EPOV
"I come to you in need of a favor, sir. I know you're very busy sir…"
"This isn't the Godfather…get to the point."
"I've been getting visits from some local gang members- they've been threatening me…"
"What kind of threats?"
"They've said that if I don't give up certain assets, they will pull me out of my store and end my livelihood."
"So why did you come to me?"
"Well…I've heard you can make things happen-or make sure something doesn't happen."
"What do you want to have happen?"
"I don't care. But I need them to stop harassing me and ruining my customers' trust. "
"I'll see what I can do. Let me know if nothing changes within the month."
I felt like taking a shower after talking to that prick. These stupid visits…they were crap. My guys were the ones moving in on the neighborhood businesses only to have the shop owners come to me asking for protection. Either way…I was earning my keep and kicking up to Aro.
Speaking of the boss…I had a sit down with him tonight to talk about the new acquisitions we were going to make over the other families in the city. The shower would have to wait. I got into the car waiting for me and headed toward Santino's- Aro's new acquisition- it was a new joint- he'd just taken it over after the opening parties couldn't finish paying their tributes. The outside of the restaurant had sleek lines and slate fire pits lining a small outdoor dining area.
As I walked in I could hear that cliché Italian opera music playing in the background like I was walking into a scene from Lady and the Tramp. The place was empty except for the large rectangular table Aro was already seated with his underboss, James, sitting to his left. The table was set for seven- Aro, James, James' bitch Tyler to his left, three open seats for Felix and the other head of the table was open for me- he was seated across from Aro- his two underbosses were seated on either side of him looking bored and ready to go home.
"Ah…Edward, so glad you could join us. We were just talking about which wine to have with dinner." Aro looked more than amused at the conversation topic. Felix looked nervous. James had his usual smug expression going and Tyler had his nose buried in his phone.
"I'll be drinking scotch." Aro smiled wider. He'd told me once that he preferred to work with people who spoke less than he did- something about they demanded more respect when they captured attention by staying quiet.
"Very well. Felix- we need to discus business…do you want to begin?" Felix leaned back and sighed. It was a poor attempt for him to cover up his uneasiness.
"Let us have a drink first- I never discuss business before a meal starts…it's poor form and bad luck."
James sighed heavily-he was always impatient-leaned back in his chair and shouted for the waitress.
"We'd like some service damnit!" Tyler snickered. Aro's smile disappeared. Felix quirked an eyebrow at James' lack of manners. Nothing happened.
James looked around behind him and waited. He huffed. "Tyler- go find out what the fuck is taking them so long to wait on our table." Tyler, James' lap dog, hopped up and walked towards the kitchen and stormed through the doors. James smirked again; Aro did not. Why he put up with James was sometimes beyond me.
Felix pursed his lips looked at Aro. "So this is your new baby? Some restaurant." Aro frowned slightly. He was about to retort when Tyler started barking from the back. The doors slammed open—Tyler was halfway carrying a young girl by her arm towards the table. He let her go once she was standing a few feet behind James.
"Ah- good. We are ready to order drinks." Aro did that creepy sneer thing he did before he belittled someone. "Do you think you can manage taking our drink orders?" He didn't disappoint.
The girl was visibly trembling- her note pad in hand, I was waiting for her to pass out from the obvious fear she had of us. She was pretty cute-even though she was trembling. Her long brown wavy hair partially hid face as she deeply nodded at his question.
"We'll have two bottles of '95 Chateau Margaux, and he'll have two fingers of Macallan 39, neat." At least James knew what I drank. I said nothing. The girl stood there waiting, still shaking. Aro looked up at her, he was displeased.
"Little girl, you're dismissed." She quickly walked away and rushed into the kitchen.
Aro sighed. Hell, at this point I was ready to leave. The waitress quickly returned with the two bottles of wine and my glass of scotch. She put my glass down first then walked over to Aro and presented the bottles to him. He nodded and waited for her to go through the pretentious shit waiters have to do with wine. He sniffed the cork and nodded. She poured a sip. He drank it and approved. She shakily poured for the rest of the table.
"We'll have an order of clams, a plate of lasagna, a plate of fettuccini and an order of garlic bread. Tell the chef to make enough for all of us." The girl nodded and ran off. "Now that we have our drinks, gentlemen, turn your phones off please. I don't do business with them on." I clicked my phone over to silent- I never turned it off when I did business.
Everyone took out their phones and turned them off. Tyler looked like someone had stolen his puppy. It was pretty damn funny. Aro and Felix began talking. I sat back and watched each of the men at the table. James wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. Tyler was trying to drink as much as possible. Felix's guys were tense.
The waitress brought the food out on a huge tray-I was surprised she could carry all of that without dropping it. The guys stopped talking when she walked out. The girl put each plate out in the center of the table and then stood by Aro and waited. She looked terrified of something but kept her shaking down. He looked around at the food and then waived his hand at her.
"It's fine- leave us." She walked away quickly.
The guys plated food up, I was happy with my liquid dinner.
Fifteen minutes into the fascinating discussion between Aro and Felix the waitress came back out with a napkin hanging over her hand. She stood away from the table and just waited. Something was up and I was anxious to see what was about to go down.
Aro looked up from talking with Felix and sneered again. "Little girl, is there something you needed?" The girl just looked around at first…she didn't say anything. Aro sneered wider. "Is there a problem?"
My hand was on my glock before anyone realized what she was about to do. In a split second she dropped the napkin and fired a silenced nine at Aro. She popped him one in the forehead, shot James in the chest and started to wind back to Felix. I tackled her before she could get her last shot off. Felix and his guys were up with weapons drawn, Tyler was checking on James and Aro when I realized the guns in our enemies' hands were pointed at me. The girl was shaking in my arms—I could tell she was crying.
I stood up and pointed my gun at her temple. "Get your guns off me guys. I've got her."
Felix lowered his first, his guys followed. Tyler was covered in blood.
"Guys…uh, Edward sir…they're both dead." Tyler looked lost and scared. "They're what?!" I was stunned.
"Uh…they're dead. Aro and James. They're dead boss."
The girl turned around in my arms and started shouting- "that's what you mother fuckers get!"
I needed to clear my head and get away from Felix as quickly as possible-this could cause us to be possible rivals now. "FUCK!" I dragged the girl out to my car with me and threw her in the back. My driver was in the front before I could bark at him to take me back to my place. I climbed in the back and shoved the girl over.
I hope you all like my new story!
