“Absolutely,” I replied, and feeling dismissed, left.
8
Marco
I was going to have to watch myself around Kelly. Perhaps because it’d been so long since I’d been sexual with anyone, the memory of her kiss, chaste as it had been, made that side of myself reawaken. Last night, I’d had an explicit dream about her and woke up so frustrated I’d taken a cold shower.
It had helped, but the moment I saw her, all that imagery had come back. When she’d been in the office with me, I kept remembering flashes of how she’d looked bent over the office chair with those long shorts of hers pushed down to her ankles. It’d left me hard and aching for her, making me grateful that I’d remained seated so my lap had been hidden by the desk.
In a way, it was nice to know that despite my injuries I was still me. That one of my favorite aspects of my old life might be possible again at some point. But by the same token, it was inconvenient. I couldn’t go there with Kelly. Hell, I couldn’t go there with anyone. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I couldn’t imagine any woman being interested in a rendezvous that would be more likely to end with her feeling squeamish or even nauseated, rather than sated.
Yesterday, I’d spent time on the computer going through the financial reports. For a small, one-off restaurant, Organic Eats took in a substantial amount.
I’d need to hire more staff now, to make certain all requirements of both the original business and the fresh influx of cash could be met. Alessandro had offered to enlist some people for me—his way of continuing to treat me with kid’s gloves—but I told him I’d pass. I yearned to handle every bit of this alone.
I could still be of use to my family, no matter what they thought. And I’d prove it.
When Friday rolled around, I went in early, arriving before anyone else. I’d hired five additional servers and two cooks, enabling the business to have room to grow unhindered. I felt anxious about Kelly’s choice.
She’d more than demonstrated herself capable of her job, and I had no doubt she’d could handle this new position as well. While she could turn me down, I sincerely hoped she wouldn’t. I looked forward to working more closely with her.
She bustled in fifteen minutes before her shift was due to begin, her light floral aroma drifting over to me. I could close my eyes breathing her in for the next hour and be perfectly content. Maybe longer.
“I’d like to try the office manager gig,” she told me, her fists clenched at her sides as if to give her strength.
“I’m thrilled to hear it.”
“So what do I have to do?”
“Come here and I’ll show you.”
Over the subsequent six weeks, I gave Kelly instruction on everything I wanted her to do. The original owner had a single business account at a local bank branch picked up by armored truck every Monday and Friday. Since we had connections with a different armored truck company, I switched over to them, and increased the pickups to daily.
Then, I had them bring the deposits to seven different banks, each transaction kept to under ten thousand dollars total. Keeping these structured amounts below this threshold would mean the financial institutions would not be required to report it to the government.
By doing this, sending some through a shell corporation and sending any overage to our Swedish account overseas, the thousands in cash we received would then be retrievable by us without raising any eyebrows.
Kelly would keep two sets of books. The legitimate set would also go online and be used for tax purposes, while the other would be just for us. That way, we had both free-flowing cash and resources as well as the ability to avoid paying taxes on all but a fraction of our profits.
This method and ones like it were how we’d gone from poor Italian immigrants over a hundred years ago to a family with a billion-dollar fortune today. Just like with our drug import arm of the business, backups were in place in case any one bank or transaction was compromised.
We’d even been known to use our private jet to unload cash onto ships in international waters on occasion to allay the sort of suspicion raised when too much money appeared at once. With selected personnel located at the banks, on the ships, and at the airports, we were assured of an escape route for any issue we might encounter.
I’d created a kind of double-blind system for Kelly so she wouldn’t be aware of her collusion with us. Although she’d be working with two sets of books, I’d led her to believe that one set was for Organic Eats, while the other dealt with a side business I h
ad. Technically, that was true. Except for the side part.
I had her input numbers she believed meant hundreds when they meant millions in actuality. She didn’t need to know that the side business I referred to was the long-reaching drug import sales of opiates and illicit drugs into and out of Philadelphia.
And her not knowing would not only protect us should any government agencies come calling, it would also protect her. She couldn’t confess to a crime she’d had no idea she was committing, after all.
Just as I’d thought, Kelly turned out to be a quick study. She counted all the cash in the safe, created the various deposits, and handled all the reports without any problems. When she started, she’d seemed less than confident about her abilities, but as time drew on, she realized she could do it and do it well.
I’d promised myself I’d stay present at this bistro so that nothing unforeseen would crop up, which meant I spent nearly all that time with Kelly. I made sure our schedules matched up and was enjoying getting to know her. I was also conscientious about building her self-esteem, which seemed lower than it should’ve been.
I came into the office late one day, to see her blowing her bangs out of her face in agitation.