The passenger door swung open and a familiar-looking guy stepped out. She had seen him around the club several times. He is one of Victor's men and it was now that everything had started to make sense to her. She had heard some of the girls in the club talk about Victor going out of the country for a couple of days and these guys were keeping an eye on her for him.
But why?
“Who are you and why are you following me?” the words were out of her mouth even before she could think of it.
He raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed by her observation. He hadn’t expected her to have noticed them but he had underestimated her.
“Sweetheart, we have orders to drive you to work today,” he told her in a cold intimidating tone. He was given strict orders to not use any sort of violence so the only option they had was to somehow convince her to go with them willingly.
Ira narrowed her eyes at him; this was ridiculous she was not going to get into the car with these shady looking guys, especially not in front of her colleagues. Nobody here knows about her night job except for Kajal and getting into the car like this would simply raise suspicions. Plus she was not an idiot to get into a car with a stranger, especially when that stranger works for the Lord of the underworld.
“Look I appreciate your offer but I don’t need a ride to work. Plus my shift won’t start for the next three hours and I can find my way so thanks for the offer but nope I’m good,” she replied, trying her best to sound as confident as she could. She didn’t want to raise suspicion among her colleagues by overreacting or panicking.
He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, “Look girl, you better get inside the car willingly or I will be forced to stuff you into the car myself.” he took a step close to her and smiled, “Make a wise choice girl, I know you don’t want to create a scene in front of your colleagues.” A shiver ran through her spine and she knew in an instant that she did not have much of a choice.
She closed her eyes and sighed, “Fine, but not here; I don’t want my colleagues seeing me get into a car with you guys. Two blocks from here there’s a bus stop, I’ll meet you there.” She told him firmly, there was no point in arguing with him on this, it would simply create a scene and she knew that these guys would stand by his words if she didn’t do as told.
He studied her face for a long minute and nodded, “Fine, but no playing smart games.” She hesitated for a minute and nodded in response. He gave her one last look and got back into the car and drove away leaving her alone fending for her thoughts.
She still couldn’t believe that she had agreed to this.
God, what has she got herself into?
She knew that her little encounter with him that night did not come without consequence. She knew that sooner or later this would come back biting at her backside but the radio silence she had experienced all week had made her think otherwise. But how wrong was she to even hope that he would let her go so easily?
“Ira, what’s going on?” Kajal demanded making her presence known. Ira had been so lost in her mess that she had completely forgotten that she was not alone and Kajal had followed her and was waiting for an explanation.
“They were Victor’s guys, they are ordered to pick me up for work.” Kajal narrowed her eyes at her, “But why?” she demanded mimicking her confusion.
Ira let out a heavy breath, that was the question that she had completely forgotten to ask him. Maybe she did ask him the question and he did not answer it. “I don’t know,” she replied in a vague uncertain tone which certainly did not go unnoticed.
Kajal frowned at her, “You didn’t ask him, did you?” She asked her, shaking her head in disapproval. Ira pressed her lips into a thin line but did not reply.
Kajal closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, love, I’ve told you a hundred times and I’m going to tell it to you again; these guys are like wolves, they will tear you limb to limb if you are not careful enough.”
Ira knew that she was right but there was nothing she could do about it. The damage was already done and now there was no escaping it. Victor was not going to stop until he had a fill of her and the thought made her shudder. But then again how bad would it be? Didn’t she like the little erotic moment they had spent?
Of course, she did; the memory of their kiss keeps her up all night. The way his perfect lips had moulded into hers had made her feel so alive like she was more than just a breadwinner for a family. He had awakened her feminine core the way nobody had ever done and that frightened her more than the fact that she was being stalked by mafia men.
“Look Kajal, I get what you are saying but I need to get going. See you on Monday?” She turned around and almost sprinted away without waiting for her reply. Kajal shook her head as she watched her retreating figure. “You are making a big mistake, Ira,” she called after her but she did not stop letting out a frustrated sigh, she walked away in the opposite direction.
Ira spotted the black SUV parked a little ahead of the bus stand and wondered for a minute whether or not to stand by her word but the guy stepped out of the car taking away her options. Letting out a frustrated sigh she made her way towards the awaiting car.
He held the back door open for her and she stepped in without hesitation. This was a fairly nice car compared to the ones she is occasionally driven home on busy nights which only suggests one thing that this was one of Victor’s private cars, but why would he send his car to pick up a mere dancer of his club?
She dragged herself out of her chain of thoughts and carefully observed her surroundings most importantly the people in the car. She recognized the guy in the driver's seat as Jackson. She had seen him around the club a few times and he was dating one of the dancers.
“Jackson?” she asked him, confirming her doubt.
He met her eyes through the rear-view mirror and flashed her a half-smile. “Hey there Puppet, what have you gotten yourself into?” he asked her, speaking to her like he knew her well. Ira frowned at him, this was the first time he was talking to her and she did not fare well at first conversations.
She hesitated for a moment but managed to find her voice, “Nothing I can think of.” she replied, her words surprisingly calm and confident. She knew that she made no sense but at least she managed to speak. “Oh.” was all he said before terminating their conversation but then something crossed his mind.
“By the way this is Tom and he’s the one in charge here and Tom, this is Ira.” he introduced his colleague and she did not understand why. These guys have been staking out on her for days and she would like to know why. She awkwardly cleared her throat, grabbing their attention. “I’ve seen you guys follow me for days, can I know why?” she asked them.
The men were surprised by her politeness and Tom almost let out a laugh. “We would like to know that as well but we were simply asked to keep an eye on you instead of going about our work.” he shot at her without bothering to mask his irritation. She did not like the tone with which he spoke to her but this wasn’t the first time she was spoken this way.
Jackson gave him a pointed look, “We were asked to make sure you were out of trouble, that’s all.” Jackson said, covering up for his colleague. Tom snorted, “He’s just making sure that nobody else messes around with his property.” he stated in a matter of fact way and it made no sense to Ira. Shaking her head she distracted herself by looking out of the window and that’s when the realization hit her.
They were not going to the club.
CHAPTER 8
Victor was growing more and more impatient with every passing second making it almost impossible for him to concentrate on the paperwork he had been working on for the past one and a half hours. His trip to Dubai had turned out to be a huge success and he was able to make some new powerful allies who could help him deal with his current situation with the narcotics.
But his business was not yet out of the radar; he had just taken a first step towards tying up his business with one of the most p
owerful drug lords in the world which in turn is going to help him secure his throne here, making him ten times more powerful than he already was.
He wanted to make sure that he did not repeat the mistakes his father had made. Believe it or not his father was the most incompetent leader his family had ever had. He lived with this delusion that he could keep his business safe by minding his own business and trying to sync his operations with authorities or more like work under their control. Victor had changed all of it within a month of his coming to power.
He got rid of everyone who stood a threat to his throne and rose his empire from the ashes of his enemies. He had built a kingdom for himself turning a tiny drug peddling gang into one of the country's most powerful crime families. He had the entire city wrapped under his fingers and yet here he was trying his best to wrap his head around the fact that he was hopelessly obsessed with this young hottie who had left him restless and sleepless for over a week.
Ever since his lips had a taste of her sweetness it had been almost impossible for him to keep her out of his head. She was like a drug and he had already become an addict and right now he was going through a terrible case of withdrawal syndrome. He had seen several people go through this and no it was not pretty.
He had sent two of his men to watch over her when he had been gone. He wanted to know everything about her. Where she lived, where she worked, whom she met, but most importantly if she was seeing someone not that it mattered. He would just have to get rid of that bastard to make sure that no other man could get his hands on her. She belonged to him now and she would remain his whether she liked it or not.
He had been waiting for his men to return with his conquest. His conquest, is that what she was now to him? The thought had randomly occurred to him last night as he laid in bed in company of one of his other girls who were more than willing to entertain him, but his mind was on her, only her. He had realized that no other woman could arouse him the way she did and the mere realization was enough for him to get his boys into action.
He was done watching her from a distance like one stared at the moon from his balcony, hoping that someday he would get to touch it. He wasn’t the kind of a man who would waste his time watching the girl he desires in another man's arms. He was willing to snatch her out of the hands of God himself if that's what it took to have her.
He hadn’t always been this way though; there used to be a time when he had a heart, but that was a long time back. But the hollow still exists, creating a void in his existence that did not look like it would ever fill, until he had laid his eyes on her.
Her angel-like face reminded him of the woman he used to call his mother, the woman who had left this world even before she could show him what the real world looked like. Leaving a young six-year-old boy at the mercy of his heartless father. He was raised as a warrior who was told that emotions were only for the weak and the strong ones were too good to be distracted by a little bit of tickle in his mind.
A tickle, that’s what his father had called it and he had believed him without a single doubt and a huge part of him still does. He closed his eyes and forced himself out of his wayward thoughts and dragged his attention back to his work. God, he hated paperwork but when you run an operation this big it’s important to maintain records.
He was flipping through the pages when a knock at his door interrupted him. He raised his eyes off his paperwork and frowned at Kevin who had crept into the room even before he could permit him to do so. “Thanks for the knock man, it was kind of you,” he told him sarcastically without trying to mask his annoyance.
Kevin waved off his rhetorical comment with an eye roll. “You looked quite worked up, why don't you go and get some sleep and maybe a shower. You reek of scotch and sweat,” Victor rolled his eyes, of course, he reeked of scotch, he had been drinking since early evening. How isn’t he drunk yet was beyond his understanding? Probably the anticipation of seeing her again had kept him sober till now. “I look fine, Kevin and I don’t think anybody cares about how I smell,” he told him quietly.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about it buddy? The girl waiting for you downstairs probably might.” the mention of the girl made Victor’s ears perk up. Were they already here? Why was he not informed about it then? He put away his paperwork and Kevin raised an eyebrow, “Can’t wait to see her aye?” he teased knowing very well how he felt about being teased.
Victor glared at him hard, “Don’t you dare test my patience Kev,” he warned him, his voice threateningly serious.
Kevin raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry dude didn’t mean to piss you off.” he told him with no ounce of regret on his face. Unlike Victor, Kevin was a more chilled out kind of a guy who would rather spend his time joking around than brooding in silence.
“What are you doing man? Why are you after this girl so bad? Word has started to spread that Victor the man who has no feelings at all has started to grow a crush over this little dancer of his.”
Victor rolled his eyes at him, “I don’t care what a ground-level gang member thinks of me. It won’t change who I Am.” he would still put a bullet into their heads just to prove his point.
Kevin closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, “it may not matter to you but it would certainly matter to her.”
Victor knew he was right; a gossip like this would taint her reputation and in a place like this reputation is all you need to ensure your safety.
“The reason she had been out of trouble for so long is because of her good-girl reputation” he added quietly. “Imagine what would happen to her when people see you toy her around?”
“Then her reputation as Victor’s girl is going to keep her safe.” the words were out of his mouth even before he could think of it and Kevin’s jaws dropped. He looked as taken aback as he was; this was the first time Victor was staking his claim on a woman, a girl in this case. He still refuses to consider her anything more than a teenager though it had been a month since she turned twenty.
“Victor, don’t be hasty about it. She’s way too young and a girl like her is not designed for our kind of life.” he tried to reason with him. This was the first time he was taking somebody else's side other than Victor’s but it was necessary. Victor was making a huge mistake and as his friend, it was his duty to show him the right direction.
But Victor was in no mood to listen to him; His ego had been hurt and he was hell-bent on proving Kevin wrong. “She’s going to be mine whether she likes it or not, period,” he growled banging both his fists on his desk. Kevin flinched at his gesture but said nothing. He was way too taken aback by his sudden outburst.
Victor pushed his chair back and stood up straightening his clothes. He unconsciously ran his fingers through his hair and Kevin watched him in disbelief. This was the first time he was seeing his friend like this. He opened his mouth to say something but paused when he realized that no matter what he said nothing was going to affect him. He has made up his mind and once Victor makes up his mind it’s done, he will stop at nothing till he gets what he wants.
He stormed out of his study and to the spiraling staircase that led him to the living room. He had asked his men to bring her to his beach house instead of the club, he did not want to overwhelm her and he didn’t want her to feel any sort of pressure. Plus he wanted to keep the boss and employee prospect out.
He slowly descended the stairs and as he reached the base of the stairs his eyes landed on the beauty he was dying to see from the minute he had arrived this afternoon. She was standing in the middle of the foyer accompanied by his men looking nervous and somewhat scared.
Her face was bare of any makeup not that she needed any and her long hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and she was dressed in really cheap looking jeans and an old t-shirt.
He dragged his attention back to her beautiful face and she lifted her gaze to him and for a minute he could not breathe. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in any woman, he could lose h
imself in them for hours. He let his eyes roam over her beautiful body and couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like in a dress or a skirt, stunning undoubtedly.
He could take care of her.
He raised his hand, gesturing his men to leave and they turned around and walked away leaving her alone with him. The thought brought a smile to his beautiful face. He slowly walked towards her, his eyes still resting on her face. His gaze lowered to her full plump lips and the memory of their kiss washed over him. The beast inside him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her to his bedroom and make her his over and over again but he had to hold back the thought.
One step at a time.
He slowly walked up to her making her anticipation grow more and more strong with every passing second. He knew the effect his mere presence was having on her and he loved it. At least he knew that the fire between them was real and she felt the same way as well. He had a strict policy of dating his employees but she was an exception.
Her shoulder rose and fell as she breathed heavily and his eyes moved to the swell of her breasts cleverly hidden by those rags. She should not be dressed like that. A girl like her deserves to be dressed in silks and satins. She needs to be taken care of and he is more than willing to do it for her.
The thought pleased him immensely.
He raised his hand to her face and gently caressed her cheek and she stopped breathing. “Breathe, Angel, breathe,” he murmured to her, his voice smooth as silk and she sucked in a breath. The closeness between them had completely stripped her of her senses and her body was on high alert burning up with the memory of their previous encounter.
“How was your day?” he asked her and she was stunned by his question. Nobody had ever asked her that question before, not even her mother, for the first time in a very long time she felt like her life mattered. “It was okay,” she replied softly, a soft smile touching the corner of her lips.
Victor's Girl: A Mafia Romance Page 6
