Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“Are you here for John?” Giovanni asked, finally turning his attention to me.
“Yes.”
“Have you been out here long?” the woman asked. “Did you try knocking?”
“The man who walked me up just told me to sit here and wait.”
She rolled her eyes, let go of Giovanni’s hand, and walked to the doors across from us. She knocked loudly. “John, someone’s here to see you.”
“My wife is a problem solver,” Giovanni said with a proud smile, looking at her. She smiled at him as she turned around. “Just open the door, babe.”
“No, thanks,” she said, “I never know what I’ll find behind these doors. I’d rather knock and not take my chances.”
“You never have to worry about my door.” He winked at her and she blushed lightly.
The door opened behind her and a tall Black man, who I assumed was John, walked out. He was wearing a navy suit that was either custom-made for him or had been tailored to perfection. I wondered if being hot was a requirement to be employed by or married to Giovanni Masseria, because they were all hot as hell. John looked at the three of us as he held the door open, his gaze landing on Giovanni’s wife.
“If you’re here to steal my red pens, the answer is no, Isabel,” he said.
“Don’t worry, Gio got me three boxes.” Isabel laughed. “She’s waiting to see you.” She pointed at me, smiled, and waved goodbye as she started to walk toward the doors, her husband hot on her heels.
“Remember, we won’t be back until next week, and you may not be able to reach me while I’m gone.” Giovanni reached for Isabel’s hand, bringing it up to his mouth and dropping a kiss on the back of it. “I’m taking my wife on a honeymoon.”
“Didn’t you take her on a honeymoon nine months ago?” John asked. “This is called a vacation.”
“It’s called whatever I want to call it.” Giovanni grinned at the look on John’s face. “I’ll bring you back some rum.”
I waited until they were gone before I stood.
“So you’re the famous Roselyn,” John said, holding the door to his office and stepping back. “Come on in.”
“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.” I smiled shakily as I walked over and stepped into his office.
Every man I’d ever had to speak to on a business level always treated me like an object. I thought that was a ballet thing, where men and women alike were treated like pawns the companies played with. When we did things on behalf of the companies, we were told where to go, what to do, what to wear, and how to act. With Tommy, it had been more of the same. With Anthony, even worse. So far, John hadn’t looked at me like a piece of meat, and when we walked into his office, he didn’t close the door behind him. He left it ajar and invited me to sit as he headed to his chair. Once settled, he clasped his hands together on the desk. His actions were already ten times better than that of the men who came before him. Obviously, the bar was set in hell.
“Yari speaks very highly of you, so it’s a good thing.” He smiled at me from across the desk.
“She speaks highly of you as well and has been hounding me to meet with you.”
“She says you currently work at Tempt.”
“Yes.”
“I heard they pay pretty well. Why are you leaving?”
“I feel like I need a change.”
“So you want to go from one nightclub to another?” he raised an eyebrow.
“I . . .” I took a breath and decided to go with the truth. “I hate the people I work for.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” He looked at his computer screen. “And you’re a dancer for the city ballet.”
“Yep.”
“That must be time-consuming,” he said.
“That’s another reason I’m here. Yari said you may be able to give me a flexible schedule since that will be taking up a lot of my time.” I paused again, unsure how much information to divulge, but Yari trusted him so I would as well. “I had to put a pause on my ballet career for a while, but I’m hoping I can start making my way back there.”
“She mentioned that. She also said she spoke to you about escorting and you didn’t like the idea,” he said. “But it would be the best option, given your schedule.”
“I’m not sure I can do the small talk and whatever else it entails.”
“It’s a small price to pay.” He shrugged. “You could make as much as you would bartending in two nights.”
“It just sounds so . . . I don’t know. Intimate?”
“It’s not.” He laughed. “It’s not all sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Most of the clients just want companionship, someone to have dinner with, go watch a movie, and yes, sometimes they’ll need a date to a fancy event, while others prefer a little more, but again, you pick. You’d be your own boss in that regard.”