Falling from Grace

THREE

Grace

Hendy was correct, 9pm on the dot the men began to clear out. I thanked them all, after the first order disaster I learned to just keep the drinks coming after each glass became empty. I like to think I did okay. There was only one man left, Xavier.

He was sat on the table sipping his whiskey as his eyes stared in my direction. He looked at me like a meal. I tried to not eavesdrop however it was hard, X is clearly the man in charge of whatever these meetings are about. We knew they discussed their activities I could tell by the hushing of certain words. These were exactly what we thought. Along with the fact the men were made to place their guns in a box before they entered the bar.

X kept his gun on him at all times. It was evident by the imprint on the back of his trousers. I had an eye for guns, I knew when someone had one on them. It was all part of the training.

I wiped down the bar and began the close down. The bar was open until 1am on a Tuesday however my instinct was X would not be staying much longer.

It had been 3 months since I moved to New York, the city was amazing and kept me entertained. I had been forced out of my home, but it had worked out for the best. I was happy here. New york was amazing.

The job was not the best paying but I liked it sometimes. I got to spend all my time here and when I wasn't I got to hang out in the most amazing city in the world. It felt like a permanent vacation.

"Rio isn't returning then?" X speaks up after an awkward silence. I look over to him still working on the whiskey.

His legs man spread wide as he looked at me with that stare. His hand rubs his slight stubble he had. I felt my heart speed up, this man was extremely good looking. Like would allow him to do anything to you kind of good looking. This man could tell me to bend over right here right now and something inside me would tell me I had to. It was all about the charm.

"Sadly, for you" I say attempting to avoid all eye contact, I kept my eyes on the cloth as I wiped the counters down.

"You need to learn the orders; we did not appreciate your incompetence today"

I scoff at his comment. I was not in the mood for any shit from him, he reeked of arrogance.

"Incompetence, I don't know about you, but I don't read minds. How am I supposed to know everyone's orders based off just looking at them" I slam down the cloth on the floor as I finally allow my eyes to meet his face.

He had this smirk as if he wanted that reaction from me. I stood with my arms crossed across my chest. His eyes dart down to my present cleavage as his eyebrow raises looking satisfied with what he was looking at.

"Rio had a list; you should make a list" he says puffing on his cigar once more before dabbing it out in the ash tray next to him.

He stands up walking towards me as he pulls his black Amex out and placing it on the countertop. He leans in close to me as his hand makes his way to my hair as he pushes it behind my ear.

I feel my breathing hitch, he was so close to me. I could feel his breath on my neck as his lips get closer to my ear.

"Make sure to run it fast, I have to be on my way" 

I take a deep breath before taking his card and running it behind the bar. I had never met a man that commanded a room so much, I wanted to tell him to get out but a part of me just needed him to stay longer.

I head to the card machine and run the card; I look down at the name displayed

'Mr Xavier R Cavalini '

The name Cavalini, it was infamous. Everyone knew the name. Even though they were involved in crime; their cover was the hotels they owned. Hotel Cavalini, they were all over the world. They were a very wealthy family, but that didn't mean the legal work wasn't covering the illegal activities.

I had heard many stories of gangland wars, not the type of kids but this was serious shit. The type of gangs that killed for fun. He ran the streets of New York, everyone knew his name and face. He didn't need to worry about being feared, he was. It wasn't a negotiation, I knew everyone was terrified.

It was clear by the men in the meeting, their body language said it all. They would wait until spoken too, they didn't look at him unless they were spoke too. They dare speak up to him, I didn't want to know what would happen if they did.

I hand the card back to Xavier as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a stack of bills. Taking the band off that holds them all together he pulls out 5 bills as he slams them on the bar top.

"Make a list Grace" he states before leaving me alone in the bar.

I feel my body shudder at the sound of the door slamming behind him. I sigh as I look down at the bills.

$500

He had really tipped me $500 on top of the drinks. I knew he had money, but this was ridiculous. I had never had this much money to tip anyone, I grew up in a very poor family. I worked for everything I had. That was until my mom married my step father, he was a lawyer.

She lived the high end lifestyle now, but it was nothing compared to the money Xavier had. I never saw the money my step father had, I was in the academy by the time he married my mom. I was an adult and shouldn't need to ask my parents for money.

So I struggled instead.

Even though a lot of this was covered, the FBI couldn't cover everything. $500 for not a lot of work was incredible.

Perhaps Xavier Cavalini wasn't all that bad.