Omerta - Ch 11, Pg 29, 10/Sept - Page 3

Congratulations on the new FF.

The title has brought back fond memories.

Omerta was my first Puzo. And it also is my favorite among his all. Even as many find it surprising when they expect Godfather as the obvious answer.

Awesome beginning. Eager to read more!!

Btw...the first two scenes as you brought forth Geet's description...her wet white blouse and dark low waist jeans and that scarcely there veil that swayed and clutched her body as she moved reminded me of the girl from this song.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZtd7Pg2bLM&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

It was an impasse and they were in an alley. Irony couldn't be more subtle.

Maan slowly retracted the weapon from Geet's mouth when he saw that she wasn't struggling to get away from his grasp but still kept a loose hold on her throat.

"You don't look scared," Maan said noticing the way she wet her lips once the gun was removed from her mouth and took several deep breaths.

"I am not scared because you aren't going to kill me," Geet replied in nonchalance which was preceded by a relaxed sigh. Maan looked at her closely trying to figure out what was going on in her mind.

"Don't you know who I am?" He asked her as he retreat the hand that was holding her throat.

"I know who you are and that's how I know that you aren't going to kill me. Had you been any other street criminal, I wouldn't have been sure," she said frankly.

"You seem to know an awful lot about me. Why don't you enlighten me," Maan said holstering his weapon but the threat in his voice wasn't lost on her. He wasn't merely asking her. It was an order.

The two of them were standing under the beam light, the light cutting through them and the darkness around them effortlessly. She held his eyes when he was holstering his weapon on his lower back with an ease of being an owner of a gun for years.

"You are Maan Singh Khurana. You have an import-export business which acts a front for a very large crime syndicate that you are heading," Geet summarized.

"That's all?" Maan asked raising an eyebrow. Geet swallowed. There was an edge in his voice that made her little nervous. "Tell me more please," he said.

There it was – an order thinly masked as a request. "As per things I have heard and read, you are in this business for last eight years. You are thirty four, not married and have no family. Am not sure of your education or your early life but I am guessing you had quite a decent one. However you didn't have the resources to start your import-export business based on a name, legacy or inheritance money – unlike many others in your profession do. I don't know much about your early years in underworld but your first arrest four years ago made you known – especially after the way you performed in the interview for a local paper. From then on your 'career' has been on an inclined path yet you remain very elusive and are practically an enigma in the eyes of public," Geet finished. Maan didn't reply immediately but was gauging her.

"Had I asked any other girls you danced with tonight, I am sure I would have gotten a completely different response," Maan said softly. She didn't know what to make of it.

"What are you implying?" She asked a moment later hoping that the edge in her voice hid the slight nervousness she felt.

"Who are you?" He asked, sliding his hands into his trouser pocket. Somehow that gesture seemed a lot normal to her. Normal was something very rare in the places she worked and people she associated with. Talking to Maan had a feeling of surreal fantasy tinge to it.

"I am Geet, as you already addressed me. I am a bar dancer as you saw me tonight at Skoda," Geet replied.

"Then what business does a bar dancer has with a cop?" Maan asked zeroing his gaze on neck which had pinked with his hand print.

"You know how it goes around here," she said shrugging, "Cops are bane of our existence," she replied darkly. "They are supposed to protect people and they believe that we bargirls aren't," she spat. Maan only hummed.

"I find that little hard to believe," he said once Geet fell into silence. She looked at his sharply.

"Satya, the inspector who was talking to you is an honorable man. If he came to you, then it has a reason and the reason almost always is me," Maan said. A hint of respect laced his words when he talked about Satya. She shuffled on her feet.

"He asked me about Varun Deshmukh. He didn't ask about you, I promise," she replied, little desperate.

"He didn't?" Surprise was evident in his voice.

"No he didn't. He wanted to know about Varun Deshmukh's whereabouts and another time he wanted to know about a rave party. That's all there was to it," Geet said. Maan looked thoughtful.

"May I ask something?" She asked little hesitant when Maan didn't response.

"Go ahead." He said flatly.

"Why are you here?" She asked the question that was bugging her mind since the time her eyes were set on him in that alley.

"What do you mean?" He asked to understand the context of her question better.

"I mean you are Maan Singh Khurana. You have hundreds of people under your disposal and you could have simply summoned me to your presence and I would have obliged. But here you are," she said and looked down.

Something was off. She looked up expecting an answer.

"For a bargirl, you are very well read. You read three newspapers daily and your cable package has more news and sports channels than entertainment. You are incredibly fit as your profession gives you sufficient exercise and your cardio workout in the morning is extremely impressive. You live in a house with four deadbolts on the main door – not that I blame you given how problematic that neighborhood can be and you rarely open the windows. You have very few friends and your manager, Eman, is the one probably closest to you. Your activities in morning vary from working part time to being completely indoors. You don't smoke, drink or do drugs and you don't prostitute yourself for money. You are a backup dancer and you lack the competitiveness that the other bargirls easily emulate. It's unclear why you stay in shadows and never under spotlight because you got the talent. When I heard this report, I found you extremely fascinating. So I came to check you out in Skoda." Maan finished. Geet felt lead settle in her stomach and her mouth felt dry.

"Why do you know so much about me?" Geet felt her tongue had become like sandpaper.

"When I got to know that you and Satya have been talking frequently, I thought he was recruiting you to be his inside eye to monitor my activities," Maan said shrugging.

"But I work in Skoda and you don't own that," Geet said keeping her panic in check.

"I know." Maan said and pulled out his gun.

The answer didn't help her to deduce anything. She still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off about this meeting. She was too small a fish for a man of his stature to be following her like a street thug. It was baffling why Maan was having her tailed just because a cop had cornered her few times.

And then she realized.

He wasn't interested in her. He was interested in ACP Satya. And thanks to that, she was now under his radar because he found her 'fascinating'. She wondered how much of snooping around his people did around her house.

She had a feeling that there was something more to this meeting with the illegal firearms dealer Maan Singh Khurana than he was meaning the whole thing to be.

Because both of them were lying and both of them knew that the other was hiding something.

She wondered if he would pull the trigger then.

they seems to know quite much about each other