AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When Lorena inhaled, all she could think was that the room smelled like money. The aura of the room was intimidating, and she couldn’t help taking a step back, but the door behind her closed.
At the far end of the lavish, spacious room sat a replica of the White House’s Oval Room desk, but a larger version. And sitting behind the desk with his hands laced on the surface of the desk was Sonny. The brute sported a pinstriped suit with a silver-gray tie and matching handkerchief in the pocket. Lorena tried to stifle a smile at Sonny’s outfit. The guy looked right out of mobster central casting.
“Ah, Lorena, do come in. Have a seat, won’t you?”
Sonny rose from his oxblood leather chair and waved her to one of two armchairs off to the side of the ostentatious office. Lorena noticed there wasn’t a file folder or any paper on the man’s desk. She assumed the room was all for show.
Lorena offered a meek smile. “Thank you.”
Sonny hit a button on his desk phone. “Louise, two espressos, please.”
“Yes, sir. Coming right up.”
If Lorena wasn't mistaken, Louise had a high-pitched nasal tone and a Queens accent. She had no idea what the woman looked like, but her imagination immediately created a faceless woman with a tight skirt, bottle-blonde beehive hairdo, and frighteningly long, red nails.
Sonny sat in the other chair opposite Lorena and silently smiled until there was a light rap on the door.
“Come in.”
A silver tray showed through the doorway first, followed by Lorena’s exact idea of what Louise would look like. She faked a cough to cover up her laughter.
“Put it right here, doll.” Sonny waved to the coffee table. “Ms. D’Augustino and I are going to have a lovely chat.”
“Yes, sir.” Louise wiggled over and wiggled back and was gone from the room in no time. Lorena didn’t miss the way Sonny’s hungry eyes followed Louise’s movements to and from the office.
When the office door shut, Sonny calmly and quietly poured two cups from the coffee press. Lorena noticed that his eerie, seemingly permanent smile had faded. Now Sonny’s face was dark, his eyes stormy. She held her hands together to keep them from shaking.
Sonny didn’t offer her a cup of espresso once he had taken one for himself. Then he turned in his chair so that their bodies were only inches apart. The mobster lifted his head and stared forebodingly at her. Lorena leaned back, swallowing several times as her throat went dry. His eyes had gone from silver gray to an abyssal black.
He had gone from cordial to being absolutely deadly in minutes.
“Lorena, you and I had a deal, did we not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what was that deal?”
“Uh, I get dirt on Thomas in return for you paying for my father’s medical bills.”
“That’s right, dear. Good of you to keep up to speed, at least on paper. In reality, I’ve held my end of the bargain. Where’s yours?”
“Well, I’ve been trying, you know. But I only just started the job, so it would look weird if I … Sonny rose halfway out of his chair and pushed his face right into hers. They were so close that she could smell his warm, rank breath and see the hairs up his nostrils.
“I’ll tell you what would look weird, dear. You and your dear father’s cold, dead bodies laying in the street. That’s what would look weird. I don’t want excuses. I want results. If you don’t give them to me, you and your papa could end up being the day’s special over at the Foo Man Choo diner on 5th. Capiche?”
Lorena silently nodded, which made her nose rub his.
“Ms. D’Augustino, you seem like a lovely gal. Trouble is, a lovely gal can be such a problem for a nice guy like me.”
“I won’t cause you any trouble, Sonny. I promise.”
Lorena shifted sideways in her seat, getting space from Sonny’s face. The stench of stale coffee breath, BO, and Old Port cigars was enough to make her pass out.
“Ah, yeah, well. There’s sayin’, and then there’s doin’. Right, doll? And the one thing Sonny doesn’t like are lovely girls like you causing trouble for nice guys like me. Trouble means I lose control. And if I lose control, heads roll. It’s an anger issue that I’m told can be treated with psychoanalysis, but who has time for that? Am I right? So, you don’t want to ever see me lose control. ’Cause if you do, it’ll be the last thing those pretty eyes of yours will ever see.”
Lorena silently nodded again. Her tongue was thick in her mouth, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to form any coherent words.
Sonny finally handed Lorena an espresso cup, seemingly reassured that she had gotten the message. She took the cup, but the saucer rattled so violently that she had to hold it with both hands. That made Sonny smile once again.
