chance that Alex and Frank wouldn’t hurt him if we showed up at the club alone together.

  I climb out of the car and we walk a block to the club. I asked Chance to park in the alley where I always park. However, he insists that he wasn’t going to piss off the big guy that stands at the back door. It’s almost funny how Chance is so afraid of Alex, Frank, and even Thomas. I argue with these guys to relieve stress some days and just the thought of them has Chance petrified.

  When we finally enter the club, I head straight to the bar as Alex and Teddy are pouring drinks. I turn as Chance walked behind me, his movements stiff and awkward. I roll my eyes and glance back at a suspicious looking Alex.

  “Hey, Alexis…Chance?” Alex says as he looks over Chance who finally is with me at the bar.

  “Are you two here together?” Alex inquires, and I tilt my head looking at him.

  “Can’t put anything past you, can I, Alex?” I tease, and he smirks and glares at Chance.

  “We’re just here for a drink, sir. Nothing more!” Chance stutters, and I look at him and then back to Alex who now has a smirk on his face.

  “Chance, don’t call him sir!” I elbow him as I glare at Alex giving him a silent warning.

  “She’s right, Chance. You don’t need to call me sir.” Alex agrees, and I hear Chance release a relieved breath.

  “Okay, Alex?” Chance says.

  “We're not friends. You can just call me Mr. Deluca,” Alex says, and I cock my head as I pound my fist on the bar.

  “Alex!” I shout, and Alex looks at me and shrugs. “What?” he asks as he walks away from us to serve a customer. When one of the waitresses walks past us, Chance asks her if we can sit at one of the available tables. She looks at me knowing who I am and nods her head. She seats us at the closest table to the bar.

  “I’m really happy you agreed to have dinner with me, Alexis,” Chance tells me as I place the menu back on the table.

  “It was nice of you to ask, Chance. I suppose I do need to get out more.”

  “I have wanted to ask you out for a while now, Alexis. I just never had the nerve to ask you.”

  “Do I seem unapproachable to you?” I ask him.

  “It’s not that, but I work for you. I didn’t want to make either of us uncomfortable. I guess when we started to talk about life being short I just ran with it.”

  “Chance, I don’t want you to think I am unapproachable. I am your boss, but I’d like to think we are friends too,” I tell him and watch as he relaxes. I hope he believes me because I truly mean it. I never wanted to be the unapproachable hard-ass boss. Your employees will only care about your business if they know you care about them. Treat your people like crap and they will screw you over in the end.

  Chance and I both place our order and have a few drinks while it’s being prepared. The more I drink the more I think I like Chance. He becomes a different person once he has a few drinks in him. He is honest and isn’t the annoying ass kisser that I have gotten used too. Or maybe I notice it less since I have had a few drinks too. I have never noticed it before, but Chance is funny and makes several jokes that make me laugh. I can promise I will never have sex with him though, he is so not my type. I hope he realizes that he will always be in the friend zone. When Chance reaches over and grabs my hand, I decide I better make sure he knows.

  “Chance, you are such nice guy. I love having you as a friend and hope we can do this again.” The minute I finish the statement, I notice his eyes widen.

  “You love having me as a friend? Is this your way of telling me to fuck off?” he asks, and I take a deep breath before I answer.

  “I just want to be honest with you. I hope you’re not upset with me because I do really want us to be friends and hang out again.” I admit to him.

  “We’re good, Alexis.” Chance adds as our entrees are delivered

  It didn’t take Chance long to get over me as he flirts with the waitress when she delivers more drinks. I stare at him amazed that he moved on so quickly. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, anyone that kisses ass that much can’t be loyal, can they?

  I watch as Chance excuses himself from our table to follow her to the bar. As I take another sip of my drink, I freeze with my glass halfway to my mouth as I watch the sexiest man I have ever seen walk toward my table.

  Noah

  I have had no success in finding Nick. I walk into Deluca’s and, once again, the place is crowded. I bet the owners are making big money running this place. Maybe I should consider starting a place like this when I get back to Boston. The bar is huge and there are tables and booths lining the walls.

  The greeter comes over to me and tells me that there aren’t any available tables. I tell her that I will sit at the bar and she points me towards it as another customer comes over to ask her a question. I weave between some of the other customers and notice the girl from the other night. She is sitting alone, and her eyes were filled with a curious deep longing.

  My heart rate increases and my dick is suddenly straining against my pants. I don’t know whether I should just walk past her and take my ass straight to the bar or if I should stop and talk to her. The decision is made for me when some guy walks over and sits with her. She smiles, and her beautiful eyes immediately focus back on me.

  As I watch, another guy walks behind the bar and starts taking money out of the register.

  “Can I help you?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

  “Do I know you?” he asks, and I force my eyes away from her and back to him.

  I answer, “No.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t forget a face,” he persists.

  “I am very sure. I am not from here,” I say.

  “Ah…I can hear that. Where are you from?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him wondering what the fuck he wants. I am not here to make friends.

  “Boston,” I respond curtly.

  “Boston? Interesting. What brings you to Chicago?”

  “What’s with all the questions?” I ask.

  “Like I said, you look familiar.”

  “As I said, we’ve never met,” I remind him, and he starts to chuckle.

  “Okay. Have you been here before?” he asks.

  “Yes. I like the place.”

  “I am glad to hear that. I do my best since my name is on the sign,” he says.

  “You’re the owner?” I ask, and he nods and holds out his hand.

  “I am. I am Frank Deluca,” he replies, and I put my beer down to shake his hand.

  “It’s a nice place. You obviously do a lot of business here,” I tell him, and he nods as another guy walks behind the bar.

  “Hey, Frankie. Are you going to be here a while? I want to leave early tonight to get home to Adele and my baby girl.” The other guy says as Deluca turns to him and nods. He tells him that he’ll stick around and tells the other guy to head out.

  “I want you to make sure that you stay here at least until Alexis
leaves. I don’t trust that annoying fucker that she is with. I wish I could make her leave with me, but I doubt that shit would work,” he advises, and Frank rubs his eyes as if he is considering the very thought.

  “Yeah, that’s fine,“ Deluca advises and the other guy nods at me before he leaves.

  “Sorry about that. I should have introduced you. That was my brother Alex,” Deluca tells me, and I nod and glance back towards the beauty that I’ve been watching.

  “It must be nice to work with your brother,” I say, thinking about Nick.

  “Somedays,” he confirms.

  “You have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, and I have no idea who you are,” he mentions

  “I’m Noah,” I offer.

  “Noah? No last name?” he asks.

  “Just call me Noah from Boston,” I advise, not wanting to give this guy any information about myself. I don’t know or trust him enough to give him my name. This is Chicago and my brother has already disappeared.

  “Okay, Noah Boston. Have a good night,” he tells me as he wanders off, * and I go back to staring at the beautiful brunette with her date. I watch as they sit and talk but I also notice they aren’t touching or whispering in each other’s ears. There is no affection between the two of them. If I was with her and someone was watching us they would notice hands moving under the table, but not these two.

  A few seconds later, Deluca comes back to the bar and glances at my empty beer bottle.

  “Did you need another one?” he asks, and I nod as he brings one over.

  “The couple over there.” I nod towards the brunette and he follows my gaze and laughs

  “That’s my sister, Alexis, and her employee,” he tells me, and my eyes wander back over to her.

  “Her employee? It looks like they were on a date.”

  “Fuck, no. At least I hope not,” Deluca says, and for some reason, I feel like I just received the best news I received all day.