Blood in the Golden Palace

Chapter 7: Angelo-2

Angelo nodded. “We’re going with the ‘we’re a legal business’ route, even with all the roadblocks Pinkerton’s been hitting. Gio said he’d suss out the issues and make sure we had all our ducks in a row before depositions.”

Nikki c****d an eyebrow. “And you?”

Angelo trudged his way to the coffee maker. Starting up a pot, he was quick to add a couple extra shots of espresso on the touch screen. “Pinkerton thinks I can be a more legit stand in, so he’s got me prepping for the case. On top of all the sleuthing I’ve had to do to find our f*****g leak.” With a beep, the coffee finished, and Angelo took a deep drink. “Whoever this is sure wants to make life difficult.”

Nikki leaned up against Angelo’s desk and gestured at the clutter around her. “Is that why you didn’t go home last night?”

Angelo kept a straight face. “Yeah,” he said.

“No other reason?”

“The hell are you getting at, Nik?”

Nikki lolled her head to one side, bored. “I swung by this morning. Saw that your guest room was shut tight. How long are you keeping her around, Angelo?”

“Christ, not you too.” Angelo waved off Nikki’s concerns and went back to his desk, taking another sip of his coffee. “Look, I don’t know how long it’s going to take. I gotta build up her trust. Make her think of me as a friend. Once I know I have her loyalty, we can go from there.”

“You know what works better than that? A f*****g gun.”

“Nikki.”

“What?”

Angelo ran his fingers through his un-gelled hair. “You know murder is messy. Trust me, this is the better option. Besides, why are you so hell-bent on killing her? It’s not like she’s a Fed or something, Nicoletta.”

“Because every second she’s involved with you is more of a risk,” Nikki answered. “What do you know about this girl? Why are you so insistent that she can be trusted? She’s probably finding ways to contact the cops as we’re sitting her talking.”

Angelo drummed his knuckles on the desk. “Tell you what,” he said, “why don’t I take you both out to lunch? Give you a chance to get to know her.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’m serious,” Angelo continued. “Once you see what I see, you won’t have a reason to worry.”

“And what is that?”

Angelo opened his mouth to respond, but found that he could think of no answer that would satisfy his sister. Finishing up his coffee, he set the mug aside and stood, cracking his back. “So is there a reason you’re here, or…?”

Nikki dug into her massive purse and tossed a fresh shirt and a pair of underwear into Angelo’s arms. “Freshen up,” she said. “We’ve got interviews.”

Once Angelo cleaned up, shaved, and changed, he headed out to the main floor of the Palace. A row of attractive young women sat at the closest bar, each one in a mix between business attire and sexy secretary. Each one lit up at the sight of Angelo, but behind his polite smile, Angelo couldn’t place a single one of them in his mind.

These must be all Nikki’s choices, he thought. Not that I was pulling in girls by the truckload…

One by one, Nikki and Angelo brought up a girl to the second floor for an interview. And one by one, Angelo felt his attention dropping drastically. Each candidate was practically a carbon copy of the previous. They were gorgeous, sure, some even had serving or bartending experience. Angelo was certain any one of the bunch could fulfill what Nikki had in mind. As far as he was concerned, nothing about any of them was worth remembering. They were all perfectly groomed, perfectly poised, perfectly boring. By the fifth interview, Angelo was all but checked out. Fortunately, Nikki liked the interview process. Angelo was never one to get in her way. So, while she took notes and asked questions, Angelo let his mind wander.

He wondered what would have happened that day had everything not gone awry. He pictured Penny—sweet, innocent Penny—sitting down for a formal interview. He pictured how nervously she would shift her legs, or how she would touch her hair subconsciously while she pieced together her best answers. Angelo wondered what he would ask her. Perhaps he would inquire why she wanted to work there? And she would skirt around the issue of needing money while talking about her love of people. He would watch her eyes sparkle as she went on a tangent of how beautiful and huge the Palace was, and how lucky she’d feel if she got a job there. She would openly admit to perhaps not being the perfect choice, but would reassure him that she had a strong work ethic. She would laugh and smile at all the right moments, and when Angelo offered her a job, her face would light up like fireworks, and she would never stop thanking him for the opportunity.

And then, Angelo could see her every night.

And then, perhaps he could ask her out for a drink.

And then, after that, he could take her home.

And then—

“Angelo.”

Once again, Angelo was shaken by Nikki’s harsh whisper. He whipped around to see his sister glaring daggers at him. He cleared his throat and addressed the eager-eyed redhead sitting across from the pair of them. “Sorry. What was the question?”

The redhead laughed charmingly. “I just want to know what I can expect as far as a work environment here. You know, you hear horror stories about male night club managers harassing their employees. Not that I’m accusing you of anything. I just want to know how professional you are as a boss.”

Angelo slipped into an easy, endearing smile. “Of course,” he said. “I take the safety and comfort of my employees very seriously. If there are any incidents with customers or even other coworkers, I have systems in place to deal with those incidents amicably. As for me, I don’t think you have to worry. I keep a strict professional relationship with all my female employees.”

That got the prospective hire giggling. Angelo could feel Nikki resist the urge to not roll her eyes into the back of her skull. “Well that’s good. If you don’t mind me saying so, Mr. DeRossi, I actually heard a lot of rumors about this place before I decided to apply.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Angelo…” Nikki warned.

With an uncertain glance Nikki’s way, the redhead started up again. “I heard that a lot of women have to quit after they work for you for too long, Mr. DeRossi. Something about getting too involved?”

Angelo’s smile widened. “Now where did you hear something like that? I think I need a publicist.”

“I don’t really think this is appropriate conversation for an interview.” Nikki shot Angelo a dirty look and straightened out her collection of résumés. “Thank you, Miss Holland. We’ll be in touch.” The redhead, with an all too familiar glint in her eye, excused herself and headed downstairs. Once she was out of earshot, Nikki swerved to Angelo and swatted him on the head with the paper stack. “Can you keep it in your pants for like two minutes?”

“What?” Angelo defended. “Nik, come on, she was coming onto me.”

“Ange, if I had a nickel for every hostess that leaves this place because you needed to get your rocks off—”

“Okay, okay!” Angelo threw up his hands. “Relax, will ya? It’s not like I ate her out right here at the table.”

“Charming.” Nikki stood and shoved the resumes under her arm. “I’m going to assume you went empty-head through the entire thing?”

“No, I was paying attention.”

“How many girls did we see today?”

Angelo paused to think. “More than three.”

“You are f*****g hopeless.” Still, Nikki didn’t seem shocked. “I’ll go ahead and take over the hiring process then. Since nothing ever gets done around here without me anyway.”

“That’s why you’re the best general manager in the world.” Angelo stood, hands in his pockets, and flashed Nikki a sorry smile. “Listen, I know I haven’t been on my A game lately with the club. And with everything going on…” He sighed. “Cut me a little slack, huh?”

Nikki considered his plea, tapping the top of her stack of applicants. “Fine. I’ll handle the day to day for now while you deal with everything else.” She pointed with her document stack. “But you need to get this s**t over with quickly before it collapses in on itself. This place is huge. It’s totally impossible to run on my own for very long.”

“Yeah.” Angelo took her shoulders. “But that’s what you do, isn’t it? The totally impossible?” Angelo could tell that Nikki didn’t want to let him butter up her ego, but it was a difficult task. “Look, you take over for a little while, I’ll go double time on my end, and before long, we’ll be back doing fifty/fifty in no time.”

“More like eighty/twenty,” Nikki quipped. She knocked off Angelo’s hands, but not nearly as aggressively as she could have. “I already said I’d do it, you brown-noser.”

Angelo grinned and kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”

“Yeah, I know.”

* * * *

When Angelo arrived at Bobby Black’s, he was pleased to find the place relatively empty. Not that Bobby’s was ever very full. It was a dive bar settled close to Fisherman’s Bay, and patronized almost exclusively by locals. Its walls were perpetually rotting wood planks, which stood for years simply to spite time and gravity themselves. Along the walls were old newspaper clippings, faded photographs, and endless nautical decor, all gathering dust. It wasn’t the Palace, and Angelo liked that about Bobby’s. It was small, comforting, and after the week he’d had, a welcomed change of pace.

“Angelo!” A familiar voice rang out from beyond the pool table. Ernie, settled in their usual booth near the back, waved him down. He’d already helped himself to a cold pint of beer, and pulled the napkin off of Angelo’s order. Once seated, Angelo held up his frosty mug, Ernie did the same, and they drink.

“Boy it’s been a minute since we’ve been here,” said Ernie with a smile. “Memories, huh?”

“Memories,” Angelo agreed. “Things have been so crazy with the family and everything…Shit, I can’t remember the last time I had a day to myself.”

“No worries, my friend, tonight is totally on my tab.”

Angelo c****d an eyebrow, smirking. “Oh really?”

“Yup!” Ernie puffed up his chest. “Won a whole two hundred dollars over the bridge at Ace’s. I’m treating you, buddy!”

“Wow,” Angelo praised. “And how much did you spend before you won those C notes, Ern?”

Ernie laughed, embarrassed. “Come on, Angelo, don’t ruin the moment.” Clearly, it was more than he won back.

“Well I appreciate it,” said Angelo. “Though I think I need something stronger than beer. How about we get some shots going?” Ernie agreed, and flagged down a server. A few rounds of whiskey later, Angelo was enjoying the fuzz in his toes. They laughed and chatted lightly over their beers, and even though the kitchen was closed at such a late hour, Ernie managed to get the twenty-four-hour gyro place next door to deliver some fresh lamb skewers. By the time Angelo was slowing down, he was diving into his third beer, an empty Styrofoam tray next to up-turned shot glasses. It was the perfect stage for one of Ernie’s long winded stories.

“…So anyway, I’m doing my best here, and she seems into it. Oh, and let me tell you, hoss, this chick was fire. So I’m like buying her drinks and stuff and she’s all giggly and everything, and I finally ask for her number. She says her phone’s dead, y’know, so she writes it down on a piece of paper. I try and text her, end up getting some dude out in Connecticut. Can you believe that bullshit, man?”