The Hostess - Dark BWWM Mafia Romance: Greedy Alphas, #1

Chapter 1

Iwas walking down a crowded, smelly street when I heard someone calling out to me. Turning my head to him, it turned out he was none other than a barker – a man responsible for picking out women in crowds like this one and inviting her to work for his hostess club.

I was walking with my head down, thinking about the future and what my life was going to be like if my university degree didn’t help me with landing a job. Working for a hostess club wasn’t my idea of making it in life, though I could see why so many girls like me ended up choosing that kind of lifestyle.

Lifestyle, huh? Not sure if I should be calling it that. The whole thing wasn’t seen with good eyes by our society, and I didn’t need something else to add to the stigma associated with the kind of person I was.

The guy stopped in front of me, panting. He needed to chill out. I could see why he was feeling a little desperate to make me work for him, though. In his line of business, he probably got paid by the number of women he convinced to work for the club.

The street was still really packed, and I could barely hear his words as he talked to me.

Miss! I’m not sure if you’ve heard it, but our hostess club is inviting more girls to work for us. Payment is really good, and all the women that work for us are pretty happy with being here. I’m sure you’d feel the same way, if you give us a chance.

I’m sorry, but I don’t really need the money right now. Thanks for the offer, though.

Except that I did need the money. Power and water bills were beginning to pile up, and I didn’t know if and when I would have the money needed to pay the next partition of my college loan. Still couldn’t believe I had to take that loan. Everything would be so much better right now had I not requested it.

Dad and mom could not pay my college debts, and I’d found myself at an impasse. It had been either getting the loan or finding myself working in a club like that one, where women my age whored themselves for some money – and it wasn’t enough to pay all their bills.

I supposed they didn’t have a choice – like I hadn’t had with the loan thing. That still pained my heart a little, making me wonder when I was going to be able to pay it.

And right now, I really needed to continue focusing on my academic career. That and achieving the promise of a good job in a good company. Gosh, why did working had to be so hard?

His hand grabbed my arm, stopping me. Are you sure? Because this could be the opportunity of a lifetime for you, and I’m not going to be offering it to many other people.

Yes, my mind is made up about it, and I know there ought to be many more people out there willing to work for you. But unfortunately, I’m not one of those.

His hand let go of my arm and I walked away from there with a smile on my face. I knew I was going to make everything right. I knew I was going to make my life better, the prospect of working in a nice office environment already making my heart beat a little faster.

If I could make it work – If things turned around in my life – I wouldn’t even have to ever walk down this street again. It was just too crowded, and right now I really needed to stop letting that kind of thought ruin my mood.

I shouldn’t let that sort of thing ever happen again.

But then I heard another pair of footsteps rushing to me again, stopping right behind me. I whirled around to meet them, finding the guy from before. He was panting as hard as he had been a couple of seconds ago, and I could tell that he wasn’t about to give up easily. This guy was a little too persistent for my liking.

Are you sure about that, miss? We could give you a test drive of sorts. You would work for us for a night, and if you like it, we could hire you. Of course, it’s nothing guaranteed, and...

Yes, I’m pretty sure I don’t need that right now. Now, if you will excuse me...

I spun on my heels, but he spoke again.

I can make the payment double of what it is. You would be making a lot of money working here.

I had no choice but to turn to him, finding his proposal a little out of the ordinary.

Double the normal wage? For real? Or are you just talking out of your ass?

He put both of his hands on his knees, bending a little as his eyes flashed. He might be thinking he really piqued my interest, but nothing changed for me. No way that I was ever going to work at his hostess club, with guys much older than me acting like they still had it. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I still had my self-respect.

I can do that, and a lot more. You could become a queen in our club, and I’m sure a girl like you would appreciate that.

Uhhhh, thanks, but no thanks. I really can’t accept it. I already have a life, and I would rather keep it as it is.

For real? Wow... I thought I had you, but I guess I was just getting hopeful over nothing. He took a deep breath and continued, Have a good evening, miss. And if you change your mind, you know where you can find us.

I felt a little bad that I couldn’t take up on his offer and work in his club, but it was either giving the possibility of having a normal life again another chance, or sucking up to men whose life I couldn’t give a damn about.

And I couldn’t do that last thing. I was a woman of self-respect, and I really needed to try everything before ever considering the choice of becoming a hostess. I knew it would leave a sour taste in my mouth – of the kind I would never be able to forget.

Chapter 2

Iopened the door and felt a cold, metallic, and somewhat round thing prodding the back of my neck. My heart rate sped up in a second, and I thought I was going to die. I whimpered when I felt the hand of a man taking me to the middle of the living room, his intention becoming clearer as the seconds ticked by.

What do you want? I asked, finding it unbelievable that I was getting robbed this evening, of all the times it could have happened.

I was so unlucky. Fate didn't look at me with kind eyes.

Nothing more than what you are keeping here in your house, and I know it's a lot. I know you are rich as fuck and could be helping a less fortunate person like me.

His voice was deep and it sent shivers down my spine. I couldn’t help but feel like screaming for help, but I didn't do it. Nothing good could have come out of that.

Can't you just find someone else to rob?

He guffawed.

No can do, miss. This place reeks of richness.

I had no idea what he was talking about. My house was small and I still lived with my parents. Mom and dad were some of the people I most loved, and thinking about them now, I couldn't help but wonder where they were.

They had to be somewhere inside the house, right? But if this guy had managed to sneak in, did he do something to them?

The thought of that happening brought another wave of shivers down my spine, and I couldn't help but feel like kicking this guy in his balls.

I wasn't going to do that, though. I knew it would only bring me misfortune, this guy then probably squeezing the trigger of his gun and shooting me dead before I could even as much as get a chance to scream.

I breathed in and out slowly. Alright, you can have it all - all the money, but please, just let me live.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I couldn't believe how humiliating this whole thing was making me feel. It was one thing busting my ass off for a future that I could only dream of, and another to be witnessing it all getting destroyed right in front of my eyes.

The man prodded the back of my neck again, bringing me to my bedroom. I had a safe with some money in it. I had some money at the bank, but didn't trust them enough. I didn’t feel safe keeping much of it there.

Call me old fashioned, but that was how I was like.

Just need to turn the dial with the right combination, I explained, bending and reaching out with my hand to it.

Don't take too long or I might change my mind about letting you live once this is over.

The guy was wearing a mask, so either way I knew I wasn't going to get a glimpse of his face. Just as fast as he showed up here, he was going to escape and leave me with nothing.

Alright, alright. I'm doing it, I said while turning the dial to the left some ticks, and then to the right and to the left again.

There was a click and I pulled the door open. My money stacks once gave me hope that I could turn things around, but now they were all going to be wasted with whatever this guy was going to spend them on.

He was exhaling quite hard when I handed him the stacks full of dollar bills. His pistol was still pointed to the back of my neck, arms raised as he made it pretty clear that I couldn’t even twitch. If I did, he would shoot me dead.

You are not going to get away with this! I heard a rather feeble, hoarse voice coming from the doorway. The masked man had left it open.

My eyes snapped to dad, who was dashing toward the robber with a large kitchen knife in his hand. Mom was right behind him, and her hand was covering her mouth.

Father, no! I yelled, but it was too late.

He was already sprinting to the guy with the gun, and the latter had no option but to pull the trigger then and there.

What happened a moment later was nothing but a blur to my mind, dad’s body falling limp on the floor.

Blood gushed out of his mouth and mom had yelled something that at the time - and even now - I couldn’t comprehend.

The guy with the black ski mask pulled the trigger three more times, and all the shots pierced her skull.

I screamed and went for the two of them. The guy in the black ski mask grabbed all the money stacks and hurried out of the room. All I heard then was the noise of the front door being closed.

I supposed I should find some solace in