Page 35 of The Don

“Yes, sir. It’s beginning to not be worth it for many of us. Some of us are losing up to half of our pay, Mr. Sacco, and it’s going to him.”

“Why haven’t you told me about it?”

“We had no way of getting in touch with you. And he’s also threatened us and told us not to say anything because he knows where we live. Not only that, but he’s trying to convince us to go bareback. He said some clients will pay more for sex without a condom.”

Over my dead fucking body is this fucker going to turn my business into his own personal cash cow. I nod once and relax my stance before standing and walking over toward the door. “Is there anything else before you leave?”

“No. The problem is him and his greed. If things could go back to the way they were when I first started working here, then I’m sure none of the girls would want to leave.”

“Thank you for your candor.” I open the door and step aside. “Enjoy your night.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sacco.” She lowers her head and hurriedly makes her way up the stairs to her room.

“Dante,” I say and step aside for him to enter the office. “Noah, coffee.”

“Yes, sir.”

He leaves to make me a coffee and I open the door for Dante to enter. “Those girls aren’t happy here. Do we have a replacement for Noah?” I ask.

“We do. I’ve had Laurence training a new guy over at Moonlight for the new brothel we’re building.”

“Call him. We need him to start here tonight.”

He takes his phone out of his pocket and dials the number, but the knock on the door stops him. “Yeah,” I say.

The door opens and Noah enters with my coffee. I stand and gesture for him to sit. He places the coffee on the desk, then sits. “Everything okay?” He attempts to play it cool, but the sweat beading across his hairline tells me everything I need to know.

Dante stands and walks out of the room to make the call. I take a step backward and cross my arms in front of my chest, staring at Noah. “We have a problem, Noah.”

He clears his throat and adjusts the collar around his neck. “I don’t know what that bitch told you, but you can’t believe her. She’s a fucking whore.” He tugs at his collar again.

“Yes, they are whores. It’s their job. They get paid to have sex with men who are willing to part with a lot of money. And do you know why my brothels are so successful?”

“I don’t know.” He lifts his shoulders without a care.

“Because my girls are clean, and this is more like a resort then a whore house.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“How much do you earn from looking after my girls?” He shifts in his seat and looks around the room. He knows I know what he’s been doing. “I asked you a question,” I say in a calm voice.

“These girls.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “They lie through their teeth.” I leap forward and grab his arm, holding his hand onto the table. “What are you doing?” he yells and struggles to break out of my hold.

Dante reenters the office and quickly scans to see what I’m doing. He rounds the other side of the desk and clamps his arm around Noah’s neck. “I asked you a fucking question,” I repeat in an even, cool tone.

“I-I-I don’t know,” he stammers as he struggles against Dante and myself.

If he couldn’t get out of my grip, how the fuck does he think he’ll get out of both of us? “Hold him still.”

Dante’s features harden as he tightens his grip around Noah’s neck. I take a pocket knife out of my suit jacket and extend the blade. “You’ve been stealing from my girls.”

“No, they wanted to give me money for looking after them.”

“And you’ve been stealing from me.”

“What?” his shriek vibrates through the office. “No, I’d never steal from you, Mr. Sacco.”

I flatten his hand out on the desk, but he’s doing everything possible to keep it closed into a fist. I stab the knife through his hand and he releases a scream of pain. “You’ve been stealing from my girls who work hard for their money, which means you’ve been stealing from me,” I repeat.

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