Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 84219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
What?
It takes a moment for his words to sink in.
Mr. Vitale is a mobster?
Is that even the right word?
Who the hell cares?! The man is…is…
Oh. My. God.
Chapter 19
Samantha
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.”