by Hamel, B. B.
“Take me up,” he says. “I want to see this office for myself.”
“Don’t believe that it’s real?”
“Shit, I believe you. I just want to see it myself.”
I laugh and we get on the elevator together. He leans against the wall for a second and lets out a breath. He has bags under his eyes, which isn’t like him. Darin’s always been a stickler for getting sleep.
“You look tired.”
He glances at me. “Thanks, mom.”
“Just saying.”
“Well, don’t say, you dick. I look perfect.”
I laugh. “All right, fine.”
“Nah, it’s okay, I’m just fucking with you. I didn’t sleep on the plane.”
“Why not? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place you couldn’t fall asleep in.”
“I know. It’s my super power.”
“The worst one imaginable.”
He flexes. “They call me Sleep Boy.”
“Not even Sleep Man? Just a boy?”
“Being true to myself, brother. I know my place.”
We laugh together and step off the elevator. “Seriously, you all good?” I ask.
“I’m all good.” He puts a hand on my back.
We walk into reception and greet Aimee. She smiles at me then grins at Darin.
“There she is.” Darin goes over and kisses her cheek. “Has this guy been good to you?”
“He’s the best,” she says. “Glad you’re in town. How was the trip?”
“Trip was fantastic. I’m a professional at traveling these days.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll catch up with you soon, okay?”
“Bye.” She smiles after him and I can’t help but notice the look in her eyes.
“That girl wants you, my friend,” I say to him.
He laughs. “Been there, done that. She’s a sweetheart, but not my type.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know. She’s not perfect?”
“Exactly. You should settle down. Marry her.”
“Coming from you, that’s a good joke.”
I grin at him and shrug. “You never know. Might be changing.”
“Doubt it.”
I give him a quick tour of the place. We look at the conference room, at the cubes, at the offices. He introduces himself to pretty much everyone we meet, since they’re just as much his employees as they are mine, even if the office is mostly my project. He shakes hands, easy and charming, like a fish in water.
We stop just at Val’s cube. I’m a little tense, but she doesn’t look surprised when she turns and shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you,” she says.
“You’re the one he keeps talking about,” Darin says and looks at me. “What is it about this one, huh?”
“She’s smart,” I say. “She’s going to make us all rich.”
Val grins at us. “I’ll make myself rich first, boys.”
We both laugh and I can tell Darin likes her. He eyes are like he wants to strip her down and I get a sudden, intense pang of anger that rings through me. I have to physically step back to make sure he doesn’t notice…
But Val does. She catches my eye and frowns slightly.
“Okay, well, nice to meet you,” Darin says and turns away. I lead him over to my office and we step inside. “Holy shit, dude. That girl is really hot.”
I tense. “Which one?”
“Uh, Val? The redhead? I wonder if the—”
“If you say anything about her carpet, I swear to god.”
He stares at me and laughs. “Are you in love with her or something?”
“No. It’s just a dumb joke.”
“All right then. Well, she’s really fucking sexy. Do you mind if I take a run at her? Who knows, maybe she’ll let me get a peek up that skirt in the break room.”
I turn away from him. I’m trembling with fury. He can’t know how I feel about Valerie, and if he did, I know he wouldn’t say any of this.
But hearing it doesn’t feel good.
“I’d stay away from her,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Yeah? Something wrong?”
“No. She’s just… she’s an employee. You can’t date employees.”
He snorts. “Yeah, good one.”
“I’m serious.” I turn back to him. “Leave that one alone.”
He looks at me and frowns for a second. “Yeah, okay, man, sure.”
I take a breath and slowly let it out. I force a smile on my face. “Anyway, she’s out of your league.”
He laughs but there’s no joy behind it. “Right. Too hot for me. I’ll stick to losers like Aimee.”
“Perfect.” I go and sit at my desk. He takes a seat in a chair in front of me.
“So listen,” he says, taking out his phone. He checks his messages while he talks. It’s a habit that drives me insane, but he manages to multitask without losing track of what he’s doing at least. “I was speaking to my associates.”
“Which ones?”
“Dee Morra and Carmine Caro.”
I cock my head. “The men I met with? I didn’t know you were associates.”
“Those are the ones.” He looks up. “I want to meet with them again.”
I lean back in my chair. I knew this was coming sooner or later, but I didn’t expect him to start out with it so hard again.
I can’t remember him ever pushing a client this hard before, but I also can’t remember ever turning someone down that he recommended. If he’s brought mobsters into our company in the past, I’m sure I never even noticed. His only mistake this time was getting me involved at all. Otherwise, I bet I still wouldn’t have noticed. And when Val came clean to me, I might’ve been a lot less willing to work with her.
“If you want to go, you can go,” I say. “No need to include me.”
“But you know they want you involved. They don’t want to sign with us if you’re going to be uncomfortable with it.”
I shift a little in my seat. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable—”
He laughs at me and looks up from his phone. “Oh, shit, man. As soon as I mentioned them, you immediately looked like you wanted to jump out a window.”
“It’s not like that.” I frown at him. “I just want to follow the rules.”
“There are no rules against us keeping our clients confidential.”
“Confidential is one thing. Keeping no paperwork on their identity? How would we even do that? We need to report something to the IRS, for example.”
“I’ll take care of that,” he says, waving a hand. “We’ll have something on file for them, obviously.”
“But what, exactly?”
He sighs and throws up his hands. “I don’t know, man, fuck.”
“See, that’s my problem.”
“Look, just come meet with us again, okay? I promise they’re decent guys. Clearly that first meeting went poorly, but we’ll do better this time.”
“I don’t know.”
He puts his phone down and looks at me. “Listen, Jacob. Have I ever fucked you over?”
“No,” I admit.
“No,” he echoes. “So why are you acting like I’m trying to fuck you over?”
“I just… I don’t want to get involved with anything remotely shady.” I stare at him for a long moment, practically begging him to back down. I need him to give up on this. If he keeps pushing these guys, Valerie’s going to find out, and she’s going to give this info to her bosses.
Fuck, I’ll make sure she does.
Because there’s no part of me that thinks those two guys are legit.
I need him to stop. I really, really want him to let it go.
“This isn’t shady. These men have money, brother. And we take money, turn it into more money. It’s just how the world works.”
I close my eyes for a second. “What do they do for work?” I ask.
“Sanitation,” he says. “They own trash trucks. S
hit like that. They’re real guys, just a little bit rough around the edges, but they’re real.”
I open my eyes and feel like a part of me just broke off.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll meet with them.”
“Fuck, yeah, you will.” He grins and gets up. “All right, brother. This has been fun, but I’m going back to my hotel now. I’m going to drink everything in the mini bar and sleep for twelve hours. We’ll regroup tomorrow, all right?”
“All right,” I agree. “We’ll get breakfast.”
“You know a good spot?”
“I sure as hell do.”
He grins. “Fuck, yeah, brother. I’m glad I’m in town.”
“You travel too much.”
“I work too hard.”
“And you’re modest.”
He laughs and heads to the door. “See you tomorrow.” He waves and walks out. I see him say something to Valerie that makes her smile. My blood boils in my body again and I tense all over. As soon as he’s gone, I get up and go to my door.
“Val,” I say, and gesture for her to join me.
She gets up and I shut my office door.
“What did he say to you?” I ask her.
She looks surprised. “Excuse me?”
“On his way out. What did he say?”
“He said it was nice meeting me. And he hoped that you were being nice, but not too nice.”
I look away and let out a breath. “Good. Okay.”
“What’s wrong?”
I walk over to my desk and sit down. She drifts to a chair and sits on the edge, leaning toward me.
“He wants to meet with those two men again.”
“The gangsters?”
I nod once. “Them.”
“You should go.”
“I know. I’m going to. But you’re going to come with me.”
She laughs a little bit then realizes that I’m serious. “No way,” she says. “How? Why?”
“Because you’re the one that’ll actually manage their account. That’s what we’ll say, at least.”
She shakes her head. “Come on. Darin will be suspicious.”
“I’ll tell him the truth. I don’t like these guys and I want a second opinion. He’ll be pissed but he’ll get over it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Trust me. I’ll lay the groundwork first. You won’t be a surprise.”
She lets out a breath. “All right. I guess this is why I’m here.”
“It’ll be okay. You’re just coming to get a sense of what they really are.”
“I thought you were already sure.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to… I don’t want to be sure.”
“I know what you mean.” She smiles and there’s a little sadness to it. “He seems like a nice guy.”
“He wants to fuck you.”
She blinks at me, surprised. “What?”
I get up and come around the desk. I sit down next to her and lean closer. “He wants to fuck you,” I say.
“I’m… uh, I’m not interested in that.”
“No?” I stare at her. “And why not?”
“Because.” She stares back at me.
“Because you’re mine,” I say.
“I’m all yours.”
“Every inch of you. From your dripping wet cunt to those pretty lips.”
She nods but doesn’t repeat me. I smile a little bit. I want to kiss her but the blinds are open and the door’s unlocked. I can’t afford another mistake like last time.
“You don’t have to worry.”
I smile a little bit. “I’m not worried. You’ve already gotten a taste.” I stand up and return to my desk.
She shifts and stands. “I should get back.”
“Good.” I tilt my head. “Don’t forget, my Valerie.”
“I don’t forget.”
I smile a little as she turns and walks away.
Darin’s right about one thing. She really is fucking hot.
I lean back in my chair with a sigh. I shut my eyes and try to pretend like things are okay for a moment, but of course things are totally fucked.
13
Val
I’ve never met gangsters before. Sure, I’ve read stories about them and watched movies, but I’ve never actually met any.
A few days pass after Darin first comes back to town. Jacob spends a lot of time with him in the conference room, going over details and talking strategy. I know they’re still actually building a business here and this stuff with the mafia is only a small part of that, but it makes me nervous seeing them together.
I’m not sure why. At first, I think it’s because I’m worried Jacob will tell Darin and ruin the whole investigation. But I quickly realize I’m not worried about that.
Jacob wouldn’t do that. I believe him when he says he’s committed to finding out the truth about Darin. He wants to prove that his friend is innocent, and I want to help him do that. Or we’ll prove that Darin’s guilty and we’ll put a stop to it. Either way, Jacob clearly wants to follow through with this.
No, I’m worried for a different reason.
I’m afraid for him.
I know I shouldn’t be. I mean, he’s been good friends with Darin for a long time. I don’t need to be afraid of them spending time together. If Darin wanted to hurt Jacob, he could’ve done it a thousand times over the years.
Even still, I’m afraid. Now that we’re on to him, Darin might sniff it out. He could get desperate, and desperate people do terrible things. I’m afraid for Jacob and I’m afraid he’s not nearly scared enough.
For his part, Jacob’s going about this like it’s no big deal. He informs me that everything is set for me to come, and even though he says everyone’s on board, I get the sense that it wasn’t an easy thing.
So when the day arrives, I’m on edge for obvious reasons.
He stops by my desk at the designated time. “Ready?” he asks. Darin’s lingering over near the elevators, typing on his phone.
“Ready.” I stand up.
Brian pops his head up over the cube. “Hey there, boss. Where are you guys off to?”
“A meeting,” Jacob says, barely glancing at him. “Have a good day, Brian.”
We walk off and I can feel Brian’s eyes on us as we go. “He’s jealous,” I say.
“Of you or of me?”
“Why would he be jealous of you?”
He smirks at me. “I get to spend time with the hottest girl in the office.”
I roll my eyes. “No. He’s jealous of me.”
“I bet.” We reach the elevators and Darin glances up.
“Glad you can join us,” he says.
He doesn’t sound glad.
“I’m happy to help however I can.”
We get onto the elevator, ride it down, and get into Jacob’s black town car. It takes us to a restaurant downtown, a nice French-styled bistro. We get seated at a table in the corner. Jacob only has water but Darin asks for a whiskey. I stick with an iced tea.
The men arrive not long later. They’re just like Jacob described to me, and I can completely see why he thought they’d be gangsters. Aside from the obvious, they have a strange gruffness about them, a roughness to their manner. The men shake everyone’s hand, including mine, although the heavier one gives me an odd look.
“Come on, let’s sit and eat,” Darin says. “Lunch is on us, of course.”
“Nonsense,” Carmine says. “Please, let us take the bill.”
“Yeah, yeah, we got it. We know the owner.” Dee grins at the table.
Darin laughs. “You know, normally we pay for potential clients. That’s how it works.”
“Please. Let us show a little largesse. Our last meeting didn’t go so well, so let’s start off on the right foot.” Carmine smiles at Jacob but there’s an iciness to it.
“If you want to pay, by all means,” Jacob says.
The men laugh and Darin instantly jumps in. He asks them about busine
ss and they start talking in generalities about the city and about politics.
I’m halfway listening. I can’t help but note the way the men interact with each other and with Darin. It’s like someone’s going to come up to the table at any second and start punching them in the face. They’re tense and on edge, ready to spring up at a moment’s notice.
I glance at Jacob and wonder if he can see it. He’s busy staring at his menu and trying to pretend like the mobsters don’t exist at all, so I wouldn’t be shocked if it hasn’t hit home for him yet.
“So, Jacob, how is the new office coming along?” Carmine asks.
“Very good,” Jacob says. “We have some fantastic staff.”
“And the city? You’re enjoying it?”
“Philly’s great.” He smiles warmly. “I love it here. I really do.”
“It’s the best of both worlds. Big and small. It can feel like home or it can feel like the biggest place in the world. You can get lost or you can be somewhere.” Carmine smiles and I’m a little surprised by how poetic he sounded. “Or you can get mugged in the corner by some asshole. It’s all Philly.”
Darin laughs and even Jacob seems amused. The waitress comes and takes our order. Dee gets a bottle of wine for the table, apparently an expensive one based on the way the waitress reacts. I stick to a simple salad and when the menus are collected and we’re left alone, Carmine turns to me.
“So, young lady. I hear you’re an up-and-coming talent.”
I smile a little. “I hope so.”
“That’s what Darin here tells me.”
“That’s nice to know.” I give Darin a smile but he glances away.
“You’re the one that will be handling our money,” Carmine says.
“That’s right. We’ll work together to create a strategy based on your long- and short-term goals. From there, I’ll build out a portfolio, get your feedback on it, and invest. Pretty simple, really.”
Carmine looks impressed. He looks at Dee. “Long-term goals. She speaks of long-term goals.”
“We have one goal,” Dee says, “and that’s to make a lot of money.”
The men all laugh and even Jacob smiles, though I can tell he’s just playing along.
