“She’s involved with someone within your organisation,” I tapped the Lovers card for emphasis.
Before he could dispute what I was saying, I surged forward, “It’s a tall blonde man, he drives a silver Mercedes - doesn’t seem too old. I can’t be sure, but I think they meet daily. There’s definitely money being siphoned out of the car wash - it leaves with him in the Mercedes.” I spoke quickly, nervous about Dimitri’s reaction. The need to relay the information quickly and precisely was almost overwhelming.
Dimitri’s anger was a tangible thing. I watched his eyes begin to blaze in fury as he clenched and unclenched his jaw in succession. Does he know he does that?
“Why?” Dimitri growled.
His fury beat against my temples, but he was not doubting the information that I was providing.
I continued shuffling and pulled out the next card with my eyes still closed.
New images surfaced. Jeanette and the blonde man sitting at a round kitchen table discussing plans over their morning coffee. An old man joins them, seeming to only half-listen to their conversation. Young love. Jeanette in this setting looks much younger, she applies her makeup in a way that ages her slightly. Feelings of inadequacy flowed through and I had to taper that connection, lest I get sucked into Jeanette and her insecurities.
How old is she? I mentally ask. Almost Eighteen.
Plans about using the money to start a new venture. The old man gets agitated and tells them to pick a different industry and not to compete with Dimitri. The blonde man argues that he won’t give up everything he knows and that he is not afraid of Dimitri. The old man storms out the kitchen, the yellow on the walls, old and faded as he yells back that the boy is signing their death sentence.
I open my eyes. Shit. Too much information. I glance at Dimitri and I see him take in my expression.
“What?” He demands. I stare down at the table.
The Ace of Wands.
Well, if I was unsure about the scene I just saw, the card certainly clarified it. New ventures indeed.
“What did you see?” Dimitri demanded a second time. I got the feeling that he wasn’t the type of guy to ask twice. Well, up until this moment, I hadn’t been the type of girl to do card readings for the mob, so I supposed we were even.
“Jeanette is underage,” I blurted out.
Dimitri glared at me.
“They are planning on using the money to go into business against you, to compete with you. There’s an old man who kept telling him that competing with you is a bad idea, but he’s adamant that he won’t start over again.”
“In what industry?” Dimitri demanded.
“I don’t know.”
“In drugs?”
“I don’t know”
“In weapons?” Dimitri’s palms were pressed flush against the table as his gaze bore into mine.
“I don’t know,” I fought the urge to shift in my seat, his gaze and fury both equal in its intensity.
“In fraud?”
“I don’t know”
A loud bang sounded out and the table shook. It took me a moment to realise that Dimitri had slammed his hand down on the table in anger.
“What good are you?” He snarled. “You can’t even tell me which part of my business will be affected, only that there’s a problem. There’s always fucking problems, Bambi, so you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”
He’s processing.
My guides aptly reminded me that his outburst was due to the unexpected news.
He marched towards the exit as I cleared up my cards and folded them neatly in the blue wrap.
“Thomas will see you out,” he growled.
So that was the butler's name.
My five card reading had been reduced to just two cards. I could now, officially, count this as the shortest reading I had ever conducted for a client.