Obligation(74)

“You’re not coming,” I say as I look around for Sven.

“You’re going to let some guy you don’t really know help you do this, but not the man who has been with you your whole life?” He shakes his head, muttering under his breath something about how my mom should have raised me better.

I ignore him and keep walking. Then I spot Sven posted up next to a small sports car.

“What’s up, man? How have you been?” Sven greets us as soon as we’re near.

“Good. How are things?” I shake his hand and place my small bag in the back seat. Then I lean the seat forward so that Uncle Frank can get in.

“You have got to be shitting me,” Uncle Frank complains, looking at the seat then back at me.

“Sorry, man. My assistant is using my other car, so I had to bring this,” Sven apologizes as my uncle stuffs himself into the small back seat then gripes when I put the front seat back in position so I can get in.

“Just ignore him,” I tell Sven once we’re all in the car.

“We still have some time to kill, so I figured we could all go to my house and get the details worked out before doing what you came here for,” Sven says.

I nod then ask him about his club, which is close to the area of downtown that Paulie Sr. has recently started running drugs out of.

He tells me that the drugs have recently begun seeping into his club and a few women who have gone to the club have been roofied. When he went to the cops, he had a dead body and a note telling him to shut his mouth show up on his front step.

When we pull up at his house, I’m slightly taken aback by the normalcy of the area and home. I know that Sven has money, and a lot of it, so the fact that he’s living in a neighborhood has me raising a brow.

“I have a penthouse but have recently been staying here,” he mutters, shutting down the car.

I get out as well then lean the seat forward so Frank can get out before grabbing my bag from the back seat and following Sven up the front steps and into the house.

The house is large. The moment I enter, I walk into a large foyer that has a round staircase leading upstairs, and then there is a library off to one side and a living room on the other.

“Let me see if Mag’s home,” Sven murmurs.

We follow behind him through the living room and into a large, open kitchen that has a small dining room off to the side.

“Oh good. You’re here. I got all the crap you asked for,” a woman’s voice says as we walk around the corner.

I wonder who she is. Her hair is dark brown, and it hangs down the middle of her back. She’s slightly chubby, but she has curves in all the right places.

“Meat is not crap, Mag,” Sven tells her, but I can see softness in his eyes as he looks at her.

“Stop calling me Mag. It’s Maggie, for the millionth time, and meat is gross.” She shakes her head then swings around to look at Uncle Frank and me when she realizes we’re standing there. Her face is soft and round, but the color of her eyes is what makes her beautiful. They are so light that they look like honey. “You have zero manners.” She looks at Sven again as she scolds him then looks at us, and her face transforms and a smile lights up her face. “He’s rude. Sorry about that. I’m Maggie, this guy’s assistant. Nice to meet you guys.” She shakes my hand then takes Frank’s, who holds on to her and pulls her closer.

“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” my uncle says, kissing her hand.

“Aww, you’re so cute.” She pats his cheek then steps back and looks at Sven. “I’m going to head out. I have a date tonight.”

I look at Sven, and his jaw begins to tick as he shakes his head.

“You need to work tonight,” he tells her, but his jaw is so tight that I’m surprised the words even come out.

“I don’t work nights.” She laughs. “Nice meeting you guys,” she says as she walks over to the counter, picking up her bag before walking out of the kitchen with Sven’s eyes glued to her ass.

“I’ll be right back,” he growls then storms out of the kitchen after her. Then we hear the front door open and slam shut.

“That was awkward,” Frank says, but I have a feeling I know what’s going on.

Sven looks like the kind of guy who could walk into a room full of women and have his pick. Now, the woman he wants is not falling at his feet, so he has no idea what to do. It only takes a couple of minutes for the front door to open back up, and then the loud bang of it slamming echoes before we hear Sven storm into the kitchen.

“She makes me fucking mental,” he growls, walking to the fridge and grabbing a beer. “I swear to fucking Christ I’m going to end up being put in a goddamn hospital because of her and the stress she causes me,” he says before tilting the beer back and taking a large pull.