I leaned over the counter to speak softly to my new man. “The man at the end, drinking his beer like he wants to punch a fool. See him?”
Kent nodded.
“Now, see the woman who ordered the virgin margarita sitting on Bruno’s lap?”
He lifted to his toes and maneuvered to look around the crowded bar. “Yeah.”
“Undercover cops. My guess, it’s her job to try and get close to Bruno. Her partner doesn’t seem very happy about it.”
Kent turned back to me with wide eyes. “How do you know all that?”
I roughly patted his shoulder before picking up the small tray he prepared for me. “You learn to spot them. I’ll have someone teach you soon.”
His smile was shaky as he moved back to the group of girls. He was a good bartender and handled the mafia presence well. I hoped this didn’t screw that up.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I approached Bruno’s table with a grin, supporting the tray with my left hand.
“Gentlemen, it's been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of having a drink with you. Join me?” I laid the tray down in the middle of the table. All three men studied my face, watching me carefully.
“Grazie, Dillan. We’d be honored. How is business?” Bruno wrapped his large hands around the glass I filled in front of him.
“Good, as always. As you can see, we get many different types of people visiting. Nothing like shadows and alcohol to give people the confidence to act out of their nature. Let their hair down, so to speak.”
Bruno threw back his shot, then smacked his lips. “Hmmm, that is smooth. You brought us the good stuff.” He reached over and filled another glass for himself, then refilled his friends’ drinks. His other hand slid up to the female cop’s upper back, just enough to support her but not let her know things had changed. “Grazie, my friend. It’s nice to know we have a place where we can let our own hair down and know we are safe doing so.”
I nodded my head, demonstrating my acceptance and understanding. “Well, gentlemen, I hope you enjoy your night. As always, enjoy your time here at Indecent.”
I dropped the tray off back at the bar, getting a confused look from Kent. I winked at him and headed toward the back door. Just before leaving, I turned and saw the female cop walking away from Bruno with a very confused look on her face. Her partner, on the other hand, looked relieved. He was doing a poor job of hiding it. They really should find someone else to partner with her on undercover assignments.
With a shake of the head, I stepped out of the dark club room and into a semi-dark, private stairwell. I descended down to the basement level and entered the door on the right. One of the reasons I chose to buy this building for the club was because of the extensive basement. I split it in two, one of the rooms much smaller than the other. Both were soundproofed. Both were equally fruitful.
The smaller room was well lit, but in an aesthetically pleasing way. The room held five poker tables, each filled with three to five people. To the right was a small bar where drinks could be fixed, and money exchanged for chips. I made my way over to the two men standing behind the bar.
“Are we ready?” I asked my long-time friend and right-hand man, Keith.
He picked up his tablet and scrolled. “Just about. We have five for the tournament, and ten that are just here to play like normal.”
“That’s not bad. So why do you look concerned?”
