Just What The Mafia Boss Ordered

Chapter 2 - Zoe

Zoe’s POV

“Where is it, Ryan?” I demanded, throwing everything out our small closest onto the floor in our tiny one-bedroom apartment onto the floor.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He replied casually, scrolling through his phone.

I spun around, glaring daggers at him. When I first met Ryan Arthurs, I thought he was one of the best looking guys I had ever met. He was 5’10 with a slim build, long black hair, brown eyes and tattoos galore. He had this mysterious, dangerous vibe that made all the girls swoon, but he only had eyes for me. He made me feel special. Now I look at him, and all I felt was pure rage and disdain.

 “I’m talking about the coffee can I stored my tips in, the one I keep my underwear draw. It was there when I went to sleep last night, and now it’s gone.” I queried as I continued my search.

“How would I know?” He growled, not even bothering to glance up from his phone and look me in the eyes, “I had a few acquaintances around today. Maybe one of them took it.”

I rolled my eyes at him, moving to his draws, opening each of them and rifling through them. “Sure, because some random person is going to know exactly where I keep my savings.”

I watched as he tensed up when I made my way to his laundry basket of dirty clothes, digging through it until my hand hit metal, pulling out the coffee can I was looking for and opening the lid. Then, screaming when I saw that it was empty.

I threw it at the wall next to his head, only missing my target by an inch, making him jump off the bed, “What the hell, Zo! You nearly hit me.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t do more than that, you jackass,” I exclaimed, rage building up inside to the point that I thought I would explode. “There was three thousand dollars in that tin that was our way out of this hell hole and into a better apartment. Where is my money, Ryan?”

He hung his head in shame, “Somebody gave me a good tip. I thought it was a sure thing and had to jump on it quickly. It was supposed to make us back double. I was doing it for you, so you could stop working so hard.”

“Then get a job!” I countered, “It took me over a year to save that money.”

He stormed out of the room, coming back a few minutes later with a duffle bag, pulling his clothes out of the draws and stuffing them in before he moved to the closet. “I’m done. I don’t need this shit.”

When he zipped up the bag, I raced to the front door, standing in front of it blocking his path, with my hands crossed over my chest, “You are going to pay me back, Ryan, every god damn cent.”

“Move Zoe.” He ordered, getting in my face.

I shook my head at him defiantly, “not until you agree to pay me back.”

“I SAID MOVE,” Ryan growled, grabbing me by my shoulders and throwing me so hard against the wall next to the door that it winded me.

He opened the door and walked out as I slid down the wall to the ground, listing as he slammed the door behind him while I sat on the floor crying.

Present Day

I lurched up in my bed, my body covered in sweat, my heart racing a mile a minute as I brought my knees up on my chest, resting my chin on them, trying not to cry. I hadn’t thought about that night in years, but it had left its mark on me. God, I was a different person back then, so naïve and trusting.

I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, my dad owned a small garage there, and my mother was happy being a housewife who lived for putting me in every beauty pageant she could find until I was old enough to voice my objections. I wanted more from life than what I could get living in that little town, more than being a lonely housewife whose only roles were pushing out babies, cleaning and cooking for her husband.

I wanted to live in a place where everyone in town didn’t fit into the local town hall, and all eyes weren’t on you waiting to dob you in for making a mistake. So I took some classes at the local community college while working my butt off until I was twenty-two, and I finally had enough funds to leave my hometown in my rearview mirror and just drove, eventually settling in New York. I met Ryan my first night in New York and crashed at his place, which quickly turned into a hot and heavy relationship. He worked as a bartender at a small dive bar while writing the next great novel in his spare time and managed to get me a job there. I learned everything I know today about bartending from the owner, a nice man named Jeff Thomas.

I fell head of heels in love with Ryan, and I fell in love with the city. In a city of over eight million people, no one cared if you stayed out all night. No one cared what you did with your time. I didn’t have to justify myself to anyone. It was total and utter freedom.

I tried to stay in contact with my family, visiting whenever I could, but as the years went by, we drifted further and further apart until the only one I had in my life that meant anything to me was Ryan. We were together for over three years, and for the most part, those were happy years, but I also think my love for him clouded my judgement. I didn’t even blink when Jeff fired him for constantly being late and a dispute over some missing funds from the register. I didn’t argue when he announced he wouldn’t look for another job and concentrate on his novel full time. I just got a second job waiting tables during the day to help make up the difference. I was trying to be a supportive girlfriend.

When money started going missing from my purse, he called me forgetful, told me I must not have had as much money in there as I thought. That was when I started to put all of my tips in a coffee can and tried to keep it hidden. I hated suspecting him of taking it, but then my bank card started disappearing for days at a time and money was taken from my account. That was when I found out about Ryan’s gambling problem. He swore that he would get help and even got a new bartending gig to prove that he had changed, but in reality, he had just found more sneaky ways to fund his habit.

He never came back after he stormed off that night after our fight about my savings, and it was only a week later that I realized why. That’s when the letters started showing up from the collection agencies, and people started coming by the apartment looking for him. It was finally then that I realized how screwed I was. He had activated pre-approved credit cards in my name and racked up thousands upon thousands of dollars of debt gambling, not to mention the more nefarious ways he got money. Unfortunately, due to my lack of funds, I couldn’t hire a lawyer to help me prove that the debts weren’t mine, and given all the previous bills and notices had come to my home address and had been intercepted by Ryan, the credit providers wouldn’t believe me either. So if I wanted to keep my credit record from getting completely trashed, I had to find ways to pay.

I was still in my one-bedroom apartment but was now sharing it with two other girls to try and lower my expenses, and now three years after he left, I was still struggling. Landing the job at Inferno as the bar manager had been a godsend, it had allowed me to quit my second job and still have extra funds to pay off the debts.

I got out of my lovely single bed, which was all I could fit in the room now with two other beds, and crept out of the room, trying not to wake up my roommates as I stumbled towards the door. Both Frankie and Ella worked at Inferno with me, I had met them when I was working for the bar that Max Rossi had poached me from, and in turn, I had brought them onto the team too. They were two of the best in the business, and I needed them with me.

I turned on the coffee maker in our tiny little kitchen and waited for it to do its magic. Our apartment wasn’t much, but it was clean, and the heat worked most of the time. Apart from the tiny kitchen that wasn’t big enough for two people to be in simultaneously, there were only three other rooms. The lounge area, which was filled with a bunch of mismatched furniture that we had picked up from local second-hand markets, we didn’t even own a television. Then there was our bathroom, and finally, our bedroom that only held three single beds and a mountain of clothing and shoes that we all seemed to use.

I poured myself a mug of coffee and walked over to our sole window, opening the curtain before sitting in one of the outside foldable deck chairs we scored for a dollar and put my feet up on the windowsill, staring out at the city skyline in the distance.

When Ryan left all those years ago, I had contemplated running back to my parents with my tail between my legs, but I was glad that stayed. My life wasn’t perfect, but it was real and all mine.

The door to the bedroom opened, causing me to jump as a sleepy Frankie came stumbling out, her red hair still a rats nest in a bun on top of her head, “Coffee?”

“Kitchen,” I advised, jerking my head in that general direction.

I continued staring out the window, enjoying my coffee and the quiet until she collapsed in the chair next to me. “I feel like we only went to bed a few hours ago.”

“That’s because we did,” I replied, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was only eight-thirty in the morning, and we had only stumbled through the door at four-thirty. “what are you doing up?”

“I smelled the coffee. What’s your excuse?” She enquired.

“Couldn’t sleep, sorry I woke you,” I mumbled, fighting off a yawn.

Frankie shrugged, “Forget it. I needed to be up in an hour or so to meet Joe at his shop. He’s giving me my birthday present early.”

I grinned widely, she was so excited to get her new body art. Joe was her boyfriend and owned a tattoo parlour nearby, and was responsible for all of my artwork and piercings too. I got the friends and family discount, which only fueled my addiction. I now had eight tattoos, multiple ear piercings, my nose pierced and my tongue. Each of my tattoos told a story about a lesson I had learnt or a part of my life I didn’t want to forget. They were constant reminders of all the things I had been through to get to where I am today. My favourite was a scroll I had on the inner part of my left forearm. Written on it was a quote from my favourite children’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I got it right after Ryan walked out on me to remind me that love was an illusion. Eventually, everyone will disappoint you. It said, ‘It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I am a different person now’. Every day I looked at those words, it reminded me of all of the reasons I never would allow myself to fall in love again. I just had fun and nothing more.

Thinking about fun made me think of Mr Moneybag’s offer yesterday. I know I pushed the card back at him, but after he walked away, I eventually put it in my pocket, just in case I changed my mind. He was definitely a looker, even though I could tell there was a bit of an age gap between us. I was only twenty-eight, and he was at least late thirties, early forties.

His black hair was perfectly styled, long on top and short on the sides. Even though the sides were short, you could still see a little bit of grey in his sideburns that gave him a distinguished look. His brown eyes seemed to burn right through you, and even though I stared him down, even though every part of my body was screaming at me to back down. His chin and mouth were covered in a short beard, and the way he smiled at me made me wonder what it would feel like if he was buried between my legs. He was at least 6’2, and I could tell that there was a gorgeous body hidden beneath his perfectly tailored, black Armani suit, especially for his age.

He was so arrogant and sure of himself when he walked away, seeming so sure that I would use his card that I alternated between wanting to call him and screw his brains out or meet with him just so I could punch him out. But I wasn’t going to go there. As a bartender, you learn to read people, and everything about this man just screamed trouble.

I drained the last of my coffee and got up, looking down at my roommate, “I’m going to go out and grab some groceries before I need to head into the club to do some inventory. Do you want anything?”

“More milk and fruit pebbles, please.” She called out as I went into the bathroom to put on my jeans from last night and a bra. That woman had the appetite of a five year old.

I grabbed the shopping list off the fridge and my jacket and bag on the way out the door. Unfortunately, we had no elevator, so I had to go up and down the eight flights of stairs, every day but the silver lining was that I never needed a gym membership to keep my legs and ass toned.

The market was only a few blocks away from our apartment and was about halfway there when my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out, glanced down at the caller id, cringing before silencing it and putting it back in my pocket like it never happened.

I had only taken a few more steps when a hand grabbed my arm from behind and pulled me into the alley I was passing, spinning me around and pinning me against the brick wall.

My eyes opened wide when I saw it was the same person that had been calling me Greg Spivey. He must have been following me and what’s worse was that he saw me ignore his call, which meant he was pissed. Remember I said that Ryan had borrowed money from some dodgy people? Well, Greg was one of them. Most people Ryan owed left me alone when they found out he skipped town. Greg was not one of them. His theory was that because I was Ryan’s girlfriend, his debt was now mine. He offered to take it out in trade, but I’d die before I slept with him, so we worked out a p*****t plan, and I had been paying him back in instalments ever since.

“We have a problem. You are late on a p*****t and ignoring my calls.” He sneered, standing so close that I thought I would gag on the smell of stale cigars and alcohol on his breath.

“I will have your p*****t tonight,” I promised, trying to keep my voice steady.

“I want double. Call it an inconvenient tax.” He demanded.

“But I can’t afford that.” I protested. I had some money in savings, but giving him double would clean me out.

He shrugged, taking a few steps back, “I don’t care how you do it but make it happen. If I have to track you down again, then I will have no other option but to take it out on that sweet little body of yours, whether you like it or not.”

Without another word, he walked away, leaving me in a trembling mess. At this rate, I was going to be paying off Ryan’s debt for another two years.”

I brushed off the back of my jeans, my fingers running over Eddie’s card that was still in my back pocket and then I had a crazy idea. I pulled the card out and my phone, dialling the number and waiting for someone to pick up. The phone meant straight to voicemail, “Hey, it’s Zoe, Zoe Harper, the bar manager from Club Inferno. We met yesterday. I was hoping we could meet up. Call me back.”