Just what the Mafia Princess ordered

Chapter 3 - Something just like this

Sienna's POV

My first full day in Myrtle Beach had been absolute heaven. I felt all the nerves and stress from finals and graduation wash away as we soaked up all the sun, surf and sand we could handle together with alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol. I had to be a little bit careful in the sun due to inheriting my mother's more delicate skin instead of my father's olive complexion, but as long as I was diligent in my sunscreen application, I wouldn't end up burning like a lobster and, hopefully, by the end of summer I might have a bit of a tan.

When evening came, it was time to hit the town. The girls had done recon last night and worked out the places to go and the ones to avoid. Apparently, tonight we were headed to the busiest bar in town. They were having an open mic night, so we would get some good music or mocking material. It was hard to get excited about going to a bar in a small town when you've spent your adult years going to some of the best clubs in the world.

My Uncle Max built his empire, starting with his club Inferno chain. Even in this economy where most businesses crumbled in a few years, his chain of clubs was still going strong over twenty-five years after the initial one opened. They were thriving so much that there was one in most of the major cities in the country and a few international ones. You couldn't compare his clubs to the bar we were heading to. It was like apples and oranges, but my friends wanted to go out and drink, so we were going.

I spent a few hours in my room getting ready. The boys had it easy, a quick shower, a shave if they were so inclined and throwing on the first thing they found, and they were good to go. Girls, on the other hand, had a bit more prep work to do. There were many more areas to shave, skin to moisturize with my favorite jasmine-scented lotion, hair to straighten and make-up to apply perfectly, so it looked like I was wearing no makeup.

The wardrobe I brought wasn't conducive to a small-town bar, but honestly, I didn't care. I loved the way my body looked, and I loved to wear clothes that showed it off. After much debating, I settled on a show-stopper outfit. I paired my favorite pair of silver stilettos with a high-waisted red mini skirt and a red crop with a plunging neckline and cape, full-length sleeves. My outfit was enough of a statement that I didn't feel the need to detract from it with any jewellery. I was touching up my lipstick when I heard my phone ringing from its spot on the bed where I had discarded it earlier.

Once I reached it, I smiled, seeing a picture of me and my brother flashing across the screen as he tried to video chat me. My brother and I were close growing up. We had our moments when we were younger, and sometimes I wanted to kill him, especially when I became interested in boys. It was okay for him to sleep around, but when it came to me, I was supposed to be a virgin until I was married. That ship sailed just after my seventeenth birthday, much to his and my father's disgust. But other than that, we were very close. We told each other everything.

I swiped the screen to answer the call. "You couldn't even let me get one day into my trip before bothering me, could you, bro?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "Just checking in. What sort of brother would I be if I didn't?"

"A less annoying one." I teased, poking my tongue out at him. Tommy's eyes narrowed, a frown forming on his face as he stared at me. "What? Do I have something on my face or lipstick on my teeth?"

"No." He replied, "What's going on with your outfit? Or lack of it. I think you're missing a bit of material around the middle, across the chest, and I can't see your legs, but I'm betting they aren't covered either."

It was my turn to roll my eyes at him, "Thanks, Dad, but I'm happy with how it looks."

Ever since he took over from my father as the head of our family, he had taken over as the pain in my ass. After my parents took a long-deserved vacation in Europe, they moved out of our family home and to the beach house in the Hamptons to enjoy their retirement. As I was away at school, I didn't mind that Thomas moved back into the family home. In all honesty, it was rightfully his as the new head of the family, but it didn't stop me from crashing in my old room when I was home to visit. Now that he was passing judgement on my clothes and sounding more and more like my dad every day, I was starting to think I would have to start looking for my own place when I headed back there for good.

"Don't dad me." He chastised me, "I'm just looking out for my little sister. There are some dangerous guys out there."

"Not as dangerous as me," I countered.

It seemed Tommy forgot I had the same training as him when I was home. I was more lethal than many of the men who worked for our family. I could assemble and disassemble any gun blindfolded, my knife skills were on par with his, and I could drop most of my sparring partners in hand-to-hand combat, regardless of their size. I pitied any person who ever tried to mess with me.

He sighed in defeat, "Point taken. I have to go. Lettie's waiting for me."

I smiled at the mention of her name, "Tell her we will go shopping when I get back and have a girls' day."

"I will tell her no such thing." He answered, "My credit card still hasn't recovered from the last girls' day the two of you had."

I glanced towards my door as I heard Darcy call my name, "Got to go, love you, bro."

"Love you too, sis, remember always take protection," Tommy replied with a wink.

I was grateful he reminded me because I had not thought about that. I called out to Darcy and told her I would be down in a few minutes before pulling out my carry-on case from where I had stored it under my bed. When I flipped open the case, it appeared empty, but my bag had been specially made, and there was more to it than met the eye. I ran my fingers along the seam of the bottom of the case until I felt the opening. Pulling it up, it opened the false bottom where I hid anything I didn't want the airline to see.

Normally, I didn't need to go to this extreme as the private airports we normally used were paid a premium to look the other way, but flying commercial didn't afford me those same luxuries. Thankfully, the lead-lined section of this bag made it possible to hide one of my guns, spare ammo and my favorite knives. My brother would never suggest I carry condoms. He never wanted to think that his little sister was actually having s*x, but he had other forms of protection in mind. My weapon collection back home was a lot more extensive. However, I felt it was a little overkill for a small town, but I knew my father would pitch a fit if I went anywhere without any weapons.

I grabbed out my Baretta Nano, which was the perfect size to hide in my purse. Normally I would prefer to use my thigh holster, but I was hoping to have some fun this trip, and a guy finding a gun when he was sliding his hand up your thigh was a bit of a mood killer.

I knew I was right as soon as we walked into the bar the girls had chosen. We were all overdressed, me especially, but at the end of the day, we were there to have fun, and that's exactly what we did. The music wasn't half bad, especially when the house band jumped in and joined some of the acts worthy of their help. On the flip side, some of the other acts were downright terrible and not even the alcohol we were drinking was enough to drown out the nail on a chalkboard sound that they called music. Our group had been approached numerous times during the night. Darcy and Johanna had found several dance partners throughout the night, but Amelia shied away from any guys that tried to get her attention. Me, on the other hand? I was getting plenty of attention too, but none of the guys that approached me were of any interest to me. I'm unsure what I was looking for, but I was sure none of them had it.

I didn't hear the name of the next person that was called, but boy, did he make an impression when he hit the stage? He was at least 6'4, with blonde hair that was short on the sides and long on the top, and slicked back. My heart sped up as he slung the strap for the guitar over his neck and shoulder because as soon as he was done, his piercing eyes hit, and it was like time stood still for a minute. I was a little fair back, so I couldn’t be sure, but I could have sworn that his eyes were different colors. His shirt was tight across his shoulders, and you could tell underneath all that material that he had a muscular build, and his jeans were so well tailored that they showed off his sculptured ass. All the other men in this place paled in comparison to him.

He was good-looking, and he had musical taste and talent to match. I instantly recognized his song choice when his fingers started plucking the guitar strings. It was one of my favorites, a song by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay called Something Just Like This. The handsome stranger played on his own for the first verse, just him and his acoustic guitar, and then the house band joined in and kicked it up a notch. But no matter how they all sounded together, I couldn't get past the man doing the singing. There was something about him. He was confident, had a slight edge, was mysterious, and had a total bad-boy vibe. He looked like the kind of guy I could get lost in for the summer. But before I could think about him anymore, Darcy came over and dragged Amelia and me to the dancefloor to dance, and I couldn't help but get lost in the music.

When the song was over, and the applause had died down, the mystery man disappeared into the crowd, and I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed to lose sight of him, but I headed to the bar to drown my disappointment in alcohol. The night was young. Maybe I would find him later in the night to say hello.

The joys of being an attractive girl meant that I didn't have to wait long to get served. I caught the bartender's eye, and he started to head over to me, ignoring the pleas of other customers on the way.

"Think you could order me a whiskey when you order your drink?" A smooth voice called behind me, "You seem to have better luck getting served. I would be happy to pay for your drink for your trouble."

I looked behind me and saw the mystery man smiling, showing off his pearly whites. A little part of me inside was as giddy as a schoolgirl at the thought that he was seeking me out, but I stayed cool and collected as I ordered both of our drinks. I was right, too. From this distance, I could see that one of his eyes was blue, almost grey, and the other was brown.

"It's on me," I advised as I handed him his glass, "the least I can do for the entertainment. You were good up there."

His fingers brushed mine as he took his drink, "I'm AJ."

"CiCi," I replied before taking a sip of my drink. Suddenly, I was really glad I came out. I really needed something just like this tonight.