Chapter 31

“Okay, I will tell you. Just remember that this does not mean anything, we don’t know what is happening,” Hunter told me. I nodded and braised for impact. “There have been some signs that Simon is in contact with the triad,” Hunter told me. I understood it was bad news because of the way Hunter told me about it. And because he was watching me like a hawk, just waiting for my panic to set in. But I had no idea what a triad was or why that would be bad.

“Oh no?” I tried, making Hunter chuckle.

“You have no idea what the triad is, have you?” he asked.

“Not the slightest. But I get that it’s bad.”

“It’s the Chinese mafia,” he explained.

“Oh. That does sound bad. I’m no expert, and the little I do know is from watching shows and reading romance novels. But aren’t the different kinds of mafias traditionally not the best of friends? So shouldn’t Simon try to stay away from the Chinese?” I asked.

“They are,” Hunter confirmed. “But if Simon sees no other way out from under Aksakov, he might make a deal with the Chinese. He might offer information about the Russians that will give him protection.”

“But won’t it cause bigger issues with Aksakov?” I asked.

“If he learns what Simon is doing, yes. He will then try and plug the leak,” Hunter told me. Even I knew what that meant.

“Will they come after me as well?” I asked, feeling horrible for thinking about myself when Hunter was worried about his son.

“I don’t think so. I think Aksakov believed you when you said you had no ties with Simon any longer.” I nodded and tried to let his confidence transfer to me.

“So you don’t think Amber was some sort of trick?”

“It’s possible. Maybe Aksakov wanted to try and get Simon’s contact information from you one last time. It does seem like a good trick that would have a high success rate,” Hunter said.

“And I gave her Mandy’s information.” I felt a little sick at the thought I had sent the mafia her way. Not that I had any love for her, but I didn’t want to see her end up dead or tortured or something along those lines.

“Don’t worry about her. Aksakov, if this was one of his plans, already knows about her. It’s not a connection Simon has tried to hide. And that husband of hers is wealthy enough that they can keep themselves safe,” Hunter reassured me. I nodded and took a deep breath. “Do you want us to skip meeting with Chef today?” he then asked, looking worried.

“No, no. I’m fine, I just need a moment to digest everything. If I know you, you have already told him to expect us and I don’t want to be rude when I’m asking to use his kitchen,” I told him. He chuckled.

“First of all. It’s not his kitchen, it’s the company’s. Kind of. And don’t worry about being rude to Chef. I should warn you; he is the most direct and honest person I know. He will let you know what is going on in his mind and he has no filter. Combine that with a mouth that could make a sailor jealous, and he can be seen as a…” Hunter was searching for the right word.

“Dick,” I suggested. Hunter laughed and rubbed his neck.

“Yes,” he admitted. “But please don’t take it personally. That is just how he is. He hates everyone.”

“I guess that is one way to promote equality,” I joked. As always, I felt better after talking with Hunter for a while.

“You look less pale, should we get going?” he asked me. I nodded and got ready. The ride was spent talking about everyday things and Hunter took me up to the kitchen. I could hear someone working there and despite Hunter telling me Chef wasn’t a threat in any way, I still felt uneasy.

“Chef!” Hunter called out as we got closer.

“Yes, yes. Don’t get your fucking panties in a bunch, boss.” I heard someone yelling back. Hunter placed his hand on my lower back, and I realised I was tense as a spring. I forced myself to relax. I earned a smile from him. From the kitchen a man came walking, he was almost as tall as Hunter, but he was broader and looked more like a bodybuilder than a chef. From the cap on his head, fire bright red hair was poking out and he had what looked like a permanent frown on his face. “You must be the baker,” he said to me. My first instinct was to say no, anything to avoid being in his focus. But it would just have made me look stupid. There were only the three of us there, it was obvious it was me who was the baker.

“That’s me,” I admitted. He looked me up and down as if he could learn everything about me by just looking.

“Chef,” Hunter barked again, the other man’s attention was pulled from me to Hunter.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Chef answered. “So do you have any experience with working in a commercial kitchen?” he asked me. Time for me to put on my big girl panties and act like I knew what I was doing. I told him about my training and about my practice as a patissier and even offered to give him the number to their regular patissier that I trained under. When I was done, Chef looked a little impressed, not a lot, but enough to give me the boost of confidence I needed.

“Well, better than I had feared,” Chef muttered. “At least I won’t lose my standings with the food inspector. But there are rules in my kitchen. I like things to have their own place and I do not tolerate things being out of place or stored in a way that isn’t up to my standards. Is that clear?” he asked.

“Yes, and I think it’s a good policy,” I told him.

“You do?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes. In the kitchen there is always a danger from hot pots and pans, knives, heavy tools and so on. It makes sense to limit the danger that you can. I would rather focus on the caramel I’m cooking than having to split my focus because I need to wonder if the cabinet I’m about to open will cause an avalanche of equipment to fall on me,” I told him. Chef was nodding enthusiastically at this point.

“Yes, exactly! That is why it’s so important to keep everything in its place. I need to focus on the food I’m preparing. I don’t want to think about where my knives are or if someone moved the spatulas,” he told me. He held out his hand and invited me to step into his kitchen. At some point I had stopped seeing him as scary and instead I found a kindred spirit. I didn’t hesitate as he guided me around the kitchen, showing me where things were placed and explaining his system. “I was thinking of adding garlic bread to the menu tomorrow. Would you mind helping me make the dough so it can slow rise during the night? I’m about to get started on some pickles so it would help me,” Chef asked as the tour had ended.

“I would love to. Is it okay if I use the stand mixer and the workspace over here?” I asked and pointed.

“That works fine. Let me know if you are having issues finding anything,” he said. I nodded as I headed for the pantry to find what I needed. I stopped in my tracks as someone cleared his throat. I had forgot that Hunter was there as well. It was a first for me. My focus always seemed to be on him whenever he was close.

“Sorry. I should have asked if you mind waiting,” I told him.

“Forget about him. He won’t mind, and if he does, I will drive you home,” Chef offered.

“The fuck you will,” Hunter told him. “I don’t mind at all, Hana,” he added in a milder tone and gave me a smile. “I was just going to say that I’ll be in the dining hall so just come out and find me when you are done. There is no need to hurry.”

“Thank you, Hunter. You are sure I’m not keeping you from something important?” I asked.

“He is sure, and he is getting the fuck out of my kitchen before we start preparing food or I will make him wear a hairnet on his god damned beard,” Chef answered in his place. Hunter just chuckled and left. As chef and I worked in the kitchen I had a lot of fun. It reminded me about working in a real kitchen. I had only been a student learning from the professionals back then. But I liked working in a team. The only reason I had chosen not to pursue working in a kitchen, was because I preferred the pace of the bakery. It could be as hectic as the restaurant kitchen, but in a different way. I did two big batches of my standard bread and set it to proof in the walk-in refrigerator. I talked some with Chef as he finished up. He then inspected my work surface and nodded. “I think I can let you use my kitchen; it almost looks like I was working here. I’ll be happy to have you back when you need it,” he told me.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. And I will make sure to save some treats for you,” I promised before saying goodbye as I headed to find Hunter.