Just what the Doctor ordered

Chapter 4 - Family Lunch

Max's POV

"Zio Max! Zio Max!" I heard my niece Sophia call out as she took a running leap into my arms as I got out of the car in the driveway of my grandparent's place.

I chuckled and gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek, "Jeez, Soph, you've grown so much. What are you sixteen now?"

"No, I'm this many." She answered as she gave me a little grin and holding six fingers.

Sophia was so cute, it sometimes made me think about settling down and having a couple of rugrats of my own, but kids and a wife meant having a weakness that could be exploited, and I wasn't ready for that complication in my life.

I faked a look of surprise as I proceeded to tickle her, "wow, I'm a silly Zio, then aren't I."

Whilst I was single and unattached, the same could not be said about my brother Vinny. He married Isabella and had three kids. Vincenzo Junior, or VJ as we called him, was ten, Sophia was six, and little Elisa had just turned two. Izzie was pregnant for the fourth and final time, so she said and was halfway through this pregnancy. Vinny keeps telling me she is demanding he get the snip, but I doubt he wants anyone that close to his manhood.

I put Sophia down and took her hand as we walked through the house to get to the backyard. She must have been waiting for me at the front door. Being Sunday, I had adhered to my Nonna's request and driven to their place in the Hamptons for a family lunch.

When we made it out to the estate's backyard, my Nonno was sitting at the table with my brother, both sitting at a large, perfectly set outdoor table, both reading the paper while VJ sat beside them playing a video game.

"Daddy, Nonno! Zio Max is here." Sophia squealed before running off to her father.

My Nonno threw down his paper and got up just as I reached him, pulling me in for a hug, "Ah Max, welcome home."

"Nonno." I replied, "You are looking well. I love what you've done with the place."

My grandparents retired to a private oceanfront, ten-bedroom, eight-bathroom residence with all the amenities a person could need. It had indoor and outdoor pools, a tennis court, an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven for entertaining on the vast deck and plenty of grass for the kids to run around on. I had my own small place not too far from theirs that I stayed in when I came down here, I loved my family, but there was only so much I could take before I needed some quiet.

I took a seat at the table, pouring myself a drink, breathing in the salty air, and enjoying the sun. It was still spring, so there was still a slight chill in the breeze, but it beat the weather back in New York.

My Nonno folded up his newspaper, "So Vinny tells me the new club is coming along nicely."

I nodded and took a sip of my drink, "Yeah, we've had a few bumps along the way, but it will be ready by opening night."

"Are your Nonna and I getting an invitation?" he asked a hint of amusement in his voice.

I knew he wasn't serious. My grandparents were in their late seventies, there were still very active for their age, but I knew the last place they wanted to be is in a loud club packed with drunk young people, in very little clothing, grinding and dancing against each other.

"Why don't you guys come into town next Friday, and I'll take you on a private tour before the opening on Saturday," I suggested.

"Oh, what a lovely suggestion we could make a weekend of it, Enzo, go see a show or something as well." My Nonna called out as she came outside carrying two large platers, followed by my sister in law Izzy with a toddler on one hip and a large dish on the other.

Vinny and I both jumped up, him taking the platter of his pregnant wife and me taking both of the ones off my Nonna. I carried them to the table and set them down, my mouth already watering at the spread in front of me. If there was one thing I missed when I was away, it was my Nonna's cooking. Even the best restaurants around the world never compared to one of her meals. Looking at the table, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. On top of the antipasto platter, bruschetta and caprese salad that was already sitting on the table when I arrived, my Nonna had made all of my favorites ossobuco with polenta, lasagna and chilli and prawn spaghetti.

After saying grace, there were no sounds at the table other than the sounds of platters, plates and cutlery clanging as everyone served up some food.

"So, Maximas." My Nonna stated, breaking the silence as she cut up Sophia's lasagna, "The Francos' came over for dinner the other night and brought their granddaughter Lucia with them. She's grown up into a real beauty and has just moved back to New York. I thought maybe you could invite her to your club opening. I know she doesn't know many people in the City yet."

I took a deep breath. My Nonna was constantly doing this, trying to set me up with the granddaughters of her friends in the hopes that I would settle down. The only problem with that was that most of their friends were in our family business, and so were their families. Most were trying to push their granddaughters at me for the power that comes from being connected to the leaders of our family. It was the same with the woman I meet through the clubs. They only wanted to be with me for the fame and money that came with being with a rich club owner. Neither type of girl appealed to me, one of the many reasons I always kept things casual, not that that stopped my Nonna from parading potential girlfriends in front of me every chance she got.

"Nonna, you've got to stop trying to set me up with people, especially girls that are only just out of college." I pleaded before taking a big bite of bruschetta.

My brother chuckled, "I thought you liked them, young brother."

"There is young, and there is barely legal Vinny." I advised, "And don't start on me, big brother, just because you married the first woman that you fu…."

"Hey", My sister in law, Isabelle exclaimed, shooting me a little glare as she gestured to the kids on either side of her, "choose your words carefully, Zio Max."

I glanced at my eldest niece and nephew, who were both staring at me, waiting to hear what I was going to say. My youngest niece was oblivious to the conversation around her. I always forget that I had to tone down my language when the kids were present. I had never lived down the time when VJ was three and parroted me when I said asshole. It was his favorite world for over two weeks. I was surprised that Isabelle didn't kill me in my sleep that day, and trust me when I say, if she wanted to, she could have. My brother and his wife might have been high school sweethearts, but Isabelle's family was well connected with ours, and she had grown up in this life and had learnt to shoot a gun before she was even old enough to drive a car.

"Sorry, Izzy." I advised taking a sip of my wine, "I was going to say the first woman he fell in love with."

She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow at me, "Sure you were."

"Why doesn't Zio Max have a girlfriend, mommy?" My niece Sophia queried innocently. "Does he not like to kiss girls, like daddy kisses you?"

The whole table erupted in laughter which made my niece give off a cute little pout.

"I have plenty of girlfriends, Sophia." I answered softly, "I kiss a new one every single night, sweetie."

She threw me a confused look, "Why so many and not one like daddy? Can I have lots of boyfriends when I grow up?"

"You’ll have to ask your daddy that.” Deciding to through my brother under the bus.

Vinny gave his daughter a mock stern look, “Princess, you are not dating until you are in your thirties, and you are never having as many boyfriends as your Zio has girlfriends, or they might end up going missing.”

“Where will they go?” She countered.

Nonna placed a hand on Sophia’s shoulder, “Don’t mind your Zio and your daddy, my sweet girl, your mommy, and I will take care of you.”

The rest of the lunch was uneventful, and my grandparents sent me one my way with a bunch of leftovers in a cooler bag for my fridge. With the club opening under two weeks away, I would be living at the club. So having some meals ready to go would keep me from eating crap the entire time. As soon as I got back into town, I headed straight back to the club, thinking I would be able to a few hours of peace and quiet in my office, but when I got inside, music was blaring from the sound system, and Zoe was behind the bar starting to put all the liquor on display.

Our night together had been incredible, but we both knew that was what it was one night. Since then, we had negotiated her contract to become the bar manager at Inferno. I was right, her other boss was paying her peanuts. Me, on the other hand? I chose to forgo some profits so that my staff was paid not only a living wage but one of the best wages in the industry. I always found that well-paid workers were not only happy workers but loyal workers as well. I had never lost a staff member because another club paid better.

Zoe had two conditions before signing her contract. Number one was that she got full autonomy with how the bar staff were trained, and the second was that she was the only one that got to set up the bar. Apparently, she had a specific why she liked her liquor set up. Once her contract was signed, I had given her a set of keys and the alarm code. I had actually forgotten that she said that she was coming in tonight after she told her current boss that she was leaving, and considering the music blaring out of the speakers, I doubted that I would get my quiet night.

I leaned against the bar and watched her unpack, “Anxious to start earning your impressive paycheck, huh?”

She gave me a big smile and continued to unpack, “I want the bar set up tonight, so I can start training my team tomorrow.”

I knew I had made the right choice with her. With her go-getter attitude, she was going to make the bar run seamlessly.

“I’ll leave you to it then”, I advised.

As I turned around to leave, she called out to me, “You have a visitor in your office. He says he’s the new club manager and considering he had his own set of keys and alarm code. I didn’t argue with him.”

Leo wasn’t supposed to be here for another week. I had messengered him the kes in advance in case something came up, and I wasn’t around when he arrived.

I took the steps up to my office two at a time until I reached the top, and low and behold, there he was, sitting at my desk with his head buried in paperwork.

Leo and I had grown up with each other. Our parents were best friends, and he had a great eye for business, so it made sense to bring him on when I opened my first club. He was one of the best employees I had.

Leo didn’t even bother to look up when he heard the door open. “I have all the staff coming in tomorrow to sign their contracts and NDA agreements. Your new bar manager will start training the bar staff, and I will take all the floor staff through their paces. I also have a head hunter I know searching for a new full-time club manager. I’ve ordered the rest of the supplies we need for the opening unless Zoe finds anything lacking from her bar. She’s a looker, man. I might have to mix business with pleasure where that one is concerned.”

I chuckle, moving towards my mini-fridge to store the leftovers, “Hello to you too, Leo, thought you couldn’t make it until next week. And as for Zoe been, there done that.”

His brown eyes shot up at that comment, “I managed to get away a little early and hello, what happened to your rule?”

I shrugged my shoulders at him, “She wasn’t an employee at that time but feel free as long as you don’t do anything to make her leave. There aren’t many people around to fill her shoes. Now let’s get through the rest of this paperwork so I can go home and get some sleep.”

Normally I would go out and pick up a new conquest for the night, but I had been working around the clock and filling the majority of my little spare time having fun. I needed one night of sleep if I was going to make it to this opening.