Page 38 of The Viper

Dirty bastard. It’s my turn to snicker and roll my eyes. I continue working though the only thing I can focus on is the sad woman upstairs. Alone.

Chapter eleven

Dominic

Frank pulls up to the front of Ruben’s house. The house itself is massive, almost like a castle on the east coast of America. The grounds span what feels like acres and acres, with security that surpasses anything a world leader has ever seen.

Marco opens the door for me and waits until I’m out. Ruben’s maid is a young woman, cute and rather quiet. I can’t help but notice the pink in her cheeks and the innocence in her eyes when she opens the door. “Sir,” she says in a barely audible voice. “Mr. Sacco is in his office.”

“Thank you, bella,” Marco says as he offers her a smile and glances over her body. Her cheeks redden and she attempts to suppress a smile.

Marco and I head down to Ruben’s office where I knock once, and wait for his approval before I enter. “Come in,” he calls.

“Stay here,” I instruct Marco.

He straightens and stands against the wall, outside of Ruben’s office.

I open the door and find Ruben in front of his two monitors, toggling between them while speaking on the phone. “See to it,” he says and hangs up. He looks over to me and acknowledges me with a swift nod. He then turns his attention to his phone, and dials a number. “Maria, two espressos.”

“Si,” she replies in a thick Italian accent and he hangs up.

Ruben sits back and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “What can I do for you, Dominic?” The thing about Ruben is he never minces his words, and he absolutely hates small talk.

“We got a shipment early yesterday from the Pace family.”

“They always over-deliver.” He taps something on his keyboard, and looks over to me. “They’re consistent in their deliveries?”

“They are, which is why I believe we should give them more business. I’ve been looking at the deliveries from the DaMarias and not only have they been late on two deliveries, but their prices increased on the last shipment.”

Ruben’s brows lift. “They did?”

“It cut our profit down by two percent.”

“What’s the ratio split between the two?”

“Pace gives us sixty-five percent of our inventory, and DaMaria supplies the rest.”

Ruben scoffs and nods. “Speak with the Pace family and see if they can accommodate another ten percent increase.”

I take my phone out of my pocket and write the notes. “There’s also been an increase from the brothels.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re up eight percent from last quarter.”

Ruben’s brows draw in. He’s not happy with the increase. “Eight percent?”

“Yep.” I add a nod in my confirmation.

“Across all the brothels?” I nod again. “Let’s take a look at them, because I was expecting at least ten. Is something happening there?”

“The figures indicate solid growth.”

“Not enough, though. I’ll check them out. We might need to implement something new that can help our bottom line more.” I clear my throat and shuffle in my seat. “What is it?” There’s a knock on the door, stopping me from asking something that’s been on my mind since I spoke with Adrian yesterday. “Enter.”

Marco opens the door and Maria, Ruben’s chef, enters holding two coffees. “Signore,” she says as she places them on the table.

“Thank you, Maria.” She backs out of the room and closes the door, leaving us in privacy once again. “What was your question, Dominic?”

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