Indecent Pawn

Chapter Three

“Tony, we have a problem.” Antonio heard his right hand approach his desk. He had been in his office all of five minutes before problems started to make themselves present. Truth is problems never seemed to take a break in his line of work.

“What else is new Gio?” He answered back with a bored expression. The Chicago skyline seemed more intriguing than business at the moment.

“Three hundred and fifty thousand in the hole with no apparent plans of repayment so far. New enough?”

“What poor sap was dumb enough to be in debt to me for that much?”

“A Derek Myers. A bet gone wrong on the fight this past Saturday. According to records he has a bad losing streak but somehow pulls out of it. This time however he is avoiding the boys like the plague.”

“…”

“How do you want to handle this?”

“What assurance do we have? Collateral?”

“That’s the thing. There wasn’t any. He works for you already. Paolo approved the loan towards the bet because of his references.”

“Bring Paolo to me.”

“He is already in route as we speak.”

“Good.”

Antonio Mucciono was a thirty-six year old boss. He worked his ass off running the many aspects surrounding the family business to insure they remain successful. Having taken over the business at an early age because of his father’s passing, he would be considered as seasoned in the business. So many different names were used to describe his many dealings. Mafia, crime world, or organized crime… Truth was that they all fit and he found no shame in the facts. Luckily he was well-respected and feared in the same token. Being a pussy was out of the question and bullying wasn’t in his vocabulary either. Antonio preferred clean, nondiscriminatory business whether it was illegal or legit.

“Good afternoon Don.” Paolo greeted Antonio upon entering the office. Antonio had gotten situated behind his desk waiting for his cousin to make his presence known. Going over several stacks of paperwork finalizing different business ventures, he was growing tired of waiting.

“Paolo.” Antonio greeted with his no nonsense face ready to get right down to business. No beating around the bush. “What do I want to know Paolo?”

“Don…”

“…” Antonio shook his head to put a halt on his beginnings of excuses. “You of all people should know I have the patience of a baby bird. I want answers nothing more.”

“Derek Myers held some beneficial references when borrowing and placing the bet. By him being an executive at Mucciono Security, it seemed to check out. I assumed you knew of this investment.”

“And why would you assume something like that?”

“Samantha was one of his references.”

“Samantha?”

“Yes Don. Since you made it possible for her to work downstairs we sort of called it quits. Spending time with other associates within the company has called her to act differently. She brought him into the establishment and vouched for him. Saying that he was seeing her cousin and they were having a tough time. Said that he was good for it through you.”

“I don’t even remember this Samantha besides you begging me to hire her.”

“I was under the impression you two had…” Paolo trailed off.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“Actually she has been with a few of the boys.” Gio added with a nasty taste in his mouth.