Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Christian
It’s times like these when I’m definitely grateful for the stress release provided by the club.
This morning I woke with a smile on my face at the memory of Lily St. James. The memory of how her sexy body felt in my hands, and the taste of her sweet pussy in my mouth.
There’s nothing like watching a sweet woman like her come undone in my arms as she yields to pleasure.
If the shit with Falcone wasn’t happening, I would have done more than eat out that pussy last night. I would have owned it.
I wondered what the rest of her story was as I watched her leave with her cheeks red and her body still giving off that heat of desire.
A woman like her would never venture to a club like The Dark Odyssey.
We have topless dancers on poles on the dance floor, but they weren’t like her.
Those girls love dancing and love the thrill of dancing naked and getting lost in the sexual fantasy of the place.
I always hire a certain type of woman. They’re mostly the ones who aren’t desperate.
She was. Desperate enough to actually tell me she needed the job.
Last night when I watched her dance, she did something to me.
Calmed me? I don’t know. It was just something, and she performed the role of the angel perfectly.
The woman got over a hundred bids placed on her last night. It didn’t surprise me. I wouldn’t have been the only fucker who wanted to dirty her up and taint the purity she exuded as she danced.
Whatever her story is, I have to push the angel out of my mind today.
The minute the sun came up I got a call from Vincent summoning me to work bright and early. I spoke to him last night after my encounter with Lily. He wasn’t happy. Not one fucking bit.
As I walk into Giordanos Inc, there’s a noticeable hush about the place. I get to his office and bite down hard on my back teeth when I see I’m in the presence of not just Vincent but Georgiou too who looks pissed as fuck.
I expected that. I can just imagine what he and Pa must have spoken about last night when I filled him in on what was going on.
Traditionally, our side of the family deals with business while all the men in Vincent’s immediate family deal with trouble and protect the family.
Everybody else falls in line on the business front, which doesn’t actually include much more than my father and uncles, and soon to be two of my younger cousins.
To people like Vincent, our job is easy, and this shit shouldn’t be happening.
Georgiou glances at me as I approach and gives me that look of habit we shared when we were kids. It’s a heads up that I better say the right things.
I’ve always had to do that because I’m the youngest of the pack. He and Vincent are the oldest in their forties.
“Morning,” I say and take a seat opposite them feeling like I’m sitting my ass down in the electric chair.
“Good morning,” Vincent answers. “Right, we spoke last night, and I’ve delivered the news to Angelo. He’s not happy about it Christian and neither am I. I would love to excuse you in blame, but the shit happened because security wasn’t tight enough.”
My fucking breath stills because he’s right.
“I thought it was,” I answer. “I thought we’d be okay until I got someone to fill Peter’s shoes.”
“Two months Christian. It’s been two months.
I shouldn’t have to remind you that people are lying in wait to fuck with us and that’s what’s happened.
You asked me to give you more responsibility and I did.
I thought taking care of the warehouses and the larger shipment contracts would go hand in hand for you because you’re good at it.
Angelo is one of our biggest clients, we can’t lose a guy like him. ”
I glance at Georgiou who tenses his jaw.
“I’m sorry. I got the men on the street looking but Falcone has two days on me.”
“Falcone won’t sell weapons like that on the street Christian,” Georgiou states.
I release a heavy sigh. “I know but I want to cover all bases and leave nothing unturned. It starts with the streets. Falcone is a prick who does the devil’s bidding. So, on this occasion I got to find out who the devil is.”
“Christian, I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m pissed as fuck this happened. You know the fucking ropes when it comes to security. We don’t trust anybody and that fucker, Jonny was the last motherfucker you should have left in charge. Men like him are weak. We have a strong hold because we need to.”
He’s right. “I know I fucked up. I accept that. By the same token Vincent, a man like Peter is hard to come by. You don’t fill those shoes overnight.
The first person I thought of taking care of business while I looked for a replacement was Jonny.
He proved time and time again that he could be trusted.
There’s no way I thought he would do this.
” That’s actually true. Vincent knows it too and that’s why his face softens.
“Okay… we need to just figure out what we’re gonna do,” Vincent states.
“The last thing I want is for long standing clients like Angelo, to pull out because things have changed in our hierarchy. When shit like this happens, people are quick to blame those in charge. I don’t want that happening here.
That’s my head, no matter who the lose link is. It’s on me.”
“I’ll sort the shit out. Leave me to it,” I say.
“I’ll help,” Georgiou says, and I snap my gaze to him. Vincent does too.
“Thanks, but I can figure out this myself,” I tell him
“No, I think this calls for help from someone like me,” Georgiou says with insistence. His tone suggesting that’s an order from our father.
Fucker. He never passes up a chance to make me feel like shit.
I don’t like arguing with him in front of Vincent, so I hold my tongue.
Georgiou and I are as close as brothers can be, but we don’t have that bond Vincent shares with his brothers.
We have enough trust to go into business together on ventures like the club and the properties we bought together a few years back.
That’s it though. He’s too far up Pa’s ass to come down to my level of thinking.
Georgiou is the way he is because if shit happens and Vincent and his brothers get wiped out, business in every aspect comes to us. Georgiou will be boss of the family. It wouldn’t be me.
I hate thinking of death, but I have to face facts.
Trouble has come in the past where disaster could have happened.
We all got a wakeup call when Frankie, Vincent’s older brother was killed.
It showed us we weren’t above death, as bad ass as we’d like to think we are.
The next call came when Sorcha, Vincent’s first wife was killed, and his baby was nearly killed too.
“I don’t care who helps who, sort it out,” Vincent says.
“If feds ever find those weapons and our names get dragged in, we’re all screwed.
We don’t want those kinds of problems. We’ve had enough shit with feds over the years.
But this would be bad. I agree that Falcone wouldn’t have just sold the weapons on the street.
We just need to know where the fuck he took them.
By the same token I want to know if he’s gotten to any of our people in Europe. ”
Falcone is a sneaky bastard. Getting to him is going to require using more than my fists.
“Okay, you have my word, I’ll figure this out. The shipment on the rest of the guns will go out as normal, and I’ll replace the workers by tomorrow,” I promise.
“Alright, I’ll leave it with you. I want a report every evening on what’s happening. Call me at the first sign of trouble.”
“You got it,” I reply.
Georgiou stands and so do I. it ends the meeting and signals he wants to talk to me in private. I give Vincent a nod before we leave.
As soon as we get to the foyer, Georgiou stops in his tracks and I follow suit, gearing myself up to hear whatever my overbearing brother has to say.
“Christian, I’m helping at Pa’s request. Before you breathe fire on my ass, that’s why I’m helping,” Georgiou explains.
I want to tell him he and Pa can go fuck themselves, but again I hold off.
“And why has he requested this?” I demand.
“Because the shit is worse than Vincent’s allowing you to know.
Vincent was lenient, but the gravity of the situation is bad.
If Angelo goes then he’ll take people with him.
He’s not the kind of client to shit on and if this shit doesn’t get resolved that’s nine hundred thousand down the drain for them, and implications nobody wants.
Pa’s considering shifting you back to the books, and I mean pushing pencils on the small contracts. ”
All I can do is stare at him.
One little mistake and this is what happens. It wasn’t even a mistake. I was just being too careful, and not being careful enough.
Fuck… if my father does that to me, I’m out. What Georgiou is suggesting is shit you do when you just finish college. Bookkeeping and fucking shit like that.
“This is bull shit Georgiou and I’m not going to stand for it,” I argue.
“Well you have to. Pa’s serious, he’ll take it to vote if he has to. He said so. He didn’t think the others would disagree if they were going to lose out on million dollar contracts and put our business at risk.”
Moving to vote hasn’t been done in recent years.
not while I worked for the company. Vincent is boss, but my father and my two other uncles will have rights in regard to the running of the business.
Vincent has the final word, but his opinion can be swayed.
Definitely if I’m made to look like a liability to the company, and the family.
“I see,” I say and seethe. “What about you? You want to see me pushing pencils? Did you offer your help to make sure that happens?”
“Motherfucking bastard, like I would do that to you,” he states enraged.
“Wouldn’t you, Boss,” I answer, and he doesn’t reply. He knows what I mean and I’m almost certain he offered up his help so he could make himself look good.
I cut him a crude stare and walk away, leaving him to stew in the shit of his thoughts. He can do whatever he thinks he’s doing to help and run back to Pa and lick his ass.
I have to figure this shit out myself, or in a way outside the influence of my father and Georgiou.
Instead of heading to my office like I would on the regular, I jump in my car and head to the ice locker the cleanup crew use to store the dead until we give the go ahead to dispose of the bodies.
I’m gonna see what the dead can tell me.
Maybe they can give me a lead. That’s all I need. Something I can work with. Once I get that, I’ll figure this shit out.