In Your Clutches

Part 10: Death Is Inevitable

ASHER

I didn't bother looking down at my watch. It was well past the agreed upon meeting hour and Sean and Cillian, two of the Irish men, had the audacity to have me waiting in what resembled a small lobby in an abandoned warehouse.

I'd only brought two men with me, men I trusted and knew to be agile, but I would have felt more comfortable if Marco had come with me. Out of all my men, I trusted most in Marco's skill. It wasn't just that Marco was good during a stressful situation or had great reflexes when needed, it was that we both knew each other so well, understood each other so well, that we did not even need to speak to each other to agree on taking action.

But Marco had to be in the city today handling other business for me and so I was here to face the the Irish without him. Not that I was worried or anxious, I felt more than prepared to handle those sleazy scumbags. I had already made up my mind about the subject, had already decided that he would tell them to go... or I would make them go. Simple as that. I'd made up my mind I didn't like them, had known it from the moment I first heard of them and I should have trusted my instinct then.

Instead, I was standing here, waiting. I looked around the room, a small one that decorated cheaply but in otherwise good taste, then I turned as I heard a door in the back finally open.

"They'll see you now." A rather large man said, pulling me out of my thoughts and back into reality.

"Let's go." The man repeated, looking impatient and signaling for me to follow. I didn't reply, instead I moved past him, indicating that my men should wait in there.

I cocked my pistol and went inside the room of the abandoned warehouse. Well, almost abandoned. The remaining two in there? They were the reason for the pistol.

Dust in air. The smell of sweat. It was evident that people had been there not too long ago. That or maybe... the men inside this building smelled bad.

It was intolerable that they should have made me wait so long but what was worse... now the two fools didn't even bother to stand as I entered their office.

This was not how you treated a Don, and it was not how I would have treated anyone coming into my territory for an important meeting.

I stood still as the door was shut behind me, my hands deep in my pockets as I realised I would have to exercise extreme patience against their insolence.

"Good to see you, Asher." The older one, Cillian said, motioning to an empty chair.

I didn't move, I didn't remove my sunglasses and I didn't take my hands out of my pockets. Now they used my first name? This was far past disrespectful. I could already see that I would have to make an example out of them.

"I wish I could say the same." I replied, looking towards the younger one, Sean, who wasn't even bothering to look in my direction and was instead playing with a pen.

"We heard you had some objections to our sales?" Cillian asked.

"The rules are clear, I set them the same way for everyone. No exceptions." I replied. "I would think that you two would be especially careful."

"We didn't know that you were so interested in those types of sales." Cillian replied. "We heard you don't deal in it."

"I don't. That's below our family's pay grade." I said, "But everyone is entitled to their own business as long as it doesn't interfere with mine or break my rules."

"We require a little more flexibility than that." Cillian said.

"Not granted."

"That's not a request." Cillian replied.