The Mobster's Girl

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Stella wasn't quite sure what to think of Jack Moretti. She had expected him to be a short, fat, and older Italian man, with a permanent scowl on his face, but instead, the opposite stood in front of her.

Kate hadn't been joking when she said that Jack Moretti was a sheik. In fact, Stella felt ridiculous at the fact that she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

The owner of the speakeasy was a tall, suave man, with an olive complexion, and dark features. His black hair was slicked back in the popular style, and he held a black hat in one hand, which matched the black suit that he wore. His dark eyes looked around the room, and seemed to see everything.

Of course, the girls' stage manager, Marty, was beside himself and going out of his way to be kind to the mobster.

"Mr. Moretti, it is such an honor for you to be here to meet my girls. They're thrilled, I'm sure, aren't you girls?"

The girls all murmured in agreement.

"It's a pleasure to be here, girls. I appreciate all you do for the Blind Betty, as you're all the main reason why my place stays in busy," Jack said with a smile, which created butterflies in the majority of the women's stomachs.

Marty motioned for Jack to come over to him, and he led the man down the line of girls waiting for him, and introduced them all by name. Stella watched as Jack gave everyone his undivided attention, and he smiled warmly at every girl that he met and asked them about themselves, making sure to make it seem as though they were the only other person in the room.

Jack approached Kate, who stood next to Stella.

"This is Kate, our veteran dancer. She's one of the best!"

Stella watched as Jack's eyes slid up and down Kate's curvaceous body, a satisfied smirk on his face. He met Kate's eyes, and the usually confident girl turned a shade of red, which nearly matched the color of her hair.

"I remember you," Jack said warmly. "You were in the front row. I could hardly take my eyes off of you."

Kate grinned in return. "I'm glad you didn't, Mr. Moretti," she said slyly with a wink.

Stella's eyes widened, and she barely hid the laugh that threatened to escape. She tried to cover it with a fake cough, but instead, she sounded like she was choking or on the verge of dying, which then resulted in a coughing fit that wracked her body, and caused her headdress to fall off of her head, and onto the floor, which got everyone's attention.

Jack turned his attention away from Kate, and looked at the blonde, red-faced Stella in front of him, a look of concern on his face. He knelt down to pick up the headdress at the same time that Stella had, and the two bumped their heads into each other, which caused Stella to cry out in pain, then apologize loudly, as she rubbed the sore spot on her head.

Jack smoothly grabbed the headdress off of the ground, then stood up, and extended his free hand to Stella, who was still crouched on the ground, too embarrassed to face anyone's gazes. She ignored Jack's hand and stood up on her own, then reached for her headdress, which Jack still held.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Moretti," Stella blurted quickly, which earned her a smile from the man.

"Please," he began kindly, ignoring the fact that she had declined his assistance to get up off of the floor. "Mr. Moretti is my father. Call me Jack. And you are?"

Stella began to introduce herself, but Marty interrupted her.

"This is our future star, Stella Erickson. She's newer here, having moved from Seattle, but she shows a lot of promise. She's usually more graceful," Marty said with a laugh and a pointed look at Stella, which Jack couldn't see, as she was still staring at the blonde beauty in front of him.