Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

The club is quiet this time of day. Other than business managers and shift managers, there’s no one here. It’s the perfect part of the day. Once we open the doors for customers, it gets loud. Even with the noise-canceling walls and doors, the vibrations from the DJ stand rattle my feet.

But for right now, I can work in peace. Even the construction has quieted down. Lunch break, I suppose.

While they’re all munching, I have a meeting to get to. This is the first time I’m meeting any of the owners of Katfish. Since I didn’t have to deal with them directly, I never bothered to ask Nora about them. She gave the impression one of them had an office here, but he didn’t get in the way of much even when he was around.Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.

With my notebook and pen tucked beneath one arm, I knock on the closed office door at the end of the hall. My stomach grumbles a bit and I wish I’d bothered to eat something beforehand. Nothing makes a better impression with a new boss than your stomach chiming into the business meeting.

“Yeah? Come in.”

I twist the doorknob and push the door open. The office seems empty at first appearance, but then I see him. Standing in the far corner window. He has his back to me, looking between the blind slats at the construction people outside. His shoulders are broad beneath the suit jacket he’s wearing-tailor-made, I assume. I’ve never had the pleasure of having tailored clothing but the guys my father worked for had plenty of it.

“Uh, hi,” I say because he’s still staring out the window and hasn’t seemed to notice I’m there. “I’m supposed to have a meeting with you at one? About marketing for the new part of the club?”

He freezes. His entire body locks up for a second. Dropping his hand from the blinds, he eases himself around. Like he’s not sure he wants to see what’s behind him or not.

The second his profile comes into focus, my breath stops. An ache I haven’t felt in years takes over my entire chest. And as he finishes his turn, I come face to face with Jakub Staszek.

I almost drop my notebook.

“Nicole.” He speaks first, his voice raw. “What are you doing here?” he asks after a long beat. This time he sounds annoyed, frustrated. I remember how much I disliked that tone.

It’s been five years since I’ve laid eyes on Jakub. But every inch of him is still engrained in my memory.

I clear my throat and try to shake the clouds from my head. “Uh. Well, I work here. Nora told me to meet with you about some marketing stuff you wanted done?” I gesture to the opened door behind me, as though Nora were standing right behind me. She’s not. She’s tossed me into the lion’s den alone.

I shouldn’t blame her; she had no idea Jakub and I have history. Or how disappointing our history is.

Another sinking feeling takes over. I’m going to lose this job.

“You work here?” he repeats.

“Yes.” I nod. “Nora hired me a month ago. I handle the private parties, the VIP sections, that sort of thing.”

He hasn’t changed much in five years. His presence still takes up all the space. Nothing else is as important as him when he’s in the room. Or rather, there’s nothing else I could pay attention to when he was around.

His hair is a bit longer now, slicked back away from his face. He’s not as lean as he was before, but he isn’t all bulk either. It’s his eyes that keep my focus. The bright blueness of them. I’d never seen such a deep shade, and here they are again, staring at me from across the room. So easily, they can penetrate my thinking just by being pointed in my direction.

After more silence stretches between us, I close the door and take a few steps toward him.

“I didn’t know you owned this place.” I tell him. “I never bothered to check. If this is a problem, if it’s weird, I’ll get another job.” I don’t want to, though. I really don’t have time to get another job. I can’t use my credit cards or my debit cards. I need cash to survive, and without it I’m lost.

He recovers, moving his gaze from me. “No. That’s not necessary.” He waves a hand in the air, pushing the thought away. “Nora told me what a great job you were doing; she’d probably kill me if you left on my account.”

Jakub walks to his desk, gesturing to the seat on the opposite side. “When she said Nicole would be meeting with me, I didn’t think she meant you.”

I force a little laugh. “Why would you? It’s been five years.”

His lips flatten. “Yeah. It has.” And the disappointment is back when his eyes once again meet mine.

I swallow then take the chair in front of his desk. Best to dive into work. “So, the construction will be done by the end of the summer, and we need to market. Nora said you didn’t want to have a big launch, just something simple. I’m sure I can manage; I just need to know exactly what you’re thinking of. Do you want an opening weekend blast-off party type thing, you just want some banners made, a little social media stuff?”

He leans back in his chair, propping one elbow on the arm. It’s a small attempt at being casual, at pretending this meeting isn’t throwing him off his game for a second. And maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s all in my head. Because seeing him again has knocked me off track.

“Yeah, nothing too big. When we reopened Katfish it was a pain in the ass with all the launch business. I just want something simple. It’s an expansion, not a new club. There will be a restaurant on the first level and the upstairs will be a cigar bar. I think keeping the focus on the restaurant will be a good way to go. But nothing too flashy.”

I jot down what he’s saying as he continues on about the new part of the club. What he’s building is something more lavish than fits this part of town, but he knows that. I can tell. This is Jakub at his finest. Brainstorming. He’ll do his damnedest to make this entire place bursting at the seams with customers. And he’ll succeed, too.

“Okay.” I finish scribbling the last thing he mentioned while he waits for me to catch up. “I think I can handle most of this. Do you know if you have a graphic designer or do you need me to throw something together? I’m not the best, but I can toss a poster or two together.” Actually, I did my best work in my graphic design classes.

“I don’t know. I’m sure Nora can answer that.” His phone beeps and he grabs it. “Hey.”

I stand up to give him privacy for his call, but he waves me back into my chair. We’ve gone over everything I need to get started on the project, what else could he want?

His eyes darken a fraction while he listens to the caller on the other end. I remember this look. He’s not dealing with club business right now. Whatever information he’s being given has to do with the Staszek family, not their clubs.

By the time he hangs up, I’ve twisted the corner of my notebook into a bent mess.

“So.” He ends the call, switches off the sound, and tosses it on the desk.

“So.” I smile at him across his desk. “This place is amazing. Nora said you’ve really brought it back to life.”

He nods. “Yeah. It’s taken some time, but it’s coming along. The new additions will do well.”

I flatten my hands over my notebook in my lap. “Yeah. I think so. I mean, it sounds like a great plan.”

“When did you move back?” He levels me with one of his serious glares. It’s a little presumptuous for him to take such a tone with me but seeing as I didn’t exactly leave Chicago on the best circumstances, I can understand a little hostility from him. Hell, I expected him to toss me out of the office the second he recognized me.

“I’ve been back just a few months.”

“You finished school then?”

“Uh. No.” I shake my head and lower my gaze. “I didn’t really get to finish. After my father passed away, there were expenses.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” But he’s not. He never had a high opinion of my father. What little he knew of him. He’s not the only one.

“Thanks.” I sink back in the chair.

“So, you moved back because he died?” He’s fishing for information and there’s not enough time right now to tell him everything. If I wanted to tell him anything. And I don’t. Not right now. Maybe not ever.

“Just missed Chicago, I guess.” I raise my shoulders and throw on a brighter smile. But he sees right through me.

“Yeah. It’s a great city.” He has to know I’m lying, but he’s not going to call me on it.

We’re not together now, I have to remember this. He may be interested in a curious what’s my ex-girlfriend up to sort of way, but he doesn’t really care. And he shouldn’t.

“I have a lot of work to get started on, and I need to talk with Silvia about getting her trained on the calendar.” I get to my feet, and he follows me.

“Silvia? She’s been here for over a year, and you’re training her?” He rounds his desk.

“No, I’m just showing her the calendar for the private parties. Not a big deal.”

His hand wraps around mine as I grab the doorknob. Instinctively, I pull away.

When I meet his gaze again, he looks wounded for a brief second. Then it flitters away as though it were never there.

“Nicole, are you sure you came back to Chicago only because you like it here?” His voice drops, and it’s his deep authoritarian tone that sends hot shivers through my belly.

It’s not fair he knows me so well, and after all this time my reaction to it hasn’t changed.

I raise my eyes to his. Looking anywhere else will only keep him thinking something’s going on.

“Just wanted something new. That’s all, Jakub. I promise.” I give a curt nod as though putting an end to the topic.

“And we both know how well you keep your promises.”

My stomach twists with his words. “Jakub-”

Before I can come up with something to say, he yanks the door open for me. “Better get back to work. I want to see a mockup by Monday.”

Monday.

Right. The posters and such.

“Sure. I can do that.” I hold my notebook to my chest and hurry from the room. The door shuts as soon as I’m in the hall. It closes so loudly it makes me jump a little.

My cell phone dings from my back pocket and I grab it. Distractions right now are worth my weight in gold.

Henry’s out and asking around about you. Just thought you should know.

The moment I get back to my office, I shut the door and sink into my chair, still staring at my phone.

Henry’s out of jail.

As much as I want to, I don’t text my only friend in New York back. Henry Kozac doesn’t know where to find me, and so long as I have no contact with anyone associated with him, I can keep it that way.

I hope.