Page 10 of Willing Captive
To my surprise, a few of the older men at the table nod their agreement. I realize I’ve been distracted today, but come on, this is all just bullshit posturing. They all want to act like we’re in the movie Scarface when in reality, this is a business like any other. We just happen to break kneecaps every now and again.
“My apologies. I had a run-in with Antonio Rossi’s niece yesterday, and I’ve been talking with my guys.” Maybe bringing Leo into the conversation is a bad idea, but I think it’s time to remind everyone what’s really going down. “Since he passed, she’s taken over, and yesterday one of Dario’s guys ran in there and caused some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” one of the elders, Frank, asks. “You should have come to me. Antonio was a good friend of mine.”
“I know, and out of respect for you, I took care of it privately,” I say to Frank. He nods his thanks, and I keep going. “Tommy Sanger on Seventh Street ran in the laundromat when he saw me. He owes me a lot of money, and he hasn’t paid his debts.”
The whole room turns to Dario for an explanation. He’s in charge of collections on that side of the city.
“I was told he skipped town,” Dario says and then clears his throat. “I’ll check into it.”
“That would be appreciated,” I say to him and then turn my attention back to Frank. “His niece was a little shaken up, so I’ve put a couple of guys there as a precaution.”
“Good thinking,” Frank says. “I should go by and pay her a visit.”
“I’m happy to take care of it for you,” I tell him, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Dario lean closer like he’s interested in my conversation with Frank. The last thing I need is for Dario to be curious about Leo. “But if you’d prefer to do it yourself, I’ll step back. As you know, he was like family to me when I was a kid. I was just offering her help because her uncle was an old friend of the neighborhood.”
“That’s good work, Mattia,” Frank agrees. “You’re the new boss there; you take care of it. Give her my best.”
“Yes, sir.” I sit back in my chair and relax a little even though I know Dario’s curiosity is stirring. Hopefully I did enough to throw him off.
“I’ll look into the loading docks,” Dario finally says, and the group starts discussing what it will take to get the delayed shipments in on time.
While they’re distracted, I glance at my phone again.
Leo: That will be $100 a toe, so $900 more if you’re not good at math like I am.
Me: Thank you for doing the calculations ahead of time. Now let me see which piggies went to market…
Chapter 7
Leo
I don’t want to brag or anything, but I don’t need a filter, lighting, or help from stupid AI. My toes are pretty freaking cute all on their own, but going off Reddit, it’s not only about the toes. It’s also about the mood and vibe.
It’s people doing things with their toes. A few really go hard with the food like sticking their toes in pies, macaroni and cheese, or mashed potatoes. The options are limitless, but that’s not for me. No judgment, but maybe a little judgment.
Coming up with other ideas for each toe is fun. I make sure that I take a picture of each one doing its own thing. I snort a laugh as I draw a face on my big toe. If these pictures are good, I know Mattia will keep coming back for more. I send off the other nine pictures all at once before following it up with a text that says if he wants to see them all together in one picture, that will cost him.
“Sucker,” I say to myself as I let out my best evil laugh.
The man on the other side of the laundromat looks up from his phone, and I cover my laugh with a cough. I’m not trying to scare off a paying customer. It’s not like I can put all my money eggs into one sugar daddy’s basket.
Mattia: Are you shaking me down?
Me: You’re too big to shake.
What does that even mean? Sometimes he says the strangest things, but it’s endearing. People have their quirks. Well, not me. I’m baseline normal for the most part.
He offers another hundred, but I counter and add a zero to that hundred and once again do the math for him. Ten toes all together would be a grand. This is why the mob has to use those money counters.
When he agrees, a girly giggle leaves me, and I have to clear my throat. The sound is weird and not something I’ve ever done before. I need to get it together. This is a working kidnap-sugar relationship, and it needs to stay professional. I’m not giddy about any of this.
After I send the picture of all of my toes, the rest of the day is boring and drags on. As soon as it’s almost closing time, I get up to click the lock over so people can only exit. Of course someone enters right then. Damn it.
“Hi,” I say with a fake smile and hold the door open farther for them to enter.
He walks past me, and that’s when I notice he doesn’t have a basket. I glance down the sidewalk, expecting another person to be holding the basket and on their way. When I don’t see anyone else, I let the door close behind him.
