Chapter 1 - The New Assignment
Dante Marino stood frozen in the center of his massive office.
The faint echo of his own laughter seemed to shock him more than the gun in his hand.
His two massive bodyguards stared at me as if I had just performed a dark miracle.
Sal Genovese was still trembling on the Persian rug, his face slick with sweat and tears.
Dante slowly lowered the suppressed pistol and placed it on the mahogany desk.
He looked at me with an expression I had never seen before on his face.
The dead, hollow emptiness in his eyes had been replaced by a sharp, terrifying focus.
He told the guards to drag Sal down to the warehouse and wait for his arrival.
The heavy oak doors clicked shut, leaving me completely alone with the most dangerous man in Chicago.
I picked up the signed depreciation forms and turned to leave.
Dante called my name, his voice much softer than usual.
He walked around the desk and stopped inches away from me.
He told me that finding three million dollars in twelve minutes was a remarkable talent.
I reminded him that I was just a secretary trying to avoid an IRS audit.
Dante reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
He said I was no longer his secretary.
He promoted me to his personal fixer, effective immediately.
I told him I did not want to be involved in the violent side of his business.
Dante simply smiled, a cold and calculated expression that made my stomach drop.
He said I did not have a choice, because the IRS auditor waiting downstairs was not actually from the IRS.
He handed me a security photo of the man waiting in our lobby.
May you like
My blood turned to ice as I looked at the photograph.
The man in the lobby was Agent Miller, the FBI agent who had threatened to lock my schizophrenic brother in a state asylum three years ago.
