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"Yeah, it matters to me, Mark," I replied firmly. "I know I said you were going to run the place, but this is still my family business, too. I want to know what’s going on with it."
"It’s fine, you’re just back from college, you have other things to focus on," he replied, waving a hand and getting to his feet. "Anyway, I really have to—uh, I have to get back to work..."
"Mark, what’s going on?" I asked him. "Why won’t you tell me who’s working with you? Or why?"
Something hit me, and my eyes widened.
"Is it illegal?"
"You really don’t have to worry about it—"
"Mark, sit down," I ordered him. "You know me well enough to know I’m not going to let this go until you tell me the truth. So, what’s going on? Who’s investing in the hotel?”
He stared at me for a moment and then seemed to realize there was no way he could just blow me off by saying what he thought I wanted to hear and hoping for the best.
"Okay, look, I know you’re not going to be happy about this," he told me. "It’s why I didn’t want to drag you into it. I didn’t want you worrying about all of it..."
"And why would I be worried about it?” I asked him. "What’s going on?"
"There are some...people I’m working with who’ve agreed to help out with the hotel if I let them use the casino," He explained.
"Use it? For what?" I pressed.
"They’ve invested so they can use the casino for some of their own business interests—you know, ways they can get money moving through the city..."
"You mean laundering?" I demanded. "Is that what you’re talking about?"
He fell silent. If he wasn’t arguing, then it was because he didn’t have a comeback. I groaned and sat back in my seat.
"Laundering. Mark, are you fucking crazy?" I demanded. "You must know how dangerous this is. And Dad would never want you to get involved with those kinds of people..."
"Yeah, well, it’s either do something like that or watch this place fail, and I’m not going to do that," he snapped back.
"These people you’re working with... who are they?" I asked. This was how I would get to the bottom of what was going on with Scott. I couldn’t bring up his name, not yet, not without Mark figuring out I knew more about him than I should have, but I wanted to find out just how fucked-up his business was—what exactly was he laundering money for?
"Just some...family businesses around the city."
"You need to stop talking like you’re trying to hide something, it’s only making me more worried," I told him. "Criminals?"
He dropped his head to his chest, then nodded.
"Some of them."
I closed my eyes, hardly able to comprehend what I had just heard. My brother, involved with criminals. My family business, being used like this. And me, falling into bed with one of them...it was all more than I could wrap my head around.
"I think I bumped into one of them recently," I replied, furrowing my brow as though I was having a hard time bringing his name to mind. "Scott...something?"
"Oh, yeah, Scott," he replied. "He’s our main investor, actually. It’s his business we’ll be...helping out."
"And what exactly is his business?” I asked him.
He sighed heavily. I could tell he didn’t want to have to share this part with me. But he was going to have to. I wasn’t going to back off until I had found out exactly what was going on with him, with his business—with our family hotel. And he knew it.
"Mafia."
My stomach dropped. I felt like I was going to throw up. The corners of my vision began to blur slightly, and I tried my best not to fall forward onto the desk.
Mafia? Fucking Mafia? I had known it wasn’t going to be anything good, but this—this was beyond what I could have imagined. Not only was my brother wrapped up with some of the most dangerous people in the city—not only was Scott part of the business, but I had slept with him.
