Room service finally arrived, pushing a cart stacked with food—and, because life wasn’t done messing with Maluck, they also brought two security guys.
Apparently, someone had seen the gang of busted-up bikers limping their way to Maluck’s room and figured it was worth checking up on.
The Emeralds hotel prided itself on top-tier service, and Maluck was a valued long-term guest. If something was going down in his room, they were going to make sure he was safe.
One of the security guys, a tall, broad-shouldered dude with a serious expression, narrowed his eyes at the scene.
“Sir, is everything alright here, Mr. Tychandros?”
Maluck, without hesitation, raised his glass of rum.
“It’s fine,” he said. “My new friends just brought a bottle of rum to celebrate.”
Chloe coughed into her hand. “Yeah. Friends. That’s definitely what they are.”
Liquor Guy nodded quickly. “Yep, we were just leaving.” He glanced at Maluck, then hesitated.
“But uh… before we go, can I get your number?”
The security guys blinked.
Chloe looked stunned.
Maluck just stared at him, and said with a smile. “What, are we dating now?”
Liquor Guy waved a hand. “No, no, not like that! Just… you seem like a useful guy to know. And who knows, it never hurts to have new friends?”
Maluck thought about it.
‘On one hand, these guys had tried to mug him. On the other hand… that was water under the bridge now. And really, having a group of bikers with questionable morals? That could be useful.’
Ironically, the bikers were thinking the exact same thing.
Maluck finally shrugged, pulled out his phone, and exchanged numbers with Liquor Guy.
After that, the bikers stood up, stretching and shaking off whatever lingering pride they had left.
Liquor Guy finished the last sip of his drink and set the glass down. “Well, guess that’s our cue.”
Limp Guy rolled his shoulders, wincing slightly. “Yeah. Mission accomplished. Nobody died, we’re not enemies, and—” he gestured at Maluck, “—you didn’t break anything else on us.”
Broken Nose Guy sighed, rubbing his face. “Still feels like I lods, dooh.”
Maluck grinned. “Well, you did.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Broken Nose muttered. “You don’t hab to say it.”
Chloe, still lounging comfortably, waved them off. “Bye, boys. Don’t get mugged on your way out.”
Liquor Guy actually laughed at that. “Funny. We’ll be in touch.”
They left the room one by one, closing the door behind them.
Maluck listened for the fading footsteps down the hall, then exhaled deeply, leaning back.
“Alright,” he said. “That’s done.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
One of the security guards smiled. “Glad to see things worked out, sir. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call.”
“Appreciate it,” Maluck said. “Honestly, best damn hotel I’ve stayed at.”
The guard nodded with pride. “We do our best.”
Room service wheeled in the food, and the security guys gave a final nod before heading out.
Maluck pulled out his wallet, handing each of them a crisp hundred-dollar bill.
“Appreciate the concern,” he said. “Thanks again for the service .”
One of the guards grinned, tucking the bill away. “Our pleasure.”
With that, they left, and Maluck finally turned back to the massive spread of food waiting for him.
And a very curious Chloe.
***
After a couple of bites of her burger, Chloe leaned back and pointed at Maluck with an onion ring.
“Alright, spill. I feel like I just watched the end of the movie but skipped the opening credits.”
Maluck grinned, chewing his food at a leisurely pace—mostly just to mess with her.
“Well,” he finally said, “remember how that great boss of yours, Ron, didn’t pay you your back wages?”
Chloe narrowed her eyes, dragging out a long, suspicious “Yes…”
Maluck held up the roll of cash. “Well, I won that. Doubled it with a bet. You saw that on CoinTok.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”
“And you probably saw that big biker guy in the video standing beside Ron.”
She thought back to the video. “Oh yeah, I did. I think he’s one of the guys who sometimes comes into the shop.”
Maluck nodded. “Yeah, that’s Bigfoot. Well, apparently, his actual name is Tom, but I’m not about to call him that.”
Chloe snorted. “You named a grown man Bigfoot to his face?”
“I did.” Maluck took another bite of his burger. “Anyway, he sent some guys to try and take back that money.”
Chloe thought about the three recovering bikers who had just left. And how busted up two of them were.
“And that was them?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seems kind of… out of character for them to come apologizing after you just beat them up.”
Maluck wiped his hands with a napkin, nodding. “Yeah, I get that. But there’s another part of the movie you missed.”
Chloe popped an onion ring into her mouth. “And what’s that?”
Maluck smirked.
“There’s about eight more of them lying in a hospital somewhere. Including Bigfoot.”
Chloe paused mid-chew.
Swallowed.
And then: “Holy shit.”
Maluck shrugged. “So yeah. Considering we don’t actually have any beef except for them, y’know, trying to mug me, it probably seemed like a good idea for them to come apologize.”
He took a sip of his milkshake. “Because, who knows? Maybe I’d decide to go looking for them tomorrow.”
Chloe laughed. “Yeah, that tracks. Or they could just pull out their guns and come hunting for you.”
Maluck nodded. “Yeah, they could do that too. They know where we live. And this could affect their reputation.”
He leaned back, stretching. “But once guns start coming into play? Cops start coming too. And that’s a lot of heat. Would it really all be worth it over one roll of cash and a mugging gone wrong?”
Chloe thought about it, then nodded slowly. “Okay, that makes sense. I’m just surprised it’s so… logical.”
Maluck smirked. “See, that’s the thing. In movies, bad guys are just idiots who want revenge at any cost. But a lot of these real-life organizations?”
He took a bite from his burger. It was delicious.
“They’re not stupid. They know they’re going to win some, lose some. If they lose they take their lumps, they adapt, and as long as you don’t cross their bottom line, you can still make peace.”
Chloe pointed at him. “So, what you’re saying is—”
“One,” Maluck said, holding up a finger, “I didn’t cross a bottom line.”
“Two—” He held up another finger. “I showed I can hit back harder.”
“And three—” He smirked. “I got a free bottle of rum out of it.”
Chloe shook her head. “You know, most people who get mugged don’t end up drinking with their muggers.”
Maluck grinned. “Most people don’t win.”
***
“So, what now?” Chloe asked, finishing the last of her meal.
Maluck stretched, rolling his shoulders. “Well, first, I want to get out of these clothes and grab a shower.”
Chloe gave him a once-over, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I can see why. You should probably just burn them.”
Maluck smirked. “I don’t think the hotel would appreciate a fire in their room.”
Chloe shrugged. “Small price to pay for sanitation.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, well, they’re definitely going in the trash.”
“And then?” Chloe asked, leaning in slightly.
Maluck’s grin spread wide. “And then…” He let the words hang in the air, watching her expectantly.
“I haven’t spent any time with you at all today,” he said, leaning forward, his grin wicked. “And there’s been a lot of things I’ve been thinking about and missing.”
Chloe matched his grin, leaning in just as much.
“You know,” she mused, twirling the last onion ring between her fingers, “I was thinking… I could use a shower too.”
The air between them crackled with something way more dangerous than a biker gang.
There wasn’t a System Task about giving Chloe multiple O faces, but that night…
It still happened.
***
POV : Astral Universe
In the Astral Universe, Chastity was really annoyed that her System Tasks hadn’t changed Maluck’s behavior at all. What was even more frustrating was Lust mocking her with texts saying, “Ooooohhhh, good job! Keep it up!”
***
