Mafia Kings: Roberto: Dark Mafia Romance Series #5

The remainder of the evening passed uneventfully.

There were a few minor things. For instance, I had to pull one of my doms out of a session when the female client expressed discomfort with him.

A male client had to be reprimanded when he propositioned one of my subs for sex. However, he meekly apologized and continued the session without incident.

He was nothing like the German…

Or the handsome Italian.

Strangely enough, I found myself scanning the bar area for him –

Roberto Rosolini.

Once I’d calmed down, I considered that perhaps I had overreacted.

Okay…

I had definitely overreacted.

I was prepared to talk to him again and try to smooth things over…

And realized I was the tiniest bit disappointed when I didn’t see him.

My disappointment disappeared when I asked Jiangbei about him.

She told me he’d left with Han a few minutes after our ‘discussion.’

If he’s hanging out with Han, he IS an asshole, I thought, and promptly forgot all about him.

I left De Sade at 4 AM, drove home, ate a microwaved frozen dinner, and promptly collapsed into bed.

I woke around noon, showered, and dressed in normal street clothes. Five minutes later, I was driving down the tree-lined road towards Hong Kong in my silver Bentley convertible.

When I reached the club, I parked in the underground garage and took the elevator.

Bowen, my assistant and De Sade’s daytime manager, was waiting for me with a report on the previous night’s receipts.

“1.87 million,” he said as he held up the zippered pouch we used for the club’s cash receipts.

1.87 million Hong Kong dollars was equivalent to $240,000 US.

“Plus another 990,000 in Bitcoin and Ether transactions,” Bowen said as he tucked a flash drive and a piece of white computer paper into the pouch. Both the paper and the flash drive listed the crypto accounts the 990,000 had come from.

More and more of our customers’ payments were in crypto. Only cash payments were more discreet.

2.86 million Hong Kong dollars total…

So, about $366,000 US dollars.

Not bad.

Of course, a little over half of that would go to payroll. At $1200 to $5000 US dollars per hour, my subs and doms were some of the most highly compensated in all of Asia’s fetish scene – but they were worth it. I only hired the best.

Still, that left around $180,000 in gross profit.

After rent, utilities, support staff wages, alcohol, and other items, I would net around $15,000 US, given my 10% stake in the club.

Not bad for a night’s work.

But for the first time since last night, I thought of the handsome Italian man and his offer to pay me $10,000 per hour.

Say we’d spent three hours together.

I could have made twice as much money…

Although I would have had to trade away my self-respect to do it.

So… no.

Still…

He had been very handsome.

And Italians were reputed to be great lovers.

Although, if he had to pay for it, he probably wasn’t that good.

And God only knows what he wanted me to do for that amount of money.

I pushed him out of my mind and took the pouch from Bowen.

“See you this evening,” I said.

My workday started at 6 PM. De Sade entertained customers 24 hours a day, but the real money didn’t start flowing until night fell.

“See you later, boss,” Bowen replied as I headed for the elevator.

As I drove away from De Sade, I mused that anyone who tried to carjack me could have made a lot of money very quickly.

But no triad gangster would dare try –

Because they knew who I worked for.

Only an amateur would be stupid enough to attempt it.

And even if he killed me, he would be hunted down and slaughtered within an hour.

Which is why I felt completely safe driving around Hong Kong with over a third of a million US dollars in my lap.

I finally reached my destination and parked in the underground garage. I took the elevator to the lobby, and from there went to the 70th floor.

Eu-Meh was working reception. We exchanged smiles as she buzzed me through.

I went straight to Accounting and Mr. Gongsun’s office.

Gongsun was a fat, middle-aged man with thinning hair and dark circles under his eyes.

He stared at me as he did every time I saw him, his lecherous gaze pausing at my breasts before his eyes reached my face.

I had to say this for the handsome Italian: he might have been a jerk, but at least he hadn’t leered at me like I was a piece of meat.

“Good haul?” Gongsun asked in Cantonese.

“Typical weekday,” I replied as I laid the zippered pouch on his desk.

He pulled out the money and the flash drive, then looked at the paper with the crypto totals on it.

“By the way, Mr. Lau wants to see you,” he said absent-mindedly.

My stomach tightened.

Lau never asked to see me.

“About what?” I asked.

“How should I know?” Gongsun said crossly as he plugged the flash drive into his computer.

I turned to leave.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, and I knew he was staring at my ass as I walked out of the room.

I didn’t bother to respond.

I checked in with Mrs. Feng, Lau’s harpy of a secretary. She made me wait 15 minutes before letting me into his office.

When I entered, Lau was sitting behind his desk in his customary Nehru suit. Today it was light blue.

He was looking at reports on paper. He rarely used a computer; he preferred having everything printed out for him, even his emails.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” I asked in Cantonese.

“Ah, Ms. Chan,” he replied without looking up at me. “Please, sit.”

I took one of the chairs opposite him and sat down nervously. I felt like a little girl who had been summoned to the principal’s office.

Lau perused the papers for another 60 seconds before finally putting them aside. Then he looked up at me and gave me that fake grandfatherly smile.

It was like a Great White had somehow learned to give its prey a disarming grin that disguised its rows of jagged teeth.

“How are you, Ms. Chan?” he asked pleasantly.

“I’m well, Mr. Lau.”

“Good. I heard you had a bit of an altercation with a laowai last night.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Laowai was the term for a foreigner – typically a white Westerner.

Though not exactly a slur, it wasn’t the most complimentary term.

I had no idea how Lau had heard about the German. Even odder was that he cared. I usually had to throw out two or three customers a week, and Lau had never asked about it before.

Not since the Russian.

He didn’t give a damn until somebody died.

“It was nothing,” I said. “A German customer got irate, so we refunded him and escorted him out.”

“Not the German,” Lau said pleasantly. “The Italian.”

I frowned. How did he know about –

Then I realized.

Han.

That piece of crap must have told Lau.

“I wouldn’t call it an ‘altercation,’” I said with a forced smile. “Merely a little argument.”

“About what?”

“He propositioned me.”

“Oh?” Lau said, as though mildly surprised.

“Yes. I told him I wasn’t interested. He didn’t take it so well.”

“I see.”

Lau stood up from his chair and walked around the desk towards me.

My stomach immediately lurched.

Lau never came out from behind his desk.

Not unless it was really bad.

He perched on the edge of his desk and gazed down at me with that fake grandfatherly smile of his. In this new position, he towered above me.

“That laowai was one of my primary investors,” he said.

My stomach plummeted.

“…oh,” I said meekly.

Lau’s smile disappeared.

“Yes – ‘oh,’” he sneered mockingly.

“I had no idea,” I protested. “He didn’t mention anything about you – ”

“He was with Mr. Han. That should have been a clue.”

“Han brings all sorts of scuzzy laowai to the club,” I said, a bit more boldly than was prudent.

Lau scowled. “Well, this laowai is different. If he returns to De Sade, you are to keep him happy. You are to acquiesce to anything he wants. Do you understand?”

I wanted to snarl, Even if he wants to fuck me like a prostitute?

However, I kept my voice calm and measured. “I really don’t think – ”

“I also heard you told the laowai you own De Sade,” Lau interrupted. “Imagine how surprised I was to hear that.”

My stomach felt like it had dropped out of my body and was somewhere ten floors below me.

“Sir,” I said, my voice trembling, “I – ”

“It would be a pity if I had to remind you of your actual position within our little pecking order. Say, if I had to demonstrate it in front of your staff. Wouldn’t you agree?”

A chill went down my spine as I imagined him humiliating me in front of all my employees.

He would do it. I knew he would – without a doubt.

“…yes, sir,” I said meekly.

Lau stared down at me for another 10 seconds without saying a thing.

I knew better than to speak or even look at him.

I just stared straight ahead in silence.

Finally, he spoke. “If the laowai comes back, do what he wants. Keep him occupied. Am I understood?”

“Perfectly, sir,” I whispered.

“Good.” Then he gave me the grandfatherly smile again. “You may go.”

He stood up from where he was perched and walked back around the desk.

I was out of the office before he sat down.