Meeting The Don - I
As Tank slid into the seat she vacated, she debated making a run for it to the elevator, grabbing her stuff and disappearing off the face of the earth. However, one look in the direction of the board room and president’s office told her Bastiano Verrilli was watching her every move on behalf of his Don. Lozano wasn’t the Don of her family, but she knew there was no choice but to do as instructed to the ally of her father’s family.
She brushed a wayward curl off her forehead and made her way in the direction of what she was certain was her doom.
“Jeans are not appropriate attire for the office.” Genevra poked her head out from the board room to glare at her.
“I am constantly crawling on my hands and knees under desks, through crawl spaces and into filthy rooms. Would you rather I wear a skirt to perform such activities?” she shot back at the woman.
“You!”
“Lady, I already quit. There is nothing you can say to me which will impact my behavior. I stayed as a favor and to get my letter of recommendation from the president. Your opinion of me, what I wear or how I do my job is irrelevant.”
When the woman moved to open her mouth with her hand raised, Bastiano grabbed her hand and held it to her side. “Do you know who she is?”
Genevra shrugged, “some nerd in the IT department.”
“This nerd, as you call her, is the only princess of the Mariani family. Keep calling her names and insulting her and see how long it takes for Don Mariani or his son Mercurio to put a hit on you none of us can stop.”
The other woman looked to Alcee in shock, “no! There is no way she would be working here dressed like, like,” she shuddered, “that.” She whispered to her brother, “they have money!”
Alcee rolled her eyes, “Is he available yet?”
Bastiano motioned to the president’s office, “come. He’s getting changed in Kylen’s bathroom. We’ve been waiting for his suitcase to arrive, and it did moments ago.”
In the president’s office, a space she’d never been to since Tyrell retired, she looked around and considered Kylen’s office was austere and cold with no mementos, knickknacks or photographs. It was a desk, a sofa, a couple of chairs and the view of New York from the window behind him. As a former marine and security specialist he probably kept go-bag tucked somewhere and she knew it.
The bathroom door was open a hair and she walked to look out the window feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Being in a room where a man was changing was odd. Her family were not the bold, comfortable with nudity kind of people.
“Alcee,” the voice from the bathroom made her shudder. It was as scary as the reputation behind it. She found herself wondering if he was as scarred and disfigured as the media and talk purported him to be. She knew he was ruthless because he’d taken over his father’s role with a bullet to the thigh after killing his father’s consigliere in cold blood. She knew all the drama from the New York, New Jersey and Boston families even if she wished she didn’t. His story was a magnificent one, terrifying, but magnificent.
“Yes sir?” she responded moving to stand closer to the door.
“Tell me what happened the day I cancelled our engagement.”
It wasn’t the question she was expecting.
“I got home in the morning. My mother met me at the door and locked me in my room for an hour until my father arrived. Within the hour after I was locked up, my father got word you cancelled the engagement. I was surprised really to learn how fast the news got back to you.”
“What news?”
“I was no longer a virgin.”
“What?”
“I slept with someone the night before. Isn’t it why you cancelled the contract?” Was this where she got the bullet to her head for disrespecting him.
“You fucked someone else?”
“Yes.” The word was a whisper. “You didn’t know?”
“No. I had no idea, to be honest. I cancelled the engagement because I held no desire to marry you. I met someone else I intended to marry and so I called it off with your family.”
“Huh,” she tapped her forehead on the glass. “Well, that was silly.”
“What do you mean?”
His voice on the other side of the door was punctuated by the sound of him hopping into his pants. At least she hoped it was his pants and not his underwear. The thought he might be naked on the other side of the door was discomfiting to say the least.
“I mean I intentionally went out and lost my virginity to avoid the engagement announcement. Are you telling me you really did not know what I did?”
“No. I didn’t know.”
“My father insisted it was a sign of disrespect and punished me accordingly for violating a treaty agreement.” She prayed he let it go there.
“What did your father do to you?”
“Kicked me out.
“Is this why you are working here?”
“I interned here in college and got hired right out.”
“What did your father do as a punishment aside from kicking you out. He was right. It was disrespectful to the agreement for you to fuck around but I really didn’t give a shit. What did he do?”