Page 73 of Cold Hard Cash

“Raspberry vodka, orange vodka, sweet and sour mix, blue curaçao.” Rowena rattled off the ingredients with a giggle. “But I sort of fucked up the portions, so it’s mostly a shit ton of raspberry vodka.”

Trying to stomach the sweet concoction, Jimmy took a few more sips. Rowena had already finished hers and was pouring another.

“Come on,” she said with a clap of her hands. “It’s dress-up time!” She marched straight to his closet, and Jimmy didn’t even try to stop her. He did follow her though, grinning as she picked out slim black jeans, a white dress shirt, and a red blazer. She pawed through his drawers, pulling out black suspenders and a red bow tie to match the jacket.

Jimmy couldn’t deny Rowena had a fun sense of fashion, and he was more than happy to let her pick out his clothing.

“Wear your sneakers again.” She pointed at his feet. “And, oh! Where’s that ring? That pretty ruby one?”

“Huh? From my mom?”

Rowena searched until she found the jewelry box. She hummed as she picked it out from amongst the other jewelry. “Yes. This one. You should totally wear it! It’s fuckin’ gorgeous. Red is definitely your color.”

Jimmy took the ring to try on his fingers. It fit pretty well on his right ring finger. It was beautiful, although he wished it was clean. “Maybe. I mean, I just got all that stuff back. I don’t want to lose it.”

“You won’t lose it,” Rowena assured him. “Now, hurry up and get dressed!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jimmy said obediently, laughing as Rowena skipped away to give him some privacy to get ready. When he stepped out of his bedroom, she pounced to make some adjustments and fix his hair.

She also made sure Jimmy finished his drink before they left, and when they got in the limo, she had Jerry take them out to eat first. Rowena insisted on paying for their food, ordered more drinks, and by the time they arrived at the club, Jimmy was quite tipsy.

As they walked up to the door, Jimmy gawked at the line of people waiting to get in. Rowena took Jimmy’s arm and bypassed the crowd, smiled at the bouncer, and he opened the door to let them through.

“Have a fun evening, Miss Legrand!” he said politely.

“Thanks, babe!” Rowena blew the bouncer a kiss as she dragged Jimmy inside with her. “Come on, Jimmy! Let’s fuckin’ boogie!”

Rain was the name of the club, a massive two-story building with a dance floor on each level and four bars in total. It was loud, noisy, and surprisingly full for early evening on a Sunday. Rowena held Jimmy’s hand and wove through the sea of patrons to the dance floor as infectious techno music thundered through the speakers.

Rowena was a fantastic dancer, moving flawlessly even in her tall heels. She grinded her body down to the floor and popped effortlessly back up with a smooth curl of her hips, rocking to the music without ever missing a beat.

Jimmy wasn’t too bad on his feet, loose enough from the booze to let himself go and relax. He threw his hands up and twirled around, enjoying the thrum of the bass pounding beneath his sneakers.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been out dancing, and he laughed when Rowena grabbed his hands and gave him a spin. They had both managed to dance off their buzz after several songs and sensing sobriety approaching like an alcoholic superhero, Rowena led Jimmy off the floor and to the closest bar.

“The usual, Miss Legrand?” the bartender asked as they sat down.

“Please!” Rowena waved at Jimmy. “And whatever he wants.”

“Um, appletini?” Jimmy asked politely, grinning when Rowena gave him a thumbs-up.

“Having fun?”

“Yes! I’m having a blast!” Jimmy said, surprised as their drinks appeared almost instantly in front of them.

“Here you are, Miss Legrand,” the bartender said. “Please let me know if you need anything else.”

Jimmy’s appletini packed quite a punch, and Rowena’s margarita reeked of tequila. He noticed no money had been exchanged, and Rowena shimmied her shoulders as she sipped her drink.

“Okay, you’ve gotta tell me.” Jimmy laughed. “Does everybody here know who you are?”

“Whose club do you think this is? It belongs to the Gentlemen, sweetie.”

“Really?” Jimmy cackled.

He should have known.

“Yeah.” Rowena winked. “Stick with me. I’ll show you just how good it is to be gangster royalty.”