Coffee & Criminals

5. Tunnels

Furious now, I was the first to say something. I stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor like it had when Wolfe stood up. Anger curled its steel fist around my chest. Suddenly, I didn't care if the men had guns or not. No one was going to take my parent's business away, even if it was going downhill. We could fix the shop ourselves. There was no need for anyone to intrude, and the fact that someone would even have the nerve to made me mad. "No!" I snapped.

"Florence-" A hand touched my shoulder. Mom tried to push me back down but I remained standing, glowering at all four of them. "Please."

Beardy, or perhaps now I should call him Brice, suddenly snorted. "Listen to your mother. This doesn't include you."

"Florence, sit." Dad warned nervously.

I didn't. What can I say? My natural teenage instinct was rebellion, and rebel I would, even if it meant standing up to dangerous Brooklyn mobsters that recently decimated an entire business like it was nothing. 

Silence shrouded the room for just one moment and then-

"Sit down!" Wolfe suddenly growled. His loud, angry voice echoed through the coffee shop, magnified to a thousand. He stood up so fast that I flinched. The chair legs squeaked against the floor, a cringing noise. I could hear my mother breathing heavily. My back was ramrod straight, but my knees trembled as I looked into the deadly, silently raging face of Wolfe Sterling. 

Icy eyes locked with my own, backed with a thirst for challenge that I didn't feel like ruffling. Wolfe matched my hateful glare with one of his own, but I couldn't keep the eye contact. My gaze flickered down to the floor for just one second but a loud noise instantly drew my eyes back to Wolfe. He slammed his hands down on the table, making us all jump. Leaning forward, Wolfe lowered his voice until his words were only heard by me. I had to watch his lips form the words to understand what he was saying. "You've got a real knack for interrupting. Unfortunately, I have a real knack for committing first degree murder. I'm not going to ask again. This is a discussion between your parents and I. You can either sit down and shut your mouth...'' He paused for effect. It worked. My parents drew a collective breath and I tensed. "...or you can so kindly bestow upon your parents the honor of choosing a coffin."

With three people telling me to sit down, I couldn't really argue back very well. Also, standing up for myself didn't seem like such a great idea when a death threat was added in the mix. I liked living, thank you very much. Admitting defeat, I pulled my chair in and sat down. Defiantly, though, grinding my teeth to bone dust in my mouth out of pure anger. Rage was such a strong whole body emotion. Wolfe fixed me with an ice cold glare for a second before going all business-y again.

"As I was saying-" He said calmly. "-I would like co-ownership of the Espresso House."

My parents were just as reluctant as I was to take this offer. Thankfully, they had a better way of approaching it than I did. Dad cleared his throat. "As flattered as we are of this proposal Mr. Sterling, I'm afraid we'll have to refuse." He said nervously. "My wife and I, with all due respect, simply don't feel comfortable having a third party run the Espresso House. Especially some stranger with a gun. This is no offer, Mr. Sterling. It's a threat and we don't like it."

You go, Dad.

"Then let me buy this place." Wolfe was quick to ask. I had to bite my tongue to keep from letting the insults on the tip of my tongue fly. Buy Espresso House? A business we've run for years and some hoity-toity group of criminals just wanted to get involved in selling coffee and lattes?

"What for?" Mom implored curiously. "I mean, I'm not saying yes to this idea, but I would like to know why you would like a coffee shop. If your affiliation to the Crowns is to be held true, a local business in Brooklyn is one of the worst places to hide. Especially since police and reporters are swarming next door. You're a wanted man, Wolfe Sterling. You do realize that, don't you?"