02

“Just enough to get him off, I've already spoken to Rocky and I'm paying you by the minute.”

By the minute? Rocky, that cheap rat!

“Make it by the second,” Devon urges. “He won't let her touch him, she'll get two seconds if she's lucky.”

“Which one of your buddies am I entertaining?” I ask, trying to peak into the tent.

“Come with me.” Devon leads me inside, touching my hand like we're acquainted.

I notice a total of four men inside, two of them already preoccupied with three strippers.

“Him.” The man whose name I didn't ask points to a man nursing a glass of what I only assume is our finest scotch. “Remember, he must have fun.”

“Got it.” I flash him a smile, walking up to the man whose attention is on his phone.

He's probably divorced or recently widowed, or maybe in the closet because what man comes to a strip club and sits on his phone?

I stop profiling him and pausing in front of him but before I can say a word, he groans. “Not interested.”

I wince at how rough his words sound, and when I turn to his friends, they give me thumbs up.

“That's not fair, you didn't even look at me,” I whine, snatching his phone. “One must look before they decide not to play with me.” I pout when he looks at me, his grey empty eyes staring widely at me. “I can be so much fun.”

ADRIAN

Four years ago, I died and nobody noticed. Of course, it wasn't me in that casket so that might be the reason why.

My wife, Tatiana left home for a girl's trip and never returned. We fought, a fight I so badly want to take back because she wouldn't have gotten on that plane had I not been an asshole to her. I not only lost my Farfalla but a huge part of myself.

I'm staring at her pictures like I do every day when a pair of long legs in strapped heels stop in front of me. I look up, and she's blocking my view from the light making my phone's brightness dim.

The stripper in front of me smells like flowers, the exact opposite of what my wife smells like. When she snatches my phone out of my hand, I'm ready to leave this place but once I get a glimpse of her bright my heart begins to race. “Tatiana,” I nearly whisper.

Have I stared too long at her pictures that she's now morphed before my eyes?

Her nose scrunched up and she places my phone between her tits, pouting. “Role play costs extra.” she bats her eyelashes.

No, it's all too real. That voice, the phoney excitement in her tone when she's acting like she's pleased with something has obviously hates. This isn't a figment of my imagination, I confirm it when she slides herself into my lap, holding my gaze hostage.

I blink twice, praying she doesn't disappear when I open my eyes but she's still here. “It's you.”

Her head tilts, “Are you okay?”

“Tatiana, I've looked everywhere for you.” I rasp.

Hunter's laugh is the missing piece to my puzzled mind. “I knew you just needed the right stripper, isn't she gorgeous?” he wiggles his eyebrows, smiling big at her.

“Yo-you see her too?”

Hunter frowns and in a split second, Tatiana is off my lap. She tosses my phone in my lap, her gaze switching to Hunter. “I'm done, you can keep your money. This is weird.”

His money? What's going on here?

Attention speed of light, I rise from my seat and grab her before she turns. “Tatiana,” I coo. She's alive, my wife is alive and she's staring in front of me.

Her gaze falls to where my hand holds her and she glares at me, “Let go!”

“You come back to me, I'm sorry baby, i should have neve—”

“Adrian, what's wrong with you.” Hunter gaps. “ You're scaring her.”

“I know she's a little angry with me but she's my wife, don't you see her?”

“Your wife is dead, Adrian.”

“No,” I shake my head, I never once believed Tatiana died, I knew my wife loved me too much to die so easily. “This is her!” I tell him, holding her wrist despite her struggling to run. When she can't succeed, she starts to scream and a bouncer comes into the mix. “Tatiana, it's me.”

“You're hurting me,” she trembles, and before I can start to apologize again, the bounce punches me. The punch is enough to make me lose balance and hold on Tatiana's hand.

“Adrian!” Devon frowns, walking in with Yuri behind him. Yuri is my brother-in-law, he's Tatiana's brother he knows her. Hunter had only met her once but Yuri grew up with her, he'll prove I'm not crazy.

“Yuri, she's alive.” I swallow, “Look at her, my wife is alive.” I tell him, trying to go to her but with each step I take, Tatiana takes one backwards. “Get me out of here.”

Yuri mirrors my gaze, he stares widely at her before turning to me. “That's not Tanya.” he swallows, staring at her still. “I understand she looks like her a little but she's not your wife.”

Not my wife?

Is he drunk? She's my wife, the woman in front of me is Tatiana Yurievna Moretti. I know my wife,there's no way I would fail to recognize the woman I married, the one I slept next to every night for one and a half years, I'm not delusional.

“Medusa, leave.” the gaint that punched me tells Tatiana and she does as told. I try to pursue her but Yuri and Hunter hold me back. “Let go of me, she's going to get away from me again.”

“Adrian, stop it.” Devon grunts.

The guy bouncer points at us, “Leave or I'm going to have to throw you out, you're not to scare nor threaten harm to the dancers.”

“Nobody threatened harm.” Hunter hisses, “It's a sheer misapprehension.”

“Your misapprehension has left our top dancer traumatized, please leave.”

Traumatized?

Top dancer, he's not making any sense here. Yuri and Devon lead me outside the club despite my protests, letting me go when I no longer threaten to get back inside the room.

“What's wrong with you?” Devon frowns.

“You need to calm down, Capo.” Yuri glares, “What's gotten into you.”

“That was my wife, you saw her.”

Yuri shakes his head, “No. She isn't your wife Adrian, that's a stripper, she nothing like my sister.”

“Yes,” Devon seconds. “I don't remember your wife much but that's a stripper, Capo. Her name is Medusa, we saw her show earlier, remember?”

Her show? “What show?” I frown, I don't remember seeing her before now.

“Before we went to the private lounge.”

“She was there?” I scowl, I didn't notice, I was working on my phone the whole time everyone is preoccupied with the dancers.

“Adrian, what's gotten into you?” Hunter snaps, walking outside the club with a tequila bottle. “You made a scene, If I didn't know the owner we would have been kicked out like dogs.”

“Why is no one listening to me, that's my wife, she's my Tatiana.”

“Capo, my sister died. You identified her body and we buried her.”

“Then who the hell was that?!”

“A stripper,” Yuri firmly declares. “My sister would never be caught dead in a club, and she's dead.”

No.

That woman is Tatiana, nobody can convince me otherwise. Sure, she looks a little different but it's been three years since I last saw her, she's grown into her features but that's still my wife.

“I requested Medusa just so you could have some fun and now you're like this?” Hunter huffs.

“I think we should have an early night, you're exhausted from your flight. It's normal.” Devon raises his hands in defeat. “Let us all go back to the hotel and rest up, we will celebrate tomorrow night.”

Knowing I won't be able to get through to either one of them, I fetch my car keys and Yuri snatches them. “I think it's better I drive.”

“I'm not drunk, Yuri.”

Yuri frowns, “You called a random stripper my sister.”

Everyone laughs like it's some terrible joke, but nothing here is funny. Nothing here will convince me that woman isn't my wife, I will prove everyone wrong, especially Yuri. As her brother, he should know better but somehow he can't recognize her. Maybe I'm a little too obsessed with my wife but I would never mistake her for another woman.

“Call Rafe, I need him to find out everything you can about my wife from—”

“You mean Medusa.” Hunter corrects me.

“Yes, Medusa.”