Bare for you (French Mafia Romance)

Part 10

"Thirst for attention is a cry of loneliness."
– Toba Beta
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Lexus's POV

It's been 3 days since I've last spoken to Cash. How was I supposed to know that making him share the slightest ounce of honesty and vulnerability would make him avoid me all together? Even at work, he sent Kaïs to watch over me while I danced. As much as I hate it, Cash is the only one I can talk to right now without having to lie. Everyday I have to lie to Almond and Celine about my situation. I miss being transparent and not having to watch everything I say. In a way, I miss talking to Cash.

After the first day of no communication, I admit I've been pretty annoying. I vacuum particularly long near his office door and talk fairly loud on the phone while walking back and forth near his office. After all my attempts, it has resulted in no response. Damn it.

"You're distracted today, what's up?" Almond asks.

   "It's nothing." I lie. I'm always fucking lying now.

"Bullshit. Come on, Lux."

   "It's Cash. He's been avoiding me ever since I tried asking him... personal questions. He's so secretive." I say carefully.

"He hasn't even told you his real name. It's no surprise he's keeping his distance now that you're trying to dig deeper into him." Almond says while applying lipgloss.

I frown.

"Don't make that face. Look, if he hasn't given you his attention then you need to remind him why he should. There's plenty of men out there that will kill for 10 minutes with you, use them to get closer with Cash."

   "Last time I did that, he beat their ass." I lie again. Well, it's not 100% a lie but it's definitely not the truth. I can't tell Almond that Cash has the power to tell others to do his dirty work.

"Why do you think that was? Jealousy is a great weapon, you just have to calm him down before he could do something stupid. He's not here right now but his fine ass friend is. You don't even have to do shit with the random man, just take him to the room and I bet you his friend will call him. Cash's attention will 100% be on you when he comes."

   "You love getting me in trouble, huh Almond?" I laugh.

"Me? Of course not." she bats her eyes. "Just think of the sex you'll have after you do this. There's nothing quite like a jealousy fuck."

Once again, Almond loves getting me in trouble but fuck it. Why not? My other attempts haven't been working. We both exit the locker room, looking over the crowd. I quickly find Kaïs near the bar, watching me. Almond muges me then makes her way over to him. Kaïs's attention shifts between Almond and I but it remains primarily on me. I take the opportunity to look around the room again. A familiar face appears and I quickly make my way to him.

"Connor." I say.

   "Lexus, I thought I'd find you here." he says as he gives me a hug.

His wavy blonde hair is once again slicked back neatly. He's wearing a blue casual shirt with dark jeans. His style hasn't changed much since 4 years ago.

"What are you doing here?"

   "Can we talk where it's a little less loud?" he asks.

"Follow me." I lead Cooper to the private rooms. I take a peak at Kaïs as I walk past him and the warning look he gives me is intense. He's completely disregarded Almond, so much so that she pushes his head back towards her. When I make it to the room, I close the door behind us.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I ask.

   "You." he says as he sits on the couch. "And your sister."

"What about her?" I say as I take a seat next to him.

   "Well, I remember when you said you'd do...this... to help take care of her."

"Yes, and you said you'd go to the academy and become a great officer. Looks like we both followed through."

   "You don't have to do this anymore, Lex. I make a great salary, I could take care of you both." he says.

"It's been 4 years, Connor. I'm definitely not the same person I was in high school."

   "Neither am I." he puts his hand on my thigh, slowly rubbing it. I look down at his hand then look up in his eyes. His eyes are just as blue and inviting as it was back then.

"I heard it was you who did that huge drug bust last week." I change the subject.

    "Yeah." he moves his hand a little higher. "There's going to be another one tonight."

"What, really? Where?"

"In Boston. Enough about that. What do you say? We can start slow, perhaps a date?"

I'm not too sure if it relates to Cash and his business but I should call him just in case.

"I'm kind of... seeing someone right now." I lie.

"Was it that guy in front of the police station? I was going to walk Cee out but then I saw you two talking. Who is he?"

"You wouldn't know him." I barely know him myself.

"Well, I do know he doesn't deserve you." he moves his hand to my cheek but I turn my head away.

"It was nice talking to you again, Connor. Usually the private room is $250 but since you got my sister out of trouble, it'll be on the house."

"Alright, Lex. I'll text you." he says before getting up.

I lead him out the room. Instead of going to the main floor, I go into the locker room to get my phone. I call Cash's number and he answers on the second ring.

"Hello, Cash? It's Lexus." I announce.

"Lexus." he says chillingly. "I hear you've disobeyed me."

"Disobeyed? You think you can ignore me for days then expect me to– you know what. Never mind. I called you for a reason."

"What is it? I don't have time to waste right now."

I try to think of a way to word this information so that if anyone overheard the conversation, they would think nothing of it.

"Are you expecting a package today? A big one, like last week's?" I ask.

He pauses. Just as I'm about to ask if he heard me he answers.

"Yes, why?"

"I heard news that people may be trying to stop your package from coming to Boston. I think you should cancel your order today."

"My package is not coming to Boston anymore so don't worry. How did you get this information?" he asks.

"An old lover warned me."

"Is that who you were with in that room?"

"I need to get back to work." I hang up before he could say anything else.

I check the time on my phone, 2:27am. My shift is almost done thank goodness. I guess I warned Cash for nothing. Once again, my concern was not needed. When will I finally learn that? Just as I'm about to put my phone away, I get a text from him.

Cash: Thank you for the warning but don't think your stunt will go unpunished. I will deal with you tonight

I can't help but smile at this. A high-ranking criminal is threatening to punish me, whatever that means, and I'm happy. Am I a hidden masochist?

Either way, I have a shift to finish. I put my phone up and head to the main floor.