Blood Oath (Ruby Rose/Ares fan fic)

Four

The Continental Hotel is a very elegant place, luxurious and sophisticated, near St. Patrick's Cathedral on New York's Fifth Avenue. The views from the terrace are stunning, the most expensive wines are piling up in the cellar, the restaurant chef always gets the best reviews and all the sheets are made with the finest Egyptian cotton. The decoration is modern, with noble materials and dark shades of colour too masculine for my taste, but they were selected very carefully to give everybody the impression that this is a place where all the big shots meet to make important deals and earn millions. Only few of us know that those deals aren't exactly legal... well, neither are the vast majority of Wall Street deals. Either way, the hotel guests get only the best things that money can buy assisted by a skilled staff with perfect manners... most of the time.

"You know that no matter how hard you hit the screen you won't make it work better, don't you?" I say to the implacably dressed gentleman at the reception desk. We've arrived to the hotel a few minutes ago with Ares nipping at my heels: she didn't leave my side till I stepped on the lobby's Persian carpet.

"I apologize, Sir. Madame, welcome to the Continental. What can I do for you?" Charon asks sounding very formal and a bit stiff as if he wasn't beating his computer up for some reason a few seconds ago.

"We're having dinner at the restaurant, we'll take a table for two." Winston answers, hidden his amused smile.

"Of course Sir, I'll call the headwaiter immediately and tell him you're coming."

"Not so immediately, come on, let me in." I walk behind the desk and start typing quickly with my nimble fingers trying to find out what's the problem with the booking program. I fix it in less than two minutes, patting him on the back when he smiles at me with gratitude before walking behind my boss towards the elevators.

Coming down the metal art deco stairs while sliding my hand over the railing, I think about how the darkness provides a sense of security for all these big shots of organized crime even in this sacrosanct place where nothing bad could happen... in theory. I wonder how they managed to clean Santino's blood stains from the cream carpet. Anyway, dark wood panels, Chester armchairs made of dark leather, burgundy coloured curtains, dark wood bookcases, the walls decorated with burgundy ceramics, waiters dressed in black, low lights... luckily, the dinner service is made of white porcelain, otherwise the guests wouldn't be able to see what's on their plates. But the decoration achieves the effect they were looking for, the atmosphere is solemn and everybody speaks in hushed whispers, which is what the Company likes. I personally hate this place, it gets on my nerves.

We sit at a little table on two comfortable low armchairs with curved back. Immediately, the waiter offers Winston a glass of his favourite red wine and a glass of ice water with a lemon slice for me. This is another characteristic of the Continental Hotel: the staff members remember everything about their guests, from the most extravagant request to what drink do you prefer. I take a look at the menu but I already know what to order: I'm here for the chocolate brownie so before I'm going to have a simple Cesar salad... with lobster instead of chicken, of course.

"I bet you've taken advantage of the problem with the reception desk computer to install a spying application on my system." I look at Winston with a cocky smirk on my lips and I roll my eyes hard.

"Of course not! I installed one two years ago and I updated it some months ago." I always find interesting to know who's sleeping at the Continental and my spying app works very well. If I didn't have it, I should be spending hours watching security footage from the shops and banks on the Fifth Avenue in order to know who comes and who goes, in addition to the traffic cameras that cover partially the back door. To be honest, it'd be sooo boring. My boss opens his mouth as if he wanted to say something but finally he shakes his head and focus on his filet mignon while I finish my salad. We eat in silence, each one looking at his plate, till a shadow casts over my right shoulder. I look up... Roberto D'Antonio, cousin of the deceased siblings and the strongest candidate to succeed them at the head of the family. I hope he's the chosen one, he's a mature and sensible man that always remains calm and is never carried away by emotions; never acts before thinking... which makes him a dangerous snake for his enemies but a reliable man for the Company.