Fired Part II
“Alcee,” Kylen reached out to stop her from entering the elevator. He put a hand on her shoulder to keep her still. “We can clear up this misunderstanding.”
“It’s not a misunderstanding, Mr. Burgess. She told me to get it done in a fraction of the available time or I’m fired. I harbor no illusions about my abilities to perform magic and as a result, I’ve accepted my termination. I’ve asked Tank to request security walk me out.”
“While Ms. Verrilli is indeed the assistant to the CEO, she is not HR, and she can’t hire or fire.”
“The hell I can’t,” the woman approached, her heels smacking the floor. It made Alcee think of her mother who often wore the same type of shoes, but you’d never hear her coming. One was graceful, the other was not. The woman’s annoying voice was more evidence she was playing dress-up, trying to be more than she was because elegance and decorum were not anything she possessed. “She is done here. She was talking back to her superiors, and she cursed at me.”
“You heard her.” Alcee flapped her hand as the bitchy woman stomped her heel with enough force, Alcee was surprised the spike didn’t snap off. “She’s my superior and I denied her request to finish in fifteen minutes. I’m done here.”
Kylen grabbed the other woman by the arm and began dragging her away, looking over his shoulder at Alcee. “Alcee, please finish the desk setup. If you still want to quit when you’re done putting it together, then I’ll write you a glowing letter of recommendation. In the meantime, I’m going to beg Mr. Lozano remind Ms. Verrilli of her job demands and expectations.”
“Unhand me you American barbarian.” The woman was yanking on her arm as she was dragged unceremoniously down the hall.
“I’d really rather quit than deal with her,” Alcee met Tank’s eyes and knew the truth was blaring right at him in the soft brown of her irises.
“If you walk out with the job undone, he’ll make sure you can’t get hired anywhere else.” Tank threatened her. “Do you want a letter of recommendation, or do you want to be unemployed forever?”
“Ugh,” she threw her hands up in the air and marched back to the desk. “When I was in high school, I once hacked into the school system and fucked with the SAT results of my bully and made sure she didn’t get into any college and when she retook them, I did it again. I miss how easy those days were compared to this shit,” she found herself back on her knees under the desk setting up the wires she was working on earlier.
The sound of yelling down the hall, coming from the lone female voice at the end, made them both perk up and then not ten minutes after Kylen dragged her away, the woman was back in front of Alcee muttering a not-very-heartfelt apology.
“Take your time and make sure it’s done right.” The woman finished her monologue.
“Yup.” Alcee didn’t even look at the woman as she continued working.
“You are a rude American.”
She heard a man clearing his throat and a rapid exchange of Italian again and the woman stormed off furiously.
“I am sorry for my sister’s behavior.”
“Your sister?” Alcee looked up to meet the eyes of the man now standing opposite the desk she was putting together.
He extended his hand, “Bastiano Verrilli. I am the head of corporate security for Mr. Lozano. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Mariani.”
The way he said her last name sent a shiver of fear down her spine. His eyes were dark and searching and she knew without a shadow of a doubt the man knew who she was. He wasn’t the head of security for Torquato Lozano without knowing who was here on his floor.
“I’m sure the pleasure is all mine,” she whispered back without reaching to shake his proffered hand, instead ducking back under the desk to hook up the cable in her hand. The telltale sound of the printer starting up made her smile with relief. One more thing done.
“When you are done here, you are to come to the board room to see Mr. Lozano.”
She poked her head back out, smacking the top of her skull against the hard wood, “is it an order from the CEO?” The other half of her question, “or the Don,” was left unspoken but the way the man in front of her quirked an eyebrow told her the answer.
He leaned over the desk, his huge meaty hands gripping the top of it to stare straight at her, “does your father know you work for the Lozano family?”
“My father,” she grunted as she yanked on an extension cord from under the desk, “doesn’t miss a trick, Mr. Verrilli, but if you’re asking if I’ve personally been in contact with him to let him know of my day-to-day activities, I have not been permitted to speak to anyone in the Mariani family since he threw me out of their home six years ago. Aside from the occasional call from my brothers who defy his orders to check on my wellbeing, I haven’t spoken with anyone else in the family. If my father knows what I do, it is because he has looked into it, not because I volunteered information.”
The man seemed surprised, “he threw you out?”
“The minute my father found out the one thing he was using to bargain me off to Mr. Lozano was no longer intact, he tossed me on my ass. I cost him a lot of money and his face.”
“Mr. Lozano cancelled the contract.”
“Yes, because my hymen was no longer intact. I was no longer of value to the family without my virginity, so I got thrown out. It was better than the bullet he threatened me with, I suppose.”
“Wait, wait,” Mr. Verrilli seemed completely perplexed, “are you telling me your father threw you out because you weren’t a virgin?”
“Yes. He’d promised my virginity to Mr. Lozano, and I broke the covenant.”
“Mr. Lozano broke the agreement but not because –” he stopped speaking as if he was aware he was talking out of turn. “Excuse me.”
She grimaced as he almost ran to the boardroom at the end of the hall.
Mafia men were strange.