She had knocked his breath out the minute she had stepped on the stage which was something that had never happened to him before. He hated the fact that he was not the only man in the room who had eyes on her and that’s exactly why he had forced Simon to arrange a private show with her even though he had strict rules that: dancers younger than 25 were not allowed to give private shows.
A lot of girls who worked here were college students who were here to earn funds for their education or support their families so he believed that it was ethically wrong to put these girls in such a compromising situation and yet he had wanted her to perform for him. She was not a student, that’s the first thing he had found out about her which was more than enough for him to get her all for himself. At least he did not have to drown himself with the guilt of taking advantage of a college student.
He had put Paul: one of his most trusted guys in charge of the girl. He had a feeling that after what had happened earlier there was a high chance that she would try her best to run the hell away from him and Paul’s job was to make sure that she does no such thing.
“She’s not an escort, Sir.” was the first thing he had told him the minute he had mentioned her name sounding a little too possessive which had spiked up his curiosity. Why would a guy who had never questioned him for anything suddenly get defensive about this girl and for some odd reason he did not like it.
The thought of some other guy harbouring feelings for her did not settle well with him. So he did what he does the best, he marked his territory. “I don’t care, tonight she’s going to dance for me.” he had told him dismissively knowing that he had no other choice but to follow his orders, that's if he wanted to keep his job.
Nobody questions Victor.
She had a body made for sex and it was a big mistake getting her alone in that tiny space. Gone was any trace of that timid innocent girl he had seen earlier, the girl on the stage was a seductress capable of driving him crazy and he had made the mistake of putting his hands on her and now he had got a taste of her and has been dying for more.
His chest still throbbed with the impact of her blow; god, for a delicate-looking girl she was quite strong he was impressed. The burn in his chest made his determination to have her even stronger. He had got a taste of her and now he was not going to stop until he had her in his bed.
He returned to his office feeling groggy and irritated. He had had a long day and all he wanted was to find her and take her to his penthouse and show her who the alpha was but what would that make him? a rapist? Victor was anything but not a rapist. He didn’t force himself on women he never had to, all the women he has ever wanted had climbed his bed willingly and so will she.
“What has gotten into you tonight?” Kevin demanded the minute his eyes met his. He had been waiting for him in his office for over an hour and all the waiting had got him on his nerves. They had an important meeting scheduled with all his lieutenants to discuss the issue relating the territory they share with a neighboring gang; a topic they had been discussing for days and today was supposed to be a final discussion and he had bailed on it, and for what? a girl?
“Mind your tone buddy, I’m still your boss,” he warned him as he walked across the room to his plush leather chair ignoring his burning glare on him. He shrugged off his blazer and hung it on the stand.
Kevin rolled his eyes at him, “What is wrong with you man, and what is the deal with this girl?” he demanded as he watched him settle down on his chair.
Victor poured himself a glass of bourbon and gulped it dry. Seriously, what was his deal with this girl? He had asked the same question to himself a number of times. Something about her called out to him, making him want to be with her, to protect her. Her brown eyes looked pained and he knew that the girl had seen hell and back and he did not like the fact that a girl that young had to go through so much suffering.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he shot at him in his usual cold controlled tone.
Kevin narrowed his eyes at him, “And I’m supposed to believe that? Come on man, that girl saw you murder a man and you still let her walk away. You put a non-hooker on the front line and then make her give you a private show. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Victor huffed in response, why does he have to be so dramatic? God, sometimes he could be such a pain in the ass. “She’s a hot girl man, what else do you think?” he told him, or more to himself. What other reason could draw him to a total stranger, right?
“Plus she is way too young for you man, I hope you know that.” he pointed out as he watched Victor help himself to the chair opposite to him. He had done a little bit of research on Victor’s new interest and had found out some really interesting stuff; one of them was her being 20 years old.
Victor wasn’t that old as Kevin was trying to make him feel. But there was no denying the fact that he was right about one thing, she was way too young for him, not that he would ever admit it. “I didn’t understand in what world is 35 old.” he shot at him with irritation clear in his voice. Seriously, he was way too irritated right now to think anything straight and this conversation was not at all helping.
“She’s barely 20, man. That’s way too young plus it does not look like she’s into you.” Victor wanted to laugh at that, only if he had seen the way she had melted in his arms earlier.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway I know you are not here to discuss about her so let's get straight to business.” there was no point in stretching a pointless discussion.
Kevin closed his eyes and sighed, “There has been another raid tonight at the port, Victor.” he told him and he stiffened. His eyebrows knit as he processed what he had just said. This was the third time this month that their shipment has been busted by the port officials and it has cost him a huge loss.
He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated growl, “God, how much information did that bastard give to these morons,” he muttered under his breath.
Even after dying that bastard was being a pain in their ass. This has never happened to them before. Nobody had ever got this close to effecting his operations. Whoever this man had worked for didn’t just want to stop his operations but to destroy him.
“Victor I don’t think it’s him, a new port director has been appointed recently and he has taken a special interest in our operations. My sources tell me that he’s taking Markus’s intel to track our operations,” he informed him.
Victor stiffened at the mention of his name, that son of a bitch; isn’t he tired of getting his ass kicked every time? Markus was a lowlife drug dealer who had been trying to crawl up to power and from the past couple of years he was getting more and more powerful and now he had his eye on Victor's empire.
Kevin straightened his back, “Listen, man, I may be wrong here but I guess somebody from inside is feeding information to him.”
“Are you suggesting we have another mole?” he asked him, his senses all of a sudden in full attention.
Markus and his gang have been giving him trouble for a very long time and it has gotten way out of line. They have rules in their line of work and Markus is breaking them all one after the other and he is specifically targeting his operations so that he could sabotage his reputation.
“Exactly, last month a few new guys joined the gang and three of them are working at the docks. Maybe one of them is a mole. I’ll get Paul to see it.” Paul was their most trusted guy and had an excellent source of networks to get any sort of information. And his sources were usually reliable and gave prompt information.
“Fine, get him to see through it. Plus keep your ears open for any sort of tiddle tattles on the streets. And get me the files on everybody who has access to our shipping details who knows the mole could be one of our own trusted circles.”
Kevin pushed his chair back and stood up, “I’ll get right into it,” he told him and stormed out of his office. Victor poured himself another glass of bourbon and emptied it in one gulp.
/> He tried to focus on his work but his mind kept racing back to the kiss he shared with her and for the first time in years it made him feel something.
He picked up his phone and dialed Paul and he answered it in one ring. “Send Simon to me.” he barked into his phone.
CHAPTER 6
One thing that Ira loved about her life here in the city is the long walk she had to take home every day. A lot of people would argue that it is not safe for a young girl like her to walk home alone on a lonely street but for her, it was the best part of her day. The quiet of the lonely streets comforted her, it gave her the time she needed for herself that she otherwise could never get.
She would often think about the life she had back home, think about the time they used to live a happy comfortable life and tears would rim her eyes. It all started after the tragic death of her father a year and a half back. He had died in a car accident on his way home from the city and it was after his death that all the skeletons from his closet finally came out.
He turned out to be a bastard who had cheated her mother and her entire family for years. He had married her even though he already had a wife and a family. He had lived a carefully planned life where he had spent equal time with both his families taking responsibilities of all his children. But at the end of the day, he had left nothing for his second family and even if he did they were denied any of it.
She remembers the way her mother had tried to talk to his first wife begging her to give them a part of his property so that she could support her children but the vengeful woman had humiliated her mother and thrown them out of her home. Her mother had struggled for months to make her change her mind but they got nothing and soon her sickness started to take away her strength to fight.
They barely had the money for sustenance so going through a legal battle was out of the question. “It would only drag your father’s name to mud, Ira.” her mother had told her sadly when she had tried to pester her to file a case against them. It had truly surprised her that even after being betrayed by her husband she still cared about his reputation.
“You will understand it once you grow older, Ira.” she would often tell her though it never made sense to her. Her younger twin siblings, a brother and a sister are way too young to understand what was exactly happening but they did understand that their father had betrayed them all.
The night before Ira left for the city with her uncle her nine-year-old brother Ishan had come to her and had demanded her to tell the truth and she did end up telling him everything sparing no details.
“I can start working at the estate, Rahul says they pay hundred rupees every day.” he had tried to reason with her and she had made him promise her that he would never drop out of school no matter what happened and surprisingly he had agreed. She had to drop out of college and work at the plantation till her uncle had come to her mother wooing her to send Ira to the city with him.
Before all of this, her life used to be perfect. She had a happy family and a bunch of good friends. She was a bright student and had big dreams for her future. She had also managed to get a seat in one of the best engineering colleges with full scholarship but she had to drop out of college just to be able to provide for her family.
She had hoped that she could work in the day and then go to a night school and finish college so that she could find a better job. But it was after coming here that she realized that her plans had failed and she had to get real for once. She had stumbled upon an ad on a social media post with an ad stating that dancers were needed in a private club and as she was always good at dancing she ended up applying for the job.
But what she was not expecting was that the job came with a price and the price was giving up her dignity. Taking her clothes off on stage was something she had never thought she would do in her life and yet here she was doing exactly that. All her dreams for a better life were crushed into pieces and now what left of it stung her heart like needles, taunting her of a future that she would never have.
But they did pay her well and on lucky days she would earn good tips and this was enough reason why she had never thought of quitting no matter how much she hated her job. But what happened today had never happened to her before. Should she talk to Simon about it? But then again what exactly could he do about it? Victor was his boss as well so there was nothing he could do for her.
After what felt like forever she finally reached her street and after walking for five more minutes she was standing in front of an old shady looking apartment complex which looked more like an abandoned building than a residential complex. The building looked like it would not survive the next monsoon but surprisingly it has lived through more monsoons then she could ever imagine.
After climbing three sets of floors she finally reached her cheap apartment. She dug through her bag and fished out her keys and quickly unlocked the door and stepped in. Though her neighborhood was fairly decent; her living condition was certainly not good. Her tiny apartment was way too small and barely had any furniture except for the old mattress and the couch that came with the apartment.
She did buy a table and a mini-fridge along with a few necessary kitchen utensils and Kajal had gifted her a small flat-screen TV a few months back which they had a wall-mounted. She turned on the lights and the tiny apartment came alive reminding of her miserable condition.
She hated this place more than she hated herself but there was hardly anything she could do about it, it’s not like she can afford anything better than this one. Plus her landlord was a nice guy and did not yell at her whenever she was late in paying her rent. Though that had happened once; her mother was hospitalized and she had to send more money home for her treatment.
She dumped her backpack on the floor and collapsed on her ugly blue couch. She was so tired that she didn’t even have the strength to change or get freshened up. She took off her shoes and threw them away on the floor. She lived alone and there was nobody to complain about keeping things in order. She pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket and set her 6:00 Am alarm and put her phone away after making sure to plug her phone into the socket.
She didn’t want to be late for work again.
She closed her eyes and tried to doze off but her mind kept wandering to the man who had stolen her first kiss that evening. Her fingers absently flew to the swell of her plump lips and an unfamiliar warmth washed over her heating up her feminine core.
‘It was sexual abuse.’ The rational voice in her head tried to reason with herself but her traitorous body refused to agree with her. ‘Was it really an abuse?’ The tiny voice in her head had taunted her and she had to suppress the voice. She didn't need that kind of betraying thoughts. It was thoughts like this that had made her almost give herself to a man she didn’t even know.
One thing was crystal clear to her right now; she had more than just caught Victor’s attention. She had managed to draw him to her without actually doing anything and she knew today was just the beginning. He had got a taste of her and now he was not going to stop until he conquered her for good. The thought was both unsettling and also arousing at the same time.
A part of her wanted to quit and go find another job but she knew that no other place would pay her the way these guys do and she was in no state of handling things with her day job alone so, for now, she was stuck here and there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do is maintain a low profile like she always had and everything would be fine.
She was dragged out of her thoughts by her buzzing phone and she cursed out loud. Who the hell calls someone at 2:00 AM? She checked the ID and let out a heavy sigh, it was Simon. Crap, she had forgotten to go see him before leaving. God, let him not be mad at her for it she prayed silently as she answered the call.
“Hey Ira, I’m sorry for calling you at this hour. Ruby just fell off the stage and broke her ankle.” And how does that concern her? She wanted to ask him but held herself back. “Is she alright?” she asked him trying her best to mask her
annoyance in her voice.
Simon huffed, “Yes she is, but she won’t be able to dance for a couple of weeks and I’m afraid you will have to cover all her shifts.” Ira slumped her shoulders in frustration. Great, now she is going to be stuck as a lead dancer for god knows how long.
CHAPTER 7
Ira had seen a shiny black SUV tail her from the minute she stepped out of her apartment this morning. Though she had been way too overwhelmed by her lack of sleep she had not missed it. Someone had been following her for almost a week and she had no idea who it was or what had she done to deserve such attention. But one thing does not slip her mind is that all of this started after her little incident with Victor.
The car would maintain a safe distance not to drag unnecessary attention from the general public but no matter where she went it was always there. She had often seen the car parked by the supermarket all day but the tinted glass had always made it difficult to say if it was empty or somebody was present in it, but it was always there.
She had often thought of approaching the guy in the car and demanding what the hell was his problem and why was he following her, that if it is a he. Honestly, she had no idea who was inside the car and if it was he or she not that it mattered to her. As long as they stayed away from her she was alright.
“Ira, are you even listening to me?” Kajal’s annoyed voice dragged her out of her thoughts. Ira tore her eyes off the shiny black car and brought her attention back to her friend. “Ha?” she asked her, she was so lost in her thoughts that she had not paid attention to what she was saying.
Kajal rolled her eyes, “Sweetheart if you keep zoning out of conversations like this you are going to get into a lot of trouble.” Ira glared at her but said nothing. She was suddenly distracted by something behind her; the black SUV had pulled out of its spot and had started to move towards her and even before she could register what was happening the car pulled up in front of her.
Victor's Girl: A Mafia Romance Page 5
