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My pulse quickens as the anger rises in my throat. I turn around and see that she’s no longer sitting behind the desk but standing in front of it, facing away from us while unraveling garland from a box.
“What happened to Deanna?” I ask, trying to control the tone of my voice as much as possible.
“Her daughter just had a baby so she’s taking time off to be with her.” He doesn't take his eyes off Danella’s ass while she faces away from us. “Can’t say I’m disappointed with the temp the company sent.”
I clench my fists tight enough that my nails dig into the palm of my hand. It stings, but it’s the only thing keeping me from leaping across the desk, grabbing Paulie by his tie, and telling him exactly what I think.
The idea of her sitting across from him while he ogles her all day is infuriating enough that I can feel my blood pressure rising. What if he makes a move on her? The thought of him touching her is almost nauseating.
I stand up and press my hands firmly on the desk in front of him, bending down quite a bit due to my height. Paulie finally tears his eyes away from Daniella and looks up at me with a confused expression. I lean down close to his face so our eyes meet. He needs to see how serious I am.
“I want her,” I tell him in a low voice, unblinking.
Paulie shakes his head and furrows his brow for a moment, looking over my shoulder briefly. “Come on, you can have any woman you want–”
“I want her toworkfor me,” I interrupt. Paulie stares at me for a moment with raised eyebrows, not believing a word I said.
“No way.” He lets out a nervous laugh, looking between me and Daniella.
Before he has a chance to say anything else, I stand upright and quickly reach to grab him by his collar. I yank him out of his chair, pulling him halfway across his desk to meet my eyes. Papers and picture frames with his wife and kids fall to the ground around us.
“I wasn’t asking,” I snarl, clenching my jaw and staring deep into his eyes.
Paulie gulps and nods his head before I set him down. He straightens his collar and walks out of the office to speak to Daniella.
2
DANIELLA
“You’re being reassigned,” Paulie says in a hushed voice.
My heart drops. Reassigned? How can that be? I’ve only been working in his office for a day. I hadn’t done anything to give away the real reason I was there. Sergeant Tully is going to be furious with me. The more I let myself think about it, the more worried I get. What if they know about me? What if reassigning me means they’ll try and hurt me?
“I’m not sure I understand,” I say, trying to play dumb and innocent. “Have I done something wrong?”
Paulie opens his mouth to respond, but before he can, Dominic DeLuca walks through his office door and speaks up. “Not at all. Consider this a promotion,” he cooly adds, striding through the room to stand in front of me.
I don’t know what to think about the “promotion”, but being in front of Dominic causes a whirlwind of emotions. He’s more attractive in person than he was in the surveillance footage that was shown to me before being assigned to this case. He’s tall, with broad shoulders and hands large enough to look like he can wrap them around my waist.
His light brown eyes sparkle as he speaks, and he wears a charming half-smile as he brushes a strand of black hair away from his eyes. I oddly feel excited being in his presence, and it’s a feeling almost foreign to me. At twenty years old, I’ve never even kissed a man before. Suddenly, my chest swells and my throat goes dry when I see Dominic.
“What have I done to deserve that?” I ask him, genuinely curious about his sudden interest in me.
“I took a look at your resume and feel you’d be better suited as my assistant.”
I know it’s a lie. I don’t have a resume on file here. Sergeant Tully managed to get me assigned here through a temp agency that’s worked with the VICE team a few times. They sent me a letter of recommendation and a list of skills that I possessed applicable to what Paulie needed. Dominic is lying about why he wants me to work for him, and I don’t know why.
As curious as I am, I’m just as worried. I’m here on business unrelated to anything they think. Someone in the DeLuca crime family killed one of our own, and we’re looking for justice. If any of them find out I’m a cop, I’m done for.
Even though I’m worried, I can’t help but feel impressed with myself. Whatever the reason was, I’m being invited to work for Dominic DeLuca. He’s our main suspect and the leader of the family. I was assigned to work with Paulie because I’m a rookie. Everyone thought it would be easier for me. Now, I’m going to prove all of them wrong.
“If you’ll just gather your things, I can take you upstairs to your new office,” Dominic says.
All I brought with me in the morning was my purse and a lunchbox, so I grab both of those and follow him to the elevator. A mixture of nerves and excitement confuses me while I follow him. I’m retreating into my head, unable to stop wondering why he wants me to work for him. If there is any chance he knows who I am or why I’m really here, joining him on the elevator could be a death sentence.
And yet, I follow him anyway.
It’s hard to tell if it’s ambition, stupidity, or something else altogether. Everything I know about Dominic DeLuca is telling me I should leave, but actually standing in his presence is disarming. I should be nervous. I should be afraidof someone like him, but I’m not. It’s the strangest feeling, but I’m calm around him.
