Lev: a Shot Callers novel(88)

Birdie called out. “Come around here, ladies. I got some things for you that you’re going to love. Thank you for texting me your sizes; it helped a lot.” She struggled with the second box and I rushed over to help her. She smiled at me and turned to the girls. “Who wants to see the cool costumes we got?”

A cheer went around and Lilah squealed out, “I’m so excited!”

Birdie took each costume out of the box one-by-one, handing them to the girls who they fit. Each girl received a different color corset-bodied one-piece with thigh-high fishnets, and one additional costume. They weren’t all the same. Some girls got a teeny-weeny sailor outfit, while some were made to be bunnies. Others were French maids, policewomen, cats, and we even had a Red Riding Hood.

The way the girls chattered excitedly had me biting my lip to squelch down my smile. I was happy that they were happy.

When Lilah held up a pastie and asked, “How do we put these on?” Birdie assisted, telling Lilah to take off her t-shirt and bra. Lilah grinned as she undressed, and the other ladies watched carefully as Birdie showed them how to apply the pasties by using the glue on Lilah’s bare breasts.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I smiled down at the display.

“Hey, I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” I answered happily.

Alessio sounded a little shy. “Yeah, well, I’m taking enough of your time. I didn’t want to bug you.”

I grinned. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

He made a light grunt. “Not sure if I should’ve called or not, but after I spoke to Dad, he told me I should.” He was hesitating.

My smile dropped. “What is it?”

Alessio sighed. “Just had two of your girls down here asking for work.”

I closed my eyes. “Let me guess: Sofia and Martina, right?”

“Yep.” He went on. “We told them we didn’t need them.”

My brow furrowed. “Why would you do that? You had people approaching the club to steal our workers away from us.”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Yeah, well, shit’s changed. We’re not doing that no more.” He stated, “Tell your girls they’re not welcome here, all right?”

A small smile graced my face. “Is this your way of telling me that you’re not going to f*ck with my work?”

He stayed silent a moment before saying, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Thank you, Alessio,” I responded quietly.

His reply was just as quiet. “You’re welcome, Mina.”

I immediately made my way to the bar and approached Sasha. “So I just had an interesting phone call from my brother.”

Sasha’s brows rose. “Why the f*ck you telling me?”

I bunched my nose at him, and raising my hand, I poked him in the chest. “You know, you could be nicer to me. I have important information to tell you.”

He sighed. “Whatever. Shoot.”

“Alessio told me that Sofia and Martina were at Aphrodite’s Kiss just now applying for work.”

Sasha’s jaw ticked, but as always, he spoke evenly, “Fucking bitches. They’re fired. Soon as they come in, tell ‘em to come see me in my office.”

I nodded, perfectly happy with both girls’ dismissal. “You know we can’t work with just nine girls. We’re going to need at least three more at a full-time level.”

He glowered at me. “How the f*ck do you know that?”

I bit my tongue, but I really wanted to tell him to eat a thousand dicks. “I’ve done my research; that’s how.” I huffed out a breath. “Listen, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without Birdie. I think you should put her in charge of hiring the next few girls.”

For once, he didn’t disagree, looking over at the woman. “She surprised me with all this shit. I didn’t realize she was management material. I could’ve used her a few months back.” He nodded. “I’ll talk to her.”

Thank the Lord for small victories!

While I was on a roll, I decided to push my luck. “You wouldn’t happen to have a professional camera lying around, would you?”

His drab stare told me that no, he did not. His brows furrowed. “What do you need a camera for?”

“I always had a thing for photography and…” my face flushed… “and I was good at it. I thought if you had a camera, I could take photos of the girls for the flyers. I have something in mind, but I just need the tools to do it.” I waved my hands in dismissal of the idea. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll make do without it.” As I walked away, I turned and started to walk backwards while I told Sasha a genuine, “Hey, thanks.”

He frowned. “For what?”

My shrugged. “For giving my idea a chance. It means a lot. So thanks.”

I went back to the girls and listened as they projected their ideas for dance routines and solo performances. We worked out that each act would need to be between three and five minutes a piece, with two intervals during the night. I was impressed with these women. They were taking it all in stride and contributing. I was proud of them.

An hour later, a delivery came to the club and it was addressed to me. I signed for it with confusion written all over my face. When I opened the package, I gasped.