A Lady Never Tells

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The speakeasy seemed so foreign to Lillian; it was as if she’d never seen anything like it before. There were murals painted on every wall. She noticed the swell of women dancing to the all-black band on the stage. There was a red-headed singer really belting out the tunes. In the corners, there were men smoking.

“Mobsters,” William muttered to her as he sensed her gaze. “You’re gonna want to stay away from them.”

Lillian nodded, and said, “Duly noted.”

“Alright, do you know what you’re gonna do, Lily?”

Lillian hesitated for the moment. Then she said, “I think I’m just gonna start at the bar.”

“Okay, okay, I gotcha. You’re gonna try to talk to the people here and ask them about Mr. Jonathon Lexly.”

“Sure, that’s exactly what I was going for.”

William looked at Lillian’s face. He saw right through her. “You’re a liar. You didn’t know what you were going to do until I told you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Lillian said.

William smiled. “Okay, so while you’re getting all the information you need, I’ll be at the poker table. Try not to miss me, Lily.”

She smiled as her friend walked away. Lillian looked at the stage and the band. The singer was singing a nice bluesy-ballad. A moment later, she walked over to the bar and sat down.

After a minute or two, Lillian was still sitting there, on the barstool. “What do I do now?”

“Well, I buy you a drink,” a voice behind her said. Lillian turned to see a man in his early forties. He had dark brown hair and green eyes. “What’ll it be?”

“Um, I guess a dirty martini?”

“Alright, then,” the man said and then waved down the bartender and gave him her order. When the bartender gave her the drink the man said, “So, my name’s Charlie Martino.”

“Lillian Jones,” she said, deciding to use her maiden name. She thought that using ‘Jones’ would fish out anything about Jonathon Lexly.

“Well, I can’t say that I’ve seen you around here before Ms. Jones. Are you a virgin?”

Lillian spit out the drink she had in her mouth. “A what?”

“A virgin? Clearly you are. I saw you when you walked in here tonight. You were amazed by this place.”

“Well, if it’s any of your business, I am most certainly not a virgin!”

Charlie snickered. “Aww, that’s not what I mean about that one. This is the first time you’ve been here, so you’re a virgin.”

Lillian took another sip of her drink. “Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything,” she said, embarrassed.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, sweet. I own the place, so I know these things.”

“Alright, then,” she said. Crap, he owns the place. He’s involved with the mob, she thought.

“Listen, why don’t we get you another drink, and go in the back. I’d like to show you off to some others here,” he said as the bartender refilled her drink.

“Well, I don’t think,” she started to say, but he cut her off, saying, “I think it’s going to be pretty wise to have you come in the back with me.”

This isn’t good, at all. “O-okay, I guess that’ll be alright,” she said, as he led her off of the stool and to the back.

“So, what made you decide to hit this shindig tonight,” Charlie asked Lillian. She was sitting next to him on a booth. His hand was resting on her thigh. She had thoughts of shoving it off, but she didn’t think it’d be smart to cross the bad side of a mobster.