House of Paine - A Full Length Bad Boy Novel (5 page)

Paige made her way up to the bar and smiled at the young bartender behind it.

“Hi, I’m here to drop off a resume.”

The bartender let his eyes take her in…but quickly and not in a creepy way.

“Have a seat. I’ll call Kelsey,” he told her.

“Thank you.”

Paige took a seat on one of the over-sized barstools and looked around while she waited. She saw a copy of the liquor license from the state of New York prominently displayed behind the bar. It was in Louise Kramer’s name. Above that were two framed certificates, one was for “Operator of the Year” in 2009 and the other was “Property of the Year.” in 2013. Along the far back wall on the opposite side of the club from where the dancefloor was, a wrought iron banister flanked carpeted stairs that led in a spiral pattern up to the second floor. Paige could see a small landing at the top and that was where Kelsey Kramer appeared a few seconds later. When Paige read the description of her in the dossier, she couldn’t help but picture her as pretty. She had been wrong. This woman was not pretty, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Kelsey had thick, dark brown hair that hung to her waist and small, delicate features that were offset by her full lips and the fact that her blue eyes were huge. She was wearing a plum colored pleated skirt that was long enough to look classy and respectable, but short enough to show off a pair of shapely, muscular legs that ended in a pair of plum colored designer shoes with a six inch heel. Her blouse was the same color as her skirt and silk. It was sleeveless and as she came down the stairs towards her Paige could see that she had a colorful tribal tattoo on her upper arm.

Kelsey walked in those skinny heels like she’d been doing it her entire life. “Are you here about the manager position?”

Paige stood up and smiled. “Hello, yes. My name is Paige Gauthier. I’m here to drop off a resume.”

Just then in her peripheral vision, Paige caught sight of someone else coming down the stairs towards them. It was a man and again from his description, she assumed that it was Caine, Kelsey’s older brother.

“Well hello there,” Caine said, all but pushing his sister out of the way. He held out a beefy hand and said, “I’m Caine Kramer…and you are?”

Caine was the male version of his sister. He was at least six foot, maybe six one with the same thick dark hair as Kelsey’s, only his was cut short. His eyes were as big as hers and they both had smooth olive skin that contrasted with their pretty blue eyes. Caine was wearing a two button black Armani suit over a white shirt and charcoal gray tie. Its sleek lines fit him so well that Paige assumed it had been tailor made just for him.

“Paige Gauthier. I’m pleased to meet you.”

Paige glanced at Kelsey. She was giving her brother a smoldering look. “Paige is here to apply for the manager’s position.”

Caine let his eyes rake slowly across Paige’s body. She could almost feel the heat from them. “Are you up for an interview, Paige?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Now?” Kelsey asked her brother.

“What’s wrong with now, as long as Paige is ready?”

Kelsey looked back at Paige and with a toothy white smile that looked forced she said, “I hope you’ll excuse my brother’s impatience. We’ve been without a manager now for a few weeks. If you’re not prepared today, I’d be happy to set you up with an appointment.”

“Now is fine with me,” Paige said with a smile.

“Perfect,” Caine said holding out his arm. “Let me show you to the office.” Paige tentatively placed her hand on the inside of Caine’s arm. Kelsey rolled her eyes and Caine led them up the stairs. The hallway was decorated with plush beige carpeting and the walls were covered in a paisley print tan and brown, velvet flocked wallpaper. She was led into a spacious office with a large cherry wood desk. “Have a seat Paige,” Caine told her. She sat down in one of the dark green wing-backed chairs and Caine took the other next to her. Their knees were almost touching and she wanted desperately to pull hers away. She willed herself not to. Kelsey went behind the desk to sit down.

Paige handed Kelsey her resume and while Kelsey looked it over Caine said, “So, are you new to New York Paige?”

She silently quelled the nerves in her stomach and said, “No, I’m a New Yorker, born and bred.”

“Nice,” Caine said with another lustful look. Paige was beginning to feel like she was sitting naked in front of him.

Kelsey glanced at her brother again almost disdainfully and then back at Paige. “Your resume is impressive. Tell us a little more about yourself.”

Paige told them about Paige Gauthier. She is single and no children who has a degree in human resource management with a minor in accounting from NYU. Tommy had provided all the needed documents if they were to request them. Paige knew already that Kelsey was an accountant. She did all the books for her father…and according to one last tidbit of information Tommy had given her before she left…there were multiple books for each one of his endeavors. Somehow Greg stumbled up on some usb drives but he wasn’t able to get copies of them at that time. He did however manage to land a copy of a key that he and Tommy believed belonged to a safe deposit box. Greg told Tommy a few days before he died that he was pretty sure there was enough evidence on those drives to not only bring down Lucas Kramer and close down his operations…but they somehow implicated Jackson Paine’s organization as well. The trick for Paige would be figuring out where that box was at and getting to it without getting caught.

Kelsey did most of the interviewing. Paige’s nerves slowly gave way to confidence as she had a satisfactory answer to each one of their questions. Kelsey and Caine seemed to be impressed with her answers. Caine wasn’t trying to make it a secret that he was impressed with her in more ways than her managerial skills. Paige was disgusted and intrigued at the same time. She was disgusted because no matter how good looking and sexy this man was, he was a ruthless killer and very likely the one who murdered her brother. She was intrigued because she wondered how his obvious attraction to her could benefit her cause. If she got this job she was going to have to evaluate just how far she was willing to go to bring this family down.

Paige walked out of the nightclub and sucked in a lungful of the humid, early summer air. Instead of flagging down a taxi, she started walking. She was thinking about Greg…postponing the trip to his apartment. She knew she had to do it. She had to go through it with a fine tooth comb and try and figure out what her brother had hidden there…that was worth dying for.

She passed a poster on one of the bus stops for a movie starring Pauly Shore. Paul Hunt was the name her brother had used when he went undercover according to Tommy. His alter ego was a low-life drug dealer who was willing to do anything to get ahead. That anything included murder…which of course Greg would have never actually gone through with. The hopes had been to become trusted enough so that when someone was pegged for murder, Paul Hunt would be the guy they sent. That worked for both the intended “victim” and the police. The “victim” actually lives, secretly and the police usually ended up with a witness out of the deal.

The more Paige found out about how Greg lived, the better she understood why he would never really tell her what he was doing. He still talked to her a lot about Jackson and how badly he wanted to bring down the Paine organization. Greg’s need to do that bordered on obsession. He had started with the Kramer’s because he believed that would be his gateway to Jackson. Ultimately, in Paige’s mind, Jackson was as responsible as anyone else for Greg’s death.

She wandered around Manhattan for a while, letting these thoughts ricochet around in her head. She finally realized that the day was getting away from her and she hailed a cab. She went back to her hotel room first and picked up her suitcase and checked out. Then she took another taxi to Queens where Greg’s apartment was. She made her way to the manager’s office and found a middle-aged red haired lady with deep blue eyes sitting behind the desk.

Paige smiled and said, “Hi, my name is Paige Gauthier. I was Paul Hunt’s sister.”

The woman’s smiling face suddenly fell. “Oh honey. I’m so sorry. He didn’t have any kin listed on his rental agreement so I wasn’t sure who to call and offer my condolences.”

Paige forced another smile and said, “It’s okay. He was trying hard to do things the right way and on his own, so he’d kind of cut himself off from his family. I missed him a lot then…and even more now.”

“You poor thing. Now that I look more closely, I can see the family resemblance. Paul was a good looking kid before…”

“Before he started using drugs.”

“I’m sorry again. Seems like I can’t keep from stepping in it today. I didn’t know he was using drugs. He just didn’t seem like the type to me. He was such a sweet boy…but then things started changing. Every time I saw him over the past few months, he was a little bit skinnier and he was nervous all the time and he just wasn’t taking care of himself. I’m sorry. I should have known.”

“It wasn’t your responsibility,” Paige said, “But thank you. I am actually here to ask you for a favor.”

“What’s that honey?”

“I’m new to New York. I would very much like to go through my brother’s things and keep some things to remind me of him. I also need a place to stay. I was wondering if I could rent his apartment just for the month of June, until I can find something else.”

“Oh honey it hasn’t been cleaned yet. The tape is still up. The police just told me I could have it back a few days ago and I haven’t had time…”

“It’s really okay. I’ll be packing his things up anyways. I wouldn’t mind cleaning it while I do that.”

“Are you sure honey? It won’t be too hard?”

Paige gave her a sad smile and said, “It’s going to be hard no matter what.” That was honest. She wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

“Okay then,” the woman said, “I’m Faith by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Faith. Thank you for this.”

Paige filled out the paperwork that Faith asked her to fill out and paid her the rent for the month of June. Faith wouldn’t take the deposit since Paige was going to be cleaning the apartment out. When they finished, Paige slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way up the stairs. She saw the crime scene tape before she reached the landing. She stood there at the top of the stairs and looked at the door for a long time before propelling herself slowly forward. When she got there, she put the key Faith gave her in the door and pushed it open. She stood there again looking inside at the bare walls and minimal furniture. Greg told her before that there were no personal items out because of his work being undercover. It made her sadder to think about him dying in such an impersonal place. With tears already in her eyes, she finally worked up the nerve to break the tape that still blocked the door. When she finally stepped in and closed the door behind her, the first thing she saw was the man-shaped chalk drawing on the floor. She dropped her bag and dropped to her knees. Curling up near the spot in a fetal position, she lay there and cried for her brother. “I love you, Greg. I promise you…your death will not be in vain.”

Less than a week later, Paige had her first night on the job as manager of the 500 club. Kelsey showed her around the bottom floor and into an office near the back which Kelsey told her would be hers.

“Are you here a lot Kelsey?” Paige asked her.

“I’d rather not be,” she said. “My father owns a corporation that I do the accounts for as well. I’ve been here a lot just because we haven’t had a manager lately.”

“Well then, I will do a good job so you can get back to your own work.”

Kelsey smiled, “Good. Thanks. I’m going to have you work with Nick, the bartender the rest of the night. I’d like to have you get used to the whole club and how it all runs.”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Paige said.

Kelsey took her out and introduced her to the bartender she had seen the day she came in to apply for the job. He was probably around Paige’s age with blonde hair; blue eyes and a baby face that made him look about twelve. His body was a different story, however. He wasn’t very tall, maybe five nine at the most, but his shoulders were broad and she could see through his t-shirt how hard his chest was. He was also covered from shoulder to wrist with tattoos. Paige wondered if she was the only one working here without them.

“Have you tended bar before?” Nick asked her after Kelsey left.

“Yeah, it was one of my first jobs,” she said. “But I’m a little rusty.”

“That’s okay. When we start getting busier later there will be three of us. We’ll all show you what we’re doing. We’re a pretty friendly group.”

“Sounds good, thanks.”

Paige worked with Nick for about an hour before the other two bartenders came in. While they were setting up, Nick left Paige in charge of their station while he went to use the restroom. She was facing the counter when she suddenly felt a hand on her ass. She turned around quickly and came face to face with Caine.

He grinned. “Hey there, how’s your first night going?”

Paige was somewhat in shock that he would be so aggressive and then act so nonchalant about it. “It’s…um…” He laughed. He was standing way too close. She could smell his breath which thankfully smelled like mint.

“That good huh?” He said with his face down close to hers. “If you need anything at all, you make sure you let me know, okay?”