1.2 | The Prince of Thieves

Chapter 52

A/N: I managed to write some! Hope you enjoy :) remember to vote and comment!

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A corset.

She had been trying to hide a corset.

He'd seen a flash of his wife weaving through the crowd as they were led to a table by a girl who wore horns on her head. The girl was bright and chirpy, effectively introducing some drinks promotion that Mickey was vigorously nodding his head to. He should have warned Mickey to tone it down, but he could only focus on the all-white figure now disappearing through a door. No wonder she'd gone straight to the bathroom the night before with her coat still on.

He was going to have many things to say. What was with those tiny, bottom-hugging shorts, for instance?!

Beers were deposited before them. Mickey was flirting aggressively with the same girl who was now on his lap while another hostess in the same outfit had slipped onto the couch beside Dom. He wanted to tell her not to bother with Dom. It was a waste of effort to come on to him because his responses – or lack thereof – tended to leave one disappointed.

'My boy here plays hard to get!' Mickey called out over the music to the hostess who was fast losing her patience.

A third hostess dropped down beside him. He hadn't noticed her until he felt a tap on his shoulder for he had been glowering at his innocent bottle of untouched beer.

'Need some cheering up?' the girl quipped.

'It's my friend's birthday,' he muttered, picking up the beer, then idly swirling it about as condensation slipped over his fingers. It wasn't actually Mickey's birthday but they needed some sort of excuse. 'You can humour him instead.'

'Oh, my,' she trilled, leaning into him with an elbow on his shoulder. 'I wouldn't steal him from Sachi.'

He shied a little from the contact, then forced a smile onto his face when he remembered he had a cover to maintain. Where was his wife? He'd rather have her lean all over him instead.

Ah, there she was, he thought as she approached them with a tray in her hands. The lights of the club set her ablaze in a multitude of colour and his mouth nearly tugged into a smile at the flash of bewilderment on her features. The third hostess – Mina? – had been buttering up to him, getting him to drink, but he'd taken a sip and that was it. At the rate Dom and Mickey were gulping their beer, there'd be no one to bring them home tonight.

She placed the tray on the table and distributed the snacks mechanically. Not even a flicker of recognition showed in her eyes. She was good at this. Then his gaze hardened at the top few buttons of her shirt left undone and when she leant over to place a bowl before him, a hint of cleavage revealed itself. He swallowed, fighting the urge to snap shut her gaping shirt. Damn it, had she been doing this the whole night? He was going to have many things to say indeed.

~

Mina waved a hand at her and Hana snapped to attention.

'One Rum and Coke, one Mojito and one Manly Temple,' she stated.

'Hai,' Hana mumbled with a quick bow. She scrambled off with the orders, her head reeling at the sight of her husband and his friends. What are they doing here? They shouldn't be here! She fought desperately against instinct to give them another look. Hellfire was brimming with Keiji's men; it wasn't a place for a rival mob boss to be in. And what was Mina doing at her table? Mina had her own customers to tend to.

She delivered the order as if she were in a dream; the names flowed smoothly off her tongue and before she knew it, Juan was mixing up the drinks expertly with one raised brow fixed on her.