23

She was having the time of her life. Joaquim was the modern-day version of a scoundrel. If she lived in Victorian times, she was certain simply being acquainted with him would have made all the socialites gasp. She would have been the talk of the ton. She had never laughed so hard with the way these two men cracked each other up. They were clearly closer than brothers who constantly made each other punchlines in jokes but then they laughed at themselves with equal measure. For two very wealthy men, there was not a pretentious bone in either of their bodies.

Right now, as she was perched on Isaias’s lap, giggling as she sipped a fruity drink, Joaquim was retelling the story of how his mother caught him with two women. His details were far more hilarious than the abbreviated version of what Isaias had told her.

“Liesl, she dug her rosary out of her purse, fell to her knees in prayer and tried to get the girls to pray with her.”

She chortled delightedly at his words. He was the opposite of Isaias in terms of appearance. She had expected them to look alike but he was blonde, blue eyed, with thin lips and a nose which was long and proud. Where they were similar was in the way they carried themselves. Proud men with erect postures and a way of looking around the room, taking it all in with one movement and easily discounting anyone not of value with a simple glance. All eyes were on the handsome duo and Liesl felt proud to be on Isaias’ arm.

“Your poor mother.”

“Poor me. She interrupted ten minutes too soon.” He gave her a meaningful glance.

“On that note,” Isaias chuckled and put his glass on the table and pushed Liesl to a standing position. “I want to dance with you again.”

She knew he enjoyed dancing with her. He’d had her on her feet most of the night. She kissed his cheek. “Let me go to the bathroom first.”

He grinned and reminded her of when she’d crashed his date, “is this where you go text your friends about how hot I am?”

“Nope. My phone is dead.” She mocked him.

Two of the girls hanging over Joaquim immediately jumped up to walk with her offering to keep her company. They chatted about nothing in particular as she did her business. They were washing their hands when four other women walked in and beelined for Liesl.

A willowy blonde with a dress so tight she could barely walk stood with her arms folded over her chest glaring at her.

“Can I help you?” Liesl reapplied her lipstick in the mirror not fully facing her.

“Yes, you can go crawl under whatever rock you came from.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve been coming to all of Joaquim’s club openings for years. I’ve put the time in, and some newcomer isn’t going stroll in here and take from me what I’ve worked so hard to get.”

“Which is?”

“Isaias.”

She giggled. She couldn’t help herself. “Really? You’ve worked hard to get him?” Liesl considered all she’d done was walk up and offer him a bribe.

“I have put in the time. I know him better than he knows himself. I watch him and I follow him on all his social media. I know when he’s going to be here in the city and I –”

“Oh, let me cut you off right there,” she raised her hand in the air. “Are you saying you stalk him?”

“No!” the woman’s friends appeared stunned Liesl was talking back to her. “Do you know who I am?”

“No. Do you know who I am?” Liesl asked with a snort.

“No, should I?”

“I don’t know. I thought we were playing a game.” The girls who had come into the bathroom with Liesl snickered at her comment. She looked over her shoulder to note one of them was texting furiously on her phone.

“Listen, you bitch, I’ve danced with him every time he’s come out. Based on your off-the-rack dress, you’re probably one of Joaquim’s paid bimbos. I saw you dancing with him and I sitting on his knee. Back off or I will ruin you. I’ll find out who you are, and you won’t be able to show your face in all of New York again. He’s mine. Three years I’ve been waiting for him to be with me again.”

“Okay, let’s go.” She waved at the woman.

“What?”

“I said let’s go. Let’s go talk to Isaias right now. Ask him to decide. Let’s ask him,” she stepped closer to the woman which appeared to shake her resolve, “who he’d rather fuck tonight?”

“How dare you?”

“What is your name?”

“Craven France. You should do well to remember it.”

“Sounds like a drag name. I have a friend back home who’s a queen. I bet if I asked, they have a friend named Craven.”

“You’re a bitch.”

“Girl, you approached me in the bathroom of a club to warn me off a man you’ve been chasing for three years who clearly has never given you the time of day.”

“We slept together!”

“Once,” one of her friends whispered and then made wide eyes as she realized she spoke aloud.

Liesl snickered. “Honey, if you were with him and slept, you did it wrong. Maybe it’s why he was a one and done.”

The woman raised her hand to try to slap her and Liesl grabbed her wrist and bent it.

“I’m a middle child with a kid sister who makes you look angelic. There isn’t a damn thing you can do to me which will ever top what she has said and done. Why don’t you and your little posse go back to wherever it was you came from.” She shoved her away.

“I swear if you don’t leave this club right now, I’ll make you wish you had never met Isaias Machado. He’s mine.”

“Yeah, my sister did this to me on a daily basis. Try something new and we’ll see if maybe you get a different reaction.”

The door to the bathroom shoved open and both Isaias and Joaquim walked in.

“Why did I get a text from one of my girls that my very special guest was being assaulted and almost slapped in the bathroom, Craven?” Joaquim blocked the door not letting anyone out.

“Isaias,” Craven cooed, ignoring Joaquim, “you didn’t tell me you were in town.”

“I have never once told you when I was in town.” He looked to Liesl, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I should have guessed there would be at least one to crawl out of the woodwork. You didn’t get so good at what you do by sleeping alone for the last thirty years.” She grinned at him as Joaquim hooted with laughter.

“Hey,” he frowned his eyes lightening as he realized she was not angry at him, “I’m only thirty-nine. I did not start having sex at nine! I was fourteen.”

“Twenty-five years then,” she took his hand. “Will there be more of this to deal with? If so, I want Joaquim to keep the drinks coming.”

“She threatened Liesl and said she was going to ruin her if she didn’t leave the club.” One of the girls who had accompanied her to the bathroom spoke up. “Told Liesl she had put three years into snagging Isaias, and she wasn’t letting one of Joaquim’s bimbos ruin it.” The girl grinned at Craven, “I’m one of Joaquim’s bimbos by the way and I’d be thrilled to have Liesl join the harem if Isaias wasn’t so greedy with her.” She bumped Craven’s shoulder as she moved to slide under Joaquim’s arm. “For the record, Isaias leveled up with Liesl. He could have gotten rid of an STI faster than he could have ditched you after fucking.”

“Simone, that’s not very nice,” Joaquim smirked. “There’s no need to bring up Isaias biggest regrets in life.”

“She is definitely not one of my biggest regrets in life,” Isaias argued. Craven’s eyes lit up and he doused it harshly. “Do not give Craven more credit than she is due. I don’t even recall most of the night. I was blackout drunk and clearly aiming low. It certainly was not regret-worthy.”

“You dance with me every time we’re in the club.” Craven protested. “You’re attracted to me.”

“I dance with Joaquim too. I feel more attraction to him than you.” He sighed and kissed Liesl on the forehead, “How about we let Joaquim deal with his patrons who insulted my girlfriend. Preferably banning them for life.”

“Girlfriend?” Craven squealed, “she’s your girlfriend? You’ve never had a girlfriend, Isaias.”