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He scoffs. “What could you have possibly been looking for if you weren’t trying to bring down my empire?”
I freeze.
I can’t tell him about the boys yet.
ChapterThirteen
MARCELLO
I’ve been sleeping away from June, mostly because she’s furious with me for allegedly ruining her career. My men were able to bring back proof that she’s here on a work visa with some product design company, and now I realize that her status as a missing American tourist has the potential to become very problematic for me.
When I return to the bedroom to deliver some food to June, she’s sulking on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
“I was supposed to give a presentation today,” she growls, refusing to look in my direction at all. She’s so rigid that she looks like a corpse.
“Listen, I realize that you’re mad about your job, but I have good news! They can’t fire you if you resign, and that will look a lot better on your work history,” I say as I drop the plate of eggs and hashbrowns on the bed next to her.
Her eyes burn with even more resentment and fury than before as she turns her head to look at me for the first time all morning. “I can’t fucking quit! I was sent to Italy for work. It’s going to look like I took the free vacation and told my company to go fuck themselves!”
“That’s better than being considered a missing person or a hostage, at least to me. I know that’s inconvenient for you, but I can’t let you go now that there might be police involvement. Sorry,” I reply, crossing my arms and standing up straighter.
She nearly explodes. “I’m going to go back home with my reputation obliterated and no job prospects at all, all because you think I give a fuck about destroying your criminal enterprise? Do you understand how fucked I’ll be if you make me do this?!”
“Yes, I do, but unfortunately, I need to act in my own best interest. I truly do apologize,” I say as I reach over to unlock her cuffs.
I slide the plate closer to her as she rubs her sore wrists. “Here, eat your food. We’ll go down to my office to call your workplace when you’re done. If you try to cause problems, Iwillkill you on the spot. Do you understand me?”
She glares at me hard, refusing to eat her food. I knew this was going to be difficult, and I regret rescuing her in the first place. Her loose ties to me in the past don’t matter enough for me to be inconveniencing myself like this, and I wish I had just stayed out of it.
After three minutes of her staring defiantly at me, I pick her up by her arm and walk her over to the door.
She doesn’t resist as I guide her down the stairs, but she’s stiff and silent, refusing to answer questions as I ask them.
When we get into the office, I lock the door behind me before I zip-tie June to the chair again. She shoots a furious stare at me, and I realize that this is something I’ll have to get used to if I’m committing to keeping her around. Whatever, it’s not like she can hurt me.
I punch in a code to unlock my office phone, and I search for the name of the company with the ID badge that was collected from June’s hotel room. I find Human Resources, and after eight minutes of hold music and redirecting, we finally get a human on the phone.
“You’ve reached Human Resources. How can I help you?” asks an unnaturally cheery female voice on the other end of the line.
June takes a deep breath. “I need to give notice of my resignation, effective immediately.”
“Okay, can I get your name, please?” asks the woman, her tone completely unchanged from the way she answered the phone.
“My name is June Anthony. I work in the product design department,” she says, glancing up at me for guidance. She’s mad as hell, and I don’t think I’m truly capable of understanding what it is I’ve taken from her, but I don’t care. She can get another job. I’m not going to go to prison.
“Okay, I found your file. It appears that you’ve been stationed in Italy for the time being. What is the reason for your resignation?” asks the woman.
June looks to me for an answer. This was all my idea, so why don’t I have a reason for her to be quitting her job? I don’t know shit about her work. Anything I say would be more suspicious than anything.
“I just don’t feel that the culture is right for me,” she replies, stammering a little at the beginning. Her response seems meaningless, which means she’s probably on the right track.
“You do realize you’ll have to pay for your own ticket back to the United States, right? We won’t be paying that for you,” the voice replies, applying some tension to her voice.
“Yes, I do recognize that. I have plans to leave the country as soon as possible,” she lies. “I won’t be returning to the building for any of my documents.”
The woman doesn’t reply for a moment. “Is there something you would like to report? Some kind of misconduct that would cause you to want to leave the company so quickly? This is very unusual, I must let you know.”
June’s nervous now, glancing up at me for an answer that I can’t give her. In the corporate world, she speaks a language that I’ve never been exposed to.
