Bianca
I stirred and looked up at the Masters. They were dressed and there was a look on their faces which made me sit up in surprise.
I realized it was almost 12 noon as I pulled the bedclothes up to my chest and blinked at them. O’Grady sank to the bed beside me, cupping my jaw and kissing me.
He took his time and I almost pulled him down onto the bed with me. But he gave a low chuckle.
” You’re one helluva needy little girl. We need to go, Pet,” he murmured, looking regretful.
St Just came up behind him, also fully dressed and he gripped my hair, tilting my head back to kiss me roundly.
I clung to his wrist.
“What’s wrong, Master?” I asked for I could see the strain on his face.
St Just sighed.
“Small problem at the Casino. ”
O’Grady scowled.
“Don’t involve her,” seemed to be his unspoken message but I was curious. I held
O’ Grady’s thick, tattooed wrist and said,
“Please, tell me.”
And when his mouth thinned into a disapproving line, I sighed and bowed my head,
“I’m not just a body, O’Grady,” I said, lifting my face, my jaw thrust out.
His eyes slid to my pouting mouth and he sighed.
“We’ve had some small discrepancies in our Casino register. We got someone to look in.”
His face tightened.
But St Just spoke first.
“Some small amounts of cash have been disappearing regularly, Bianca. Form our Casino accounts.”
O’Grady took over, rubbing his jaw,
“At first, it was small amounts; lately, it’s become larger amounts of cash.”
St Just went on,
“We’ve been discreetly investigating.”
My head swung back to O’Grady who said,
“We just discovered where it was going. Need to beat up a couple of folks is all, lass.”
And he rose, pushing me onto the bed as he said gently,
“Stay here, Pet. Rest.”
Finn St Just came up and kissed me again as he said, grinning wickedly,
‘I’m bringing a bu*t plug for the night, Pet.”
He winked at my horrified expression as Liam O’Grady turned to look at me from the door, a hot, devouring look that made me want to fly into his arms..
“Gotta train you, lass.”
*
And with that, they were gone. I hurried to the window and peeked out through the curtains. As the men got into their large SUVs. O’Grady turned, his black hair gleaming indigo in the sun and shaded his eyes as he looked up at my window.
I blushed.
The damn man had figured it out; he knew that I was peeping!
My Master raised his hand and waved, the deep grooves on his cheeks dimpling as he looked at me.
Shyly, I parted the curtains, still clutching the bed coves and waved back, daringly blowing him a kiss.
He stared and then, with a big grin, ducked his head and got into the vehicle. In seconds, they were roaring off and I stood, watching them. Suddenly, the light in the room seemed to have decreased.
Darn, I thought as I made my way to eh huge washroom with the sunken tub, for it was O’Grady’s bedroom where I had spent the night, I am in love!
With Liam O’Grady, certainly, although I certainly cared for St Just.
But not with the same intensity…
*
Later, after my hair was washed and flowing behind me, I went downstairs to have a silent meal. Alfred and his disapproving wife ignored me and I did the same.
I was done being treated like a pariah. No matter how I had tried to talk to them, and make them acknowledge me, they continued to behave in an unpleasant way.
Well, too bad, I thought as I left the plates on the kitchen counter, pointedly ignoring Marie as I sailed out. I could feel her eyes on my thin cotton blouse and my shorts as I sauntered away.
*
Making my way to the library, I pulled out my phone and as I wanted to talk to Heather. There was a missed call from the twins’ school as well. It turned out that they were heading for a school trip and wanted permission to leave. As their legal guardian, I had been consulted and I quickly granted permission. St Anne’s on the Cliff was strict with regulations and I knew they would be safe. Besides, I had my Mafia Masters to check them too…
The thought filled me with a strange glow.
Someone cared for me.
*
Next, I called Heather who was as always, sounding bubbly and cheerful. Her Italian beau seemed to be working wonders on her spirit, I thought.
After promising her that I would be coming over next weekend to meet her, I put down the phone and sighed.
*
Life had turned out to be better than what I had imagined it would be, on the whole, I mused as I prepared to log into my account and check college details.
To my astonishment, I saw that I had also been accepted at another two prestigious colleges. Sitting back on the chair, I sent up a silent prayer to God.
I must have done something good, I thought, beaming.
*
St Just was in his offices and headed off for the offices of their accountant, which was the one a little away from town.
Looking dapper and confident, he walked in, determined to meet the man who had been responsible for siphoning the money from the Casino accounts.
O’Grady was joining him in a few minutes, he had texted. He needed to check with his offices and calculate the extent of the damage.
A new accountant, he stressed, they needed to hire someone, at the earliest.
Because it had been their old accountant, the one they had retained for years now, who had been secretly transferring funds to his own accounts.
*
When St Just entered the rooms where Sean Kirby had his offices, the older man, in his late forties, straightened up. He looked suddenly ill at ease as he spoke in a fake cheerful tenor,,
“St Just? Something wrong? I don’t recall any meeting set up…”
His voice tailed away as he saw the hard look on the face of the young man before him.
The door opened again and Liam O’Grady strode in.
No mistake about him, he looked coldly furious.
Kirby stuttered,
“Gentlemen…I have a meeting with…”
Too late, he glanced at the sheaf of papers on his desk but O’Grady was swift. He reached out and grabbed them.
“A ticket? No, TWO tickets? ”
He looked up at Kirby inquiringly.
“Were you planning a wee holiday now, mucker?”
The other man’s face was a sickly shade of grey now and he was sweating profusely.
St Just shifted in his seat and cracked his knuckles loudly.
O’Grady’s men were in the room. One was standing stolidly in front of the door.
The other two stood on either side of the large walnut table, beefy arms crossed.
Kirby thought they were like two Dobermans, waiting for instructions to fly at him any minute.
He made a small sound of protest and O’Grady looked up at him, tapping the two passports and visas in his hands thoughtfully.
“Well, here’s the thing, Kirby ol’ lad.”
And he rose to stand, rocking on his heels as he stripped off his jacket. Kirby’s eyes widened in dread.
“We been noticing, my brother and I,” here he gave St Just a friendly tap on his shoulder as he placed his palms on the table and leaned forward, almost in poor Kirby’s face.
“We’ve been seeing that our accounts…you know, a wee bit of money, it keeps disappearing; here and there.”
He smiled and snapped his fingers under Kirby’s nose and said in a low voice, “POOF!”
*
Kirby began to regain his wits, he tried to speak but a large, calloused hand wrapped around his neck, cutting off his breath. His eyes bulged as O’Grady tightened his grip.
“Thing is, we don’t like folks that steal from us, right Saint?”
His brother nodded, pulling the stack of papers towards him. Then he nodded to one of the men to hand him Kirby’s briefcase, neat and packed for a journey.
“Our man was heading to Thailand, O’Grady,” remarked St Just contemplatively, tapping the tickets.
“There are passports for Sean Kirby,” he raised his eyes and said in a lower tone,” but not for the missus.”
O’Grady dropped Kirby who landed on the floor like a dead weight, gasping, his hands around his throat, eyes watering. He knew he was this close to losing control over his bladder.
“Oh?” said O’Grady in a mock shocked voice,” So just who was our boy going with?”
And he took the second passport from St Just and whistled as he studied the photo of the smiling much younger woman.
“Isn’t this Birdie Hobbes? The hooker who works at Malarchy’s place?”
Kirby’s face was beet red with rage but he was also terrified.
“Look lads,” he began, wheezing as he tried to get the words out,” It was…Cahill introduced me ot Birdie. I …” he sniffed miserably and said,
“She’s an expensive woman to keep. And if my missus ever found out…”
O’Grady had come around and was now perched comfortably on the edge of the table, a hip on it.
“You been set up, Kirby,” he said, shaking his head sorrowfully.
And St Just wandered across to hedge Kirby in, standing on the other side.
” Who put you up to dipping your filthy paws in our coffers, Kirby?” he asked and there was steel in his cold voice.
Kirby swallowed.
“I…Cahill. Birdie used to work for him.”
Kirby knew he was in trouble. Caught between the Devil and the deep sea, literally.
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he went on, hoarsely,
“They said …I could …you would not notice…”
The backhanded blow across his face was so sudden and unexpected, he fell down, and there was a sudden stench as he wet himself, wailing loudly.
“Ah, Jaysus!” swore O’Grady and he lifted the man, who was like a dead weight.
O’Grady growled,
“You’re dismissed, Kirby.”
And then, he punched him in the face.
The shattering of his nose was the least of Kirby’s worries.
Turning to his men, the Mafia boss said,
” Break a couple of his bones, lads. He needs to be able to tell his bosses who did it.”
And the brothers strode out even as O’Grady’s men took over, and the air was filled with the screams of the man as he tried to protect himself..
*
“We need some help with the accounts; gotta hire someone trustworthy …” snarled O’Grady as he sank into his plush leather chair a few hours later.
St Just looked at his brother and said,
“I have someone in mind, O’ Grady.”