The Story of Blood and Roses

"This seems like an elaborate and sophisticated system. Who pays for all of these people?"

"Anthony owns lots of profitable businesses. He lets others have control over the businesses and lets them make profits for themselves. Usually, these people do their jobs brilliantly and earn high rates of profit. Anthony takes up a part of the profit and what is left is distributed among the employees. It works like any other business."

"What about the dead weight sectors? How does he pay for the hackers and security?" His eyes lit up with excitement as he goes on to explain.

"The hackers produce new computer-based security systems and software which they are free to sell to a certain degree. They are sort of like ghostwriters for the software industry. They gained quite a fortune from those. The security people are paid by Anthony himself from the profit he gains from all the other businesses. In a way, we are probably the only people who are dependent on him to get our pay cheques every month. But he lets us set up our own businesses. We work in shift systems. Say one person works four days a week for Anthony and then works for three under me... Yes, I have my own business. I employ the people who work under Anthony in my business and they reap the benefits of both their jobs. They are trained in combat and the art of protecting individuals."

"I guess I understand, but where do I stand?" This was getting more interesting by the minute.

"You are actually nowhere. You are your own being and work only under Anthony. You can probably boss over everyone if you can prove yourself worth the respect," he said and gave me a wink, "but you can also not. Your job is to be with Anthony at all costs. You'll be working closely with us because it's one of your priorities, but you are also bound to go to meetings in place of Anthony at times if he feels that he can be threatened... or he is bored. It can be any of the above." I chuckled at his explanation.

"I'm his bodyguard?"

"And companion. You have no set list of things you need to do. You could call yourself his personal secretary, too." I rolled my eyes.

"Wonderful!" I have turned into Anthony Murray's slave! "Now carry on with the heads and the sectors. Now, there are managers of illegal businesses. They usually work in different ports across the world. They handle the task of slipping the goods from under the noses of the authorities. That team is led by Alec. You'll meet him quite often if you stick with Anthony for any period of time.

"Then, there are the field workers. They are Anthony's personal sellers. Anthony buys the goods from sources and lets some of their workers sell them on his turf, but limits their access and takes a higher percentage of the profits from them. Does that make sense?" I nodded. "He safeguards the team from getting any organization in the locations that we usually deal in. Marcus heads that department. He's the only one from Anthony's father's times who survived the purge when Anthony took over." And here I thought none of the old employees were left.

"Next is the legal business managers. There are quite a few clubs, restaurants, and hotels that Anthony owns. Cienna is the general head but has full control over Poseidon's Realm and some of the others. You will not meet the other people who run other businesses because they simply do not go to the mansion or meet with Anthony directly. Anthony believes that it might jeopardize the businesses. Apart from Realm, all the other businesses are kept hidden from the opposing mobs and authorities. There is no illegal money going into any of those businesses. It is also one of the biggest sectors; hence, Cienna is pretty popular among the gangsters." He gave me a look I couldn't decipher but then turned away.

"We have a group of lawyers that we use for legal purposes. They're a small team, but they are free to come and go, mostly. There is no head for that group. And then there are a few doctors who frequent the members of the group. There are regular check-ups for all members and these doctors have their own practices. That ensures that none of the members have to worry about dying without medical care or getting arrested because they were injured."

"Last, but not the least, we have the department of security. You already know that I am the head. We mainly guard the mansion and any escorts or guests that Anthony might entertain. We are also trained to fight in any and all conditions. We are sort of like Anthony's private army. Any field work or operation that takes place is usually through us. We are both the defense and the offense. And that's the end of it." He took a huge breath, tired from all the talking. "Do I get any food now or was that a lie?"

"It'll be here any minute. It takes about forty-five minutes to reach." I checked my watch. Okay, they were late. "They are late. Let me check in."

I pulled out my cell phone and called the restaurant, again. They informed me that my order had been dispatched and would soon arrive. I politely thanked them and hung up, wondering what how long it was going to take.

I figured that we might as well help ourselves to a packet of chips and talk a bit more.

"They assured me that it would arrive shortly, so we might as well talk some more." He nodded. "Let me take out some snacks to fill ourselves with until the food arrives. Which reminds me, do you have a problem with Chinese food?" He shook his head. "Great. I would've force fed you if you had a problem," I teased. He leaned back into the couch and started laughing.

"Go bring me some food before I pass out." I quickly went over to the kitchen to fetch for a packet of potato chips. When I returned to the living room, I found Ethan lying down on the couch with his hands behind his head.

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