Mob sorcery 5, p.4
Mob Sorcery 5, page 4
Fortunately, even Vince knew this one. “So you either need to stop the problem from occurring in the first place or repeatedly heal it as it happens. This is why sorcerers stay the same age instead of getting younger. Undoing the aging process means transforming their body, and transformatives still have tons of side-effects if used permanently.”
“Side-effects…” Nicki shuffled nervously.
Ally shot Vince a cautious look, and he shook his head in return.
“It might be best to talk about that in detail later,” Ally said. “I really should focus on Nina.”
The harpy’s eyes widened and she waved her hands in front of her body. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to hog your attention. Fix up the big cat.”
After Nicki drifted back to the window, Pola joined her and distracted her with natter about her fight with Nina. The harpy initially appeared nonplussed. Soon, the wolfgirl’s enthusiasm infected her, despite the morose topic, and she listened attentively to Pola’s biased account of how she absolutely, positively, nearly defeated Nina and wasn’t at all spared by an elite enforcer conflicted over their role in life.
Fia nudged her head at the door, and Vince nodded at her.
“I’m heading to the capo bar,” he told Nina and Ally. “Join us when you’re done.”
“It shouldn’t be too much longer,” Ally said, biting her lip. “I’ll try to speed things up.”
“Thanks,” Nina said. “Try to avoid alcohol at this hour, Vince.”
“Fucking obviously.” He rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, who grinned at him.
Vince and Fia left the room and trooped past Alessia’s office. They entered the elevator in relative silence and took it down to the capo bar. When he’d first come to this floor, the lack of signage and confusing layout caused him to get lost. He could probably navigate to the bar with his eyes closed now.
Frosted glass lined the walls of the bar as they approached the entrance, which yielded to reveal a place that could pass as a speakeasy if it were a little more old school. A crystal backsplash emanated a golden glow behind a pair of wolfgirl bartenders, and countless bottles of liquor tempted patrons. The L-shaped bar separated the space into a lounge, with dark couches and booths, and another with tables and chairs.
Perhaps for the first time ever, Vince saw more people seated at the tables than the couches. A handful of enforcers, only two of which he recognized as capos, relaxed with cups of coffee. One dug into a plate of scrambled eggs.
“They do food here?” Vince asked, bemused.
Every pair of wolf ears in the bar shot up at once, forcing him to hold his ground as nearly ten attractive wolfgirls sized him up. Most clicked their tongues when they saw Fia next to him.
As if to make a point, his girlfriend wrapped her arm around his and dragged him to the counter.
“Working mornings now, Liz?” Fia asked.
One of the bartenders smiled at them and tottered over. “I’m one of the few bartenders with actual barista training. Did a year in a café downtown before I got a way better offer to bartend on the waterfront.”
“Tips,” Vince drawled.
Liz’s smile became lopsided. “Pretty much. Hours are worse, but the pay before tips was basically the same. And the waterfront has some huge spenders. Sometimes I wonder if demons have infinite vaults of cash with the way they spend. Although it nets less all up than I get here.” She shrugged. “Anyway, what can I get you?”
“I still want to know where the food is coming from,” he asked.
“Oh.” Liz tilted her head to the side.
Fia rolled her eyes. “There’s a kitchen behind the bar, V. We rarely use it except for events, but it’s there.”
He followed her gaze and saw a hallway winding behind the back of the bar. Presumably it led somewhere.
“Anyway, just two coffees,” Fia said.
“Uh, I’ve had more than my share of caffeine this morning,” Vince said. “I’ll be bouncing off walls at this rate.”
“I’ll make yours with decaf,” Liz chirped.
Getting decaf appeared to be a sin, based on the face Fia made. She led him to a booth despite his crimes against coffee.
“You realize they’ll still hear us,” he said, inclining his head toward the other wolfgirls.
Fia gave him a look before casting an anti-eavesdropping ward around the booth.
Once settled in opposite Fia, Vince shifted uncomfortably. Should he wait for their drinks?
“Pola must be rubbing off on you,” Fia said. “You’re squirming way too damn much.”
“It would help if I knew what happened with Alessia,” he said.
Her gaze turned unreadable. Fia leaned back and crossed her arms, her red eyes searching his.
“That doesn’t help,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t intended to. What if I told you that things would be a lot simpler if you had bent Alessia over her desk and fucked her? You made things very complicated by becoming a prickly prideful pear.”
“Alliteration. Cute.”
Her finger pressed against his nose and she smirked at him. “I’m always cute. You, on the other hand, need to sort your shit out with Alessia.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but spotted Liz on the way.
The wolfgirl bartender-turned-waitress approached with a tray. A pair of coffee cups balanced on it, along with a plate of elongated cookies studded with nuts.
“Coffee for you,” Liz said as she placed a dark brew in front of Fia. “And decaf for you.” A noticeably less dark coffee was plopped before Vince. “Plus some traditional cantucci made using a recipe from one of the chef’s nonnas.”
Fia cracked a smile at that. “I half expected you to say the chef brought these from home. They look better than those from a tin.”
Liz smiled in return, then beat a retreat. Meanwhile, Fia dunked a cookie into her coffee and gave it a noisy bite. She nodded in appreciation.
“I’m not sure decaf will give you the same effect.” She glared at Vince’s desecration of coffee. “But good cantucci are to die for. My nonna makes them with amaretto, but I think these are just really buttery with a touch of lemon. I’ve had some that are like bricks to cheap ones in tins that are way too soft.”
“Amaretto?” He raised an eyebrow. “Almond liqueur with an almond cookie?”
“Don’t knock it until you try it.”
Booze usually made everything better, and he did love the Godfather cocktail. He followed Fia’s lead and dipped one of the cookies in his coffee to soften it. Fortunately, it turned out to be nowhere near as hard as teeth-breaking Italian cookies he’d once eaten out of a tin years ago. It tasted buttery, sweet, and very nutty, and the coffee accented it nicely.
Damn Italians knew how to make everything better. He’d have to try to get Nina to bake these to go with their coffee.
Thinking of that brought him back to his present problem, and he grimaced. Fia caught his expression.
“Right, your problem,” Fia said with a sigh. “I can guess what it is. You’ve pushed Alessia before, negotiated hard, and done some absurdly difficult jobs for us. Out of nowhere she’s offering you a house, and you don’t think you’ve earned it.”
Vince winced. “That’s… basically it. Some of the annoyance is the way Alessia acts, but I know she’s interested in me. I won’t lie. I’m interested as well, but…”
“But…?” Fia refused to put words in his mouth.
She sipped her coffee while she waited for him to find his own words.
“But part of me worries that this is another way for Alessia to manipulate me,” he admitted, refusing to meet Fia’s eyes.
An explosive breath left the wolfgirl’s mouth. “Well, damn. Can’t say Alessia hasn’t reaped what she sowed, though.”
“You’re not angry at me?” he asked.
“Alessia chose to use money as a way to manipulate you into marrying Pola, and then started flirting with you to try to keep you on side. I think you’re being stubborn, but I’m also your girlfriend, so I know why you’re upset.”
He dunked a cookie and nibbled on it thoughtfully. Fia copied him, albeit with a more chipmunk-like motion. He glowered at her.
“I’m allowed to tease you,” she said. “Anyway, you’re not just pissy because you think Alessia might be manipulating you. It’s because you’re worried you haven’t earned it, right?”
This time it was his turn to let out an explosive sigh. “Basically. I’ve gotten a better measure of what independents earn for crazy jobs lately. The attack on Lionetti Tower paid something like a quarter mil to everyone except Juliet. Mei was willing to pay three hundred grand for the heist, if she was to be believed. Nina’s biggest jobs might have run for more, including the one she’d walked away from.”
Fia scratched her head, messing up her rust-blonde hair. “I’m not sure how much I have to say to that. Most people would just take the money and run. Like winning the lottery, you deserve a good turn. Alessia’s rich. She talks a good game about running the mafia like a business, but if a billionaire offers you a house, why say no?”
Vince lacked a good answer.
Like she’d said, he was being stubborn. Nina might slap him upside the head. A small part of his mind screamed at him.
And another woman certainly voiced her opinion.
“Given her reaction to some mild flirting, I feel you’re wasting the opportunity to claim more than a house,” Daji purred in his mind.
Vince had mental company along for the ride. Permanent company after the events of the recent heist.
A soul egg sat heavily in his jacket pocket, covered in iridescent jewels and adorned with a crown. It contained the ancient fox spirit, Daji, of Chinese mythological fame. She’d assisted him for months now, and he’d relied on her power to remain alive. The more he used her, the more he bonded with her. Literally and figuratively.
According to the Inaba twins of Houou, Daji had formed a magical bond with him. Even if the soul egg was taken from him, Daji would remain with him. She could speak with him and provide him with magic even when he didn’t touch her prison.
For now, she remained invisible. He wasn’t sure if that was a choice of hers or if she lacked the power to manifest as a mental apparition using this new link. She refused to answer.
“Stop thinking about me and think about the sexy billionaire wolfgirl who should be sucking your cock,” Daji said, impatience leaking into her voice. “All this talk of being too prideful to accept a small abode is pointless when you can fuck her senseless and claim all she owns.”
Fia frowned, as if noticing Vince was distracted. He raised a hand and grimaced.
Then I definitely wouldn’t have earned it, he responded to Daji in his thoughts.
“You will have earned it by virtue of winning her heart and body.” The fox huffed in his ear, and warm breath blew over it. “But have it your way. Play with concepts of merit and to deserve things, but recall that society is inherently unfair. Alessia was born into her wealth. She earned nothing. To require her to dole out morsels of her inherited billions according to absurd justifications is to deny yourself a chance at ascension.”
To ascend like you did when you married into power and wealth? he asked.
“So you do understand.” Daji laughed, and her tone was both dark and mocking. “Play your game, Vince. But know that you face a world where the odds are stacked against you. I can offer you a chance to level the playing field against immortals and ancient lineages that claim dominion over everything bar your soul. When you’ve assuaged your pride, I’ll be here to help you take the real steps.”
Vince couldn’t keep his annoyance off his face. Daji’s snicker suggested she didn’t care how much she annoyed him.
“You were talking with her, weren’t you?” Fia asked. “Daji.”
He nodded. “She… thinks I’m being childish for refusing Alessia’s offer.”
“No, I think you’re being a dumb human. And it’s not about the offer,” Daji corrected.
He ignored her.
“I already said I think you’re being stubborn,” Fia said. “I tried to help because I care about you, and I want you and Alessia to stop dancing around each other like this. Either fuck, or talk it out, or do something. But I think you need to sort out your feelings now, not later. Going back to your apartment isn’t an option. I doubt the Yakuza or Houou will care for the typical ‘rules.’ Mei might try to kill you. If the rest of Houou finds out you have the egg, what will they do?”
“I know what they’ll do,” he said drily.
“Exactly. Which is why I made it clear you need a new home, or no contract.” She leaned forward and stared at him. “I don’t seriously think you’ll work for someone else. Not after everything we’ve gone through. But I think you’d be stupid to turn down Alessia’s offer. Just…” She rubbed her head. “Fuck, I don’t know. Talk to Nina. She definitely went through this shit at some point. I’m wedded to the Family, so I can’t help with this specifically.”
“Fair. And sorry.”
“I’ve been a dumbass as well, V.” She smiled at him. “You fucked me on Alessia’s desk when I was being a big whiner. If we did everything perfectly the first time, without ever doubting ourselves, I wouldn’t have a damn job advising Alessia. Fuck, can you imagine a perfect Pola?”
Vince tried. He gave up quickly, and Fia broke out in giggles.
They passed the time with companionable chatter. He always found Fia easy to deal with. Nina might be the only person he got along with as well.
The door to the bar opened and several familiar faces trooped in. Nina, Ally, and Nicki wandered in. The line of stitches around Nina’s right arm had vanished, replaced by a thin red scar.
Both Nina and Nicki pushed the smaller fox inside. Ally’s four red tails wiggled nervously as her head swiveled around at almost impossible angles and speeds. She looked like an actual fox worried about predators.
Then Ally saw Vince and her face lit up. The tips of her tails danced behind her.
“Speak of the devil,” Fia said. “We should give Ally a warm welcome. But maybe talk with Nina first.”
They both rose and approached the newcomers. Liz chatted with Nicki at the bar, while Nina kept Ally from darting off.
“You have your own café in here,” Ally chirped at Fia.
“It’s more of a bar,” Fia said. “But we’re using it as a café for now. Why don’t we see if we can convince the girls to make you some green tea while Vince talks with Nina?”
The fox tilted her head in confusion, before her eyes widened. She smiled and nodded. “Um, we’ll talk later, Vince.”
“Of course,” he said.
Nina pulled him against her with her good arm and he found himself cushioned against her tits. Intentionally, of course. She rested her head atop his for a few seconds without saying a word.
The smirks of the other wolfgirls got to him, so he poked Nina in the side. “Let’s go to the booth. There’s an anti-eavesdropping ward there.”
“Baby,” she said.
Fia winked at them as they passed the bar. Maybe they’d get some coffees without asking.
Unlike before, Nina settled in next to him. He’d finished his decaf, but plenty of the almond cookies remained. She munched on one, ignoring how hard they were.
“How’s the arm?” he asked. “Ally made it sound like it would take much longer.”
“That’s what we thought. But she cut it short,” Nina said. “My arm’s attached under its own power now. Doesn’t need the magic in the stitches to stay together. I’ll still need to take the pills to make the scar go away, though. Ally might be able to fix that, but I don’t want her to waste more catalysts and hours of her time for something superficial. She’s good, and cute, but healing is expensive. Especially when she’s not that practiced at it.”
Vince reached around and tried to press his fingers against the scar. Nina batted him away.
“Shoo,” she said, glowering at him. “Play with my tits or something with your grabby hands, but leave my arm alone.”
If it were any other day, he’d tease her. But things had gone too poorly and he needed to ask her advice.
So he merely leaned against her. Nina responded by wrapping her good arm around him and holding him close. They sat together in silence for a good minute or two. Fia brought them both coffee.
“Decaf for Vince again,” Fia said, voice almost like pure acid. “Figured you might want actual coffee, Nina.”
“Thanks.” Nina winked at the wolfgirl.
Once they sipped their caffeine and fake-caffeine, Nina heaved a sigh. She leaned away from him.
“Uh, I do need to talk, but I don’t think it’s that bad,” he said.
“I can guess it’s work related.” She shrugged. “Lay it on me.”
“Alessia’s going to cover what Mei promised to pay us as our bonus for the heist as well as any reasonable expenses we incurred,” he said. “Uh, so long as you don’t try to buy a whole new outfit to match your old one.”
Nina snickered. “Damn. And here I was going to go out and buy a whole new enforcer outfit. Guess I’ll have to get the arm sewn back on. That it?”
He shook his head. “She… needs us to move.”
“Figures. The apartment is compromised as hell. I was going to suggest the same thing. Knowing that the place was laced with fox wards creeped me the fuck out.” The lioness’s ears quivered. “You sound less happy about that.”
“Alessia… offered to buy us a new place.”
Nina frowned. Abruptly, she stood up and switched to the opposite side of the booth. She leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, coffee cup in one hand. Her huge size made her look imposing—or would have if Vince didn’t appreciate the clear view of her cleavage and crotch, even if she was clothed.
“I’m trying to be serious, Vince. Don’t perv on me,” she said while glaring at him. “This is a ‘you’ problem, I can tell. Because ice queen billionaire sure as hell didn’t offer me a new home. She offered you a home.”
