Diego: Leatherbacks MC (12 page)

Taking a deep breath, I returned to Dio's office.  I went to peep out the door and saw him all the way across the casino floor in deep conversation with Scouser and some men I didn’t recognize.  Hurriedly, I shut the door, flipped the lock and went to his desk, pulling open drawers and sifting through the contents while trying not to move them around too much.  The last thing I needed was for him to figure out I had gone through it.  Finding nothing, I moved on to a large filing cabinet in the corner.

Flipping through the files, I found nothing but personnel files, including my own. I opened it to find not only the application and papers I had signed for employment, but notes regarding my background and a police report that showed no criminal activity.  I found it odd that he would request a police report when he didn’t care much for the police.  After puzzling with it for a moment, I realized that he probably had someone within the department he went to with such things.  Putting the file back, I noticed something odd.

Several files behind mine was another name I recognized.  There was an employee file on my father, but my father had never worked here.  I reached in to pull it out and heard the door knob jiggle.  I hastily shoved the folder back down and shut the cabinet door, taking a seat on the nearby sofa and looking at my phone as if checking messages as Dio let himself back in the office.

“Why did you lock the door?”

“I don’t know.  I just didn’t want anyone walking in while I was in here alone and getting dressed.”

“You seemed to be dressed now though,” he replied suspiciously.

“Yeah.  I just forgot to flip the lock back when I was done.  Sorry about that.”

“Okay.  Let’s get going.  I want you to go back to my place with me tonight.”

“What?  Why?”

“I have my reasons, Ana.  Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Should I be afraid of something, Dio?”

“Not as long as you are with me, you shouldn’t.”

I nodded and picked up my purse, tossing my cell phone inside and smiling at him as we walked through the club and out to his car.  Slipping inside, we made our way across town and toward a gated community just on the outskirts.  Despite the fact that I knew he was incredibly wealthy, this just didn’t seem like his sort of neighborhood. I had expecting something in a more private, understated area.  Pulling up to a large metal gate, he pressed a button and I heard a voice come on the box.

“Opening the gate, sir,” came a deep voice.

Of course Dio had armed guards that manned his gate.  No way would he trust his home to just a coded box that anyone could hack.  The large gates opened and we entered, passing a small interior guard house.  Two oversized men stepped out and nodded at us as we passed.  I assumed they wanted visual confirmation that it was Dio in addition to seeing him on camera.  Once we were past, I saw them make their way back into the guard house.

“Wow.  This is your house?”

“Yeah.  It’s a bit much, I know.  It wasn’t really what I wanted.  I would have been just as happy in a little cabin somewhere out of the way with a yard full of bull mastiffs as protection detail.”

“Then why did you go this route?”

“It came with the casino.”

“So, the owner sold you both as a deal?”

“He didn’t have a lot of choice.  He was in debt with the IRS up to his eyeballs.  It was either sell it to the MC at a loss that would net him enough to cover what he owed them and his lawyers to keep him out of federal debt prison or hand it all over to them to sell at auction and he still went to prison.”

“I’m confused.  Does the MC own the casino or do you?”

“I own the casino.  The MC just conducts business there.”

“You must have had a lot of money to invest.”

“I did.”

I pondered where he would have gotten that sort of capital.  I knew from my notes from the DEA that not even the authorities realized Dio was the sole owner of the casino.  It was buried behind so much paperwork that they had surmised the MC bought it with drug money.  It had always been their intention that proving this would be their way of bringing down the club.  I didn’t think they had considered that Dio had purchased it individually, and now I had to wonder how he had done so.

“Come on in and I’ll take you for the grand tour.”

“A bit nicer than my place,” I said, looking at the size of the house just from the outside and the large white columns that spanned either side of the front entrance.

“Depends on your perspective.  This place is big, empty, cold.  Your place has character.  It’s comfortable, soothing.”

“If you say so.  I’ll be happy to trade if you’d like.”

“You joke, but you’ve no idea how tempting that sounds.”

“Oh, speaking of my home.  My landlord paid me a visit.  He said to make sure I told you my shower is fixed.”

“Smart man.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Dio.”

“I don’t like people who don’t tend to their business.  Someone comes into the casino and has a bad time, I try to make them whole.  Their food was bad.  Their drinks were too cold, too hot, too weak, whatever.  I make sure they are taken care of properly.  They come back.  They tell people they had a problem, but we were quick to fix it.  It’s all a matter of keeping up your reputation.”

“Well, I just don’t think you should have manhandled him.”

“Manhandled?  Trust me.  I should have done worse.  Let’s just say he wasn’t as agreeable in the beginning of our conversation.  He should have practiced a few manners and he wouldn’t have had a problem with me.  I tried to be polite.”

“Fair enough, I guess.”

“Yes, it is fair enough.  At any rate, you won’t have any trouble out of him the next time you ask him to do something for you.  I can guarantee that.”

“Yes, I am pretty sure you did guarantee that.”

I smiled at him as we got out of the car and made our way into the front door.  I found myself looking around at a large foyer done in heavy marble that matched the steps of the rounded staircase that ran around one side of the open area just beyond.  Dio walked me from room to room, each done in opulent style.  There was nothing about the house that said biker or had a hint of what I would have perceived as Dio’s personality.  He was right, there was nothing homey about it.

“You like this place?”

“Hardly what you’d expect to find a single biker living like, is it?”

“That is quite an understatement.”

“Yeah, I know.  It is actually on the market, but I haven’t found a buyer for it.  Like I said, I had to buy it as part of the deal.  It took me most of the money I had to get through the deal and so I was sort of forced to live in it for a while.  Couldn’t afford to buy another place on top of this one.  Way past that now, but just haven’t seen any sense in maintaining two places.  I’ll get another when this sells.”

“Makes sense.”

“So, now I’m looking for something a little more my style and I’ve put this one up for sale.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something more to your liking.”

“I know I will.  I can’t wait to get this behemoth off my hands.  Anyway, come on and I’ll show you the kitchen.  We can make a snack and get a drink.”

“Sounds good.”

I followed him to the kitchen and looked around.  It was the most incredible kitchen I had ever been in, worthy of a top-notch chef.  Everything was marble and specialty tile with stainless steel appliances and a large island in the center with its own grill.  I watched as Dio put together stacked ham and cheese sandwiches and dropped them onto the surface he had left heating while he prepared them.

“Hey, bartender.  How about you mix us a couple of drinks while I cook?”

“Sure thing, boss.  What’ll it be?”

“You know what I like.”

“Whiskey, two ice cubes.  Coming up.”

“Perfect.”

He flipped the sandwiches over and grabbed a couple of plates, pulling some dill spears and chips from the cabinet behind him.

“Doritos or Funyons?”

“Seriously?  You live in a multi-million-dollar house and you’re serving up some Funyons?”

“Yeah.  I’m classy like that.”

“Doritos,” I said with a laugh, handing him his drink. He took a sip and smiled at me before pulling the sandwiches off the grill and slicing them on a nearby cutting board.  Sitting them on our plates, he added a handful of Doritos to both and a couple of dill spears.

“Come on.  We’ll sit at the table.”

I followed him to a formal dining room that held the longest table I had ever seen.  It appeared to be made in all one piece, out of solid slate. 

“Which end would you like?”

“Are there speakers to broadcast our conversation to one another?”

“Funny you should ask.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.  There is a little speaker box at every place sitting.  They are recessed under a little flip up panel so they don’t interfere with anything unless you need them.”

“Wow.  That’s just crazy.”

“I agree.  Tell you what.  Let’s skip the table and go veg out in the game room.  I spend most of my time there.”

“I didn’t realize you were much of a gamer.”

“I’m not.  It’s just the only room in this house that feels like a normal place to me.”

“Lead the way.”

Following him, I was surprised when he hit a small button on a wall that appeared to be solid.  A section of it slid back to reveal the opening to a room on the other side.  I could immediately see why he liked it.  Despite its high tech, James Bond style entrance, the interior could have passed for the rec room in any normal household that had the extra space.  There was a large screen television, a stereo and several pieces of expensive, but comfortable-looking furniture.

“Yes, this is much better.”

“I agree.  Come on.”

The two of us sat on the overstuffed sofa in front of the flat screen, but didn’t turn it on.  Instead, Dio hit a button on a nearby remote and a stereo started playing in the background.  Ana smiled as The Eagles played low in the background.

“I’d have never pegged you for an Eagles fan.”

“What?  Why not?  The Eagles are classic.”

“I don’t know.  I guess the whole biker thing.  I figured you were into something a bit heavier.”

“Sometimes.  I have very diverse tastes in music, but you can’t go wrong with The Eagles.”

“I’d have to agree.”

“Tell me about your family, Ana.  I didn’t see to find anything on them in your background.”

“My mother died when I was younger and I lived with my father, but he died too.  I don’t have any siblings.  Not a lot to tell.  We were pretty poor growing up.  They did what they could to take care of me.”

“That’s all very vague.”

“I guess it’s not really a childhood that I have happy, fond memories about.  The less said, the better.”

“I can relate.  I grew up without a father.  My mother kept trying to replace the one that walked out on her when she told him she was pregnant.  There were quite a few of them, but they all were the same.  A bunch of brutes who thought the way to teach me to be a man was to beat it into me.”

“And your mother let them?”

“She didn’t really know the difference by that point.  She was too hopped up on coke to care.  I just learned to defend myself against them and when I got old enough, I took off to do my own thing.”

“And your mother?”

“Died several years later.  Combination of coke, pills and booze.”

“I’m sorry, Dio.”

“It’s life.  We all have our crosses to bear, right?”

“I suppose we do.”

He stood up and took my empty plate, smiling down at me softly.  I couldn’t help but note again just how gorgeous he was, and when he wasn’t playing the part of biker crime lord, he was actually quite pleasant to be around. 

“I need to run upstairs and check on something.  Why don’t you make us a couple more drinks and I’ll be right back?”

“Okay.  You want me to take the plates to the kitchen?”

“It’s on the way.  I’ll walk with you and take them.  I wouldn’t want you to get lost in this place.”

“I probably would.”

We walked back to the kitchen, me busying myself at the bar while Dio put the plates in the dishwasher and disappeared up the stairs in the next room.  I made myself a Jack and Coke and poured his straight, retrieving a couple of ice cubes from the nearby freezer and dropping them in.  Taking the drinks with me, I returned to the game room and got comfortable to wait for him.  It wasn’t long before I heard the sound of his footsteps coming back down the stairs.

“Here’s your drink,” I said, smiling up at him, but it became obvious very quickly that he wasn’t happy about something.