Lucio was busy racking the balls. A security guard was approaching them. He turned to look. It was Vito.
"Boss, there is a young lady here to talk to you."
Lucio smiled and took a shot scattering the balls.
"Why is she here Vito?" Gian was looking at the table.
"She wouldn't say why boss. Says it is urgent and for your ears only."
"Did you get at least get her name Vito?"
"She says it is Bianca Richards."
Gian thought about the name. Who the hell was she? Oh he figured it out now. She was Marlon's daughter. Her father owed him a lot of money. She worked in the store her father had, it was a big fail. Marlon had borrowed his father’s money and he opened the store. It was barely making money. He couldn't even hire staff so the wife and daughter had to work. Maybe she had found some way to get the money to pay him or she was there to beg for some mercy. His men had been consistent with their visit to collect and to give out his threats.
"I have no time to see her now. Let her know that."
He made his shot and was waiting for Lucio to make one. Vito nodded and headed out. The game was over in less than fifteen minutes. He had won again and Lucio was speechless as usual. He was trying hard to figure out just how he could beat him. One day he would. He scowled at Paulo who was laughing at him.
"Paolo, why don't you go find something to do. I might just...." he let his voice trail off.
Polo ignored him. He was a hard one to get upset. He spent most of his time crunching numbers. That was his job and he was very good at it. He was not married and he was not interested in finding a wife or even a floozy to fuck. In the meantime his life was numbers and science fiction. They had tried everything but he was hard to break. After a while they just gave up on trying to get him a normal life.
"Get a life Lucio. Even I can play pool better than you can."
That made Gian laugh.
"Paolo, is everything okay with our accounts?"
"Oh, yes. I have the spreadsheets right here."
He pulled them out and presented them to his boss who scrutinized them. He seemed to be pleased with what he saw. Vito was coming back again. Who was trying to talk to him now? He seemed to be slightly rattled. He waited for his boss to address him.
"What now Vito?"
"Boss, she is still out there. She insists that she must speak to you. She will start causing trouble if you don't see her."
Gian looked at him. Oh she was determined wasn't she? Did she even know who she was really messing with? She clearly wanted to feel his wrath.
"Alright Vito, carry her to my office."
He gave Paulo the spreadsheets and told him to get rid of them. He wanted no paper trail for his illicit business. That was what had kept him out of jail for so long. Paulo didn't even use the computer to do any of the statements as that could always be found by some specialist at a later date.
Bianca was being led to the office. She was a bit scared. Had she been too bold? Would he just have her killed and dumped somewhere? She wasn't sure what kind of man he was at all. All she knew was that he had a reputation as did his father. She remembered that her father had almost had a heart attacked when the bank for closed on his shop. He was not even worried about that. He was worried about this Conti man discovering what had happened. That is where she differed from her father. She would never act so cowardly. No matter what she was going through she never let anyone see it.
She looked around the office that she had been led to. It was quite modern. She had never imagined that this was how his office would look. He had an expensive looking desk with a fancy chair. She sat on one of the two chairs he had for visitors. They matched the desk.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the door opened. She looked at the men coming in. The security that carried her to the office was there. He looked at her with steely eyes and she returned his stare. Another entered and she had never seen him before. All she knew was that he was extremely tall and he made her uneasy. Behind him was another tall man. He was the one with the icy gray eyes. He was Gian Conti. He had seen her father a couple years ago. She had sensed the evil in him but she was drawn to him as well. He was really handsome. She never expected a mob boss to look like that at all.
She looked at him now, really seeing him properly for the first time. He was still the same. He was unmistakably handsome. He was more muscular than she remembered. He had a menacing look though which told people he was a man to be reckoned with. She was getting a bit hot looking at him. He had that raw sort of sexual appeal. It was no wonder he always had a girl or two in his arm when he did go out to have fun. He would definitely be irresistible when he turned on the charm. She blinked. She could not afford to think of him like that now. She had to think about her family.
"Mr. Conti, I came here to talk about...."
He held up his hand and she stopped talking. Nobody disobeyed a man like that.
"Bianca, did my security guard here tell you that I was unavailable."
"Yes, he did."
"I know he did a she follows my orders. So why did you insist on staying here, you should have arranged to see me at another time that is convenient to me. I make no exceptions."
"I called Mr. Conti but I got a date almost three months down the line." She was becoming agitated.
"Well, that should indicate just how busy I am."
"Sir, I just have to speak to you about my Dad."
"Wow," he said looking at Lucio, "I remember the good old days when men spoke for themselves. Since when did their children, especially their daughters have to start speaking on their behalf."
"Boss that is a cowardly move..."
"I knew you would see it my way."
"But my Dad..."
"Dear, your father owes me a lot of money. I don't have to speak to you. He is the one who should be speaking to me."
"But, he is too sick. That is why I am here." She was having a problem keeping her composure around this man. She would break down if she didn't get to have her say.
Gian looked this girl over. She was really beautiful. She was probably wearing her best dress and it was still cheap and would soon be useless. She was not tall but she did have some good curves on her. She was having an effect on him. He was starting to imagine having this girl in his bed. He did feel sorry for her. She had no idea how to use makeup as she had on too much of the cheap kind and it was caking up. He wished he could just send her along and say it would all be okay but he couldn't. There was no place for compassion in his line of work. He looked at her dark skin and her big brown eyes. She had her hair down and he would love to let it down and run his hands through it. He had to get back to business.
"So, are you here to clear the debt?"
Bianca was fuming. She just wanted to give him a hard slap. The hate that she had welt for him when she initially saw him came rushing back. She would not let him go on like that. She loved her family and no matter what, she did not want them to suffer because of some debt they owed to the Conti's.
"Tell me Mr. Conti, how much does my Dad owe you now?"
"One hundred thousand," he answered without missing a beat.
Bianca took a deep breath. She was losing her mind. Why did her Dad borrow so much money from these people?
Gian looked at her and read her face. He realized that she was just finding out how much debt her father was really in. He had let the interest add up. If he had kept to the payments he would not owe that much right now. He watched her take a deep breath and her face was unreadable again.
"Mr. Conti, my family does not have that amount of money. That is a sum that we never will have."
"Well, that is something that your father should have thought about before he went into business with my father. If it was me, he would not have gotten any money at all as I would have known that he would not be afford to pay it back. Having a shop where he does just is not good marketing strategy. It was a dumb idea to begin with. I would have advised him against it. I don't know what my dad was thinking. That is why we are now in this situation."
Branded was wringing her hands in her lap. She was no longer looking up at him. She was going to have to make her proposal. If that did not work, she did not know what she was going to do.
"Mr. Conti, I think I have a solution to that problem."
Gian was looking at her. He was taken with her big brown eyes and her full lips. He looked down on at her supple breasts. He took in all he wanted knowing that she as looking at him before he looked back up at her face. Her gaze was cold.
"Make your proposal."
"Okay, I would come to work in one of your businesses until the sum that he owes you was paid off, I will work anytime, even twenty-four hours host to ensure that the debt is cleared. I will take any position. I am willing to learn.