The Story of Blood and Roses

"Don\'t fuck this-"

"What are you guys up to?" I asked in a sweet voice. I regretted not waiting a little longer to hear Nolan finish the sentence. They jumped back from the circle, trying to look normal, but they were anything but.

The errand boys looked a bit scared and Nolan had a fake smile plastered on his lips. Everything he did looked suspicious. I carefully made my way towards them.

"Plotting something big, I hope?" I asked with humor because I knew that\'s exactly what they were doing. Their eyes widened for a fraction of the second, but no one reacted more than that. What they didn\'t know was that they were being recorded. Every word they said would be captured and sent to me. I would dissect their plans and destroy them. Those were all my ideas, though. Anthony would never allow me to do that. He was too wasteful at time. He liked to indulge in games just because he liked to play with people\'s mind. I admit he did quite a great job.

"Plotting would be too harsh, Mia," answered Nolan. The way he said my name… it made me want to narrow my eyes in suspicion.

"To be honest, I don\'t understand why you\'re here to meet us." Me either, buddy.

"What did you expect?" I scoffed. "Boss doesn\'t need to explain why he does the things he does. Let\'s just say that this is important."

"So you know why you\'re here?" He asked. I was inclined to think that he knew that I was left out of the loop, too.

"Yes, I already told you, the Boss doesn\'t like a wasted journey."

"He could\'ve just called the meeting off!" he exclaimed. An outburst, just what I had been waiting for. His defenses were breaking slowly and so thoroughly that I felt sorry for the boy.

"Excuse me for a moment," I told them as I felt my phone vibrating.

[What\'s the verdict? - Anthony]

It\'s just what I was waiting for.

[I\'m 90 percent sure that the boy is working for Darcy. I\'ll go through the videotapes just to be sure. What do I do next? -Mia]

[Set the deal. -Anthony]

[Very well, sir. -Mia]

[Won\'t you oppose me, Mia? -Anthony]

[Answer me. -Anthony]

[No, sir. You\'re the Boss. I have no authority to question you. -Mia.]

[Good, but humor me. Ask me why you have to set the deal. -Anthony.]

They say curiosity killed the cat. Right at that moment, I wasn\'t the only person who was curious. The boys looked at me with interest, slight frowns on their faces as they tried to figure out what exactly I was doing.

[Why? -Mia]

I ignored the curious looks. This was more important.

[What would you do if you knew that Darcy was trying to protect his sales by generating a new branch? One that was unknown to us? He knows we\'re going to turn on him. -Anthony]

[What would you do, Mia? Won\'t you do what is necessary? -Anthony]

I thought about it. If Darcy really knew that we were going to turn on him, he knew that we would cut down on the deal. Which meant he\'d suffer a huge loss and if it came down to a war between Anthony and Darcy, Darcy would surely have fewer resources. He\'d lose out. Darcy was protecting his interest. If we called him out on his plans, there would be no other way than to initiate war…

[I\'d make the deal, sir. -Mia]

[Why? -Anthony]

[To protect the family, sir. -Mia]

[Thank you, Mia. -Anthony]

For a moment, I was left stunned. Anthony was taking a step back so that he could gain time to get an upper hand on the situation. He was protecting everyone…

He really thinks before he takes decisions. He is Anthony Murray after all.

[Call me. I want to talk to the boy. -Anthony]

"I think the Boss wants to talk to you, Nolan." He gulped on hearing that. Excellent!

"Loudspeaker, Mia." Always so bossy. Of course, I did as he said.

"Nolan." His voice rang throughout the room. "Welcome to the big bad world. Hope you enjoy your time here." With those ominous words, he left the group of boys stunned and surely scared for their lives.

"Thank you, sir. It is an honor to work with you." Nolan\'s strangled reply almost made me laugh.

"For me. You work FOR me now. Understood?" The devil said. Always with the attitude. It didn\'t bother me. I wasn\'t on the receiving end and I was a bit impressed by the recent conversation we had. I\'d let him go this time, even if he bosses me around.

"Mia, it\'s getting late. Go home." He didn\'t let me reply. He simply hung up. That lasted for a short time, I thought sourly.

"Well then, gentlemen… we\'ve all understood what he wants. Let\'s go our ways." They merely nodded. Fear and joy radiated from them. Mostly fear.

As I headed to my car after picking up the recordings, I saw a silhouette behind my car. The sound of rustling was followed by quick footsteps. I hurried forward, trying to get a look at the person. He was out of sight and leaving me with a sense of dread. Opening the door to the driver\'s seat I inspected the car for a moment. Nothing seemed to have been touched. I waited for some time before deciding that it was better for me to ditch the car.

I called a cab and waited for it to arrive. As I entered the cab, I saw the black car again. Always following.

Anthony!

Forgetting my earlier impression of him, I gritted my teeth together and cursed him. I had work to do, and Anthony\'s attitude wasn\'t going to stop me from doing it.

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