Page 2 of Double or Nothing

“Fired?! But Jack suggested it… it was him who invited me back here.”

What a snake. The guy practically sprinted in here when I gave him the nod.

Eli keeps his arms folded, looking his latest recruit up and down.

“Let’s talk severance pay. Negotiate. Now.”

“Severance pay?”

“Just calm down, will you?” I say, but Eli silences me with a raise of his hand.

“Negotiate,” he says to Ricardo again.

Jesus, yeah, he’s fucking pissed, and Ricardo’s ass isn’t worth the aggro of an argument.

“Eli wants to know how much money it’ll take for you to resign on the spot and fuck off,” I explain.

Ricardo’s eyebrows rise. “I won’t say a word, honestly. Just let me go back to work. I won’t do it again, hand on heart.”

“Sure, right,” Eli says. “Cut the crap, Ricardo. Clock’s ticking. You’re losing cash every second you waste my time.”

“I dunno. Shit.” Ricardo runs his hands through his hair. “Five hundred? Is that too much?”

Too much?! I could laugh out loud, because the guy’s naïve. The last bartender I got caught pounding managed to get five grand in her bank account before Eli turfed her ass out of here.

“Three hundred,” Eli replies, and Ricardo doesn’t go for four, he just nods. His spine might as well be made of Play-Doh. Definitely a sub.

Eli takes the cash out of his wallet.

“Now fuck off, and don’t even think of asking for a reference.” He points my way. “Not from him, either. Do you understand? No further contact.”

“Ok, sure.”

He hovers as though I’m going to do something, but what the hell does he expect? A kiss on the cheek with a see you never, sweetie pie? Screw that, I just step aside to clear his path.

The door gives a thump as it closes behind him, and Eli’s poker face takes on some life as he jabs a finger at me.

“What did we say, Jack, huh? Are you trying to make a mockery of everything we worked for? Is this a fucking joke to you?”

I hate Eli’s self-righteous tone, even though he has every right to be. I shrug, which I know will only rile him up even more.

“Don’t speak to me like I’m a teenage dropout, partner. I know what we said. And I’m not making a mockery of anything, I’m just having fun.”

“You swore you’d stop with the bullshit.”

“This isn’t an alcoholics meeting! I wanted to fuck his throat, alright? He’d been giving me the eye since his shift started. My dick was hard.”

“AND HE WAS A FUCKING EMPLOYEE!”

Ace the Poker Face rarely raises his voice, he’s cold as ice, so I hold my hands up, accepting the verdict as he paces back and forth. “That’s four chunks of severance pay you’ve cost us this month. Four fucking members of recruited staff, Jack. FOUR! I’m done with your bullshit.”

His striking blue eyes are daggers, exaggerated by the darkness of his hair. Eli could be chiselled from stone and make the perfect sculpture, he’s so attractive, but he never takes advantage of his looks like I do.

“I’m sorry,” I offer, but he raises a finger.

“Don’t even try it. You’re already showing a tell.”

“A tell?! I’m telling the truth!”