Page 130 of Bad Seed
“Modesty will get you nowhere in this business. But I think you already know that.” He stops staring at Aubry and looks directly at me. What does that mean? What’s going on?
“What do you want from me?”
“I find myself in a bit of a pickle thanks to Tom’s ever expanding reach exceeding his grasp. Crudité cannot be allowed to fall.”
Aubry nods.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, it will require a complete and thorough gutting of management. I’d say you start with this room…” Mr. Oli stares at the mural before he shudders. “Then work on your loyal employees. You know the drill. Two close by, another two for them to keep an eye on each other. So on and so forth.”
Aubry winces and shakes his head. “What does this…? Why are you telling me this?”
After giving one last discerning eye to the room, Mr. Oli turns back, hand on his chin. “Because it’s yours.”
“What?” both Aubry and I shout together..
“Crudité, it’s assets, the operations contained within, and—of course—the subsequent parking garages, storage facilities, and docks. I can transfer them all to your name in an hour.” Mr. Oli bends over and picks something off of the ground. As he twists it in his hand, I realize it’s the piece of ear. “Hmm. Better make it two in case the old owner passes out from blood loss.”
“This is…a joke.” Aubry keeps shaking his head, his hand on my waist tightening with each twist. “You’re fucking with me.”
“I assure you, son, you’d know if I was fucking with you.”
“No. Why? Don’t you have…kids? Two sons and a daughter?”
“Two of them are currently running my other casinos. And the third is lucky he doesn’t drown in the shower. If I put him in charge of anything more complicated than a Rubix cube, we’d all wake up in chains. There is also the matter of the agreement.”
Aubry keeps shaking his head as if he can’t believe any of this. “What agreement?”
Mr. Oli leans closer to whisper to me. “He’s quite good at playing dumb, isn’t he? No wonder Tom never saw your betrayal coming.”
“I didn’t—”
“As long as the Nightshades have one casino on the strip, then there won’t be any gang wars back in the old country.”
“But Mr. Ato was going to takeover all of the Strip.”
A slimy smile winds up Mr. Oli’s lips. “He was going to try. In truth, I never had the collateral to remove him. The Nightshades didn’t care that he was a grubby, incompetent, grasper. And I never had the proof I needed to finally remove this splinter from my eye. Not until you.”
With a dramatic turn, he faces me. “And you as well, my dear. I haven’t forgotten your assistance. She’s quite the dame.”
Even as he stares through space and shakes his head, Aubry still pushes me behind him. But I can peek over his shoulder, watching Mr. Oli smile. I’m a weak point for Aubry, and he knows it.
Come on. We can leave. Just get out of here. Hit the road. Never look back.
I try to pull on Aubry’s arm but his body’s rigid.
“Why would I accept?” Aubry asks.
“Why wouldn’t you? Power? Wealth? Enough pussy to drown yourself?” Mr. Oli full on winks at me with that and I scowl. “I understand your reticence. Things under Tom were getting out of hand. He employed a bit too much force for our liking. We’re a simple, Christian organization that prefers to keep the kneecap breaking to a minimum. If you’re in charge, you get to set the rules. If you’re not…”
He lets the unsaid ring out in the room. Sure, Aubry could try to change things, make a more touchy-feely mafia that only does moderate drug dealing and the occasional truck theft. But he’d be here, trapped as some suited mafia crime boss. Sleeves rolled up, hands digging into the desk, dark eyes staring down at me until they flash purple.
No. No, no, no. He doesn’t want this. He can’t want this.
“Who?”
“Hmm?”
“Who would take control if not me?”
