I bit my tongue, but I really wanted to tell him to eat a thousand dicks. “I’ve done my research; that’s how.” I huffed out a breath. “Listen, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without Birdie. I think you should put her in charge of hiring the next few girls.”
For once, he didn’t disagree, looking over at the woman. “She surprised me with all this shit. I didn’t realize she was management material. I could’ve used her a few months back.” He nodded. “I’ll talk to her.”
Thank the Lord for small victories!
While I was on a roll, I decided to push my luck. “You wouldn’t happen to have a professional camera lying around, would you?”
His drab stare told me that no, he did not. His brows furrowed. “What do you need a camera for?”
“I always had a thing for photography and…” my face flushed… “and I was good at it. I thought if you had a camera, I could take photos of the girls for the flyers. I have something in mind, but I just need the tools to do it.” I waved my hands in dismissal of the idea. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll make do without it.” As I walked away, I turned and started to walk backwards while I told Sasha a genuine, “Hey, thanks.”
He frowned. “For what?”
My shrugged. “For giving my idea a chance. It means a lot. So thanks.”
I went back to the girls and listened as they projected their ideas for dance routines and solo performances. We worked out that each act would need to be between three and five minutes a piece, with two intervals during the night. I was impressed with these women. They were taking it all in stride and contributing. I was proud of them.
An hour later, a delivery came to the club and it was addressed to me. I signed for it with confusion written all over my face. When I opened the package, I gasped.
Inside was a brand new Pentax professional digital camera. My lips started to quiver. I knew who had done this.
From behind me came a stern, “You break it, you bought it.”
I gently put the box down on the bar before turning and asking, “Why? Why would you give this to me?”
Sasha looked down to the ground, clearly uncomfortable. His response was curt. “I didn’t buy it for you.” His voice softened. “I did it for the club. I bought it for the club.”
A small smile tugged at my lips, and soon I was beaming. “I’m going to take the best photos you’ve ever seen.”
His brows rose at the conviction in my tone. “The best photos I’ve ever seen?”
I grinned. “The best goddamn photos you’ve ever seen.”
He smiled then, but it was small. He sighed to himself. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
Sasha Leokov didn’t know who he was working with.
He didn’t know who Mina Harris really was. I needed to show him, and I fully intended to do just that.
I would win him over.
I would.
Lev called just before five to tell me that he wouldn’t be coming to the club as planned. He got caught up in those numbers of his and totally lost track of time. Luckily for him, I’d had a good day; otherwise, I might not have been so accepting.
After seeing some of the photos I intended to put on the flyers, Sasha was impressed. He didn’t show it, but I knew he was. Why else would he have offered to give me a ride back home?
Sasha and I were now your regular BFFs. Well, not really. But he would succumb to my charm. Eventually. I was sure of it.
Sasha drove up into Lev’s drive long enough to mutter, “Fuck me.”
I lifted my head to see what had brought out the curse to find my brother’s car already in the drive. And he was sitting inside.
“Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you later,” I muttered distractedly before stepping out, walking over to Alessio’s car and knocking lightly on the window.
He was scowling down at a piece of paper in his lap, but as soon as he lifted his head to look at me, his face gentled. I opened the passenger door and sat inside, smiling, leaning over the seat to give him a light squeeze. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing here? And what are you doing outside?”
His arm came around me to hug me back, and he uttered, “I gotta talk to you. Alone.”
Crap.