“Jesus, kid. Don’t you get it?” Deny pushes me against the wall. If anyone was out here, it would be noticed, but he’s not near as rough as he usually is with me. “No amount of money will satisfy Nico. You think you’re the only one I go see on his behalf? You aren’t, but it’s different with you. This is about power, and he’s got it over you.” His eyes latch on to mine, dark and dangerous. “This Mann family? There is something here. Not sure why Moretti doesn’t see it, or maybe he’s playing them, saying he’s going legit. He’s fucking friends with the FBI.” He shoves me against the brick and then backs up with his hand lightly tapping his lips, thinking. “You could be valuable for once.”
My eyes widen. As if all the cash I have given him over the past two years isn’t valuable. Sure would have been worth a lot to me all the times I was almost freezing or almost starving, despite working my ass off. Which, if I am reading between the lines here, was more important to Nico than the money itself.
What all has Nico gotten himself into, to be associated with Deny? My guess is loansharking, if Deny’s out collecting on other people. Would explain his connection to Moretti, too. I know of him, even if I didn’t recognize the face. And Moretti is rumored to have ties to the mob. “What do you think I am going to do for you?”
“Well, Nico’s almost done—”
“What do you mean, Nico’s almost done? You just said you couldn’t give me a number. I have no idea what you or Nico want, Deny. Not other than money. I’m just asking what that number is.”
Deny waves his hands dismissively. “Your cousin hired me to keep you on the run for a few years and get his money back . . .he never gave me a number or a loan contract, just said to keep you paying . . .butthisthing with the Manns. . .” His cold eyes snap to mine. “You will answer when I call for you, got it, Theo? I don’t know what it would look like just yet, but you make sure when I need you, you come running. Then we will forget the rest of what Nico hired me for.”
“Just like that? I don’t need to meet you or pay you? You aren’t going to—”
“Now is time for me to make a move. I can get the rest of what Nico wanted by having you at my beck and call for a few months.” His finger jabs my direction. “But don’t be using whatever Frank taught you, whatever reason Nico chased you down at Glazed. This only works if you stay out of the kitchen.”
As if anyone would hire me after the hit job Nico did to my reputation and the constant threat of the next place getting the same warning Nico forced on Glazed.
“Just lie low until I need you—keep working your way into this family.”
“I won’t help you hurt the Manns, if that’s your plan.”
“Yeah? Well, that’s the cost of your freedom and keeping your cash. You come to me when I ask you to. You find out what I need you to know and tell me.”
Deny’s hand wraps around my throat, and I remember the last time. Suddenly, the light of day and hum of people passing by without knowing what is happening seems less like protection.
Nico was always one to pay money for the best, and I’m sure Deny’s the best goon money can buy. “I own you, and you will do what I tell you to, until I decide to stop. I’m telling you to keep your damn money, and don’t give Nico any reason to come find you. And when I need you, be there.”
He doesn’t say it, but unspoken or not, I still hear the threat. Deny will find me. Maybe not for cash, but for whatever he wants.
Chapter 17: Theo
Deny, despite his threats, has to take a back seat until I can speak with Matt and all of his brothers. Matt will be back soon from his trip, but I take Mulder to my place anyway. First, I check to make sure a pet at the Hobbit Hole isn’t a problem for Quinn, and it isn’t.
With Mulder in the space, it feels more homey. Since Deny isn’t demanding all my earnings, I do a couple of things I haven’t done in two years. After waiting a few days past our usual meet-up time to make sure I don’t hear from him, I get a haircut and go shopping.
In astore. Not the storage room or someone’s dumpster.
The haircut is from a regular at Black Diamond with a salon within walking distance of the bar and the Hobbit Hole. My last haircut was free from a booth on campus during finals week at the end of the fall semester. Thanks to a Rollins shirt I found in the storage room, I could pretend to be a student, and no one checked for any kind of university identification.
I now have actual food in my place. Groceries. After a handful of times, I make myself quit opening the cabinet and refrigerator doors to stare at it.
I don’t know if I will ever be able to enjoy clothes like I once did. But I do have one shirt that isn’t a Black Diamond tee and an extra pair of jeans in my closet. The soft clothes Matt gave me are in a drawer.
Yesterday morning, I sat on my couch and looked out my window, sipping hot cocoa.
I also was able to purchase some extra items to work on ideas for Maxine’s. She wouldn’t let me waste the money sight unseen, but I think I can convince her once she tastes the results.
Nothing too fancy, though. There is no way I am going to chance what happened at Glazedhappening again. Deny didn’t even need to warn me about that.
Being tossed out on my ass was humiliating. I was angry, too. Then being turned down everywhere in Salt Lake for a job. Labeled as a thief of recipes and techniques. Someone who couldn’t be trusted. I didn’t do any of those things. Yes, I used what Frank taught me, but I had no idea I couldn’t. I worked at Donahue’s Bakery since I was fourteen until I went to culinary school. I never signed anything, and I have no idea how to relearn to do everything I know from Frank. But, I’m trying.
My head is full of so many questions. I wish I could just call Nico and ask him if he finally got what he wanted. If it was worth it. But the one and only time I ever tried, back in the beginning, he told me he would see me dead before I took even a “splinter” of Frank Donahue’s legacy. Then he told me to enjoy his present, meaning Deny, and ended the call.
I’m not sure what Deny wants from me regarding the Mann family, but he clearly doesn’t realize what they mean to me. I’ll go to them with what Deny wants before telling him anything I know. Maybe, if I pretend for a while, I’ll figure out his deal. And why he was with Lucien. Bishop trusts Lucien, and I trust Bishop, but Deny doesn’t make much sense. Either Lucien isn’t legit like he says or Deny is trying to pull one over Lucien and the Manns.
I put that from my mind for now. Quinn’s to-do list for renovations is growing by the day, and he wasn’t joking when he said it would not be light work to earn the Hobbit Hole. If I wasn’t done in the storage room, I could never juggle the reno and Maxine’s on top of Black Diamond. I have so much to communicate and check with the residents and owners, but I already feel part of the community of the Silver Spring condo.
On my way to my shift at Black Diamond, I wave to the Millers. They are a nice husband and wife in their sixties. Fitter than I am, they love the outdoor lifestyle of Bear Valley and own their condo. We plan to meet next week to discuss Quinn’s list. I hold the door for them and help George Miller strap his skis to the top rack of their Subaru so they can catch some late season snow up in Vail.
