The Mafia Lord and his Stripper

Arthur's POV

"He tried to smuggle in drugs. We caught him before he got the chance to plant the bombs," Beck said to his boss, steadying his hand on the pistol strapped to his waist. "I left him in the basement, will you be doing the torturing or I should get on with it?."

Xavier tightened his rope around his firm body, his chest exposed and Beck tried to pry his eyes away. Nobody could blame him, their boss was not an ordinary man.

Xavier leaned against the doorframe of his expensive multi dollar room. The place they were currently at wasn't his personal home but the building where his gang members stayed. Being a Mafia lord, he had to separate his personal life from what he did generally. He had reasons for it, reasons he didn't have to share with anybody.

"Mark under his eyes? The little white fucked up shit they always seem to draw on their gang member's face, they got them?."

Beck shook his head. "They don't. It's getting tougher to find the North gang. We're doing our best."

Xavier scoffed. "Clearly, your best isn't good enough and I'm impatient. Carry on with the torturing, give me informations when done, yeah?."

"Okay boss."

Xavier watched Beck, his smart right-hand man and assassin leave and he slammed the door shut. This is what bothers him, he's been searching for the members of the North gang for years, since he was eighteen and he's a grown man now, clocking twenty eight and he hasn't found them.

Xavier was the leader of the South gang, a firm believer of a lot of things. Calling him a dangerous man was an understatement, he enjoyed killing, he could say the same for any mafia boss out there. He's been tracking the North gang for so long, he wanted-hell, he needed to put a bullet in their head, every one of them.

Xavier was the leader of the South Mafia Gang. They called them the Hibiscus. Considering how tough, dangerous and skilled he was, people who knew about his gang wondered why he called them the Hibiscus. It was simple, a horrible past but a memorable one.

At age ten, a young Xavier decided to stay home because he preferred watching his mom play around with guns. He knew what his mother was, he knew how dangerous she was. She wasn't a typical housewife, she was ruling the South at the time. But then, young Xavier had gone up to his room to gather his own blanket made guns and he took longer than usual and when he came back downstairs, his mother was lying down in a pool of her own blood with the symbol of the hibiscus flower carved in her chest.

Every single day, the same image replays in Xavier's head. The way his mother's eyes were wide open, directionless, her blood gushing out from the bullet in her head. It haunted him everyday that he couldn't do anything about it, he knew the people who did it.

The North gang.

There's always been a beef between the South and North mafia gangs. The issue was that the North gang was not traceable. It showed Xavier just how powerful they were. They ruled the North with so much trepidation. Xavier could be a soft man but he would never act vulnerable or show his soft sides. Nobody knew Xavier's weaknesses and that was a good thing.

No weaknesses, no betrayals.

Xavier was on the list of most wanted men by literally everybody. The police wanted him, the CIA wanted him. Why did they want him though? Xavier's answer to that question was that he helped them kill people they couldn't even find. He didn't care nonetheless, he was just as untraceable as well. His gang members were even more dangerous. The females especially, he made sure these women were properly trained. There were only ten of them, the other hundreds were all men, dangerous well-trained men.

The females were undoubtedly smarter than all the men combined. They did their jobs flawlessly but one of them got killed off when she was offered chicken change to bring Xavier's head to a certain amateur gang. Till this day, it makes Xavier laugh. Trying to seduce him was the one thing he could never fall for. Considering the sort of job he did and the sort of people he worked with, everyone saw him as a target and he'd never let his guard down.

He has killed people, more than he can count and he doesn't regret one bit of it. He mostly kills people who deserve it but at the end of the day, it can come down to having to kill an innocent person to get answers. He still doesn't feel regrets about any of it. Dining and attending high ranking society events were a must when it came to being a mafia leader. He always has people surrounding him, ready to protect him.

Now, the one thing anybody would never do is try to slip their way through Xavier's walls and try to harm Xavier. People were scared shitless of him, he had a nickname.

Kanik means blood.

The nickname was perfect for Xavier considering he thirsted for blood all the time, a mafia vampire even though he wasn't technically a vampire. The people who called him Kanik always did before he sucked the life out of them, either by snapping their neck, putting a bullet in their favorite body parts, he always makes them choose. Cutting their tongue off, pulling their teeth off one by one and making them count. He was merciless and whatever slow, painful death he gave someone, he ranked it.

A full 100? Or a 50. Whatever one he was feeling. Xavier shrugged his rope off, stepping towards the walk in closer in his room butt naked and stared at himself in the mirror. The man chuckled at himself. "Need to work on my thighs more, my cock feels bigger or is it just me who thinks that?."

He strode to the other side of his closet and pulled the drawer open. He grabbed a pair of black boxers and put it on. To the other side of the room where his shirts were neatly hung, he grabbed a dark blue one. Throwing it on, he turned to the other side of the room and grabbed a pair of black pants. He was dressed immediately, his best friends Noah and Micheal were adamant about him leaving with them to a strip club tonight and if he said he was hyped up for it then he was capping.

He stared at himself in the mirror again as he tucked his shirt into his pants. Buttoning the shirt and leaving three buttons undone. The ink on his chest, a tattoo that means a lot to him that read, "Hibiscus" was well written and he loved how everyone got to see it whenever his chest was a little revealed. Everyone in his gang had the 'Hibiscus' inked on their bodies.

He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up. His right arm was fully inked, different tattoos that mean different things. Important things to him. Since it was a strip club, there was a chance that his competitors might know he'd be there so he had to go with tons of bodyguards. He grabbed a pair of white sneakers and left the closet to settle on his bed. Carefully, he put the sneakers on and grabbed his phone.It was almost midnight and his friends decided to pick him up instead of having his personal driver take him to the location.

Arthur's POV

Xavier owned a skyscraper, he basically bought a skyscraper and made all his gang members live there. It has up to a hundred floors and he lives in the penthouse. Every two members shared an apartment in the building. He wanted them to live comfortably while doing dirty walk. It wasn't isolated, the building was hard to find though since it was built in a less shady part of town like every other typical gang members stayed.

The incomplete buildings and stuff.

Xavier had other properties but nobody else had to know that. He was a walking billionaire, a humble one at that though.

Zeta strutted out to the garage and Xavier smiled at her. He only really smiled at a few people and she was one of them. Zeta spotted him leaning on one of his numerous cars, he has ten of them but oddly, he wanted to go with the Bentley he bought a week ago.

Zeta was in tight leather pants, a white tank top and a leather jacket over it. She had white boots on that boosted her 171m height. Her hair in a ponytail and her beautiful black skin made her even more radiant.

"There's my beautiful black queen. Zeta." Xavier said, taking her hand and twirling her.

"Looking good, boss. Out here looking like a good guy when we all know you're definitely not one."

Xavier chuckled and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "The outfit kinda gives you away, don't you think?."

Zeta clicked her tongue in a mocking way. "Ah, does it certainly give off that I'm a member of the Hibiscus and I love chopping fingers off and oh? I'm also as good as handling men the way I handle guns?"

Beck rolled his eyes at them. "Boss, Noah said he won't be able to pick you up any more, want me to drive? Or would you rather drive, Zeta?"

Zeta glared at him and flashed her gun tucked in her waist. "No strength for banter with you tonight, I'll just blow your brains out. You drive." Xavier watched the two of them with a little fondness in his eyes before it disappeared.

"Noah tell you why he ain't coming to get me?."

"Nah, basically said he got caught up with something but he dm'd me the address of the place." Beck responded, his hands fumbling with the car keys and he pulled the door open for Xavier to slide in, ignoring Zeta who thought he'd do the same.

"Asshole"

Beck snorted and climbed into the driver's seat while Zeta took the passenger seat.

"The strip club, the crowded type?."

"Nah. But I heard it's popular with wealthy ass folks. They always come with either their wives, who they're fucking or their baby mamas. It's not far off from here, less than twenty minutes and we're there." Xavier nodded and slid down on the back seat to get more comfortable.

"Boss, the tattoo dude wants to know when he's gonna show up and get us inked." Zeta turned around to ask.

"Ah, he can show up tomorrow. The new guys need to get "Hibiscus" tattooed on them real fast so they know they belong to my organization."

"Got it."

Zeta got out of the car first on arrival in front of the building of the strip club. Nobody would be able to tell it was a strip club from how the architects that handled the building made it look. Zeta scoffed at the parking space, it was filled up.

"Not a crowded place huh? There's basically more than twenty cars here and ain't no way nobody didn't come with plus ones," Zeta said to Beck who ignored her and got out of her car while Xavier remained instead, running his fingers over the butterfly tattoo at the back of his neck. "Gonna call Noah to come get us or what?"

Beck pulled his phone out, glaring at Zeta as he phoned Noah and the man picked up almost immediately. "We're out here, come get us."

Beck hung up and turned to Zeta. "Flirting with boss won't get you a bonus." Zeta scoffed and pushed her hands in the pocket of her leather pants. "That's very hypocritical coming from you. Everyone knows you want him to fuck you. Just ask, he might just do it."

Beck didn't seem fazed by the way she phrased it, she wasn't lying anyways. "He's straight and I can't get into his pants."

"We're out here talking about Xavier when he's in there, playing with his neck tattoo."

As if on cue, Beck turned to look into the car and his eyes met Xavier's. He turned away almost immediately like a kid caught peeping on candy he was told not to take. Beck sighed, contemplating on lighting a cigarette or forgetting it. He went with the latter. "Can you blame me though? He's irresistible and I'm sure he knows I want him. That's the thing with most straight men, they know at some point that they have power over us, the bisexual ones that's thirsting over them."

Zeta nudged him with her shoulder. "Boss, ever tell you he didn't swing both ways? Ask him then. And y'all will be cute as hell, the height difference is already adorable."

"Don't say the word adorable and I'm not exactly proud of my 170m height when he's 182m. I just think I need him to fuck me so I can get it out of my system."

"Never seen another man aching so much to crack on with his boss, a mafia leader that has killed probably a thousand people. I think you should tell him. I'm looking to take a girl home tonight."

"Boss doesn't permit outsiders in the building the gang members live in."

"I know that. I have a place I take my little one-night stands. I wanted to ask, the dude you caught today, where did he come from?."

Beck finally lit a cigarette and took a long drag out of it. "He tried to smuggle in drugs and I think he was purposely sent to us."

"Thrown out like a rat, yeah? He got a chip in him? They always do."

"Yeah, back of his neck and a ring on. He's probably from a smaller gang that nobody knows about yet."

"They're bold trying to get Xavier. They don't call that man Kanik for no reason. I freak the hell out when he's torturing people for answers."

Beck smiled, light and feathery. "I think it's hot. Whatever he does is just really sexy. I probably sound like a kid but I'd feel fucked up if he cracks on with someone else that isn't me."

Zeta punched his arm lightly. "This is why having feelings for people could ruin us. What we do is dangerous and if you let those feelings overshadow your sense of thinking, you might let your guard down and there, you end up with a bullet in your crotch or something."

"Don't be gross. Xavier has a soft side and I don't know if I'm tripping but he acts soft with me."

"That's not a surprise. He doesn't exactly have any weaknesses that I know of and that's a good thing. You're his right-hand man and a heartless assassin and he definitely is fond of you, you can use that to your advantage. Besides, it's fun to see the heartless Beck get all shy and flustered when he's standing near the boss or talking on the phone with him."

Beck chuckled and just in time, Noah walked out of a back door to the building. "Took you long enough." Zeta muttered and pulled the door open for Xavier and the man stepped out, combing his hair back and Zeta turned to Beck to see him gawking at their boss.

"Xavier."

"Noah."

Both men hugged, quick and Noah led them through the back door of the building. Once they're in, a bright light comes in along a hallway and Noah leads them further into the building then another bigger room that has neon lights everywhere. The music wasn't too loud and Noah led Xavier to an area with a few folks seated. The VIP room. It was perfect, the perfect place to get the perfect view of the club. There were strippers dancing around the pole, most of them topless.

Zeta and Beck stood a few feet away, very on guard behind Xavier and declined whatever Noah said to them concerning drink choices. They were here to work and not get themselves drunk.

"Ignore the crowd tonight, one of the most anticipated performances is happening tonight."

Xavier turned to his best friend, completely bored of the place. "Where's Micheal?"

"He said he had something to handle, he's on his way though."

Xavier nodded and leaned forward, his elbows resting on each of his knees and he rested his chin on his hand, looking around the room, smirking to himself when he caught some people's eyes on him. He could hear the whispering, the little questions flying around, asking if that was the leader of the mafia gang Hibiscus, asking if that was Kanik.

"What's the thing you were saying about some anticipated performance?."

Noah shifted on his seat and set his glass of whiskey on the little table beside him. "Get this, this girl is said to be the most gorgeous female out here in the club. She's a great seducer as I've heard, she dances really well and everyone is hyped to see her tonight. She only comes in once a week and that's why I wanted you to be here today. I don't know what she looks like but according to the folks around her, you'd be able to tell her apart from the other strippers from her presence."

Xavier scoffed. "That's one hell of a gossip."

"The club is crowded because everyone is here to see her and these men here are all wealthy bastards, willing to throw money at her, hoping to get a one-on-one meeting with her but I heard she doesn't do sexual favors no matter the amount."

Xavier smiled. "They ain't speaking the amount she wants to hear then."

Noah laughed, gulping the rest of his drink down. "I agree with you, think you can take her home tonight?"

"I didn't come here for that and I certainly don't think every man should have misconceptions about strippers. They might dance naked for y'all but that ain't mean they sleep around for money too. Most of them might but generalizing it is fucked up."

"Typical Xavier, considerate dick. I hope she lives up to the hype, I'm eager to see her too. Heard she's really gorgeous."

Xavier won't lie, he wanted to see her too. The few descriptions Noah had given him perked his interest, it intrigued him and he wanted to see what this woman was all about.

Arthur's POV

Zeta searched around the room and her eyes stopped on a blonde girl, twirling around the pole so easily. Their eyes met and she winked at the girl who in return, flashed her a toothy smile. "She's fine as hell and I want to be the one who takes her thongs off. Damn."

Beck rolled his eyes and focused on Xavier. He still looked bored of the scenarios in front of him. "Look at him, just sitting there with his chest out."

Zeta wanted to gag. "The way you're always so different whenever you're around him makes me wonder if you're really the same person that tortures people half to death in the torture room."

"Shut up," Beck chuckled. "I just don't want him to always see me as his right-hand man, the best assassin he has and a tough guy, I also want him to see this soft side of me."

"You're showing him that but lil advice from me? Don't get too attached and don't let those dumb feelings hurt you at the end of the day. You know Xavier, he treats everyone in our gang so well and maybe you're not even the only one who has feelings for him. I'm sure he can tell you feel some type of way for him but this same man is a murderer, we all are. We've done horrible shit, dangerous things, things humans that aren't us will see and label us horrible beings. Xavier doesn't have time for relationships and feelings. We both know this and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Beck smiled sadly, his eyes still locked on Xavier who's chatting with Noah. "I understand what you're saying and I don't plan on doing anything about these feelings. I'm okay with just watching him from afar but then he does these things to me. Who knew feelings could give someone so much stress?."

Zeta chuckled. "It's funnier because it's you. Beck, you're never stressed about anything but here you are and it's cute. I respect Xavier so much because you know my story, he did so much for me, a teenage black girl he barely knew."

Beck turned to Zeta to pat her back. "That was a pretty rough year for you."

"It was but he was there for me, he didn't care that tons of people were after me, he took me in and I don't think I'd be this courageous if Xavier never considered taking me in."

Zeta was only nineteen when Xavier found her. At the time, Xavier was twenty-two years old and he was on his way to secure a suitcase filled with gold. It was a tough operation because their opponents were as skilled as them, they weren't an amateur gang. The operation was successful, he took their leader hostage and sent Beck and some of his other members home to figure some shit out. He remained with few other guys and searched the building. He discovered a secret door at the far end of a dark hallway, with the help of a torchlight he always carried around, he went towards the secret door and luckily, it was open.

Immediately he got in, he found a girl, shivering in fear. Zeta.

She was naked, chained to the bed frame and she was cold as well. Her black doe eyes looked around in fear and she tried to shrink herself and appear smaller while Xavier approached her. She was to be sold to the West mafia gang the next day before Xavier infiltrated the minor gang. Zeta already had been through a lot after escaping the West gang who tried to turn her into a sex slave but when that didn't work out, they tried to harvest her organs but she had managed to escape. Her freedom didn't last long because she got caught by another gang and chained. The West gang promised to give them a shit ton of money if they sold Zeta to them.

Xavier tried to be composed, he first covered Zeta up and proceeded to ask her questions. She could barely answer them, she wasn't in her stable mind. Xavier looked at the chains, they were already bruising her wrist and his finger combed through her hair, gently massaging her scalp as he shot the chains and they broke. Zeta remained calm at all times, because Xavier was being gentle. Xavier appreciated that she was calm and she listened so well. It was easier for Xavier because rescuing a damsel in distress was less fun when the distress was embodied by a brat.

Xavier took Zeta back to his home, ignoring his own rules that outsiders weren't allowed in the same building his gang members stayed but he wanted to keep Zeta closer. He trained Zeta for six years and she turned out the slickest female in his gang. Those pretty doe eyes turned into siren eyes. Even the other females were scared to go at her, the men either wanted to try and get her in bed or just avoid being beat half to death by her. She was fierce, the things she went through while she was younger played a huge role in how she ended up. Xavier loved her more than anything but he won't tell her that.

Micheal finally arrived, the brown haired 6ft man exchanged greetings with both his friends and settled down on the empty chair beside Noah. Xavier gave him a look, he looked disheveled, disorganized, disoriented and out of place. Xavier kept his eyes on Micheal for a minute before looking away.

"When will this end?"

"You just got her Xavier, the most anticipated performance is starting soon, grab yourself a drink." Noah told him, pouring himself another glass of whiskey while Micheal settled for a glass of vodka. Xavier stared at his phone for a minute then got up, walking towards where Zeta and Beck stood.

"You can drink if you want, you must'nt stand guard all night. Have fun as well."

"We're here to work, boss and why does Micheal look like he ran a marathon?."

Xavier turned to his friend and their eyes met, Micheal looked away. "There's something wrong about the way he looks, how many guns did you come with?." The question was directed at Beck.

The smaller man raised his shirt up, two guns were strapped on his waist. Xavier smiled. "Good boy." Xavier made his way back to his chair, sliding down on it like he usually does and let his legs fall open.

The lights dimmed and a voice ran through the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the most anticipated performance starts now. Please welcome Lady N."

'Naturally, beauty is a very desirable attribute for the human race. When the beauty is refined and flawless, it's a rarity, but when the outer beauty is combined with inner beauty, it's a treasure.'

The strip club went silent and there came that sound....the sound of heels clicking on the floor. The cottons fell open and the lights hit this woman, the spotlight fell on her. She's in a translucent white robe. As she walked, the lights followed her. The club remained silent as she took a few more steps closer to the stage where she'll perform. Another step and her robe fell down to her feet.

The club erupted in gasps. This woman stepped away from her robe, the lights continued to follow her, revealing her beautiful shimmering five piece rhinestone bikini top, G-string garter skirt gloves and stockings. Combined with a 6.5 inch Stiletto open toe pump heel. She was gorgeous, seductive, the strong sex appeal she was oozing just by walking struck the crowd. She was dazzling. She had ginger hair, straightened down to her waist, enchanting ocean eyes and pretty plump lips painted a striking red. She didn't smile but her aura was something out of the ordinary, she scanned the crowd carefully with intense gaze, as if keeping prying eyes on her preys and she was the predator.

Her eyes continued to scan the crowd as she walked and it stopped on a man in a dark blue shirt, leaned forward with his hands clamped together. He was looking at her, completely mesmerized.The woman smiled at him and looked away. One of her hands went around the pole and she twirled around it for a minute and the neon lights came back on and just a moment later, a slow familiar song started playing.

[Pillowtalk by Zayn Malik]

The crowd kept their eyes on this woman as she started swaying her hips gently, matching the rhythm of the song. Xavier watched with complete interest. She wasn't just a stripper, there was something different about her, different from the other dancers. Her acrobatic pole dancing was art, not just a sensual show. She danced around the pole with strength and elegance. It was intense and unique, the way she would lift herself up and only let her legs hang around the pole, swaying on it and her body would fall back and she'd keep her eyes on the crowd as she twirled around the pole.

She got down from the pole, ran her delicate hands over her body, and as if on command, her body seemed to follow the movements of her hand, like she was controlling her body. It was incredibly seductive. She walked around the pole and she finally smiled around the crowd, her hands resting on the upper side of the pole and she slid down, doing a perfect split and with her hands still around the pole, she lifted herself up and moved on the pole. She moved like a python, like her body had no single bones.

She was an embodiment of seduction.

This woman glanced at the same man in a dark blue shirt, their eyes met again and she felt something. Something she doesn't feel often. Xavier kept his eyes on the woman, not willing to break eye contact and he felt something. The woman was no doubt fierce, sassy, a great seducer, who like a puppeteer pulled the strings and attached everyone's attention to herself. Xavier stared down her body, she must've noticed because she winked at him. One of her hands moved in front of her, as if gesturing towards Xavier and she ran that same hand all the way from her neck, slowly, sexily and all the way down to her waist and then she made her waist follow the movements of her hand. She did all these without breaking eye contact with Xavier.

Xavier took a deep breath. There was something about this woman, she wasn't an ordinary person. It finally made sense to Xavier why so many people blew a huge amount of money just to watch her perform. Xavier didn't for a minute look away from her, he felt trapped by her beauty, her aura, every single thing about her. She had a beautiful womanly figure. A tiny waist and beautiful curved hips, whenever she turned to let the crowd get a glimpse of her ass, it made Xavier smirk. She trapped men who didn't think they could easily be swayed by a mere exotic dancer's move.

The song came to an end and she ended it with an impossible pose, she really did dance like she had no bones. It took a while for the crowd to realize it was all over, everyone seemed to be drooling. The room remained silent until she picked up her rope, put it back on but she turned and gave Xavier one last look before walking away, the sound of her heels clicking on the floor resounding in the room one more time.

Immediately she was out of sight, it's like whatever power she had over the crowd completely vanished, like their puppeteer finally loosened the strings she had on them and cheers erupted even when they couldn't see her anymore. Xavier sat there, pondering about the woman. They made way too much eye contact and he believes she felt exactly what he felt, a strong connection. The strong connection he felt towards her was unmatched, nothing similar to whenever he sees a new gun he fancies.

There was just something unexplainable about what he was feeling, something unique about the way they never stopped looking at each other.