The Mafia Boss's Only Assistant

Chapter 3

I once tried to get as far away from Elio as I could.

After the whole Gold Street fiasco, the rival gang handed Elio an entire casino to beg for a truce.

He was in a fantastic mood, so I picked my words carefully and begged him to let me transfer to work on Gold Street.

He ruffled my hair gently and asked softly why I wanted that.

I said, "Paul, the boss of Gold Street, almost r***d me. I want to find a chance to break his hand!"

That was a total lie, of course. I just wanted to put as much distance between him and me as possible.

Elio burst out laughing along with the men standing around him when he heard that.

I thought I'd pulled it off, and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

But only two hours later, I was urgently summoned to his presidential suite.

Elio was twirling a leather whip in his hand, and he slid a red gift box right across the table to me.

"Open it."

A cold, sinking sense of dread coiled in my gut, and my hands shook as I lifted the lid...

Inside lay a collar studded all over with sparkling diamonds.

I was just about to heave a huge sigh of relief when he tossed me the velvet box casually, then turned to fasten the diamond collar around my neck.

His warm breath fanned over my neck, thick with the scent of cigar and some fancy perfume I couldn't name.

We were practically pressed up against each other.

But all I could feel was creeping danger.

I squeezed the velvet box so tight my knuckles went white, and I accidentally popped open its hidden compartment.

A severed hand stared right up at me.

I shrieked and threw the box halfway across the room.

My legs turned to jelly, and I started to collapse to the floor.

Elio hooked a finger under the collar around my neck, yanking me forward until I was splayed across his lap in the most humiliating position imaginable.

"You're this scared just seeing Paul's hand? Do you really want to work on Gold Street, Dorothy?"

He stroked my back, feeling every violent tremor that wracked my body.

He didn't even give me a chance to get a word in. His voice dropped to a dangerous low growl, "Or do you just want to leave me? Am I not good enough to you?"

I was frozen stiff with terror, my brain completely blank.

For once, he didn't press me for answers. He just drove me back to my place himself.

From that day on, the jobs he assigned me got more and more deadly.

I had to count the inventory for arms deals in the East End, and fight to seize drug turf in the West End.

I knew he was taking his anger out on me, but I was just an ordinary woman.

After I nearly got killed on yet another debt collection run, I couldn't take it anymore.

I asked Elio to meet me at this very hotel.

That night, I sobbed as I pressed a leather whip into his hand.

"From today on, I'm yours. You can use me, order me around, do whatever you want. I'll never mention leaving again."

A tiny flicker of warmth finally returned to his eyes.

He took the whip in his long, bony-knuckled hand and brought it down on me hard, no mercy at all.

The weirdest part was that while he was hitting me, he was pure Satan incarnate.

But the second he was done, he spoke as soft as a lover whispering in the ear.

"Anything you want, you can get it from me."

The next day, a whole pile of expensive jewelry showed up at my door.

It wasn't compensation.

Every single piece had a tiny tracking device hidden inside it.

Elio managed me exactly like he would one of his personal possessions.

So what would he do if he found out I was still planning to run?

My heart was practically in my throat.

When I stepped into that all-too-familiar suite, Elio was polishing his pistol.

Just one glance at him sent an involuntary shiver wracking through my body.

Acting on pure instinct, I rushed to explain, "Selena just came to see me."

He gestured for me to come over to him.

I padded over and curled myself against his leg like a docile cat.

Elio loved it when I acted like this. He said it was the perfect show of total loyalty.

He got right to the point. "What did you two talk about?"

I pressed my face into his palm before I dared to lie through my teeth. "She asked if you've been working too hard lately."

Elio hooked my chin up with his fingers, those piercing dark blue eyes boring into me like they could see every last secret I had buried deep inside.

I was drenched in cold sweat from sheer terror, but I forced my face to stay perfectly calm.

After a long, tense moment, he chuckled. "How could I ever be tired when you're here?"

I nodded silently.

Satisfied, he said, "Set up a week-long trip to Inston for me. I have negotiations to handle there."

My heart slammed wildly against my ribs.

A whole week.

If Selena was as capable as she claimed she was...

Seven days was more than enough time for me to vanish without a trace.