by Samantha Bee
Luca doesn’t have any type of dress code for his bartenders and waitresses except look presentable and use your common sense. Most of the girls choose to dress similar to what this chick is wearing, so her outfit isn’t all that odd. Just maybe a little tighter, which is saying something. The only uniform he actually has is for his dancers and even that is pretty loose.
“We’re good, Taylor,” Luca says in his boss mode. I swear his voice gets even deeper when he’s in boss mode. Deeper and colder. The blonde doesn’t seem bothered by her dismissal at all as she pours whiskey into my glass before she struts back towards the bar.
Luca barely acknowledged her presence, but I saw the front of her tank top as she poured my drink. I let out a low whistle as soon as she’s far enough away not to overhear me. Luca looks over at me and raises his brow in question.
“Your new girl have a death wish or something?” I ask.
“Who?” he asks, genuinely confused.
“Taylor,” I answer nodding back towards the bar.
Luca only looks more confused as he stares at me, “She’s just a new waitress. We have three new ones. The fights have been busier.”
I chuckle, “I take it you didn’t see what was on her shirt when she had her tits all up in your face?”
“The fuck does it matter? But no, hard to see something when you aren’t looking at it.”
I raise my brows at him before flicking my gaze back towards the bar. The blonde is studying Luca and licking her lips. Oh, this is going to be good.
Luca has had plenty of his employees flirt with him but most are too intimidated to be as forward as this new chick seems to be. If his boss mode doesn’t deter them, seeing him with Scar does. As soon as most women see them together, they back off, realizing they have no shot.
Luca does sleep around occasionally but never with an employee and never with someone that would potentially run into Scar. I don’t know if he’s more concerned about her caring and being hurt or by her not giving any fucks at all. Either way, he’s always kept his exploits far away from her.
I look back at Luca before nodding towards the bar and studying his expression, so I catch the moment he realizes what I’m talking about. He turns back cursing and shaking his head. I glance back at the blonde and find her beaming. She thinks his attention was some of the good kind. I almost feel bad for her, but this is just too entertaining.
“She’s lucky Scar isn’t here tonight,” I tell him. He glowers at me, hearing the amusement in my voice.
He groans, “I don’t need a dead waitress on my hands,” he glances back like he’s double checking what he really saw. Poor girl thinks he’s checking her out. “Do you think she just doesn’t know?” he asks, looking back at me.
I look back and study her again. Her whole outfit and look feels familiar, even down to her shade of lipstick. It clicks into place. It’s a similar look to Scar but where Scar wears her clothes like a second skin, something feels off about the waitress’ attempt. Probably because she’s just mimicking Scar.
“Yeah, doubtful,” I snort to answer Luca. This girl is definitely trying to get his attention and she decided to do it by trying to replicate Scar. Bad idea.
Luca sighs before looking around and motioning to one of the younger guys that works for him. As soon as the guy approaches, looking like he’s in danger of shitting himself, Luca snaps, “Get me Joe. Make sure someone covers the door while he’s with me.”
The kid takes off like the devil is on his heels to find Joe. I sip on my whiskey and look at Luca, “Making Joe deal with it?”
He shrugs, “He’s better at that kind of shit.”
I just chuckle, unable to disagree.
I watch Joe make his way towards us, more solemn than usual. I know he’s still thinking about earlier but at least this will provide him with some much needed entertainment.
“Boss,” he greets Luca with a respectful nod. It’s always so funny to see the facades we all put on when we are in public.
“Joe,” Luca tilts his head, “I have a bit of a situation I need you to take care of.”
He nods in understanding and stays silent waiting for more instruction. Joe is one of our most trusted men. He’s been with Luca and Scar since just about the beginning. He’s one of the only employees that is involved in every aspect of the business.
He does the raids with us, works as gatekeeper for the fights, works at the club as security as well as some of Luca’s other businesses when they have meetings going down there. He goes wherever he is most needed. Bless his soul but he is down for anything we need and always follows through for us.
Joe meets my eyes and gives another respectful nod in greeting but tilts his head when he sees my grin. I can’t wait for him to realize what he has to deal with today.
Luca nods towards the bar, “We have a few new waitresses, I don’t think anyone went over the dress code with them,” Luca half explains.
Confusion clouds Joe’s expression as he works through what Luca said and takes in my growing grin. “We don’t have a dress code?” he asks, before hesitating, “Well unless you count not wearing roses unless you’re a dancer.”
“Bingo,” I cheer.
Joe sighs and shakes his head, “Well, that’s not so bad as long as it’s not,” he trails off as he looks in the direction we are pointing and sees the blonde waitress with her tight black tank top with a large blue rose across the front.
Joe swings his gaze back towards and stutters, “Does she have a death wish?”
I chuckle but Luca just shakes his head, keeping his boss man persona on in public.
“At least Scar isn’t here tonight,” Joe sighs, “I’ll have a conversation with her.”
“You know where we keep extra shirts for the staff, have her change and move to the lower floor,” Luca instructs and Joe nods before heading towards the bar.
I look at Luca, “Don’t want tits shoved in your face again?”
He shrugs, “Not in the mood.”
I sigh, I can’t blame him. I still feel tense after this day. I can’t wait to jump into the ring and let out some of this frustration flowing through my veins.
Images of Scar, the little girl, blood, Letty in Luca’s arms, all flicker through my mind, heightening my need for the fight. I flex and clench my fingers repeatedly, trying to calm the itch until it’s my turn to jump in the ring.
Just as we settle in to watch some of the outer rings fight, someone approaches our table. I look at Luca and roll my eyes, we haven't been here even fifteen minutes and we have horny waitresses and needy underlings.
I see the corners of his lips twitch, not noticeable to anyone unless you know what to look for. I wish Scar was here. It’s hilarious trying to watch Luca keep up his boss persona when she’s around. He has to try a hundred times harder to keep an expressionless face with her around.
He just nods to Tyler who had intercepted the guy wanting an audience. Tyler is one of my best fighters, he helps me run the training for our team of fighters. We have guys who fight in each of the rings depending on their skill level.
We like to always have at least thirty fighters on our team so even on weekends we don’t have a ton of people on the sign up, we’re still guaranteed a good number of fights.
It also brings in a different crowd of people who start to follow our fighters’ records and want to come see them fight. The lower level typically has a club or popular bar type of atmosphere. Except, you know, more violent. Instead of dancing, you drink, fight and place bets. It gets rowdy as fuck down there.
Tyler lets the guy walk towards the table. I don't immediately recognize him, so I keep my eyes trained on him as I sip on my whiskey. Assessing and cataloging every detail I can about him.
Luca looks at him from head to toe before dismissing him and facing the rings again. Looks like I’m running the show on this one. Yay.
He nods respectfully to Luca and a separate nod to me before standing silently and waiting for
instructions. I look over his shoulder to see Tyler has moved closer and positioned himself, so that we are visible out of the corner of his eye even as he faces towards the crowd and not us.
I watch him as I try to place his face but I’m coming up with nothing. I don’t recognize him. He has done everything correctly so far in the way to approach us. So, he’s not dumb and knows protocol, respectful and calm but not quite at ease like he’s a regular here.
Interesting.
I let him stand a moment, make him sweat before I open my mouth, “What is it you need?” I ask.
I don’t have to look at Luca to know he’s amused with my antics. I can’t help it though. Being a crime boss is surprisingly boring. Gotta get my kicks somehow.
The guy glances at the empty chair but quickly meets my eyes and schools his features, “I work for Rachel,” he explains, “she sent me to discuss the possibility of a trade.”
Luca keeps a straight face, but I know he wants to laugh. Rachel is a big player in drugs but not the biggest player. She controls most of California’s product though. She likes to send potential candidates for her inner circle here as a test.
Like I said, being a crime boss is boring and you have to entertain yourself somehow. Rachel chooses throwing candidates into shark infested waters without backup. Or so they think anyways.
She will be around here somewhere watching the interaction to see how her guy does. We also have an agreement with her. Even if he did insult Luca, we wouldn’t kill him as long as he stays within reason.
I gesture towards the chair, allowing him to sit so we can discuss this deal. Knowing Rachel, it’ll be a real offer just not an important one to her. It’s more of a test and a request to Luca for an in-depth background check. Everyone knows Luca is the person to go to for the most thorough checks. Thanks to Scar.
“Name,” Luca demands, and the guy has to fight to suppress his shudder. Yeah, Luca is having his fun too. I try not to chuckle.
“Jacob Aberman,” he responds, keeping his voice steady.
I nod towards Tyler and wait for his responding nod as he pulls out his phone. He will send the name to Scar’s burner phone and she can work on the background when she wakes up.
She most likely won’t be able to sleep through the night anyways. She should have already caught a few hours of sleep if she hasn’t woken up yet and it’s not even 9 o’clock yet. I wonder how the little girl is doing.
The doctor should be coming first thing in the morning. My stomach turns recalling the damage Scar described to us earlier. She was able to clean her up and bandage the worst of it. Some of the wounds were already in the process of healing but others were still, open and bleeding. She doesn’t think anything will need stitches, but she may need antibiotics. That poor girl is going to have scars for the rest of her life.
As of right now we are most concerned about internal damage as well as any potential sexual abuse. Scar is fairly positive there was at least some. Sick bastards. The thought of it makes me grind my teeth. She’s a small little thing. A fucking baby. It makes me want to go on a murdering spree.
I put my focus back on Jacob in front of us as he explains Rachel’s request. There is a new small-time supplier in NorCal, and she wants to find out more about them. It’ll help her decide how she wants to handle the situation, bring them into her fold or get rid of them.
Easy enough. I know Luca would do it for Rachel for pretty cheap since we are pretty friendly with her, but I can tell he wants to give this guy a hard time.
He still hasn’t made eye contact with the guy or responded in any way to the request. I cock my head as I study the guy. He has sweat beading on his upper lip and eyebrows. He’s subtly trying to wipe his hands on his thighs. I continue to examine him so I can know his tells for future reference.
Even if he gets better at staying composed and hiding his nerves, he most likely will keep the same tells. It’s one of the reasons we go along with Rachel’s game. She will have a hard time ever turning on us if she so decides.
His right eye twitches and his lashes flutter briefly before he blinks. Ahh, there it is. That’s his tell that will be the hardest for him to retrain.
I know Luca saw it too when he subtly shifts his chin letting me know I can stop playing with this guy. “What’s she offering?”
He sighs in relief and I see Luca’s eye crinkle as he tries not to laugh at this guy’s expense.
“We have information about Romano’s operation moving into the area,” he tells me, and I struggle not to roll my eyes.
I hear Tyler’s chuckle that he unsuccessfully tries to cover with a cough. Idiot.
“We already knew that,” I state and raise my brows.
“You knew it was raided?” he asks, clearly confused.
I feel my brows rise again in surprise. I’m actually amazed that Rachel has gotten this information so damn quickly, but we shouldn’t know it as well.
Luca turns and meets the guy’s eyes briefly to show his own surprise before nodding to me. Luca’s boss facade is all about not speaking to anyone he sees not worth his time. He only speaks directly to other big players or their very inner circle.
It makes him more unapproachable and intimidating. It's a scare tactic but an effective one. This poor guy is practically shaking in his boots. It’s hard to keep my smirk contained.
“We would have known immediately if it was raided by the police,” I scoff.
His relief is palpable now that he thinks we don’t know the information he’s selling us. Rachel must not have given him a backup plan. She must be getting really bored.
“Not by police,” he explains.
“Anti-traffickers?” I ask and gesture for him to get on with it.
He looks around nervously before leaning closer to finish explaining, “Maybe, but some are speculating it was more personal than that.”
“Personal? Why?”
He shakes his head, “All of the guards were wiped out, some killed off with gunshots but others,” he hesitates, “some of them were slaughtered, man.”
Luca cocks his head to the side to make his interest known to anyone watching.
“What do you mean slaughtered?” I ask and bury the smirk I so want to unleash at the fear in this guy’s eyes over Scar’s handiwork.
“A couple of the guards were a total mess, blood everywhere, organs spilling out. It was sick,” he finishes, shaking his head.
I nod as if in thought, “Anti-traffickers tend not to be so flashy,” I agree with him. “What about the girls?”
“Gone.”
I rub my hand over my face as if I’m thinking. We’ve mastered this charade. Made it our bitch. I lean back in my chair and reassess the guy in front of me, “Any leads?”
He shakes his head but opens his mouth, “The kid showed up pretty quickly after the raid, so they had a small window to escape without a trace, but as far as we know, they have no leads. They’re thinking personal because of the brutality and the quickness of the strike, but that’s all we know.”
I exchange a look with Luca and nod before turning back to the guy and studying him again. He’s more relaxed now that we’ve shown interest in his information. Everything he’s told us is the truth as far as he knows it.
The only question is, “How did you get this intel so quickly? As far as we were aware, they weren’t even supposed to show up until earlier today.”
“We were there to request a meeting with Romano for when he returns,” he answers but his hand is fidgeting towards his pants again and that right eye twitches before his lashes flutter and he slow blinks. Interesting.
I nod to accept his answer. It’s something we will take up with Rachel herself, not him.
“Tell Rachel to come find us after my fight tonight,” I instruct him before dismissing him and turning my focus back on the fights.
Now that it's a little later, the lower level is starting to fill up. There are two fights going on, all members of our teams, really mo
re sparring than fighting though. These fights won’t count towards records and we aren’t taking bets yet.
Joe closes the cards at 10 o’clock and that’s when the fights are announced, and betting will open up before the real fights start. Between nine and ten the rings are open for all fighters to spar and warm up.
The next few hours pass with more of the same. People request a meeting through Tyler, we either see them or have him turn them away. Tonight, it’s about fifty-fifty, to a lot of people’s annoyance. Luca is not in the mood to deal with any bullshit tonight.
Being so prominent amongst criminals definitely has some down sides. A lot of the other players have started relying too heavily on Luca and his resources and expect his help with every little problem they have. I’m going to have to tell him to start jacking up his prices again.
Maybe we should just start killing people. Up the crazy reputation so people stop asking for our help so often. I smile to myself at the thought. At least I would have fun doing it.
Once the fights start, it at least gives me something interesting to do and an excuse to tune out the business side of things. There are a few new fighters that I’ve never seen before.
I pick up a lot of fighters to train from the lower rings here. Fighting is one of those things that there will always be someone bigger, meaner, and badder than you out there. I want as many of those guys on my team.
Joe, Tyler, Ian, and Holden, all have black cards with red roses on them to hand out to fighters that impress them. The card acts as an invite to meet with me and sometimes Scar if she’s around.
We offer to train them to become one of our fighters if we like them. The guys are extremely picky with who they hand out the cards to though, so I don’t think we’ve ever turned anyone away.
We do lose a lot in training though. We have a high standard for any of our fighters and as tough as they think I am, Scar is ruthless on them when she comes around.
The fight rings aren’t really her domain, but she likes to show up occasionally and kick ass or whip some of our fighters into shape. In these circles it’s well-known Scar is my girl, even if she doesn’t see it that way, so her presence is welcomed and even expected.
