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Rather than hiring a manager to run it, as Brogan did with his rental properties, James loved to put in the work to make it thrive, to keep his finger on the pulse of what the Orchid needed. Even if it made balancing his work with the family and keeping the pub going a challenge some days.
That was why he only employed people from one of the twelve families. They understood why he’d randomly slip out for a few hours or show up at odd times with bruised knuckles. They didn’t ask questions that were none of their business.
Now he’d broken his own rule. Extending a job offer to the woman with silky black curls and a lithe dancer’s body had been nothing but impulse. Born of an unspoken desire to pull her closer even though he’d be forced to keep her at arm’s length. There was an unspoken rule about family relationships. No outsiders.
It wasn’t expressly forbidden. Evidenced by the fact that Brogan had fallen in love with a Mafia princess and Aidan’s marriage to another Mafia daughter had been neatly arranged to cement an alliance. But it was hardly encouraged.
This life was hard. It was messy; it was complicated. They needed partners who knew what they were getting themselves into. Partners who wouldn’t go to the cops when their lovers came home covered in blood.
Anytime one of the family strayed outside the syndicate, things inevitably didn’t go well. His own grandfather had found that out the hard way, dating and almost marrying an outsider who nearly cost the family everything they’d spent decades building and protecting.
The risk was unspoken, but it was no less real. Don’t endanger the family by getting seriously involved with someone who wouldn’t understand. Declan’s generous contributions to influential politicians and the syndicate men and women they had on the police force could only do so much to protect them.
It was why when James recently decided to dip his toe back into the dating pool, he’d kept it strictly to the twelve families. Fuck knows there were plenty of women to choose from—the syndicate had grown prolifically in the last century and a half—but none of them tugged at him. No one had tugged at him in a long time. Not the way Delaney did last night.
He finished the last of his iced coffee and tossed the bottle in the recycling bin with an irritated huff. There was no use wasting time and energy wanting a woman he couldn’t have. No matter how tempting.
James's phone signaled, and he dug it out of the pocket of his jeans. A reminder from Declan about the meeting tomorrow to discuss the updates being made to their delivery systems and a note about something new Evie wanted to discuss. Intriguing.
Grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl the housekeeper kept stocked on the counter, James slipped into the boots he’d left by the front door and abandoned his apartment for his office in the pub.
Originally the apartment over the pub had been a respite from the memories that swirled around the house he’d shared with Maura, filling every crevice. It was as much an escape as the Orchid had been a memorial. Now he enjoyed the convenience of it, even though Reagan claimed it had turned him into a workaholic. She was hardly one to talk.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he veered away from his office and toward the sound of thumping bass coming from the kitchen. Stepping into the opening, he saw his line cook, Addy, blue hair held back by a wide band, bobbing her head to the heavy metal pumping from a Bluetooth speaker fixed to the wall.
She was chopping something on the stainless steel surface in front of her, but her hands were obscured by the ingredients stacked beside her, and he saw only the rapid movement of the knife. He moved further into the kitchen, and she glanced up, immediately reaching over to turn down the music she knew he hated.
“Hey, boss.”
“Early, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I wanted to get everything prepped because I have a new dish I want you to try before we open.”
He leaned his hip on the counter. Onions. She was chopping onions and scooping them into a prep container.
“Is it going to be better than that fish thing you made me try last month?”
Addy rolled her eyes and sliced a second onion in half before peeling it and adding the skins to what she called a garbage bowl. Not that she threw it in the garbage. She usually made stock or soup out of it. Addy hated waste, and she was very good for his bottom line.
“It’s not my fault you have an unrefined palate. Clara liked that one.”
“I think she was just being nice,” he replied, hiding a grin when Addy pouted.
“This one is beef. You like beef. You’re practically a carnivore.”
Taking a bite of the apple he’d forgotten in his hand, he raised a brow. “Have you heard from Maizy?”
“No.” Addy fixed him with a pointed stare. “Please tell me you’re going to finally fire her ass now.”
“I am.” He ignored her little victory wiggle. “I hired a new waitress last night. She starts today.”
The knife stilled, and Addy’s brows shot up. “Already? That was fast.”
“She helped us out in a pinch and seems like she’d be a good fit.”
“Wait. You hired Delaney? The girl from last night?”
James's brows drew together. “I did. Why? Is there something that happened while she was working I should know about?”
