Playing Dirty by Kiki Swinson Page A

walked back toward me. “You look very stunning!” he complimented me.
    “Thank you very much,” I replied, and extended my hand.
    “You look very familiar to me,” he said, squinting his eyes, simultaneously jogging his memory.
    “You’ve probably seen me on TV”—I helped him—“I’m Yoshi Lomax, attorney-at-law.”
    “Oh yes, how are you?” he asked, grabbing my hand a little firmer.
    “I am fine!” I said. “I just wanted to get away from the office and come out so I could enjoy myself for once.”
    “Well, you picked the right place!” he said. “Have a seat over here at the table with me and my guest.” He escorted me over to a table lined with a few members of his entourage and a couple of sleazy-looking women.
    I took a seat at the very end of the table, and Mr. Alvarez took the chair next to me. It was evident that I was going to be his special guest, because immediately after we sat down, he poured both of us a glass of champagne. “Drink up. We are going to have fun tonight!” he insisted.
    I took a couple of sips of my champagne and immediately started feeling the vibes in the club. The salsa music was blasting through every speaker the club had mounted on the walls and in the floors, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was apparent that everyone was there to get fucked-up and take one of these bimbos home afterward. I was there for a totally different reason. I had a motive. And my motive was to get paid. So I began to gather my words together, so they would come out of my mouth right. While I was in deep thought, Mr. Alvarez started up a conversation with me.
    “So, how’s business? How long have you been an attorney?”
    “Business is good. And I’ve been an attorney so long, I’ve lost track of the years.”
    “What’s your acquittal rate?”
    “Let’s just say that I have never lost a case.” I got cocky.
    “That’s good to hear! Do you have a business card?”
    “Why, of course I do,” I eagerly said, and whipped one out of my clutch and handed it to him.
    He stuffed it in the inside pocket of his Armani jacket, then said, “Let’s make a toast to us.”
    “What’s the occasion?” I wondered aloud.
    He and I held our glasses up to each other. He said, “Let’s make a toast to freedom!”
    He and I tapped our glasses against one another and made the ding sound, saying the word “Freedom” in unison. It felt really good to sit there in the presence of this man and become cozy with him. I felt like he and I were on the verge of something really special. I’m not speaking from an intimate standpoint, because I was not the least bit attracted to him. Okay, granted, he’s a fairly attractive man. He kind of reminded me of the actor Sean Connery, with the salt-and-pepper thing going on. But I was up to my neck when it came to fucking these tired old men. All I wanted to do was make this deal with him and keep it moving. That was it.
    Two hours had passed and I could see that everyone around me was ripped. The sleazy whores were falling all over each other, making themselves look very cheap. I stayed close to Mr. Alvarez, but I was also able to hold my liquor a lot better than these women, who were making complete spectacles of themselves. And when Mr. Alvarez had gotten tired of the show they were putting on, he had two of his men escort their asses downstairs. I laughed my ass off on the inside, because that was surely a sight to see.
    Amid all the loud music, drinking, and laughter that was going on, I noticed that one of Alvarez’s men tapped him on his shoulder; then he leaned over and whispered something in his ear. I was literally killing myself to hear what he was saying, but, of course, I couldn’t manage over all the noise. And then all of a sudden, Alvarez leaned over toward me and said, “Excuse me, Ms. Lomax, but I have some business to take care of, so I am going to have to call it a night.”
    My heart started thudding like crazy,