The Queen of the Underworld

Chapter 15

I watched Rio and Kei from my seat on the floor. They were arguing, as usual. This time, we were at the condo. It's been a few days since the incident with Vincent. I asked him if it was okay if they came over; finally, he agreed since he said he wouldn't be home until really late. They have been here since we got out of school. 

"Is there anything cool here? Like, things normal houses wouldn't have." Rio asked, looking at me. 

"It's all pretty normal; we just have a nice view and extra security. I mean, he has a nice Tv and a nice coffee maker." I shrugged at the two, earning laughs.

"Have you baked yet?" Kei smiled at me. "Come on, make us something!" That's how we three ended up in the kitchen. I was using what we had in the kitchen since it was always stocked with anything you can think of. I always have so many ideas for food, but I let Vincent take care of the one meal I eat a day since he seems to enjoy it.  I shook my head.

"Come on; you're an amazing baker." I didn't argue with the two boys and got to work. Many hours later, with too many pastries, we ended up bringing them to the 'office'. Jake ended up coming to get us three and our pastries. When we pulled into a parking garage, I was gradually getting more anxious. 

"Listen," Jake said quietly to us as we got into an elevator. "It's a bit different here, so try to behave. Bossman isn't going to be too happy to know that we let you in, so you have to say you didn't give us an option." Someone was waiting with a small cart to put the pastries on, so we didn't have to carry the one-use pans. 

"Got it, Chief," Rio said excitedly. "I bet the boys are going to be happy. I can't believe you made us wait to eat them." He huffed as we quietly entered a conference room. The atmosphere was serious, but not uncomfortable. Everyone seemed to be getting along, and not much arguing happened. No voices were raised. I gripped the bottom of my sweatshirt as we went in, not enjoying the stares I was getting. 

"Aw, yes!" Kenny erupted, making Rio and Kei snort. He went from serious to a childish in seconds. "Why did she bake? Is she okay? Did something happen?" He started to rapid-fire when he thought for a second about why we brought them food. 

"Rio mentioned it and requested some stuff, so she made more so everyone could have something. She knew it would be a really long meeting and day for everyone."

"Can we trust the food?" A man said hesitantly, eyeing me and the pastries. I finally looked up because the mistrust hurt. I take my food seriously; I want others to trust me with the food. 

"That's a stupid question," I said in irritation. "Why would I spend many hours of my day making pastries for people I didn't know? Why would I think about how many pastries per person to make, which I approximately gauged two to four per adult male or one to three per female, for an unknown number? Why would I waste many pastries and time just to possibly poison a person when there are more effective ways of killing someone. It's rude to assume that I'd harm you all on a whim, and the question is extremely disrespectful to the art of baking." I glared at the man without my conscious awareness. "I can take them all back and make a profit off of them if it's really that big of an issue." Protests were shouted from Kenny, Chance, and some of their men. "That's what I thought, s***heads," I muttered and placed the pans on a long table before moving out of the way. Kei handed me a reusable grocery bag, reminding me that I made specific things for Vincent, Chance, Kenny, and even Jake.