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TWENTY-ONE
Mia
TWO DAYS LATER, SHANIshowed up at the restaurant with a couple of teenagers in tow. The family resemblance resided mostly around the eyes, but it was definitely there.
Ayden and Maleeka were my sous chef’s nephew and niece. Maleeka, an alpha, towered over her brother and littermate, who was an omega. Both had the same steady air of competence about them as their aunt, despite only being nineteen.
“Ever since Aunt Shani decided to go to culinary school, I’ve been curious,” Maleeka said. “I want to finish my business degree first, but once that’s done, I’m strongly considering following in her footsteps.”
“I waited tables last summer at The Mapletree in Columbia,” Ayden told me. “Hard work, but I liked interacting with the customers. Plus, a little bird told me that the tips here at the Elderflower Inn are excellent.”
I couldn’t help a huff of amusement. “You’ll have to let me know. You’re both hired, obviously. Did Shani give you the low-down on what we’re facing, and what your responsibilities will be?”
Maleeka sobered. “Yeah. We lost two kids in my graduating high school class to street violence. I can’t tell you how sick I am of the gangs getting their noses into every damned thing.”
“And we can do you one better,” Ayden added. “When Aunt Shani told me what was up with the Bella Vita, Imight’vestarted dropping in there for the occasional meal. I also might’ve got some up-to-date photos of all the menu prices and a head count of the number of customers at various times during the week.”
My heart kicked against my ribs in startlement, a burst of adrenaline popping in my veins at the thought of an omega alone in Blaze Berlusconi’s restaurant. “You didwhat?”
Ayden shrugged. “Not like they know me from Adam. I just moved back here from attending the University of Missouri a few months ago. I’m just another customer taking advantage of suspiciously cheap food.”
I glanced at Shani, who didn’t look overly concerned either.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “If they start shanking random customers for daring to post menu photos on MenuPages, then I expect the police will take more of an interest.”
Part of me understood they were right, and the risk had been practically nonexistent. But still...
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll give you Nat’s phone number—he’s the other owner here. Send him the info you collected, but don’t go back there again. They’ve been known to send people here to snoop on us, and I don’t want them making a connection like that.”
“As it stands, he’s just a kid who grabbed a few meals there, and now that he works here, it’s cheaper to get food here.” Shani still didn’t sound worried. “That’s assuming they even recognize him.”
I got the distinct impression thatAunt Shani’sfingerprints were all over this bit of shady corporate espionage. If so, she seemed distinctly unrepentant about it.
“Next time, send the person who’s going to be working in the back on the spy mission, not the one working front of house,” I said mildly.
“Noted,” Shani replied.
The siblings shared an amused glance, but wisely kept their mouths shut.
I sighed. “Right. Well. I’m afraid I still don’t have a solid reopening date for us, but it’s likely to be within a week or so. Nat’s actually at the U.S. Attorney’s office today doing an interview, or he would have been here to meet you in person. Oh! One more thing. I don’t suppose either of you have any special social media expertise.”
Ayden and Shani immediately turned their stares on Maleeka, who smirked.
“Does having two million Insta followers and three-point-five million TikTok followers count?”
Christ on a crutch. The restaurant had...maybetwenty thousand followers, the last time I’d bothered to check?
“Did I mention you’re hired? And you need to get with Nat as well. Consider yourselves on the payroll immediately. We’ll get the paperwork sorted out first thing tomorrow morning.” I reached out to shake first Ayden’s hand, and then Maleeka’s.
Shani looked positively smug, as well she might.