CHAPTER 18
Ben
I couldn't believe it. We had shared our first kiss, and man, I had to say it had been one of the best kisses of my life. I knew that there was a passionate fire that burned inside Bethany – hell, I had known it the first time I laid my eyes on her – but I hadn't known just how intensely that fire burned until now.
The kiss had felt like it had taken hours – and seconds. It had felt so long and amazing, yet was over far, far too quickly. That didn't matter though; I was eager for more, a lot more, and couldn't wait to get away from this dinner table and these boring businessmen and get Bethany alone again.
She headed off to the restroom while I was having a conversation with the CEO of a local factory, and it didn't seem like much of a big deal. When she came back, however, I could see right away that something wasn't right. She was looking almost shaken up or something. I excused myself from my current conversation and leaned over to her.
“Are you alright, Bethany?” I asked.
“I'm fine, nothing's wrong,” she muttered, although I could see that something definitely was wrong.
Before we could continue our conversation, though, the MC of the evening started speaking, his voice coming loud and clear through the large speakers and preventing any further talking between Bethany and me.
I listened with impatience to his speech, applauded when I needed to applaud, stood up when I needed to stand up – but all I could think about was Bethany. What was wrong with her? Was she feeling ill? Was she worried about something? Why had she clammed up like this? What was the problem?
Then, out of the blue, my phone rang. Well, it started buzzing in my pocket – I had it on silent for the proceedings. Annoyed, I picked it up and saw that it was Tony. He knew that I was at this ball and wouldn't be disturbing me if it wasn't something very important, so I figured that I had better take the call.
I stood up and excused myself from the table and then hurried out of the hall and answered the phone.
“Tony speak to me. This better as hell be important, to disturb me at a time like this!”
“It's real important boss, trust me. The strip club is on fire!”
Shock ripped through me.
“What?! Say that again, because I'm not sure I heard you right.”
“Controversy! The strip club you own! The freakin' place is burning down, it's on fire, I don't know how else to put it to make it any clearer! You gotta get here right now!”
“Shit! I'll be right there. Shit!”
“Hurry boss, hurry!”
I ran back inside and went straight over to Bethany.
“Bethany, there's a huge emergency. My strip club is burning down right now. I gotta go! I'll tell Tino to come pick you up when the dinner is over. You just give him a call when you wanna leave, alright?”
“Oh my God, that's terrible!” she exclaimed, looking shocked. “Well go, go, hurry! I'll call Tino then when I want to go.”
I said hasty goodbyes to the other guests around the table, and then raced out to my Merc. I jumped in, gunned the motor and the tore off, pushing the car to its limits in my haste to get to Controversy. I screamed around corners and blasted through red lights, and gunned it hard down the straights, hitting some highly illegal speeds as I did.
Soon I could see the smoke billowing up into the night sky, and I knew that Tony had not been exaggerating at all. I ripped through the last few streets, and then when I first caught sight of my club, I saw a bunch of fire engines outside, trying to extinguish the blaze. Flames were billowing out of the upper floor of the club – right where my office was.
“Oh shit,” I said as I pulled up. “Oh shit, oh shit!”
I got out of the car and ran up to the building, where a couple of firefighters were blasting a hose at the flames.
“You can't be here sir!” yelled one of them. “Get back!”
“I own this place, dammit!” I yelled back. “That's my place that's freakin' going up in flames!”
Tony ran up to me. His face was blackened from smoke, and he was coughing.
“Ben, thank God you're here!”
“Tony, what the hell is this?! What's going on here?!
“Someone firebombed us!” he said, an expression of shock written plain across his face. “I was upstairs in the office about twenty minutes ago, when I heard the crash of glass breaking. Then there was another crash – right next to me. Someone tossed a freakin' Molotov cocktail through the office window! The whole office went up in flames. It was scary as shit, there were just flames all around me. But I grabbed everything important that I could out of the office – your notebook and hard drive, and the files and plans for the new casino and restaurant, and high-tailed it outta there before I got burned to death.”
“That's freakin' insane!” I exclaimed. “Jeez man, well thank you for saving the stuff – but you shouldn't have risked your damn life for it. You look terrible. Shit, are you sure you ain't hurt or nothin'?”
“My chest feels a bit tight from breathing in the smoke, but I didn't get burned.”
He paused here and suffered through a bout of coughing.
“You're a good soldier Tony, a damn good soldier,” I said. “Where's the stuff you rescued from the office?”
“It's safe, locked in the trunk of my car.”
I nodded.
“How about the staff here – the dancers, the bartenders, the bouncers. Anybody get hurt?”
He shook his head.
“No, everyone is safe. Nobody got hurt at all. The fire alarms went off right away, so everyone cleared out quickly. And whoever it was who threw the bombs was specifically targeting the upper floor. They knew that the offices were there, and they knew that some of us would be there. I have no doubt in my mind that this was a specifically targeted attack. They were after you – or least the things that were important to you.”
Now hot anger was starting to pump through my veins.
“Man, when I find out which damn bastard did this to me... I'm gonna pull his teeth out one by one, and pull each and every one of his damn fingernails and toenails off too!”
“Who do you think did it?” asked Tony.
“Man, I don't know. We haven't really created any situations of war recently, except I guess with Tyrese and his CM punks. But this – this isn't really their style. If they were trying to ice me, they would have used guns. They would have set up an ambush for me, or they would have tried a freakin' drive-by or something. No... I don't think that this was the CM guys who did this.”
Tony shook his head.
“No, I guess it wouldn't have been. But then... who the hell would it have been?”
I was wracking my brains to try to figure out who could have done this, but I wasn't coming up with anything.
“I don't know man, I really don't know,” I muttered eventually. “But whoever did this... they're gonna pay. I'm gonna find out who did this, and they're gonna pay dearly for this shit. I swear they will.”
“The fire's out,” said Tony, looking up at the building. The flames were gone, and now there was just smoke and steam coming out of the broken windows.
One of the firefighters walked up to Tony and me.
“We've managed to extinguish the flames,” he said. “I believe one of you two gentlemen is the owner of this establishment?”
I nodded.
“I am.”
“Well lucky for you, I don't think that there's been any structural damage,” he said. “We managed to get the fire put out before the flames could do any major damage. It's not yet safe for you to go inside though. We're just sending a few of the boys in to give the place a thorough safety inspection before we allow anyone inside. I assume that you have fire insurance?”
I nodded.
“I do.”
“Well you'd best give them a call and let them know what happened. If you need me to make a statement on my assessment of the situation, I'll gladly do so. What we've got here is a clear case of malicious arson, so the cops are gonna be coming around and asking you a bunch of questions too. You know of anyone who might have wanted to do this to you?”
I shook my head.
“Well... there are a few people who don't like me too much... But I'm not totally sure who exactly it could have been.”
“Well you'd better hope that they don't come back to finish the job,” said the firefighter. “Anyways, I'm gonna go inside and inspect the damage myself. You two wait right here. I'll be back after I'm done, and then I can give you a clearer picture of the situation.”
Tony and I were pacing around and waiting for the firefighter to come back and give us his report on the damages caused, when Tony's phone rang. He got it out and looked at the screen.
“Unknown number,” he announced. “Should I take it?”
I nodded.
“Take the call. See who it is.”
He answered.
“Hello?”
His face soured immediately – he recognized the voice for sure. Whoever it was said something to him, and then he passed the phone to me.
“It's someone we both know, boss. Someone we thought we had taken care of... but someone I guess we hadn't.”
Now my curiosity was piqued. Who the hell was this, and did it have something to do with the fire?
I took the phone from Tony.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Well hey there sport!” said a chipper voice – a very familiar voice, a voice I had heard last just a few days ago.
“Danny freakin' Smith, you little shit,” I growled. “What, we didn't give you enough of a beating? One broken leg, one broken arm and a broken nose wasn't enough for you? Why the hell are you calling now you damn little thief? When are you gonna get me my ten-grand back, huh?”
“You're never getting that damn money back, you asshole!” he yelled, his voice distorting in the tinny phone speaker. “Never! But I hope you liked my little gift.”
“Gift? What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
“Hmm, what's that I can smell?” he replied. “Is that the lovely scent of a strip club burning down?”
Now my anger levels shot through the freakin' roof.
“You son of a bitch!” I roared. “It was you that did this! You tried to burn my club down!”
“I was hoping to burn you and your friends down with it – that's why I targeted the upper floor with my little cocktails. Sadly, you're still speaking, so I guess that means that I didn't get to burn you alive. Damn it! Well still, I know that you keep your records and other important stuff up there, and now... now those have all gone up in smoke! Hahaha!”
“Wrong, jerk-off,” I growled. “Everything important was salvaged from that office. My good man Tony managed to save the most important stuff. But you, you little turd, ain't nothin' or nobody gonna be able to save you! You're a dead man walking! When I find you, Danny Smith, I'm gonna break every single bone in your damn body, one by one. I'm gonna-”
“You're not gonna do anything, you big fat moron. I'm boarding a plane right now, and in another few minutes we'll be taking off and flying across the country to one of the major international airports. And then from there – because you don't think I'd be stupid enough to make it easy enough for you to figure out where I'm flying to – I'll be flying halfway across the world to a country where you'll never be able to find me. Oh, and don't bother looking in the flight records for a Danny Smith, because that isn't even my real name! I used a fake ID when I borrowed that money from you, and you couldn't even tell! So, this is the last time you or I will ever hear the name Danny Smith! Ha! I got you Benito Sciotti, I pulled a fast one on you! And there's nothing you can do about it, nothing! You stupid asshole! Suck on that! Have a nice life!”
He cut the call off before I could say anything else. I was so filled with rage that I wanted to throw the phone down and smash it and utterly destroy it – but it was Tony's, so I handed it back to him.
“That... that little punk, that little...” I growled, pacing back and forth with hot anger ripping through my veins.
Just then though, my phone rang. I felt like I was gonna kill whoever it was who was on the other end of the line.
“This had better be important, this had better be freakin' important,” I growled as I took the phone out. I looked at it and saw that it was my accountant.
I answered the call.
“Hey Bob, what's going on? Shit's really crazy here right now, so this better be important.”
“It is really important – seriously important! You need to get out of Detroit right now.”
“What?!”
“The IRS guy is on his way to Controversy right now for a surprise inspection of your office. There's a file there, shit, shit, I forgot to shred it! It's got some stuff in it Ben, stuff that if this guy picks up on, it'll put him on a paper trail that will end in one thing: you and me, in prison, for a very, very long time.”
“What does it look like?!” I asked.
“It's in a red binder. If you're there, get rid of it right now! The guy is in a white BMW, he'll be arriving any second now!”
As he said that, I saw a white BMW pulling into the parking lot. I turned to Tony.
“Tony! Listen man, tell me about the papers and files you got out of that office! Was there a red binder in the stuff you rescued?”
He shook his head.
“No... I saw it on the desk, but didn't think it was important, because it had 'scrap' written on it.”
I got back on the phone to my accountant.
“Did the binder have the word 'scrap' written on it?” I asked.
“Yes! That's the one! Get rid of it!”
The IRS agent got out of his car and started making a beeline for me. Before he could reach me though, the firefighter who had spoken to me earlier, who had right now come out of the building, approached me and started speaking to me.
“No structural damage, so you're good. The main office though, everything in it got burned to a crisp. All the papers in there, and some other stuff – there's nothing left but ashes.”
“You didn't see a red binder in there, did ya?” I asked him.
“I told you man, there ain't nothin' in there but ashes. Seriously. The room was totally gutted. Nothin' in it survived, nothin' at all.”
I grinned and got back on the phone with my accountant.
“Lucky for you, Bob, it seems that fate decided to take care of your little oversight. The red binder has already been destroyed.”
“Oh God, thank God, thank God! Were safe, we're safe!”
“I'll talk to you later.”
I hung up the call just as the IRS guy got to us.
“Agent Phillip Dinsmore of the IRS,” he said, “and I'm here to conduct a surprise inspection.”
“You can go in there and look around all you want, Agent Dinsmore,” I said with a smile. “Go on, be my guest. Take your time. Make sure you cover your mouth though, we wouldn't want a good government agent like yourself to get ill from smoke inhalation.”
He scowled at me.
“I know you're hiding something Sciotti,” he said, “and I'm going to find out what it is.”
He shoved past me and strode purposefully over to the building. I meanwhile, couldn't now wipe the grin off my face.
“What the hell is up with you?” asked Tony. “Why on earth are you smiling at a time like this?”
“Because, Tony, that little shit Danny Smith with his arson attack just managed to save me from a prison sentence!”
Tony now also beamed out a broad grin.
“How about that! Hahaha!”
“Come on man, let's go have a cigar. Despite all the craziness of tonight, everything has turned out alright! It's all good man, it's all good.”
Chuckling with relief, we walked off to go have cigars.
THE NEXT DAY
I woke up feeling surprisingly good. It had been a strange night, the previous night; the ball, the first kiss I'd had with Bethany, the arson attack from Danny Smith (or at least the person formerly known as Danny Smith), and the surprise visit from the IRS Agent – from whom Danny had inadvertently saved me.
Now, however, things were looking up, and despite the fire damage that was going to cost a few thousand dollars to repair, the fact that I had been saved from a lengthy prison term more than made up for the loss of a little money. The amount was nothing but a trifle to me anyway. And now, I had many more kisses from Bethany to look forward to as well – in addition to other things to look forward to with her. If she could kiss that passionately and intensely, I could only imagine how passionate she would be in bed, when her and I would finally share one – an event that I was sure would happen soon, very soon... And the thought of this got me more and more excited.
I showered and got dressed to prepare for my day, and wondered if I would see Bethany, or if she had already left to go to the diner.
I would have to be a lot firmer now with my insisting that she quit working there. I was hoping that she would have come to this decision on her own, without my prompting, but sadly, she hadn't yet. I didn't know why she wanted to keep things as they were there; surely, she would prefer the life of luxury by my side that I could provide, instead of the long hours and lack of financial security from the diner? I didn't get it – but I would need to bring it up soon. Plans for the new casino and restaurant were moving along at a rapid rate.
I walked out into the hallway, and there was Bethany, putting on her coat as she prepared to go downstairs.
“Morning beautiful,” I said with a warm smile, feeling the heat of attraction simmering in my body as I took in her beauty. “You look fantastic. Heading off to the diner?”
“Yes,” she replied flatly, with an expressionless and almost cold look on her face. That was weird.
Then she simply turned around and walked out.
“Whoa, hold up,” I said, hurrying after her and locking the door behind me. “Let me ride down in the elevator with you.”
“Suit yourself,” she replied, still ice cold. What the hell was going on here?
We got into the elevator and she turned away from me, refusing to look at me. I could feel strong vibes of a simmering anger coming from her, and thought it might be best to simply give her some space, so we rode down together in silence. It was weird and awkward, and I had no idea what had caused this sudden shift in her behavior and attitude.
The doors opened as we reached the parking garage and she strode briskly out, not bothering to say anything to me. What the hell was this?
“Uh, see you later,” I called out after her.
She didn't reply or look back.
I shook my head, feeling frustrated and confused, and then turned around and started walking over to my car. That was when I felt a slim arm slip itself around my waist, and felt hot breath on my neck. I was feeling too absorbed in the confusion and frustration of how Bethany was acting to react immediately to this new person, so when a familiar voice started whispering in my ear and a hot, wet mouth started nibbling on my neck, I didn't push her away immediately.
“I miss you Ben... I miss your hard body, naked, in my bed... I miss your cock inside me... I miss it so bad, so very bad. And you can have me, you can take this body of mine any time you want it... any time...”
Delia.
I stopped walking and stepped away from her, turning to look at her with an angry scowl on my face.
“Goddammit Delia, when are you gonna get the damn message?! I don't want nothin' to do with you, nothin' at all! Do you understand me? Now leave me the hell alone!”
I turned around and stormed off to my car, feeling worse and worse as the day went on. What had started out as a dreamy morning now seemed to be turning into a nightmare...