Page 19 of Bloody Savage God
“It’s not like you were going to let him keep working here.”
“No, of course not, you idiot. But now father will hear about it and get pissed you didn’t let him make the call.”
It’s not too hard to suppress the momentary flash of guilt I feel. “It’ll only help ease his mind that I’m taking care of business here.” And it wasn’t like our father would care much about one dead barkeeper as long as I disposed of him properly.
“Then take care of it.” Anya shoos me off, and turns to walk back behind her desk. “I’ve got to hire someone new.”
“Love you, sis.”
Anya just rolls her eyes. “Don’t get into any trouble.”
My sister doesn’t know I’m already knee deep, because that need I feel each time after I let loose that violence inside me, it has a name now. Stalking her to Club Steel might have been the best or worst decision of my life, but it’s done now.
Gianna Bruno is in my head, and I need more of her.
Chapter Seven
Gianna
Saturdaymorning,Iheadto work, ready to tackle the day. While others laze around on the weekends, I make the most of the days when the office is quiet and I can make the kind of deals that require a bit more privacy.
The Bruno Properties offices are located in Hoggs Hollow, with a great view of Teddington Park. You can’t be a top tier Realtor without having the offices to back you up, after all. Not that the property sales themselves are where we make most of our money, but it’s still a lucrative enterprise.
I wet my lips before telling my secretary to make the call that I’ve been looking forward to since selling one of the fancy apartments we outfitted with hidden cameras for just this purpose. After the release I’ve had both with Benny Ronaldo, and then with Mike in Club Steel, I am much more eager to get back to my usual style of dominating the rich and mighty of Toronto.
Josephine sends the call through to my office, where I can speak privately. Even on the weekends, some discretion is necessary since not all of our employees are off. Few of the regular staff are aware of the nature of the business we run here, though I doubt any of them are truly unaware of my family’s reputation.
“Hello?” Donald Herard’s voice comes through, sounding slightly annoyed. He’s probably wondering why I’m bothering him when he signed all the necessary contracts over a month ago.
“Donald, hello,” I greet him, my voice honey sweet. “How are you?”
I can’t help it. I enjoy playing with my prey before I go for the kill. The mental games are just as satisfying as the violence, but I get a lot more practice with this, making the fun feel unbalanced some days. Today, though, the lingering bliss from the weekend has me in a rather good mood.
“I’m good, thank you Ms. Bruno. How can I help you?”
Oh, yes. He’s definitely annoyed that I’m taking up his precious time. Well, let’s see if I can’t make him rethink that. Cowering men are so much fun.
“I was wondering how Sean is doing?” I say it with all the nonchalance in the world, anticipating his reaction.
There is an unnaturally long pause before Donald speaks. “I’m not sure whom you are referring to.” His voice comes out formal and stilted, the reaction so predictable, I can’t help but chuckle.
“You know? The man you have living in the apartment you bought from us. The one that doesn’t have your wife’s signature on the contract.”
This is my favorite of our income streams. We sell apartments to people in high or useful places at discounted prices if we know they will use them for anything that we can use to blackmail them with later. Usually that means mistresses that live in these extra apartments, but sometimes it involves filming the shady behind-closed-doors business deals that are struck. Or, in this case, the male lover of a married man.
Besides the obvious legal deals to be made in the real estate market and the more exciting blackmailing, we have two more ways we use the real estate and property business to make a profit. The first way is the illegal gambling halls we set up in the various empty properties we have at our disposal. This is the part Uncle Mario runs, and it’s where Benny Ronaldo had his little misstep. The second is the construction businesses we are able to hire and that we use to wash money. Mostly white-collar crimes that even my uncle doesn’t question my role in, though he thoroughly underestimates their worth in keeping our family strong and untouchable. It’s a naïve miscalculation on his part, though my father doesn’t seem to want to disillusion his best friend, who still clings to his idea of the business as it existed in the seventies.
It doesn’t matter, because this way, I get to run my ship the way I see fit, and today, one of Toronto’s finest is finding out that his secret lover isn’t so secret anymore. Donald is the Deputy Chief of Police, and I’m certain he’s going to be very inclined to do me some favors in the future.
“What do you want?”
Ah, there it is. So simple.
“Here is what I want you to do, Donald.” Laying out exactly how deep he’s in our pocket now, I close the deal, a happy smile on my face when I end the call.
It’s the little pleasures in life, after all.
Since it’s about time for lunch, I tell Josephine to hold the fort and head down to our kitchen to warm up my food. When you have someone like Mellie at home packing your lunch, takeout loses all its appeal. Of course, Josephine would go down to the kitchen for me, but I prefer not to sit on my ass all day and actually move around as much as I can.
