Just what the Doctor ordered

Chapter 2 - Maximus

Max's POV

Taking a sip of my Bourbon, I took a deep breath as my final interview for the day walked away. I was only a few weeks from opening, and all of this should have already been done, but the manager I hired to staff my new club had screwed up. So not only did I need to get a new manager to handle the day to day operations, I needed to sit through countless interviews with people vying for jobs as bartenders and waitstaff in what the Times has called the new, hottest club in town. Thankfully my best friend Leo, who would be flying in from my club in Ibiza, which he currently managed, to help manage this place until we found a suitable replacement, but he wouldn’t get here for a week, so I needed to do these interviews alone.

I had just sent away my third underqualified bimbo for the morning who just wanted to meet me in the hopes I would fall for their flirty behaviour and fluttering eyelashes. Even if they were qualified for the jobs I had available, they were sheer out of luck. I didn't sleep with the help. It created too much hassle when they realized it was a one-time thing. I enjoyed seeing women for one night and then never seeing them again. Life was less complicated that way.

I wasn't due to come into town until a few days before we opened, and as such, my apartment wasn't ready for me to move into, so I had to stay in the penthouse suite of a nearby hotel while I sorted out my new club out. This was the fifth club I had opened. My others were in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and of course, Ibiza. All of them were packed every night. I had been avoiding setting up my New York one as it meant coming home, and I wasn't quite ready for that, but it made the most business sense.

Looking down at my watch to check the time, I had a few hours to kill before I had to meet with the PR company I had hired to handle the opening and then it was on to the security company to discuss with them my security staff requirements before returning for some more interviews.

"Well, well, well." A male voice called out from the entranceway, "Maximus Rossi has finally returned home."

I looked up to see a man in his late thirties strolling down the stairs with a bag in hand. He looked fairly intimidating for people who didn't know him, but I grew up with him, so I knew better. He was 6'5 tall with olive skin, medium length, black hair, a strong muscular build, and a rough beard.

I rolled my eyes at my brother's comment, "Vinny, Nonna is the only one who still gets away with calling me Maximus unless you want me to start calling you Vincenzo again."

I smiled as he shuddered at his full name, walking over to the lounge I was sitting on and holding out a bag from my favorite burger joint, "Play nice little brother. I just popped in to see how the new place was coming and pass on a message from Nonna. She expects you to show up for Sunday lunches now that you are back home. The first one is this weekend."

"Does she not realize I have a months worth of work to get done in two weeks if I want to open in time? That manager I hired to oversee this place screwed me over," I exclaimed, ripping the bag open and pulling out some fries and stuffing them in my mouth. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had food on offer.

Vinny chuckled, "If you want to tell Nonna, go right ahead. I'm not taking that bullet for you. That woman scares the crap out of me."

Vinny was right. He may run our family business, but our Nonna was the one that ran our family. Even our Nonno didn't cross her when she wanted something. Our parents had been killed when Vinny was eight, and I was five. Our grandparents had been the ones that raised us, and to be honest, as busy as I was, I owed my Nonna everything. If she ever asked me to jump, my answer would always be how high.

When my Nonno finally handed over the reins of our business to Vinny, he and my Nonna had permanently moved out to their place out at the Hamptons to enjoy his retirement. The only way my Nonna would agree to move out of the city was if we assured her that we would have a family lunch once a month so that we always stayed close. My brother had settled down, married his high school sweetheart and had three kids, soon to be four. I, on the other hand? I had been travelling for the past few years, setting up the clubs, and this had been the first time I had been home since my youngest nieces first birthday party over a year ago. My brother had demanded that my next club be here, and like my Nonna, what my brother wanted, he got.

"So, what brings you here, brother?" I queried, unwrapping my burger, "you can't just be here to bring me lunch."

He gave me a knowing smirk, "Nope, I'm here to talk business, in particular how this club can serve the family's needs."

And there it was, it was the same conversation we had every time I opened a new venue. You see, my family's business wasn't exactly legal, and my clubs were a good place to not only launder money but to move drugs and guns, which were very profitable. We were groomed for this life from when we were children. Our father was just about to take over as the Don of our family when a rival family had taken him and our mother out. We had gotten one of theirs in the process, but we never truly recovered until recently. My brother had taken over ten years ago. My Nonno had held out for as long as he could and wanted to enjoy spending his golden years relaxing with his wife.

Since I was the person he trusted the most, I had taken the role of his second in command. I had spent the first few years tracking down as many people as I could from the family that had taken our parents from us, killing them one by one until the rest went so deep underground that I couldn't find them, so I moved on to helping Vinny building our fortune up, finding ways to legitimize the funds through the club and create safe venues to hold our merchandise.

After spending a bit of time talking shop and eating lunch, Vinny took off, and I got back to work. By the time I was done for the day, it was well into the evening, but I had had a productive day. I had secured the rest of my staff apart from a bar manager, finalized the plans for the grand opening and locked in my security staff, including where the camera needed to be installed.

It was a Thursday evening, so I thought I would check out my clubs biggest competition which was, coincidentally, right across the street from mine. It was only nine-thirty, so the club wasn't full yet, so I made it in without having to wait in a line. However, upon entry, I wasn't exactly impressed by what I saw. The décor was outdated, the DJ wasn't anywhere near the calibre as the one I secured for my opening night, and she had agreed to work exclusively for Inferno for the next three months.

I stood at the bar and watched the bartender taking care of the small crowd waiting for drinks completely on her own. She was pretty good, amazing actually. She engaged her customers, worked efficiently and even included a few bottle tricks while she was going, all with a smile on her face.

She gave me a flirty smile as she approached me, "what can I get you?"

"Bourbon, neat," I answered smoothly.

I watched as she bypassed the cheap stuff and went straight to the top shelf, pouring three fingers of one of my favourite Bourbon and sliding it in front of me.

"This one is on the house." She advised me with a wink.

I smirked, staring down at the drink, "what made you skip the house bourbon?"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Please, I've been a bartender for over six years now. I know my drinks and my customers. You are not the house bourbon type, even if I didn't know who you were. I should really tell my boss that the person whose picture he's been throwing darts at for the past month and a half is currently enjoying his alcohol. He's not your biggest fan."

I chuckled at the thought. I knew no club owner liked when I moved in next door, it was generally the end of their business, but what can I say? I am good at what I do. "Any chance I can tempt you away from this place? I require a bar manager, and from what I have seen, you'd be perfect for the role."

I wasn't kidding. I had only been watching her for a short time, but if I had learnt anything in my time setting up clubs, it was how to read staff, and she would make my bar run smoothly. Of course, it helped that she was easy on the eyes too.

"You don't even know me." She challenged, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well, let's fix that." I replied, extending my hand, "I’m Max Rossi.”

She eyed my hand before taking it, “Zoe Harper.”

“Well, Zoe, what time do you get off? I would love to go through what my new club could offer you. I’m sure it would be better than what this place does.” I advised.

Before she had a chance to answer, I felt two of the bouncers standing behind me.

“Sir, I’ve been asked to escort you out.” One of them advised me, trying to sound tough.

If I was in the mood, I could have taken them both out without breaking a sweat, but instead, I just rolled my eyes at Zoe and downed my Bourbon, pulling out my wallet and throwing a few bills on the bar. I know she said the drink was on the house but wanted to ensure she didn’t get in trouble. I’m guessing her boss had finally noticed me on the cameras from his office. However, I thought that he would have come down and kicked me out himself instead of sending his goons to do it for him.

I threw Zoe a wink, “It’s been a pleasure, Zoe. Thanks for the drink.”

She returned my wink and slid a piece of paper across the bar, “My pleasure Max.”

I discretely took the paper and walked out with the two men right behind me. When I was back in my club, I opened the piece of paper with her phone number, and 2 am with a big heart around it. I was excited to see that she was willing to hear my offer. If she said yes, I could finally start breathing a little easier.

It was too bad that I wanted her as an employee, or I would have definitely used my charm on her to get her into my bed. I do not doubt that we could have had fun, and she looked like the kind of girl that wouldn’t get too attached, but I did have that rule about the staff. In saying that, she wasn’t my employ yet, so maybe I could bend the rules slightly, just this once.