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A slow smile stretched his lips. “You never disappoint, Braxton.” Turning to the door, he waited for Josh to hand us the sandwiches, and gave him a fifty-dollar bill. “Keep that register balanced before you go.”
“Yes, Sir.” Josh glanced at me, half freaking out. “I’m leaving now, but I’ll come back tonight to pick you up.”
“Thank you.”
With one last glance at Mr. Di Rossi, my friend left us.
“I was testing you,” my boss admitted, taking a hefty bite of his sandwich, and signaling for me to do the same.
Damn it. The suspense was killing me, but I began to eat, following his lead. I saw him swallow, pulling out a white envelope from his pocket and handing it to me.
“You passed with flying colors, Braxton. You always do.” He gestured to the envelope with my name written on it. “The check for your work this month.”
Confusion wrinkled my brow as I glanced between the envelope and my boss. “But it is not the end of the month yet.”
“I know, but I wanted to give it to you today. Oh, and there’s a little something for you in there too, as a thank you for the hard work you have put in. I can see how exhausted you are, but you haven’t complained once.”
When I finally opened the envelope and unfolded the check, my eyes widened. Shit. “Mr. Di Rossi, there is something wrong here.”
“What is it?” he asked, watching me closely.
“You made a mistake with my check, Sir.”
His brow lifted dubiously as he regarded me. “I don’t make mistakes with money.”
“I’m sorry, but you paid me two thousand dollars more than I earn a month,” I explained, so he wouldn’t think I was trying to offend him.
“Did I?” he asked, throwing a sly glance at the check still in my hands. “Show me.” When I did, a sliver of amusement entered his expression. “It looks fine to me.”
Perplexed, I shook my head. “But it’s two thousand dollars more!” Was he not getting it??
“Well, aren’t you the new manager of the hottest hang out in town? 50K a year seems about right.”
“What??”
Laughter escaped him at my reaction. “Look in the envelope.”
Swallowing, I glanced inside to realize there was something else still in there. I reached for the shiny name tag, a thumb stroking it with both joy and sadness.
“Braxton, Manager.”
I read the words out loud, seeing pride and accomplishment in the gleam that illuminated his eyes.
“You have been nothing but loyal and committed to this shop since the start, and in my family, those things matter. I knew after a month of you working here that you deserved this, and that one day you’d be sitting there with that tag in your hand. You took initiative, came earlier than anyone else and were the last to leave. You did whatever it took to have the Subway running smoothly, whether it was your responsibility or not. Hard work pays off, son.”
Satisfied with seeing me speechless, he smiled at me.
“I’m sorry it took so long, but I was trying to give my nephew a chance to prove me wrong. To show me that he wasn’tdi nessun valore—a good for nothing,” he mumbled, disappointed.
“What is he going to do now?” I asked, still shocked.
“Don’t worry about him. He has a brand-new, shiny job as the busboy in the originalTrattoria Di Rossi.” He grinned almost malevolently. “He and his bratty mother have been cut off. It’s time they learn the business the way my father and I did. Starting from the bottom.”
My gaze fell to the name tag in my hand, next to the Dragon ring I still held.
“I know you are in shock, but aren’t you happy?” he asked, standing and coming to my side to hug me. “You’ve been working for this all this time, haven’t you?”
I knew I should be happy. Ecstatic was more like it. Still, dread filled me as I stopped lying to myself. It was time to accept defeat.
