Chapter 21

Bruce watched as Sasha Dearcroft entered the room with Rayne Dearcroft.

He frowned.

Was she writing…?

The pretty girl was scribbling furiously into a notebook and didn't even look up.

The book itself was dangerously close to her face and her expression was contorted with concentration as her hand flew across the page, scribbling without a pause.

Rayne seemed to hide her behind him as they walked in, his smile clearly strained and ill at ease.

Bruce cocked an eyebrow.

What could she possibly be putting into the book that could be so important that she wasn't paying a shred of attention to her potential clients? Was she writing a check? Was it work-related? Clara Kane was the most important person for the next month for the trio and definitely for their future projects as well.

But something in him wanted to peek at what her mind was clearly filled with. What was she writing? What was she doing? He really wanted to know.

This was so unlike Bruce Slader who had not at all cared what Agent Cassandra had been upto around the VIP Parlour.

All he ever did when he saw behaviour he didn't like or accept was unleash his fury.

But this girl was intriguing…

Intriguing in an unprofessional way, Bruce realized as he looked away quickly.

He wasn't going to let Clara be right.

Leah and Clara had just finished speaking to each other when Rayne stepped forward quickly.

"We'll start work immediately. Who do we ask about any details we may need to know?"

"Me," Bruce's voice pulled Sasha out of her insane writing phase and Bruce couldn't help but feel happy about it.

"Oh no," Rayne shot Bruce a pleasant smile, "While I understand we will have to see you about extremely important discussions and inspections, I will need someone I can talk to on a daily basis about just basic unimportant things."

Bruce quirked an eyebrow, "Such as?"

"Such as," Rayne answered, "asking him about the hall we'll be conducting the Event at or about the entrances and exits to the place. Maybe asking about which guests will be invited. Their expectations or allergies concerning food and things like that."

Bruce nodded, "Some of your last questions were important and I will join you in the end when we finalise the guest list and send out the invitations. For other mundane details you might need about the hotel or how we do things, I will arrange for the Head Attendant to sort things out with you."

Rayne nodded, "Thank you!"

"Will you see them to their office now, Bruce?" Clara Kane asked sweetly.

"Of course," Bruce said. "If we could all just step out."

He gestured to the door and watched with amusement as a scribbling Sasha almost bumped into the door before Rayne hurried to guide her through to the corridor outside.

--

Adonis Kane stood in the dark of his training room sweating.

His breaths were coming out in sharp gasps as he slowly unwrapped the cloth he'd tied around his hands.

His knuckles were coarse from the hours of punching and hitting he'd been doing.

There was an important mission that evening that Adonis was going on with Bruce that he had to have sharp reflexes for.

Although he'd taken over the whole mafia house and could send out teams of agents whenever he pleased, he still preferred taking the more dangerous missions that rewarded the most to do them himself.

He was sure they kept him sharp, and his reflexes and strategic sense could definitely get tested every now and again.

He sighed as he walked out of his training room and into the large spacious office he used.

The long, heavy drapes were black and the furniture was posh. The carpet was a mix of black and a dark red, with the sofas being the same dark red to match the room over all.

Adonis picked up a file from the top of his desk and looked through it.

One of the top politicians in the country had not been nice to them for the past months.

Most men or women in power did their best to stay on his mafia organisation's good side and if they didn't, it was usually because they were favouring some other party that the mafia did not do well with.

Adonis let a lazy hand graze through his thick hair.

He flipped through the notes and papers in the file that Bruce had compiled for him.

The politician was Mr. Wen. He had always cooperated with Kane's Organisation and even asked them to complete specific missions for them. Adonis had completed some of them himself to ensure the task was done perfectly.

Now, however, he had rejected two of the business partnerships Kane's Hotel had offered him and had not spoken well to Mr. Kane, the chairman, either.

There were some things the Kane Mafia house did not do.

Some activities that Chairman Kane had prohibited when he first built the organization; things like trafficking and killing of people too far removed from the people who had done wrong or crossed the organization.

Adonis Kane sunk low into his chair as he flipped through the papers to see a picture of a lone warehouse situated near the port.

From what his sources told him, there was something illegal that Mr. Wen was doing. Something he was doing and not telling the Kanes, whom he usually pulled into endeavours of this kind.

For the past week, they'd seen suspicious parties drop of sacks into the warehouse which itself was heavily guarded.

Adonis bit into his lip as he threw the file back onto his desk.

What were they doing?

Was it worth the trouble to go and discover what it was?

If it was something that the Kanes did not agree with, should he stop them or ignore the operation and return home without rousing Mr. Wen's suspicion.

Adonis wondered if he should see his father before he stepped out.

Picking up his phone, his fingers dialled in the number.

"Hello?"

"Father, it's me."

"Adonis! What do you need?"

"I need to speak with you. In person. When would it be a good time?"

"Oh, I'm on my way to see Clara for evening tea and dinner. She's excited to tell me all about her new Event Planners who've started on the preparations for her birthday."

Adonis raked through his brain for the name Bruce had mentioned.

Deadgrofts.

Dreacrafts.

Dearcrofts!

"Of course. The newly famous ones."

"Those are the ones, Adonis! You can pop in to join me any time!"

Adonis cast a glance at the file again before he answered, "Alright, father. Bruce and I will join you for tea."