Chapter 2 IN SECRET

About three hours after sundown, Christina had already gotten herself dressed up pretty well for another round of working late as usual. She had doubly done her best to make sure she closed the restaurant before sunset to retire early to keep her son company at home which was situated a mile eastward from the beachside and Elettra had followed her to spend the night in her abode like she often does for three years now ever since Christina started having issues parenting Aldo who wasn't fond of her night absence due to her job though her son knew the reason why she had to do work hard.

Unlike the outfit she wore the entire day at the restaurant particularly the outfit she wore to pick her son from school after her brief discussion with Elettra, she only had to put on a skimpy red blouse with a proper hairdo as well as knee high boots and colorful makeup after arriving early at a night club a quarter mile west away from her own neighborhood.

Compared to the streets outside the club, inside the nightclub was frenzy as usual and it was one of those classic frantic nights Christina had to entertain the guests with the nude outfit she wore to please the fantasies of those who watched her perform along with three other stripers under the flashy disco lights which kept roaming around in the fairly dark background of the club. Though darkness and the nonstop beats of rock music rolling in the background was highly prominent inside the club, the attention of the guests were partly focused on the four stripers keeping to their dance routines parallel to the rhythm of the rock beats that was being played by the disc jockey.

A couple of nights she had performed with a mask on her face inside the same club which often masked her identity away from those who knew her particularly the few customers who often stops by her beach café but she had to comply with the instructions to please the guest without a mask on and she was left with no choice than to obey even though her strip dancing might smear her day reputation.

With sheer agility, Christina spun her bare legs thrice in mid air and wrapped herself around the steel pole that helped kept her half-naked body balance on the podium. Then she brought it and twirl thrice around the steel bar and so did the three other stripers. The faces staring at her and the bright lights seemed to spin around her as she spun her body in a circular motion that lasted for five minutes. She did so with her body upside down with her head almost touching the tip of the podium and she was careful enough to keep her body steady so as not to throw herself of balance. It didn't come as surprise to Christina that her panties were clearly exposed during her spin in front of every guest in the hall since she had gotten used to displaying sensitive parts of her body to the eyes of men wishing to have a good time in the club.

She was sure the four men sitting at the dining table close to the podium was staring hungrily with wild ecstasy at her exposed robust body with the same lustful intentions she first noticed in the eyes of the enthralled spectators when she started her night job as a striper two years ago. Like other nights during her performance, part of her kept hoping to witness the end of her dance routine which would seem gruesomely repugnant in the perspective of those who had earlier seen her at her café innocently serving the guest coffee and pizzazz with Elettra.

Apart from the main hall which was usually crowded with bodies occupying every inch of the small club, there was the VIP lounge reserved only for the club owner and any private guest he deemed very important enough to discuss private matters with him and it was not until over half an hour into Christina's dancing routine in the midst of the crowd alongside her three cohorts that the owner of the club left with two visitors, taking them out of the midst of noisy crowd to the VIP lounge which was separated from the main hall. As they followed behind the club owner to his private quarters, one of the handsome looking visitors peered at the stripers performing near the brightly lit platform where the disc jockey was standing while entertaining the crowd with his music. An ungodly sight of a man climbing the podium to dance with one of the stripers had caught his attention and he was about stopping to catch a full glance at what was happening when his second partner suddenly noticed that he was lagging behind. His partner and close friend quickly turned around and saw him standing aloof from the door which led to the VIP lounge looking at the crowd.

His friend approached him and said, "Come on, what's the deal, Edward? Is something wrong, mate?"

"No... Not at all." Edward replied and wrapped his hands around his friend's neck. Then they both head into the VIP lounge with both men smiling at each other's faces. The club owner was already seated on one of the black sofas waiting for them to arrive when they entered the lounge. Edward quietly found his way to the sofa facing adjacent to the entrance while his friend sat next to him.

"As it is quiet over here, let's talk business." The club owner spoke, crossing his legs.

"Lucio, as I mentioned before, we require a cruise ship."

"You mean my cruise ship?" With a cynical tone, Lucio asked.

"Exactly," Edward boldly retorted, looking squarely at Lucio who was unfazed by his stare. Right in front of Edward and his good-looking friend, Stuart, Lucio briefly took out a cigarette as well as lighter and lit it. Then he drew air from it, inhaling the smoke into his lungs and exhaled.

"Now, coming from the son of a wealthy man I once served, those words sound absurd."

"My dad isn't concerned with this."

"In actuality, it does. You expect me to listen to you when his money is being used for the Talent show"

"It's not a talent show."

"Sounds like it to me." Lucio retorted and exhaled out a huge amount of smoke into the air through his mouths.

"I brought Stuart to negotiate because I knew you would be obstinate about this."

"Would you like to bargain with me? Edward, isn't that diplomatic? However, it doesn't work on me.

Stuart intervened.

"It's really up to us to convince you."

"Then tell me what you would like to offer." Taking a final breath from the cigar, Lucio stated.

"I bet three million Euros might change your mind." Edward said, before Stuart could interrupt him once again. Lucio stopped smoking briefly and fixed his gaze on Edward.

"You must be joking."

"No, I am not. You can have the cash transferred to your account right now if you wish as long as you only agree to lend me the control of your cruise ship."

"You're bluffing. That sum of money isn't that easy to come by."

"It is for you if only you would agree to our demand."

It was Stuart who spoke out this time around and Lucio was left bereft of words. Lucio paused pondering on the offer he had just received from the two men particularly Edward who told him the offer price first. He was in no doubt sure that the men had the money with them and he was never sceptic that Edward would make such an outlandish offer without blinking twice about it due to his affluent family background. For a moment, he was already tempted to accept the offer and he knew he had no choice than to accept to get free money considering the fact that he was quite in a lot of debt and pocketing any money that come his way was a sure of way of him getting to repay his debts.

"Fine. Let's say I agree to your offer, what exactly do you plan on doing with it?" Lucio asked curiously since he felt Edward must have something up his sleeves that he must be hiding from his father.

"What want to do with it dosen't concern you but all you have to know is that my father isn't aware that I am currently in Milan right now and the last thing we would want is for him to find out about our deal." Edward explained resting his back comfortably on the couch.

"Alright, you have my word he won't get to know about our negotiation."

"Then we have deal." Edward said and stood up to leave. Lucio and Stuart were greatly astonished that he rose up to leave when they had barely started.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Yep, there's nothing much for me to do here."

"Yes, there is. You can drink and have fun." Lucio advised.

"Thanks for your advice but I'll pass. When can you give us the ship?" Edward inquired.

"Trust me. You'll be getting it in two days but that's if...." Lucio said and winked his left eye at Edward.

"Don't worry about the money. Stuart here would handle that for you."

"Alright, I guess we're done here." Lucio said taking one last draw from the cigarette and left the lounge first before Edward could.