CHAPTER 75: DÉSIRÉ.

"That Désiré thing sounds good." Joseph said as she looked at Amine and shit she just got more hyped up...

"It’s not just good, it’s one of the best brands. They actually deliver luxury through their materials, unlike many brands that pretend to be expensive and crafted with skill, but in reality, children and underpaid workers are stuck in a factory where—" She noticed it.

Noticed that little went overboard with her explanation and personal outbursts about brands and how they operate. But shit at least finally she actually spoke, actually spoke with power behind her voice and was passionate about something.

And Joseph was happy about it that she finally opened up and stopped behaving like a maid or a slave...

"You seem to know a lot." He smirked at her while Amine was just blushed in embarrassment.

"Y-yeah... my mother used to work at one back in the day, and she made three dollars an hour," she said, and Joseph noticed that her voice was heavy with the past, with the memory of whatever had happened... the hardships they had probably lived through.

It was just too noticeable, her eyes shot down to the ground, and her fists clenched... just thinking about it. And he realized it.

That everybody in the family had backgrounds that were completely fucked, maybe even more fucked than his own... no, his past was nothing compared to Pablo, who was a fucking killing machine.

But at least they were there for each other... insane people’s best partners are more insane people... the best recipe for greatness or chaos.

"So, should we go in there?" Joseph asked, kind of trying to change the topic... kind of trying to behave like a human and not like Cassian, who only sees red... what a twist, again.

"Yeah we should." Amine spoke again, getting back that power.

"Then let’s go." Joseph said and with it they calmly walked up to the store, still nobody noticed them, nobody seemed to recognize him so far... or maybe they did but did not care about which would be a great thing... but no he was recognized once again.

As they got closer to the shop, the door was opened by literally doormen in black suits, white gloves like a royal welcoming and the moment he stepped in he truly knew that he was going to pay a lot.

The whole atmosphere of the store just screamed luxury, the smell was finest, the atmosphere was like no other... and the décor with the gold and black was just stunning... and of course the employees.

It truly screamed that it is a shop for people... but not the kind of people that Joseph first thought... it was too elegant, too sophisticated to be to the younglings... it more like screamed old money vibes, like polo shirts, shirts, chinos, not even one single jeans or t-shirt with print or bullshit on it, just plain color with the brand on them.

"Welcome to Désiré sir, can I help you with anything?" One of the employees asked as she stepped toward Joseph with a bright smile on her face... the type of one you could tell was a genuine welcoming smile and not a forced one.

"Yeah well, I looking for—"

"I know exactly what you are looking for sir." Suddenly an older man stepped to Joseph and he kinda looked a bit intimidating... like Jospeh could tell he was jacked as fuck under that suit... and just looked too good to his age. "Nice to meet you Mr. Cassian, I am the manager and the fitter, Lorim.

"Öhm nice to meet you Lorim." He shook his hand and just got confused once again... like what the fuck... because this old man Lorim was gripping his hand in a way that felt... warm.

It was the type of handshake where you know that the person is kind-hearted and not just that his smile too was genuine...

"Miss Amine, if you had told me, I could have closed the store for a private session." He said, looking at her.

And it all made sense... Amine too loves spending money... of course they are welcoming them wholeheartedly, even though he is Joseph Cassian... money is money even if it is bloody.

"Thank you Lorim, but we only came to buy some basic clothes, nothing more." Amine answered back but when Joseph looked at her, she once again got embarrassed.

"So sir, can we start it?" Lorim asked as he finally let go of Joseph’s hand.

"Start what?" He asked, already regretting that he even came with them.

"To let my vision transform your fashion, sir." Lorim replied, still smiling at him and Joseph finally understood... of course, Lorim felt warm, genuine, just a good person overall.

He’s gay... yeah, the way he spoke, his tone, too sweet, too soft, almost girlish. Though Joseph had no problem with it, he was just surprised... never saw a gay man around sixty with muscles and a big beard

"I mean... yeah, let’s start then," he answered, and Lorim immediately turned, grabbed the arm of the employee next to him, and they disappeared into the back.

"He’s going to bring out a whole closet." Amine chuckled. "He did the same with me."

"I thought people would be more... cautious, worried." Joseph said, shaking his head as he stopped by the wall where the wallets were displayed. "But I see money still speaks pretty loud."

"Money will always speak." Amine replied. "Especially with a brand like this. They’re family-owned, only three stores in the whole world, and one’s right here in Vienna."

Three stores... in the entire world? How much does this even cost? Joseph thought as he picked up a wallet and glanced at the price tag.

"Two fucking thousand for a wallet?" He stared at Amine, with pure disbelief... and the worst part was the one he grabbed wasn’t even a proper wallet, it was more like a slim card holder.

"Quality comes with—"

"Quality? It’s a rip-off, I can buy the same thing at the Mysa market for four bucks." Joseph laughed, looking again at the ridiculous price tag. Nothing special about it, just plain leather, yet two grand.

"That market’s gone..." Hana said quietly. "I shopped there too, but it was unregulated, tax evasion, illegal deals. They bulldozed the whole place four years ago."

"And people don’t pay this much for no reason... you will end up looking like a proper Don." Amine raised his voice and even looked at Joseph like she was threatening him."And it’s not a scam. Look at the price tag, sixty percent of every purchase goes to charity, to whichever foundation the customer chooses. This is the first store to do that.... in a way it is a scam for rich people to donate money."

What?

Joseph looked again at the tag, and sure enough, it was written there, sixty percent goes toward charity. The actual wallet price was about 800 dollars, still insane... but at the same time Joseph couldn’t stop smiling.

How clever it is... money laundering through a charity... a shell organization, foundation from there, the money could just flow straight into private banks. What a perfect setup this is... what the fuck.

It sounded too good to be true, but the more he thought about it, the more it actually made sense. Setting up a store under the mask of "charity" would be the perfect money-washing machine. Just claim that sixty percent of all sales go to charity... so the money comes in from the drug trade, and then they can funnel that sixty percent into a set up charity or foundation. No taxes, no questions asked, nothing that needs to be declared, and the remaining forty percent can be used in other ways.

His excitement shot through the roof. Coming here was supposed to be just chilling, nothing special... yet he ended up finding a gem. A gem that could help them evolve even faster... just needed more work to think it through.

But then reality hit him.

The fucking DSA is with them. They don’t need to hide anything.

Just like that, his excitement vanished. There’s no fun when there’s no risk... when you’re free to do whatever you want, it’s just... boring.

Huh. Maybe the only way I can have fun is killing... should I just turn into a serial killer? Maybe a—

"Sir, we are ready, please follow me." The female employee returned and led the way upstairs into a small waiting area.

And then he saw it.

"Woah... isn’t this a bit much?" Joseph asked.

"It is the basic and necessary thing, sir." Lorim replied, but Joseph thought it was way over the top.

Clothes were everywhere, racks upon racks.

"But you don’t even know my size."

"Oh, sir, I’ve been working in fashion for thirty years. One glance is enough for me to know everything about a person’s size... up and down," Lorim said in the gayest way possible. "So, since you’re already wearing beautiful black suit pants, just take the shirt off first, and we’ll start with the polos, shirts, and T-shirts."

He thought about it... yeah, Joseph thought about saying something about this gay shit, but he remained calm. He just came shopping, not to cause anything... and the world had changed in the ten years he had been away.

So he took off his suit jacket and yeah of course, Lorim immediately opened his mouth.

"Ohh, you have a big gun there, mister..." He said as he was eyeing the pistol tucked in... but his eyes went lower too...

That was too much.

"Can you stop with this gay shit, or should I put this big gun in your mouth? And I’m not talking about my dick." Yeah, it was too much, and Joseph pulled out the gun with his finger on the trigger.

"I–I’m terribly sorry for my behavior." Lorim immediately apologized, even bowing his head down... but there wasn’t much fear in him. He didn’t really seem frightened or threatened by it... which was kind of strange to Joseph.

"Thank you." He said coldly, handing the gun over to Hana before he got off his shirt, then the bulletproof vest beneath it, and then—

Everybody froze... literally froze, their eyes locked on him, staring at his body.