THE CHEMICAL BLONDE

Spaghetti carbonara was served to me by Bistro himself. He wore his chef outfit while he laid out the dish for me. 

My mouth watered the moment I saw my meal. " This looks delicious."

Bistro gave a wane smile. " It's today's special but I made it a lot more spicy. Just the way you like it."

It's funny how I could easily interact freely with him in Italian. We were both speaking the language as if we were speaking English. 

Bistro drew out a seat opposite mine after filling my glass with wine. While he waited for me to start eating, I took my time to regard the food. 

There were no trace of poison in the wine or food. If there was one I would have detected it immediately. 

I took a bite then another and another. It was so good. I nearly cried for joy. I've never tasted anything so delicious in my entire life. Bistro was watching me, surprised to find my expression like that of a child who just got a Christmas present. 

" This is," I said, drinking my wine. " This is classic, Bistro. A masterpiece."

Bistro's eyes widened. His thick lips curved into a smile. " You've never praised my cooking before, Israel. This is unexpected. I feel happy."

I've already emptied the plate. I wiped my mouth and drank more wine. " Please. I'd want one more."

If I'd known Israel barely finished his meals, I wouldn't had asked for more but I was damn hungry and the food was so delicious I had to have more. 

Bistro hurriedly left and returned with another steamy plate. In as much as I tried not to wolf down the food, I ended up clearing the plates. 

It was safe to say it was just Bistro and I who were alone in the private room I was eating. Knife and the rest were waiting for me outside the restaurant, keeping guard and on the watch out for trouble. 

Bistro and I talked business for a long time. It was during our conversation that I began to understand the system how Israel made most of his money. 

Now if you think Israel's a drug Lord, then you're mistaking. The drug Lord here was Bistro. He's been in and out of jail over the years for drugs scandals. His specialty was cocaine. 

Israel had met Bistro at Italy one hot afternoon to eat at Bistro's food stall. At that time, Bistro sold his fast food at a rented small stall. The food was good but that wasn't what gave Bistro all his money. He was onto his old racket; selling drugs at the background of his business. 

Israel came to learn about Bistro from his elder brother whom suggested they hired him to manage their Italian restaurants. 

The Giovanni's restaurants were spread across the world. They were about five of them. Each restaurant was named accordingly to the names of the managers managing the restaurants. BISTRO'S was the largest and the most expensive. 

The secret of these restaurants were the drug business attached to it. This was what made these restaurants exclusive. The green cards were indicators for their customers. 

Not just any customers—men with the bucks. The big boys owning six figures incomes in their banks. 

These green cards were renewed weekly. The weekly renewals were payment for drugs bought from the restaurant. 

The private rooms were built for you to have enough privacy to do your business and leave. 

You can't take anything out with you except your green cards. Bistro was too cautious about ruining the Giovanni's business. 

Now do the cops come in? Nope. Israel mafia controls the cops. Like he said, the Giovanni's family are very generous. The donation they give to the police force is something else. 

The cops always look the other way. They knew all of Israel's boys. They knew about the feud between the Capellos and Giovanni. They knew all the underworld businesses but what you don't know can't hurt you can it? 

As long as Israel gets to clean his own messes, everyone's good and happy. 

This drug business was one of the messes he always clean up and no one has ever came to question him about it even though they knew about it. 

As far as Israel knows, the business has been there for decades even before he was born. Bistro ships in the drugs and does the selling. 

The profits from each sales are then summed up and shared at the end of the week.

Israel gets his share and so does the rest of the Giovanni family members. However, there became a squabble for money and Israel, always wanting to have the Lions share decided to share the restaurant. 

There were five restaurants and ten sons of the Giovanni family. Each restaurant had to be shared by two sons. 

So far so good, Israel and his elder brother, the first born, do get their share from BISTROS as it was considerably the biggest and most profitable of all five restaurants.  

However, Israel like any man would, always demands a higher percentage every week. No one argued with him over that. Not even his eldest brother. 

He was the boss and head of the family. No one questions his decision and that's final. 

Bistro was talking to me about the latest challenges the business was facing. The Capellos were sending threatening letters. The roads were now dangerous to use as the Capellos had organized men to highjacked the truck bringing in their drugs. 

If it weren't for Fish's good experience with the roads, he would have ran into those thugs any day. There were numerous shortcuts to the restaurant but the most important route which was always used was no longer safe to use. By using these other shortcuts, fish could risk running into the cops. 

I thought deeply about what he said. It seemed the Capellos were getting more and more dangerous. I believe Lorelei thinks I'm dead which was probably why she was increasing the pressure to take over the Giovanni's empire. 

I recalled my mission from Israel: 

"This is your chance, Jericho. A new beginning. You died a meaningless death but now you don't have to die anymore. You have nine lives. What's mine is yours. My cars are yours. My houses are yours. My empire are yours. My wives are yours. My cats are yours. This is a new life for you. Take advantage of it."

He wants me to save his empire and crush his enemies. But can I do it?

If Israel could believe in a stupid sixty-five year old farmer like me, it means I could do anything. I simply had to believe in myself. 

Bistro and I were now smoking. I had been silent for a long time but my brain was working. I was trying to figure out the best possible means to checkmate the Capellos. 

The way forward was to kill Lorelei. 

From the little I've learnt about that woman, no one had ever seen her face. Majority of the Capellos haven't even met her face to face. 

She was as mysterious as the universe and as distant as the sun. She was like a goddess; far from reach and yet feared and worshipped by many. 

It became clear to me that Killin Lorelei was going to be more difficult than I thought. How do you kill someone that always wears a mask?

That's when I came to a decision. " We'll lure the enemies out and have them captured."

Bistro nodded. " That sounds the most reasonable thing go do."

I shook my head. " I'm not finished. Now listen closely."

Bistro paid more attention to me as I told him my plans. His eyes widened as he protested to it but when I snarled at him, he became calm and well behaved. 

But I understood his fears. If what we're about to carry out fails, we might lose a lot of money or worse the restaurant. 

Finally, we closed the business talk with a handshake and I was led out of the private rooms. 

I felt fulfilled as a man. I could get used to this. If my plans worked, I knew I would be able to save Israel's empire and destroy the Capellos. 

Bistro was escorting me through the guest hall when we barged into someone. Actually I bumped into her and her drink spilled my white suit. 

" My apologies, sir," she said, glancing up to meet my face. " How clumsy of me."

She had a French accent with a little touch of Swiss to it. 

She was on a black strapless evening gown. The flimsy material of the gown made it see through. I could perfectly outline her shape. If you look very closely at her dress, you can tell she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

She was a chemical Blondie with alluring glossed lips and a perfectly sculptured face. 

One word can describe her, she was pretty. Pretty without any make-up on. She was as natural as sunlight and smelt amazing too.

We stood there, staring at each other and I saw her lips curved into an inviting smile. 

Suddenly I felt it. 

It was like electricity, flowing through my veins. It ran up to my brains and blew an alarm. 

The red light showed and blared before me. 

This was a danger sign. It seemed off but there was no other possible explanation. 

This woman was dangerous.