Chapter 1 - The Six-Thousand-Dollar Bill
The silence in the high-end Onyx Room was so heavy you could hear the ice cubes melting against Roman Gallow’s custom-tailored Loro Piana trousers. As a broke waitress working double shifts just to pay rent, I had just dumped an entire crystal pitcher of ice-cold water onto the city’s most dangerous mafia boss. Arthur, the floor manager, was turning shades of purple I didn’t know were biologically possible, begging for my immediate firing and offering to cover the dry cleaning, the suit, and free meals for a year.
Roman slowly stood up, water pooling in his expensive leather Oxfords. He looked at Arthur with cold, calculating eyes, then turned his gaze to me.
"You’re firing her?" Roman asked, his voice a low, gravelly baritone that cut through the room.
"Yes! Absolutely! She’s clumsy, she’s gone!" Arthur stammered.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. I was tired of being terrified, tired of the back-breaking labor, and terrified of losing my apartment.
"Don’t fire her," Roman commanded, tossing a damp napkin onto the table. "This suit cost six thousand dollars. If he fires her, she has no income. If she has no income, she can’t pay me back."
"Pay you back?" I snapped, my adrenaline overriding my common sense. "I make fourteen dollars an hour. It would take me a year to pay for your jacket!"
May you like
Roman reached into his dry inner pocket and produced a matte-black card containing only an address and a date. "Then you’d better get to work. Friday, eight p.m. Wear black."
Arthur paced the break room frantically afterward, warning me that Roman Gallow didn't make quirky deals unless there were bodies buried underneath them. But with rent due in four days and no other options, I knew I had no choice. I was walking straight into the lion's den.
