Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I almost argue that I’m not taking a company car to Queens, but I know that I’ve taken enough advantage of his good graces in the last five minutes. So, instead, I just nod and follow Elena back to the ballroom.
True to her word, she doesn’t let me out of her sight for the next hour and a half. The second the keynote speech is done, though, Dominic is back at my side and telling me the car is waiting for me.
He escorts me down in the elevator and to the front, even opening the car door for me. As we go, I notice how everyone reacts to Dominic, and I realize there’s not a single person in this hotel who would tell him no. In fact, most of them won’t even look at him as he passes, like they’re scared of meeting his eyes.
The whole ride home, I turn it all over in my head. For the first time since taking this job, I regret not doing more research. Who exactly is Dominic Vieri, and why do men cower in his wake?
6
DOMINIC
Rafe is waiting in my office when I arrive the next morning. It’s never a good sign when he beats me in to the office. He’s sitting in one of the chairs across from my desk with one ankle crossed over his knee and a coffee in his hand.
“So, we should talk about last night,” he says before I even have a chance to sit down.
“I’m not in the mood,” I tell him flatly.
“Fine,” he says, putting his feet up on the desk. “Then let’s talk about how you have feelings for your assistant.”
“Same category.” I sigh. “Kevin Armand is lucky he got away with just a punch.”
He tosses a folder in front of me. “You’re right about that. Because I stayed up all night and found more evidence of Armand and Calderone working together for the last three decades. They’ve kept it quiet, but once I found that college link, I also found an illegal gambling ring. Then, I realized they’ve been running gambling joints up and down the Eastern Seaboard ever since.”
“Why didn’t any of that show up in our vetting?” I ask, looking through the folder.
“Because neither of them put their names on it. It happened through shell corporations and miles and miles of coverups. The only thing that traces them back to it is the name—”
Before he can finish, there’s a knock at the door. We both look up to see Sofia standing there, clutching her purse to her side.
“I was hoping we could talk,” she says, shooting a look to Rafe.
“That’s my cue to leave,” he answers with a shit-eating grin. “Good luck, you two.”
She watches him warily as he strolls out the door. As much as I need to get to the bottom of this connection between Armand and Calderone, I’m glad Sofia interrupted us. I spent all last night worried about her.
“How are you doing?” I ask her seriously. “Last night got a little intense.”
Her face darkens instantly, and I think it’s about the incident until she says, “Only because you got involved.”
I study her with some apprehension. Her eyes are narrowed, her arms crossed, like she’s angry with me.
“Was I wrong to stop him?”
“You were wrong to punch him,” she says pointedly. “I was handling it just fine on my own.”
“It seemed like it, with the way he had you cornered against a wall.”
“I’ve dealt with men worse than Kevin Armand my whole life, Dominic,” she shoots back, her voice rising. “I never needed you there before, and I didn’t need you last night.”
I lean back slightly in my chair and can’t help but smile. All these weeks, I’ve known Sofia is competent. I’ve seen her handle schedules and organize files and just generally deal with a heap of bullshit that would have sent lesser assistants running for the hills. This is the first time, though, that she’s really challenged me. She’s usually rushing to help in any way she can, but now she’s pushing back. I’m fascinated.
“It was completely unprofessional,” she continues. “If I’m going to continue working here, I need you to keep calm when a client gets out of hand.”
“That isn’t your place to ask me,” I remind her. “It’s my name on the building and my reputation on the line. I can’t let people think that it’s okay to disrespect my employees. Or to threaten physical harm.”
“Yes, let’s focus on your reputation and not the fact that you shouldn’t be working with creeps who’d hurt your employees in the first place!” she explodes.
“So, you admit that you got hurt.”
Her mouth snaps shut and she narrows her eyes at me. “All I’m admitting is that I understand why you have a hard time holding onto assistants.”
Ouch. Right to the heart.