Page 8 of The Sicuro

“Clean it is.”

My call with the interior designer isn’t until this evening, she is staying late to accommodate me, so I have some free time. I decide to pop to the bar, Kelcie is on shiftand as I walk in, I can see the tension take over her body and I’m starting to like the fact I have some kind of hold over her. Over the next couple of hours, I watch her work, during which David has been over a handful of times informing me of members wishing to approach to offer their condolences. All of which I decline.

I make sure I leave before her shift finishes so that I can wait outside for her and take her home. I want to see her in the dress I picked so I need to get her to take it. As she leaves, she walks straight towards me.

“Lift?”

“Asking or telling?”

I hold the car door open and hold my hand out for her, which she ignores again. She gets in and doesn’t speak. I let the tension build up, just as we are approaching her apartment, I gesture to the parcels in the seat across from us.

“These are for you.” She takes her focus away from looking out the window and looks at them.

“No thank you.”

“They are for tomorrow evening, they will be more suitable than your jeans.”

As the driver pulls up, I place my hand on her thigh, indicating that she is to wait for me to open her door, and she does. I open her door and again hold out my hand, which again she does not take but I follow her and place my hand on her lower back.

“Tomorrow 8pm,” I confirm with her.

I prewarned my driver to follow me to her door and hand the parcels to her, thinking she couldn’t refuse that way. Luckily, she took them. I came back to the office, had my call with the interior designer told her the kind of style that I wanted, she asked me to give her four words describing what I liked. Modern, clean, simple, and practical, I don’t need expensive art hanging on the walls. I requested that four out of the five bedrooms be made into comfortable guest rooms, but the master be left as it is. Not because I want to keep it that way, but because I have specific requirements for it, and I don’t have the time to go into the details now. I can sleep in a guest room until it is completed to my liking.

I’m in the office early. Today is the day that I lay to rest some random homeless person, correction my grandfather. It’s a cremation, he wanted to make sure there was no way of ‘digging up’ any details. Due to the size of crematoriums, a service is going to be held in the church grounds and then he will be moved to the crematorium and ‘processed’ accordingly. The one detail that I didn’t agree with but was not non-negotiable is that the urn would be kept in the office at The Sicuro. The thought of having a stranger’s ashes in there didn’t seem right. My grandfather said we should look at it from a different angle. That we don’t know how long this guy was on the streets, never having a comfortable bed. At least now he rests somewhere elegant. There was no wake arranged. It’s expected thateveryone will return to The Sicuro, which I am content with. I can sit in my booth, undisturbed and watch her.

The service went smoothly, David and Anders had their teams making sure there was no interference. When it finishes, I go back to the office, and Anders follows.

“All good Boss?”

“You tell me.”

“No issues and no signs of any imminent business to be taken care of. Downstairs has started to fill up.”

I remove my jacket and tie, undo my collar and two more buttons. I need to portray the image of a grandson who has just lost the only member of his family that he had left. Alongside having to deal with the fact that a member’s son thought I would be a weak target since he was gone. I know what needs to be done. I can’t be seen as only reacting to situations. I need to be proactive and ensure that the members know that things have not changed, however, the consequences will be far worse.

“Boss,” Anders calls me to remind me that I need to go to the bar.

“I know Anders. I will be down shortly.”

Anders makes his way down to the bar, which would look like any other Wednesday lunchtime, however, the difference today is that the standard rules aren’t enforced. Members will be moving around tables conversing, possibly even trying to develop business deals with each other. No one will approach my booth without going throughAnders first. I throw my jacket back on and knock back a whisky before I make my way down glad that I arranged to take her out tonight, so I have a reason to leave. As I walk into the bar, it becomes silent, those that are sitting, stand, I turn to Anders and nod, and the members return to their seats and conversations. I make my way to my booth. She’s working, and as soon as she noticed me, my whisky is poured, and a server brings it over. The five older, original members request to come and give their condolences, which I agree to. I decided after these that I am refusing anymore. I want to be left alone. I want to watch her.

A newer member, Mark Jackson, who Mr O’Connell agreed to guarantor, became a member so that he could buy and develop several apartment complexes. I wasn’t on board with him becoming a member, but my grandfather saw how it would benefit the community. We agreed on a small loan to enable him to get off the ground. We planned on keeping an eye on him as I believe that he doesn’t have the attitude and control that’s needed in these kinds of circles. He speaks with Anders to request to approach me, which is declined. It’s visible that he isn’t happy, he continues to drink and becomes more and more agitated. I know that David and the team are watching him, so I keep my eyes on Kelcie. I can hear him getting louder and angrier. He looks across and strides across the room with purpose but before he reaches my boothAnders is here standing with his back to me in front of the table facing Jackson.

“Am I not as entitled as they are?” He shouts flailing his arms around and pointing toward the members in the room. The room falls silent.

“Well, is my money not as valuable?”

He tries to push past Anders, who quickly has hold of him by the throat and slightly lifted off the ground, his toes are brushing the floor. He drops his glass and grabs Anders’s wrist. Standing I move out of my booth fastening and straightening my jacket. No words are necessary, Anders waits until I pass them and then follows me, still holding Jackson by his throat and dragging him with him. His feet are still slightly off the floor so he is unable to take actual steps. I get to the door and hold it open. Anders walks through taking Jackson with him. Before I follow out the door I turn to the room.

“Gentlemen,” I acknowledge the room before turning back and following Anders. The guests in the room slowly restart their conversations.

Eight

Kelcie

What the fuck just happened, who the fuck is Gabriel and what does he do, I’m starting to feel like this man isn’t someone that I should get mixed up with. The bar’s atmosphere is different today, which we were informed to prepare for. It was Mr DeMarco’s funeral so people would be here paying their respects and therefore some rules have been relaxed. Additional waiting staff were scheduled but it was still only me behind the bar. I have been non-stop busy making sure all orders were completed quickly so no one was left waiting. This helped me keep my mind off him until I saw him walk in, the people standing around all stepped out of his path as he made his way over to his booth. When I saw him, it was like my mind blanked out all my other senses so my eyes could focus solely on him. You could have heard a pin drop, all the other guests went silent when he walked in which stirred more confusion in me. His jacket was open and his shirt slightly undone, which is unusual for him. Noticing the small amount of his chest made my pussy twitch, it has a mind of its own, coming alive with just his presence. I poured his drink, and it was placedat his booth. I felt him watching me, which made my heart rate increase, I don’t think I will ever get used to what he does to me. A couple of other members approached him, but he didn’t really engage in conversation with them.

The other member was already causing a scene before he approached Gabriel, acting like a drunk teenager. I know that he is a member and not a guest of one, as it was only members’ today. He doesn’t have a regular table like others, so I don’t really know anything about him. The man who stepped in front of Gabriel’s table is here a lot of the time, I think he works with David. He also had no problems in removing him from the bar, he effortlessly held him, like he was holding up a glass to raise a toast. When Gabriel left, I think he turned and apologised to the members for the disruption, but I can’t be sure, I couldn’t hear him. The glass that was smashed was cleaned up as soon as they moved. It’s the first time anything like this has happened whilst I have been on shift, you can feel hostility between members on occasion, but nothing has ever arisen from it. It is becoming more and more clear why the staff had to sign NDAs.

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