The Italians

As Lanky's phone rang, the three of them froze, the moment shattered. Lanky hesitated for a second before answering, his voice low and guarded.

"What?" His voice sounded hoarse. He was angry that his moment was interrupted.

Maverick and Ashley exchanged a nervous glance. Who could be calling at this moment?

Lanky's expression turned grim as he listened to the caller. "Fine. I'll take care of it."

He hung up, his eyes locked on Ashley.

"We have a problem," he said, his voice firm. "The Italian messenger has gone rogue. He's threatening to expose our... arrangement to the rest of the organization."

“Wait, what?” Ashley was shocked, “How could that have happened? In fact, what happened in the meeting today?” He asked with raised brows.

Lanky sucked on his teeth for a while, before turning to face Maverick, “This never happened. Go and serve Mark. I am sure he's getting impatient,” he ordered with a grimace on his face.

Maverick was surprised, he had expected things to happen differently. He thought that Lanky would treat him a little bit nice, considering the connection they felt with one another. He turned to face Ashley for support, but Ashley had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Yes, big boss,” Maverick replied and hurriedly left the kitchen, his face covered in shame.

“That's not fair. You should have been a bit nicer,” Ashley scolded Lanky when Maverick had gone.

“Sorry about that baby. Let's go to our room, and discuss more about the Italians,” Lanky suggested. He had an unremorseful look on his face.

Ashley nodded, but his eyes still held a hint of disapproval. "Fine, but you owe me an explanation for everything that has been happening." He deadpanned.

Lanky smiled, his expression softening. "I'll make it up to you, baby. I promise."

Maverick couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment. He had expected Lanky to be more considerate, especially after their intimate moment. But instead, Lanky had treated him like a servant.

'What will Caleb say if he finds out that I have fallen for the suspect?’ He wondered, his face covered with confusion. His steps were slow, and he tried to look around for Richard, hoping he would console his soul, but Richard was nowhere to be found.

Maverick made his way to Mark's room, his heart heavy with emotions. He knocked on the door, and Mark's voice made him enter.

"Ah, the new bartender. Good timing. I am in a bad mood today, and my brother is unwilling to bring back my former bartender, so you have to fill his place. Firstly, I need you to run some errands for me," Mark said, his eyes gleaming with a sinister light.

"Yes, sir. What do you need me to do?” Maverick nodded, trying to push aside his thoughts. He knew he would have to act like a faithful bartender. 'A billionaire son acting like a bartender and receiving insults, simply because of a secret mission! How ironical’

'Fill his place?’ Maverick's thoughts ran wild. He could see the cut on Mark's face, and he knew he was a psycho. ‘I mean what sort of person would cut himself with his own hands just to sabotage a good soul?’ he thought as he secretly stared at Mark's face.

“Are you looking at my face? Huh? Is that what you're looking at?” Mark yelled with a menacing voice. Transferring the anger he felt at Ashley to Maverick.

“Of course not, sir. I would never do that,” Maverick replied, scoffing at Mark internally.

“Fine, the errand……”

As Mark began to rattle off his instructions, Maverick's mind wandered back to Lanky and Ashley. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, Lanky and Ashley were in their room, discussing the rogue Italian messenger.

"We need to take care of him before he exposes us," Lanky said, his voice firm.

Ashley nodded in agreement. "But how? We can't just silence him without causing a stir."

Lanky's eyes narrowed. "Leave that to me. I have a plan. I wouldn't just deal with the messenger, but I will teach his boss a painful lesson.” He replied with a ruthless demeanor.

"Lanky, I don't like this," Ashley said, his voice laced with worry. "We can't just silence the Italians without consequences. We can't afford to lose any more of our men. That's why I asked for the exact thing that happened at the meeting. I might be able to help."

Lanky's expression turned reassuring. "I'll take care of it, baby. Trust me. I can contact the other clans. I am sure they all dislike the Italians and their high taxes, so don't worry about that. Also, about the meeting, everything was going fine, until the chairman proposed to take half of my share as a peace offering. I mean how am I supposed to agree to a greedy yellow fool taking half of my share? I was the only one he told that too. I now think that some of the neighboring clans want to overthrow me. They might be planning a coup, but I am not sure yet. Even if they are, I will handle it mercilessly.” he explained.

But Ashley's eyes still held a hint of doubt. "Fine, we can talk more about that later. But what about Birdie? He's getting deeper into this mess."

Lanky's gaze turned neutral. "He's just a bartender, Ashley. He'll do his job and when Mark gets bored of him, he will get out of my house."

Ashley's expression turned disapproving. "You can't be so heartless, Lanky. He's still a person. We kissed him, doesn't that mean anything to you!”

“What do you mean? You told me to welcome him, baby. I was initially against the idea but did it because of you. Please, this is none of my fault,” Lanky replied with a plain voice.

“I never said it was anyone's fault. I am not blaming anyone. But tell me the truth. Didn't you enjoy it?” Ashley asked with raised brows.

Lanky looked shocked, and his mouth widened in shock. “No, I didn't. Why will I enjoy kissing another man when I have a lover? To me, he is just for pleasure, and nothing more. Ashley, did you enjoy it?” He directed his question to Ashley, with a melancholic voice.