Tanya was so flustered she didn't know what to reply. Nervously, she drained her glass. It irked her that Ilario was sitting there cool as cucumber, as if they were talking about the weather or maybe just work. The scandalous talk didn't affect him at all.

The why should it affect me?

She was just gathering enough courage to show she was cool too, when Ilario's head turned sharply towards the front stage. Tanya followed his gaze.

A line of nubile women were being led by a dapper man dressed like a peacock in a dark purple velvet suit. The girls were dressed in glittery dresses with feathers trailing above their heads and legs. They all came to a halt and stood in a line in various provocative poses. The music died down and people stopped grinding against each other.

The voice of the man boomed in the microphone which suddenly appeared from above. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Paradiso Nero!"

There was hoarse shout from the crowd. The voice boomed again.

"You have been enjoying yourself a lot, I can see." The banter was suggestive yet delivered in a baby-ish voice, a combination which Tanya found sleazy. She glanced at Ilario whose attention was focused on the stage with a narrowed gaze. Frowning, she turned her own attention back to the stage where the man was still talking, most of which sailed past her understanding as it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to translate the colloquial Italian verbiage into her native language.

But then, there was boom which resonated throughout the huge cavernous space and a drumroll started mixed with DJ beats.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for." The man said slowly, dramatically. "The true power of Paradiso Nero is unleashed."

The club went dark and another collective shout rang through the space. And the lights were back just as suddenly, but this time they were neon laser lights in which only the girls on the stage were illuminated. Spotlights opened up around the huge space. The girls gracefully cat walked off the stage to take up their respective positions under the spotlights. Magically, the round space on the floor where the beam reflected soared up and suddenly there were floating platforms all around them with a girl on top of each of the platform. The music, a deep rumble which shook the very core of human body started playing.

What happened next stunned Tanya.

As one, the girls all jerked their arms in a fluid motion and the next second they were all naked. Just plain naked, with not even a hint of a lingerie.

"What is this place?" Tanya exclaimed, beyond shocked at the sudden turn of events. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

It's a sex club!

Ilario De Russo brought me to a sex club!

The girls were all dancing now, swaying to the beat of the music. The crowd was going wild, even noisier than before. Despite the muted light, she could make out couples starting to make out in full view of the others right there on the floor.

The man in the velvet suit was speaking again. Tanya could vaguely understand that he was encouraging the patrons to take advantage of their alcoves and their special services for the stags.

Clutching her fingers tightly in his, Ilario at last, stood up and led her back into the crowd. Her back was pressed to his front as he shielded her with his body around her so no one could so much as come near her.

In a daze, Tanya was led outside through the exit and into the car. She was still in shock when Ilario put the car in motion and they tore out of the parking lot.

They travelled for quite some time before Ilario asked in his trademark softly accented tone, "You okay?"

Tanya considered it for a moment. Am I okay? I don't know!

"I don't know." She answered truthfully.

"You hungry?"

She shrugged. Her system was still in shock at what she had just witnessed.

He didn't say anything in reply but stopped at a take-away and ordered without consulting her. Tanya didn't care either way.

While they waited for their food to arrive, she recovered sufficiently to ask, "Why?"

"Cosa?"

She cleared her throat. "Why Rio? Why did you take me to a place like that?"

He was staring at the windscreen, not particularly looking at anything. "It was for educational purposes."

"Huh?" Of all the things she had expected him to say, that answer was not even on the horizon.

He turned to face her then. "You have worked with Mateo's department on the Wazisi account, si?"

"Yes." What's that got to do with this?

Ilario answered her unspoken question, "Club Paradiso Nero is owned by one of the subsidiaries of the Wazisi Capitals."

"Oh!" Tanya was still not sure where it was leading. So Wazisi Capitals owned sex clubs, but they had approached Orlanes Banking for an extension on their Pro and Pre Shipment credit line, not some sleazy night club.

Ilario turned imperious eyes on her, "Ask me."

He was back to his teacher mode, she noticed.

"Why is that relevant?

"This was just one of the clubs owned by them. There are several of these scattered all over Italy which they didn't disclose. At the time of the initial sanctioning of the credit line, no such property came up in the inspection. Tell me what could possibly be the reason for that, Tanya?"

Tanya was beginning to get an inkling of where he was going.

"It might be because these clubs were a later investment. What about the renewal of the credit line? When was it done?"

"Couple of months ago."

"And it escaped our notice even then?"

Ilario looked her in the eye. "Officially, yes. No such properties came up in the standard inspection before the credit line renewal."

"And unofficially?"

He shrugged. "It didn't come to anyone's notice until the group asked for limit enhancement. And that's when it came to my desk."

"Oh." Tanya thought hard. "But again, I don't see how Wazisi Capitals' ownership of sex clubs would matter to us. If we are sure about the import export business we've financed, how is it affecting us?"

"That's what I want you to find out."

Tanya gaped at him.

"What do you mean, Rio?"

Their food was delivered at that moment. Ilario rolled down the window so she could take it while he put the car in ignition.

As they re-joined the main road, he spoke again. "I've several doubts regarding the Wazisi account. First, was the initial inspection a genuine mistake or just intentional? Second, the account has been renewed thrice after the initial sanction, why didn't anyone detect the existence of any such business? Third, export import business of the company is mostly agricultural produce. There have some recent unrest among the farmhands and general labourers in one of the farms to which they provide service. How is the credit enhancement request related to that? Fourth and most importantly... " He pulled on the side of the road to park. "why did no one in my team raise any red flags before it reached me for the final approval?"

Once again, Ilario gave her a direct look, "I need you to find out what is going on."

Finally, comprehension dawned on Tanya.

"You want me to spy on Mateo?"

Something flashed in his eyes which was gone before Tanya could be sure it was there. "No, I don't want you to spy on my brother." He paused, his voice neutral, not angry at her assumption, nor with any particular emotion. "Mateo has requested me to send you back to his team. Is that something you'd like?"

It was all she could do not to shudder visibly at his suggestion. That creep! He really did follow through with his threat, didn't he?

A small smile played on the corner of Ilario's lips.

"I thought so too. My brother, at times, can be ... how you say...?" He seemed lost for an appropriate definition of Mateo. But Tanya had quite a few ready.

"Creep? Jerk?" Her suggestion earned her a sharp look but Ilario said nothing in return. Instead, after a brief pause, he spoke again, "My brother, he seems to like you a lot."

Okay, where is he going with this?

"I don't think I'm anything special to him."

"Seems to me you are. He said so himself."

"What?" Tanya was taken aback.

"Si." Ilario exhaled. "A few months ago, before you joined the Bank, we were .... What you say.. hanging out, and he started talking about a girl he met in Goa."

"Oh?" She didn't know Mateo liked her enough to confide in his brother. Plus, what about Sophia? "What did he say?" She asked in a small voice.

"Well, nothing much. He said you two went on a date but you refused to go on another. But this girl had a twinkle in her eyes he couldn't forget."

It took her some time to digest what he was saying. She didn't know that she had made such an impression on Mateo, but he had always been kind of a douche to her, hasn't he? Was that the classic way of seeking attention? Was it? Really?

More importantly, Mateo confiding in his older brother about his crush, or whatever it was he felt about Tanya, the reason why Ilario had always suspected that she was having an affair with Mateo?

"I have a complicated relationship with him. I'm afraid someone might be taking advantage of his good nature."

"Huh?"

"Well, it isn't really obvious, but Mateo does tend to be emotional at times, most times when it is really inconvenient. It lands him in trouble, but well.... " He grimaced.

Tanya was equally baffled and concerned. She didn't expect Ilario to be this worried about his younger brother, but clearly he was. For her, Mateo has been a pushy jerk who didn't know how to take 'no' for an answer, but for Ilario he was an emotional guy. Well, that's family. Maybe there was a reason why Mateo was the man he was. There were two sides to every story, wasn't it?

Overcome with sympathy, she lifted her tiny hands and placed them on his thigh. Ilario gave the littlest of jerks but said nothing, he didn't even glance at her impulsive gesture resting on his leg. Soon, they were reaching her apartment. He smoothly swerved inside the parking lot and cut the engine.

His left palm descended on her slender fingers resting on his thigh. They sat like that for some time, while his warmth slowly seeped in her.

"Tanya...", uncharacteristically, Ilario hesitated while he entwined his fingers with her as she shivered from the intimate gesture.

"Tanya." He started again and cleared his throat.

"Yes, Rio?" She asked encouragingly.

"Remember you can always say no. Because what I am about to ask you to do... can be... a little... well.... dangerous."

He ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly frustrated. "What I mean is... I need someone I can trust."

But Tanya had deciphered what her boss was having difficulty explaining. After all, it was always hard going against family, wasn't it?

"You do want me to spy on Mateo." She said with a sigh.

He vented a frustrated sigh. "No, not spying exactly. Something about this Wazisi account doesn't sit right with me, and Mateo isn't really co-operating with me. With the approaching shareholders' meeting, the board is making things worse by pressurising me to provide my approval. And, unfortunately, Mateo is hell-bent on being as difficult as possible." Ilario sounded almost like the authoritative man she had come to know, but his tone was marred by a hint of indecision and her heart went out to him.