Framed by the Mafia

Chapter 5 : Monday Night

What exactly was he sorry for? Sorry for having to take the phone call, or sorry for the almost kiss? I hoped it was the former. I really felt like it was. He seemed genuinely disappointed to have to disrupt the moment.

I couldn't stop thinking about what his lips would've felt like on mine for the entire ride home. As I bumped and jostled against the other commuters on the train, I wondered what it would've been like for him to have wrapped his arms around me.

I had it bad. I knew as I walked to my apartment that I was really going to be in trouble. He was my boss. I was insane for entertaining these kinds of thoughts at all. Still, there was something so enchanting about him, and I couldn't get him out of my head.

I let the door slam shut behind me, dropping my purse to the floor and resting my back against it with a long sigh.

"Well, welcome back, Business Woman," Jamie greeted, sticking her head out from the kitchen.

"My boss almost kissed me today," I said bluntly without even thinking about it.

Jamie's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, s**t. Are you alright? Is it something you wanted to happen? Or should I call the cops?" she asked, coming out of the kitchen carrying a frying pan and a spatula.

I headed back to the kitchen so she could finish cooking whatever she was making herself for dinner. I didn't mean to interrupt her.

"No, I mean, yes. I wanted it. f**k, I wanted it," I admitted with another sigh. "Does that make me a bad person?" I pouted, unsure of how to feel.

Jamie laughed a little. "No, it doesn't make you a bad person. But it does make me desperate to know the details."

I leaned against the kitchen counter while Jamie returned to fry up some grilled cheese. I pulled out a large bowl and dumped tomato soup into it, adding water and sticking it in the microwave. Everyone knew you should have tomato soup with grilled cheese.

"The thing is, he's been kind of hanging around my office a lot recently. I don't know if he used to do that with my predecessor or if he's giving me special attention. And then, tonight, he came in as I was getting ready to leave, and asked me to look at his suit. I teased him asking if he didn't have anyone else to ask about this, and he said, 'Maybe I was just looking for an excuse to talk to you'." I relayed the events, trying my best to imitate the husky way he'd spoken to me.

Jaime chuckled as she plated the grilled cheeses on the counter. I checked to see how long was left on the tomato soup.

"So, what stopped him?" she asked.

"Well, he leaned over me and we were like… almost touching. Then his f*cking phone rang," I grumbled, rolling my eyes dramatically.

"Oh, that sucks," Jamie agreed.

"Right? And now, I can't stop thinking about it. Like, he's my boss, but he's so f*cking hot," I complained. "Honestly, whenever we're in the same room, I feel… things. And it's getting really hard to ignore."

The microwave went off. I took the soup out and grabbed two bowls out of the kitchen cabinet. I pulled out a couple of spoons, using one to make sure the soup concentrate and the water mixed fully. Jamie carried the plates to the kitchen table, and I followed her with the rest.

We sat down and I immediately dug into my sandwich, dipping it in my soup. It felt like lunch had been a lifetime ago.

"Who is this guy? What does he look like? I'm looking him up," Jamie said, pulling out her cell phone.

"His name is Alessandro Russo," I told her. I could barely pause from eating the grilled cheese. Jamie was a substantially better cook than me. I wished I could cook something this delicious. I mean, for a simple grilled cheese, it tasted gourmet.

Jamie tapped away on her phone, letting her food cool as she looked. I probably should've done the same, as evidenced by the way I had scalded my tongue and the roof of my mouth.

"Holy s**t. Alessandro Russo takes over business after the murder of his father," she read aloud, her mouth gaping as she finished reading the headline of whatever news article she had on her screen.

"I'm sorry, what?" I demanded, almost choking with my sandwich. That was reason enough to put it down for a moment.

"I'm scanning the article now. It says his father was murdered, but police were struggling to find a suspect. He inherited the company in his father's absence. Holy s**t, is this him? He is hot as f**k," Jamie said, showing me a picture of Alessandro on her phone.

"That's him," I said, nodding to her.

"I can see why you're into him." She laughed before returning to scroll down through the article.

"Yeah, people call him 'the Roman God' in the office," I told her with a shrug.

"I can see why. Did you know he was thirty eight?" Jamie asked with a smirk.

Oh. I'd suspected he was older than me, but not fourteen years older.

"Well, I can't say I knew that," I confessed.

"The man has aged like fine wine though." Jamie chuckled. "Well, are you gonna kiss him tomorrow?" she added, eyeing me carefully.

"I don't think I can just walk in and pick up where we left off. The moment has passed," I explained, putting my attention back to my now cold food.

"Straight people are boring. Amelia and I don't have time for playing games. I just told her I was into her and asked if she wanted to date and she said yes. It was that simple," Jamie shrugged, putting her phone aside.

"I wish it was that simple," I muttered.

Did she honestly expect me to simply get to work tomorrow and kiss Alessandro out of the blue? That was never going to happen. I wasn't that straightforward when it came to my romantic life. In fact, I had no idea how I had encouraged Alessandro in his attempts inside my office. I had never done anything like that before.

We finished dinner in relative quiet. I asked about her girlfriend and how her work was going. Jamie's office was only a few blocks away from our apartment, and she worked strange hours. I still wasn't totally positive what she did for a living, but wasn't that how it was supposed to be with best friends? I didn't know if she even knew what my job title was either, but that didn't really matter to the two of us.

After dinner, I did the dishes. As I stood by the sink, I was still stuck deep in my own thoughts, contemplating what in the world had happened today. I played the moment over and over again, the way his closeness had given me goosebumps, the intoxicating scent of his cologne. I kept thinking about the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed, leaning down closer to me.

I dropped a dish in the sink, splashing myself and drawing myself out of my reverie. It was for the better. I shouldn't be entertaining these thoughts. We'd been interrupted for a reason. There was no way I would ever get an opportunity to know what his kiss felt like, and maybe it was the way it should be.

Still, I couldn't stop thinking about him as I showered and got ready for bed. I imagined what it would be like to have him here instead of Jamie. That was stupid, and I was clearly losing my mind.

As I laid in bed, I couldn't help but do a little research myself. I'd researched the company before my job interviews, but I had never looked into Alessandro. I immediately found the article Jamie read about his father being murdered.

Jamie either hadn't read the entire article, or intentionally left some parts out. The bottom of the article held some speculation that made me wonder about who Alessandro really was.

'The Russo family continues to be at the center of rumors about other activities. Some have speculated the family might be a part of mafia activities within the city, and that this wasn't a murder, but an assassination. Police claim there is no proof to any of these allegations, but one has to wonder if perhaps there is some merit to these claims.'

I put my phone down.

The mafia.

I thought back to the way Alessandro snapped at me when I asked about some unusual numbers. My heart began to beat faster in my chest. Was I working for a criminal?

It made sense. It made sense that there were those 'usual ranges' for two of the departments. If they were laundering money, of course there would be some additional revenue.

Could I get in trouble for this? I could've plead innocence before, but now that I had these suspicions, I started to get uneasy. Had I almost kissed the head of a mafia family?

I had to be honest, that was a little exciting to consider. It was definitely more fun to consider than the fact that I could possibly be covering up money laundering.

The article hadn't said anything about what sort of business the Russo family was involved in apart from the actual, legal business I was currently employed by. I wished it had, but I was also relieved it hadn't. I didn't know if I could handle working for a drug dealer or something.

Should I say something to Alessandro about it? I could ask him and clear this whole thing up, that would be the easiest thing. The problem was, what if it was true? That might make things a little more difficult. Maybe he would kill me for even asking.

No, that was dumb.

There was no way the man would kill me. He had to know the article existed, and that it was one of the first things that came up when you googled his name. He had to suspect that people would read it. Still, the article was two years old, and maybe he assumed everyone had moved on or forgotten.

I couldn't decide what the right move was. I knew two things. That I loved my job and that I was hopelessly attracted to Alessandro. If I was being generous, I also knew a third thing, and that was that the article stated that the allegations had never been proven. Still, it gave me a bad feeling.

I just hoped I couldn't be held responsible for any of the shady business that went on.