Framed by the Mafia

Chapter 3 : Nico's Report

Chapter 3: Nico's Report

*Alessandro*

I stared at my computer screen for a while longer. I was bored. The business was boring. This wasn't really what I took over my father's role for. I knew this was as important and just as much a part of the game as my other roles, but spreadsheets and business meetings bored me like hell.

What didn't bore me though was my new accountant, Rebecca. Green eyes, long brown waves of hair, sun-kissed skin. s**t, she was stunning. I had probably overstepped some sort of employer-employee boundary this afternoon, but I couldn't help myself.

I had never done anything like that before. I'm not really the type of guy who flirts with my employees or indulges them in some sort of romantic illusion.

But with Rebecca, I had no idea what came over me. And truth be told, she seemed into it. If she’d seemed bothered by it for one second, I would’ve turned around and never bothered her again. But I really thought she might be flirting back.

Maybe that was wishful thinking. Any man would be desperate for attention from her. She was a petite woman, but with nice curves. And those full, pink lips, f**k, it was all I could think about.

But her physique wasn't the only thing that kept me up all night. Something in her eyes, something in the way she looked at me during the meeting, made me feel weird about it. A good type of weird though. I'd never felt this with anyone. And I'd had my fair share of women in my life to be sure of that.

Maybe I should just ask her out. If she wasn't into me, she could turn me down, and I could go back to lusting after my favorite bartender at the bar next door. She didn't hold a candle to Rebecca though.

Rebecca was witty, quick on her feet and had the kind of intelligence I admired. Something in her made me feel challenged, and whenever I was near her, I could barely control my thoughts about what I wanted to do to her. Maybe she was a bit young for me, but she seemed so mature and confident that it just made me want to know her more.

I looked out my office door to where most of the office lights were off. Damn it. I wasted so much time here. I needed to get my personal life back.

Someone walked past my office door. I recognized the blue suit and sandy blonde hair.

"Nico," I called from inside the room.

He turned around and came into my office.

"What's good?" he asked, plopping down into the chair on the other side of my desk.

"What do you know about the new accountant girl? Rebecca Johnson?" I asked, trying not to sound too curious or interested.

"Not much. Early twenties, worked at a firm before us that ran accounts for a supermarket chain. Great references. I flipped through her files to see if she had any family connections, but she doesn't." He shrugged, casually leaning back in his chair and stretching out his legs in front of him.

"That's all you know?" I asked with raised brows.

"That's all I know," he confirmed. I could tell he wanted to ask more, but I didn't give him the chance.

"Alright. What's going on with this Bianchi mess? I'm tired of having Matteo breathe down my neck over a delivery. I told you I wanted to be done doing any trading with them. Those sons of b*tches always screw us over," I scoffed.

"Ah, I thought you seemed in a mood today," Nico mused with a smirk.

"I'm not in a mood," I snapped.

"That, sir, is a mood," Nico pointed out.

He was right. I wasn't usually so snappy. I was just tired and stressed. I wanted the Bianchi family out of my hair. This feud had gone on for generations, and it was getting old.

"You're right." I sighed. "I just want this handled."

"I get it. I sent some guys over to their place this afternoon. Took a little extra persuasion with them." He grinned, pulling open his suit jacket to reveal a handgun tucked into a special pocket on the inside. "I'm hoping Matteo and his guys will manage to find the delivery."

I chuckled. Nico had a way with words. And handguns. He was a crack shot, and I was constantly reminded why he was my right-hand man. He was a brilliant businessman as well, which meant he could switch between the family business and our day jobs seamlessly.

"Keep me updated. I should’ve just shot the bastard when I had the chance," I confessed bitterly. I didn't actually mean it. Violence was never the way I did business unless it was extremely necessary. Normally, only when I had to protect my own people. And I always made sure that my men followed the same rules.

"I can see the headlines now. CEO and Mafia Boss Alessandro Russo takes out the competition." Nico held his hands out in front of him as if he were watching the words appear as he spoke.

"You're so dramatic. I'd make sure it never made the news." I laughed.

"Where's the fun in that? We need a little drama in this town," Nico retorted.

"I think New York City has all the drama it can take," I reminded him.

"You're losing your edge. You're getting old. In our younger days, you would’ve left him in the gutter. It would have been beautiful," Nico mused.

I grimaced. My past was not something I was proud of, but I constantly tried to remind myself that I was born into all of this. I didn't really have a choice growing up, so I learned and did what I had to.

"I'm getting too old for that stuff. I like to keep my hands clean," I admitted.

Nico grunted in agreement. "I get it. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we started doing everything right, you know, get everything legal."

"That's what I'm trying to do. I want this feud over with, and I want to start doing things by the book," I told him. It was one of the first times I’d admitted it out loud, but it actually felt good to get that off my chest. A lot would still have to be done for that to happen, but thinking about it wouldn't hurt.

The fact that only two of my departments were laundering money now, instead of all of them, was a testament to how much I was able to get going by the law. It was a slow process, but it seemed like most of my guys got on board easily. Nobody liked looking over their shoulder all the time.

Organized crime was the way of our fathers. Our grandfathers. It was an exhausting way to live, and it put an expiration date on almost everyone you knew and loved. I had two cousins in jail right now, awaiting trial. Not to mention the people who tragically died because of bad deals. It just wasn't worth it anymore. I found the business stuff boring, sure, but it was better than prison. And guilt.

"Why'd you ask me about the new accountant chick? You finally done playing games with that bartender?" Nico teased.

I knew he was dying to ask me that. I shouldn't have let my guard down or stayed silent for too long.

"She works for me," I scoffed. The fact that I thought Rebecca was insanely attractive and intriguing was something that I'd rather keep to myself. Knowing Nico, he would never stop pestering me about it.

"That'd be a first for you, that's true," Nico added. "But, would it really be that bad to ask her out?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Mixing pleasure with business never ends well," I reminded him. "And she just started here. I don't want to have to hire someone else in less than a week. It doesn't look good for business."

"I mean, maybe that's not a bad thing if she leaves. She's way too smart for our own good. That stuff you said she caught in the business meeting? She's gonna bring this whole company to its knees, starting with you," Nico teased, a bit more serious this time.

"Has anyone ever told you how encouraging you are? I mean really, you're a great friend. Really great at pep talks." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, I aim to serve." Nico laughed, miming a bow from his chair.

"She's smart and kind of tempting," I mused, giving in to his nosiness. Maybe Nico encouraging me was all I needed to do something about it.

"Hell yeah, she is. Does she seem interested?" he asked with curiosity.

"I don't know. I thought so for a brief second this afternoon. I had to keep myself from making up reasons to keep going back to her office." I picked at my fingernails, trying to be casual.

"I say you go for it. She'll tell you no if she's not interested. What could it hurt?" he answered.

My ego. But I didn't tell him that.

"She could sue the company and bankrupt us all, and then everyone loses their legal jobs and we all have to go back to full-time criminal business," I said.

"Just try to keep work out of the topics of your conversation if you two ever go on a date," he suggested. "Some things she doesn't need to know, right? And you don't have to tell her your entire background, just have fun. It's not like you're marrying the woman."

I frowned at him, but I had to admit he had a point. But I would never tell him that either.

"Go home, Nico. You're here too late. You gotta take your personal life back too," I told him, putting an end to this topic. It was already giving me a headache.

"What personal life? Since Regina left, I'm just going home to cold pizza," he joked.

"Hard to meet someone new if you're always working late and eating cold pizza," I chided.

"Yeah, yeah, you're one to talk," Nico retorted. "You should leave too. Go see that bartender. Take your mind off Rebecca."

"That just doesn't have the same appeal it used to," I whined.

"Oh, you've got it bad." Nico chuckled, standing to go. "I'm getting out of here before you start talking about feelings."

"Yeah, yeah, f**k off then." I laughed, dismissing him with a wave.

He disappeared down the hall. I heard the elevators ding a few moments later. I should’ve left with him. Still, I had too much to do. I needed to check over the shipping reports from last week before I met with the guys in shipping and receiving tomorrow.

I read the reports about a hundred times, but the numbers refused to stick. The brain fog was killing me. I considered downing more coffee, but I couldn't make myself get up to get another cup. I didn't really even like coffee that much. It just seemed like a lifeline these days.

My mind drifted back to Rebecca. She'd only been here for two days and already I was looking for excuses to see her, to talk to her. Nico was right, she was a force to be reckoned with. I wanted to find her number and call her up tonight, but that would be crossing a line for sure.

A couple of years ago, I celebrated my thirty-fifth birthday. I thought then that I had life figured out. I was set to take my father's spot in the company and in the family, was still doing well as far as the ladies were concerned, and Nico and I had only just started slowing down on our extracurricular missions.

Now, though, I felt lonely. I was at the top, but it was lonely there. I had no one to share my success with.

What would that be like? I envisioned a wife, maybe a family a few years down the line. I wanted a pet dog too. It felt impossible to bring someone else into this lifestyle though. It felt reckless to even think about someday bringing children into this life. I had been born into it, and I had lost so much because of that.

Could I live with myself if I did that to a wife and child someday?

It was one of my driving motivators when it came to getting the whole business on the up and up. If I could get everything legal, finally squash this beef with the Bianchis, I could hope to have a life safe enough to find love in someday. It seemed like a pipe dream at this point. I felt like I was always having to watch my own back, worrying over myself and the people I cared for.

But I was going to change that, if that was the last thing I did.