Loyal [boyxboy]

Watch Me as I Fall

Lucas was all too happy to step off the plane back in New York. Miami had been nice but eventually the strange winter heat had gotten to him. He still had the sunglasses but was glad to need a slight jacket. Alex was on his phone almost immediately, setting up meetings and checking in on things.

Joshua gave Lucas a hard pat on the back as he called up rides for them to get home. There was still some tension between Lucas and Nick, but they were trying not to talk about it in hopes that it would fade. It was supposed to be the nature of organized crime—Lucas felt he was prepared to handle it, and Nick didn't. They could have their opinions and difference because as Nick said, they were different people. They didn't have to be the same in every way in order to like each other.

Lucas tried to keep telling himself that, and offered to give in and try a few of Nick's oddly named alcoholic drinks. That seemed to cheer him up enough as he promised to show off during some of the nights before the club opened.

Lucas had almost forgotten that was even happening. The construction was mostly done and now everything was getting down to the details of staff, ordering alcohol and setting up the music. Joshua said they had been promoting around town for it to open at the end of the week.

Nick would be at the bar with some other bartenders they would be hiring, but only one of them was also part of their inner workings next to Nick. They would have a lead bartender there for a few weeks to help get everything running smoothly before going back to another club.

They day after they were back from Miami, Joshua took Lucas back to the club. The offices were done, and so Lucas got to pick out what furniture would be going in his. Other than at Tom's, he had never really needed a desk before. Joshua went over all of the fine details again. "These rooms are soundproof from the music, so you shouldn't hear much. Be sure and check for listening devices regularly. We can't block frequencies because security has to be able to communicate. You'll have a radio to talk to them too. I'll be working here too, and so will Alex, so any questions can always come to us."

Lucas nodded along, though he couldn't help but be distracted still. Nick had him thinking about all of the things he didn't want to dwell on.

"You okay?" Joshua picked it up, giving him a suspicious look.

"Just a little nervous about it," Lucas admitted. It wasn't a lie. Laundering money with Tom was one thing, but here they were expecting him to be in charge of something.

Joshua softened some and gave him an encouraging smile—or as encouraging as a man like Joshua could give. "You'll be fine. You'll get the hang of it quickly enough. Alex and I both put you up to this."

"Gee, thanks," Lucas scoffed, taking a long sit in his overly squishy rolling computer chair. It got to be his chair, so no one could complain. Joshua fidgeted, which then had Lucas noticing something was off. "What's up?"

"I'm not supposed to say anything," Joshua said, closing the office door. "But Alex is pushing to get you moved up."

"I already am, aren't I?" Lucas fanned his arms out over the expanse of his office.

"Yes and no. You're getting a lot of responsibility with this, but you're still kinda down here, officially." Joshua made a motion with his hand of being at the bottom. "But Alex wants to get you more up here." He moved his hand up to the middle. He's talking with some of the higher ups."

Lucas let out a long breath. He was aware that there were people above Alex, but rarely did they get talked about. He nodded stiffly. "And I'm assuming I have to do something to prove myself? Or something."