Chapter 77
Third Person
“The numbers won’t stop rising,” the assistant of Osborne Pharmaceuticals states. Their eyes remain glued onto the screen and they watch as the numbers of Adrian’s new projects skyrockets.
First, it began in the tens of thousands. Next, it quickly rose into the hundreds thousands of patients who joined the surface. Now, it is getting a little too close to the millions for the head of Osborne Pharmaceuticals’ comfort.
“Is it?” the CEO asks, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. His assistant nods. “Contact the others. We need to have a meeting to discuss how to...address this situation with Adrian.”
The assistant pauses. Their body goes rigid as they stare at the screen, the influx of numbers making them feel weary as his boss’ words sink into his skin.
He knows what this means. It has happened before with other people his boss deemed to be competition or needed to be taken care of. It is a routine that the assistant has fallen into, a routine that makes it harder to sleep at night knowing that he had a hand in bringing it all together.
“Right away, sir,” the assistant nods and stands, quickly exiting the man’s darkened office as cigarette smoke fills the air.
The Osborne Pharmaceuticals assistant contacts the other major CEOs and their offices, such as Sill Medical Providers and Statewide Insurance, arranging a meeting for their bosses to meet.
They always meet in one place, a place that everyone in the criminal underworld knows all too well. The bar is called the Vision, a place where nobody cares who you are or what you do for a living.
It is a place of pure debauchery and for the wealthiest and most powerful men can do whatever it is that they wish to do. They can drink whatever they want, can do whatever drugs they like, all while the women in the club cater to every single one of their needs, always giving in and never saying no.
The Vision is a bar that one of the middle families in the mafia runs. They are currently on the outs with the Don and his heir, Sebastian, due to business conflicts and loyalty issues. So, as of now, the bar’s status hangs in the balance with more and more influential people pouring in day by day as well as lower ranked footmen in the mafia families and other affiliated gangs.
The Osborne Pharmaceutical CEO enters the bar, his black jacket heavy on his shoulders as he shrugs it off and tosses it to the young man who stands at the front of the club. The CEO does not even look at him and instead walks right on by, heading for the usual back room that he and his other powerful friends use when they come to the Vision.
He pushes through the doors of the room and sees his powerful friends sitting at a table. A deck of cards sits in the middle with women hanging on their backs, their hands trailing up and down their chests and shoulders. Music quietly hums in the background as the man takes his seat, giving Gino, the head of Statewide Insurance, a nod.
“Evening,” Osborne says, greeting the room. “We have a problem.”
“We saw,” Gino grunts and places a cigarette between his teeth. “That Adrian guy has some balls to think that he can overstep onto our territory with no consequences.”
“We already lost a quarter of our patients,” Thomas, the man who runs Sill Medical Providers, speaks. The table turns to look at him and his eyes darken as the women behind him bask in the smoke from his cigar. “We need to do something about it.”
“That is exactly why I brought you all here tonight,” Osborne speaks up. He straightens his posture and all eyes from inside the room land on him.
The men stop their card game and lean forward, their eyes never leaving the Osborne CEO. The women inside the small and private room glance at one another. Their hands slowly leave the men’s bodies and they make their quick exit, knowing exactly what is about to happen.
“I do not wish to…permanently get rid of our Adrian problem,” the Osborne CEO speaks, “he can be of good use to us. He has the ideas for how to make us richer, after all, so why not show him it is our way rather than his in this world.”
The men nod and grunt in agreement. Their eyes flit between each others and the room falls quiet.
The Osborne CEO lets out a chuckle. It is deep and gravelly, hoarse and low. Threatening and dangerous. It commands the room with ease.
“I know that you all know something, so spit it out,” he commands.
The room remains quiet. The men look between each other before Gino clears his throat, capturing the attention and moving the spotlight onto him.
“My secretary informed me that Adrian supposedly has a mistress…his secretary got drunk one night while at a bar and spoke about it. She complained about having to screen his mistress’ calls since she’s a bitch,” Gino informs the group.
“A mistress?” Osborne speaks up. Gino nods. “Name?”
“I think it’s Clara,” Gino answers with no hesitation.
“Does Adrian not have a wife, though? Her name is Stella, I think, she is popular with his shareholders,” Thomas speaks up. All eyes land on him. “My assistant heard he’s going through a nasty divorce. She’s going after everything he’s got.”
“Why don’t we pay them both a visit then, hm?” Osborne speaks up. The music pounds through the walls of the club, giving them a shield from the outside world’s prying eyes and ears.
“We’ll take them into our…oh, let’s call it care since we are all in the business of saving people,” Osborne snickers with the rest of the room. “We will give him a choice. A simple one, really.”
The man falls silent.
The men inside of the room move in their own space. One of them smokes a cigarette while the other shuffles the deck of cards that sits in front of him. Osborne simply watches in silence and reaches into his pocket to fish out a cigarette, placing it between his lips.
A lighter is slid over to him. Osborne’s eyes meets Thomas’. A silent agreement as to what needs to be done. He lights his cigarette and blows out a plume of smoke, watching as it rises into the air.
“Who will bring them together?” Gino asks.
“We got all the help we need here,” Osborne gestures to the door behind him.
Gino puckers his lips and goes over the idea inside his head. After a few moments, he nods, joining in on the other men’s silent agreement. He begins to casually deal out the cards, wishing to begin a game of poker.
“Good,” the Osborne CEO speaks. Neither of the men look at him.
He claps his hands and the women enter the room once again. They take their places behind the men and their giggles mix in with the loud music from outside of the private room.
