Declan
Woke up alone. Again. At least this time I knew I had it coming. I showered and got dressed for the day in my work clothes. I figured if I had to sit around the house all day and think about how much Cassie hated me, I’d go mad. I hadn’t yet gone to check on my clubs here in Dallas. Might as well get some work done. Work that I’d straight up been neglecting since the moment I saw Cassie at the airport.
When I got downstairs I found Brice on the back patio, chipping golf balls into the fountain. Like father, like son. “Hey, douche, where are your sister and my son?” And like his father, he’d maneuvered a heater to stand directly beside him. It had to be close to freezing outside, there were icicles forming on the stone fountain.
Brice glanced at me before looking back down at the ball. “Mom forced Cassie to go to the spa to get ready for y’all’s big day tomorrow. And Wyllie is with our fathers at the zoo. I swear that kid has a busier social calendar than I do.” He swung again and missed the fountain by four feet.
“Okay, well, I’m heading out to check on the clubs. I’ll be back in time for dinner. Call me if the grandpas need any help with Wyllie.” Brice saluted me and went back to his backyard golf game.
Did that guy ever work? Brice was a successful marketing genius. His company flew him all over the world pitching and closing deals. He was pretty high up on the corporate ladder and a smooth talker. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took off the whole month of December just for the fun of it.
***
I owned two clubs in the area: one in Fort Worth at the Stockyards and one in downtown Dallas. I decided to head out to Fort Worth and then swing by the other one on my way back to Cassie’s parents’ house.
My club, Cueva, was my life’s work. I’d started my first one in downtown Dallas right out of college. The concept came from watching my dad and his work associates close deals in our den over scotch and cigars. My clubs were like closing deals at home, but better because there were beautiful girls to wait on you and a staff to clean up after you left.
My clients? Extremely powerful and wealthy men. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a sexist. If a company wanted to rent a room and have all their staff, females included, that was fine by me. But, like it or not, most big companies were still run by men, so they were the people making the deals. If a woman CEO wanted in, I’d have no problem with that.
Cueva had been a huge success right off the bat, just as I had suspected. The Fort Worth club was running like clockwork; I didn’t feel the need to stay there long. The downtown location was my favorite, my little oasis in the heart of Uptown. I walked in and instantly felt at ease.
“Declan?”
I smiled. “There’s my best employee.” I grabbed the petite blonde as she threw herself at me. “Holland, it’s so good to see you. How have you been? How’s my club?” Holland had been working at Cueva since she was in college; almost six years now. The clients loved her. She was witty and beautiful and she didn’t put up with any of their shit, no matter who they were. She’d started here as a waitress and then quickly moved up the ranks after she’d gotten her degree. I paid her more than I paid all my club supervisors because she’d earned it and because I didn’t want to ever lose her. This place wouldn’t be the same without her.
“I’m great, thank you for asking. And your club is running like a well-oiled machine. Just like it always has.” Holland looked back down at the computer in front of her. “What have you been doing? I thought you’d come to check on us long before now.”
“Well, I ran into Cassie Huntington at the airport and—”
Holland looked up, beaming. “Did you meet Wylder? Isn’t he the cutest baby in the world?”
“You’ve met Wyllie?”
“Oh yeah, dozens of times.” She gave a little shrug, “Cassie was home visiting a few months after he was born and we ran into each other at the mall. We got to talking, ended up having lunch. We usually get together when she’s in town.”
“He’s my son.”
Her eyes went wide. “Wyllie? No shit?”
“No shit.”
“Wow.” She pursed her lips. “He does look a lot like you now that you mention it.” She shifted on her feet. “Did you just find out? Cassie told me that she didn’t talk to his father.”
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Yep. Found out a few days ago when I saw her for the first time in two years.”
“Talk about shock, huh?”
“Yes. Complete and total shock.” I didn’t want to dwell on the negative, so I gave her a smile and changed topics. “I’m glad that you two are close though, Cassie doesn’t have many good girlfriends.”
Holland scoffed. “In this town? Who does?”
Too true. I was about to head over and check the bar when a tall busty blonde caught my eye. She looked really familiar. “Holland.” I motioned to the girl carrying a tray of crystal rocks glasses filled with scotch. “How long has she been working here?”
“Who? Sarah? Oh, about three months. Why?”
Where the hell had I seen her before? Oh. That’s right. Scantily dressed and wrapped around my best friend. Dammit. “She’s fucking Brice.”
Holland started to laugh. “I wouldn’t worry about it, boss, she fucked Brice, past tense. Which means he’s now one hundred percent done with her.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How many members of my staff have slept with Brice?”
Holland snorted. “The number of how many haven’t would be smaller.”
I raised an irritated eyebrow. I didn’t find any of this funny.
She sobered. “One. Me. I have never and will never sleep with Brice Huntington.” She let out a rather annoyed sigh. “He’s the worst kind of player.”
“Good girl. Stay far away from Brice.” I put my hands on my hips, slipping comfortably into boss mode. “I want you to call a meeting. This isn’t a brothel and under no circumstances can an employee have relations with a member. Zero tolerance.”
Holland shifted on her feet, a tic she had when she was unsure about something. I’d learned it was her one and only tell in life. “Shouldn’t Cooper call that meeting?” Cooper, my general manager, was a buddy from business school, He’d been at the company since the beginning too; he now oversaw both the Fort Worth and the Dallas locations. I’d never had to worry about those clubs with him behind the wheel. But if he was letting members and staff mingle outside of Cueva, things were going to go south real quick.
My mind was made up in that instant. Seemed my perfect little Holland was the only person on the planet Brice couldn’t sweet-talk. “Nope. You’ve just been promoted. You are now the employee manager. You’ll keep the girls in both DFW area clubs in line. Sound okay?”
Holland looked up, her face full of shock. “We don’t have employee managers, Declan.”
I smiled. “We do now.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Do I get a raise?”
“Of course you do.”
“And a company car since I’ll be driving back and forth between here and our other location?” She put her hands on her hips.
“No car. But I’ll give you a gas card?”
“And a wardrobe allowance? I need to look like I have authority.”
I put my hand out to stop her. “Yes. But that’s it. No more demands until I see how well you do at your new job.” Although I knew she’d be great.
She held out her hand. “Deal.” After I shook it she added, “I won’t let you down, Dec.”
I chuckled. “Just keep Brice off my staff.”