Page 98 of Fragile

The aura coming off her male partner suddenly intensified as he straightened in his seat, those large hands of his coming to rest on the table. The look he delivered the girl was quite scary and I felt another twinge of worry.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I asked, my eyes scanning both of them to try and place where I may have seen her.

The man, or Kai as she had called him, opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “It’s on your name tag,” she pointed out with a syrupy smile.

Of course, I glanced down, suddenly feeling silly. The man, Kai, bristled in his seat before barking his order.

“I’ll have the club sandwich. Ava, tell the nice lady what you want?”

One eyebrow arched and she placed her hands on the table. “Nothing, thank you. I’ve lost my appetite.”

So, she was being awkward on purpose. I keyed in his food order and left them to it. He certainly had his hands full with that one.

As I walked away, I could hear they started arguing. Oh dear.

I decided to ask Charlie, one of the other servers to keep an eye on them and when I pointed in their direction his face paled.

“What’s the matter?”

Charlie blew out his breath so fast that it lifted his fringe. He had moplike blonde hair and a cheeky smile. He was the same age as me and we had loads in common.

His mouth dropped open and I had to prompt him. “Charlie? What’s up?”

He turned away and placed some menus he’d been holding on the counter by the bar.

“The guy over there. He’s a member of the Kinlan family,” he whisper-shouted.

A what?

I then said that out loud. “A what?”

“The dude at the table with the tats on his knuckles. He’s a Kinlan, he must be. They all look the same. Shit.”

I was puzzled. “Who are they, celebrities?”

Charlie looked at me like I was on something. “Celebrities. I suppose they are, of the criminal world anyway. They’re mafia, Leonie.”

Mafia? As in, Scarface and all that stuff. Surely, they didn’t exist anymore and in London of all places. Yes, I’d watched Peaky Blinders and Gangs of London but they were far-fetched pieces of drama.

“So, you’re saying that we have a crime boss eating at our restaurant?” I didn’t try to hide my smile.

He nodded. “Yes. Fucking hell, I would love to get a selfie with him in the background.

That shit would go viral. I’d probably end up losing my fingers though.”

Distaste ran through me at his joke. Surely losing one’s limbs wasn’t something to laugh about.

“Back in a sec. I’m going to find Susie. She’ll want to see this.”

He dashed away and I turned back around to the two guests. Mafia, criminals? My heart started to pump in my chest and I wondered whether to message Gabriel. I knew his father worked for some dodgy people but mafia? Was that even a thing anymore?

I thanked Harriet who worked the bar as she placed the Jack Daniels and Coke and another Coke on my tray and then walked over to give the pair their drinks.

My heart sank as I set them down, it looked like the girl, Ava, had been crying. Shit, should I say something. What if she was his kidnap victim or something? I suddenly felt out of my element and unsure of what to do. Should I get Felice?

The man Kai suddenly said my name, “Thank you, Leonie, wasn’t it?”

Shit. I so wanted to rip my name tag off and launch it across the terrace. The fact that he now knew my name was like a red flag.

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