Chapter 1 - THE GIRL WHO SAID NO
“Dance with me.”
Dante Vanel stood before me with one hand extended.
Behind him, the Velvet Lounge had gone almost completely silent.
I could hear the ice settling in a nearby champagne bucket.
I could hear the faint buzz of the service station refrigerator.
And I could hear my own heartbeat.
My name was Elena Vance. I was twenty-three years old, a waitress making barely enough money to keep my ten-year-old brother alive, and I was staring at the most feared mafia boss in New York.
He was waiting for my answer.
I looked at his hand.
Then at the tray I was holding.
“I’m still working.”
Someone behind him made a strangled noise.
Greg, my manager, appeared at the edge of my vision.
His face had turned the color of uncooked chicken.
Dante didn't move.
For three terrible seconds, he simply studied me.
Then one corner of his mouth lifted.
“Are you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is that why you're shaking?”
I tightened my grip on the tray.
“I'm shaking because my manager will fire me if I stop working.”
Dante's eyes shifted toward Greg.
“Will he?”
Greg practically folded in half.
“Absolutely not, Mr. Vanel. Elena is simply confused. She would be honored—”
“Did I ask you?”
Greg stopped speaking.
Dante looked at me again.
“What time does your shift end?”
“Six.”
“In the morning?”
“Yes.”
He glanced at his watch.
“That's six hours away.”
“Five hours and fifty-eight minutes.”
His smile deepened.
“You count the minutes?”
“Every one.”
“Why?”
I should have lied.
I should have said something harmless about needing sleep.
Instead, exhaustion made me careless.
“Because my brother is waiting for me.”
Something changed in Dante's expression.
“How old?”
“Ten.”
“Where is he?”
My stomach tightened.
“That's personal.”
A bodyguard behind him shifted.
Dante raised one finger without looking away from me.
The man stopped.
Then Dante said something I never expected.
“Fair enough.”
He lowered his hand.
“You're right. You're working.”
Relief rushed through me.
“Thank you.”
I turned toward the service station.
“Elena.”
I stopped.
“When you finish your shift, I would like to ask you again.”
I looked over my shoulder.
“Ask me what?”
His eyes held mine.
“To dance.”
Then he returned to his booth.
And every person in the Velvet Lounge stared at me as though I'd just survived an execution.
Greg grabbed my elbow the moment Dante was out of earshot.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
I pulled away.
“Please don't touch me.”
“You embarrassed me in front of Dante Vanel!”
“I told him I was working.”
“You don't tell men like him no!”
I looked toward Dante's booth.
He was speaking quietly to one of his men.
Then his gaze lifted.
Straight to Greg's hand.
Greg released me immediately.
“Get back to work,” he hissed.
I did.
For the next hour, I tried to convince myself that nothing had happened.
But at 12:43 a.m., my phone vibrated.
The hospital.
I stepped into the service hallway and answered.
“Hello?”
“Elena, this is Nurse Patel from NYU Langone.”
My heart dropped.
“Is Toby okay?”
“Your brother is stable, but he's asking for you. He's frightened about the procedure.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell him I'll come as soon as I finish.”
A pause.
“Elena, there's also an issue with the payment authorization.”
My throat tightened.
“What issue?”
“The financial office needs to speak with you before Monday.”
I leaned against the wall.
Monday.
Three days.
The surgery deposit was forty-eight thousand dollars.
I had saved twenty-six thousand.
I had borrowed everything anyone would lend me.
And I was still impossibly short.
“I'll come tomorrow,” I whispered.
When I returned to the lounge, Dante was standing beside the service station.
He looked at my face.
“Bad news?”
I forced a smile.
“Nothing I can't handle.”
His gaze dropped to my trembling hands.
Then he said quietly, “Who taught you that you have to handle everything alone?”
I didn't answer.
May you like
Because nobody had taught me.
Life had simply stopped giving me a choice.
