With a fresh wave of fear flooding my veins, I yank away from Mr. Vitale.
Our eyes lock, and suddenly, I see his ruthless nature written all over his face.
One of the five heads.
The other men.
Oh God. I was surrounded by the leaders of the Sicilian mafia.
It feels like I’m having an out-of-body experience, and what has been a pretty mundane reality until today, warps into something unrecognizable.
Spinning around, I rush out of the restroom and into the foyer. Spotting the front door, I make a beeline for it.
Suddenly, Mr. Vitale darts in front of me, and obstructing my escape, he says, “You can’t leave until we’ve talked about everything.”
“The hell I can’t,” I shriek, my voice shrill from all the shocks I’ve had. I move away from him, and feeling bewildered, I say, “I work for a mafia boss. Great.” My hands fly to my hair and grip fistfuls. “Oh God. I won’t survive going to prison.”
“You’re not going to prison,” he snaps.
Hearing his annoyed tone, I spin around and level him with a glare. “I’m working for a criminal!”
He holds up a hand. “Calm down.”
The words make me unreasonably angry. “Don’t tell me to calm down!”
He lowers his hand and just stares at me, and for some reason, it makes me want to strangle him.
When I glance at the front door, he says, “You can leave after we’ve talked.”
My eyes snap back to him, and crossing my arms over my chest, I practically spit the words at him as I say, “Then talk.”
“Vitale Health is a legitimate company. You haven’t taken part in any criminal activities.”
I have.
The memories of Mr. Vitale killing those men flash through my mind, and my anger takes a back seat to my fear.
This man is dangerous.
Tears threaten to overwhelm me as I say, “I saw you kill people and then left the scene of a crime. The police will think I’m an accomplice.”
“They won’t.”
He takes a step closer, but I quickly move away from him.
He sucks in a deep breath as if he’s trying to stay calm, then says, “I have the police commissioner in my pocket, which means I’m above the law, Miss Blakely.
Dear God. He can probably make me disappear, and my family will never know what happened to me.
More fear pours into my chest, and all I can do is shake my head.
He must see I’m terrified of him because he says, “I’ll never hurt you.”
He did protect me today.
Still, he’s a head of the Sicilian mafia.
Holy shit.
I keep getting slapped upside the head by everything that’s happened.
“Vitale Health is a legitimate company,” he says again.
Jesus, how do you hand your resignation to a mob boss?
For a moment, I’m at a loss for words and can only stare at the man.
I remember how easily he fought those men. How he killed them without blinking an eye.
He’s done this before, and he’ll do it again.
My voice is hoarse as I say, “I can’t work for you anymore.” I lift my hand to my clammy forehead and wipe over it. “I’ll leave New York.”
I’ll run like I did a year ago and make a fresh start somewhere else.
Mr. Vitale shakes his head and takes a step closer to me, which has me moving backward. “You’re not resigning, and you’re not going anywhere.”
I’m unsure whether the man is threatening me, but to err on the safe side, I decide not to argue with him, because I’d like to live to see another day.
I don’t know much about the mafia. Only that they’re ruthless, and people end up in bodybags when they try to cross them.
My mind starts to race again, and I’m bombarded with a million questions I want to ask him. The first one to escape my lips is, “The other men… they’re the other heads of the Cosa Nostra, right?”
Mr. Vitale nods. “Yes.”
“And the men I saw when we arrived here?”
“My army.”
Right. Of course, he’ll have an army.
Nodding, I wrap my arms tighter around myself. “I’d really like to go home now.”
His intense eyes search my face, then he asks, “Will I see you at work tomorrow?”
My features tighten as I struggle not to burst into tears. “C-can I take tomorrow and Friday off, please? Just to process everything.”
“Will you be back after your vacation?”
Swallowing hard on my fear for this man, I can only nod.
He tilts his head, his gaze sharpening on me. “I’d hate to lose you, Miss Blakely. You’re the best PA I’ve ever had.”
My eyebrows furrow, and breaking eye contact, I lower my gaze to the tiled floor. “Can I go?”
“I’ll have someone take you home.”
I quickly shake my head. “No, thank you.”
He moves, and I watch as he grabs a coat from the closet near the door. Seeing the confused look on my face, he explains, “You have blood on your pants. This will cover it.”
I glance down and see the red stains all over my gray pants.
I take the coat from Mr. Vitale and shrug it on. The fabric swallows my body, and I’ll probably die of heat on my way home.
“Thank you, sir,” I whisper, and when I have to walk past Mr. Vitale, my muscles tense up, and a tremble rushes through me.
“See you after your vacation, Miss Blakely.”
“Yes, sir.”
God. Everything he says sounds like a threat.
The moment I pull the front door shut behind me, I let out a breath of relief. I dart down the steps of the mansion and run toward the subway station.
Franco
As the front door shuts, I walk to the living room and pour whiskey into the tumbler Samantha used earlier. I pick it up and down it all in one go.
Fuck.
Now that I don’t have to keep my emotions in check anymore, I throw the tumbler across the room, and it shatters against a wall.
Christ. I lost Lorenzo.
And Samantha knows I’m a capo.
There’s a good chance she won’t come back to work, and God only knows how today has affected her.
Within seconds, men pour into the living room.
Milo looks tense as he says, “I heard glass shatter.”
“I threw it against the wall,” I mutter, upset with myself for stressing Milo even more.
Lorenzo was his best friend, and the last thing he needs is making his already shitty day worse.
“Take some time off, Milo. I’ll be fine.”
He shakes his head, and when he walks closer to me, the other men leave to give us some privacy.
“I’m not leaving your side until every last one of those Slovakian fuckers are dead.”
Lifting my hand, I grip his shoulder. As I stare at him, I can see he’s struggling to keep his grief at bay.
I tug him closer and give him a brotherly hug. “We’ll kill them all.”
He nods as he pulls back and sucks in a deep breath. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at the floor as he murmurs, “It was a quick death. At least he didn’t suffer.”
Marcello enters the living room and holds the burner phone out to me. “You got a text from Samantha.”
During the day, I leave the device with him so Samantha doesn’t accidentally see it. I take it from him and read the message.
Samantha: I need to see you.
Samantha: Please.
I quickly type out a reply.
MMM: I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Open the window.
“I’m heading over to Samantha’s place,” I inform Milo and Marcello. “Send two men to check what happens at the building we were attacked at. I want to know who comes and goes when those fuckers collect their dead.”
“I’ll get Santo to assign a couple of guys.”
“Make sure they’re not seen. I don’t want to lose anyone else today.”
Marcello nods, then says, “I’m coming with you. You need the extra protection. Santo can take over from me and run things here.”
“That sounds good.” When I walk to the archway that leads to the foyer, Milo mentions, “You need to change your clothes.”
Fuck. I need to get my shit together before I give myself away tonight.
I don’t think Samantha is ready to find out I’m her mystery man.
I head to my bedroom and quickly strip out of the suit. I put on my Paradiso uniform and grab the balaclava before leaving the house with Milo and Marcello.
During the ride to her apartment, I make a call to Renzo.
When he answers I ask, “What did you do with Lorenzo?”
“His body is at the morgue.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime, brother.” His attention is pulled away by someone else, then he says, “Damiano wants to know when you’re coming over. We need to have a meeting.”
“I just want to make sure Samantha is okay.”
“I understand. It must’ve been one hell of a shock for her.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “Thanks for the help today, Renzo.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
I end the call and suck in a deep breath of air.
As soon as I’m sure Samantha’s doing better, I’ll deal with the Slovakians.
When Milo stops the SUV at the side of the apartment building, I quickly pull on the balaclava.
Marcello gets out of the vehicle with me and escorts me to the fire escape.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be,” I tell him.
“Take your time. I’ll get Milo something to eat from across the road.”
Nodding, I climb up the steps, and when I enter Samantha’s apartment through the window, I find her sobbing on the couch.
She’s changed out of the pantsuit into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt, and her hair hangs in damp curls around her shoulders.
“Hey,” I whisper so I don’t scare the shit out of her.
Her head snaps up, and seeing me, she darts from the couch and plows into my chest.
I wrap my arms around her shuddering body, and lowering my head, I keep my tone soft as I say, “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you.”
She cries harder, and it has me lifting her into my arms. I walk to the couch and sitting down, I position her on my lap before holding her tightly again.
“That’s it, baby. Let it all out.”
I close my eyes, and while she breaks down in my arms, I find comfort in being so close to her.
Right now, I’m not a capo.
I’m not her boss.
I’m just an ordinary man who gets to hold the woman he’s fallen in love with.
