The Mafia Boss Is The Man Of My Dreams

Chapter 3

I was still muttering a string of colorful words even after the elevator dropped me off and I made my way into the chaotic cafeteria. What on earth was my brain doing when it momentarily thought someone as infuriatingly obnoxious as that man looked attractive? I really f****d up on that one.

I marched over to the corner table where I knew Jean was waiting and found him scrolling on his phone, as usual.

“Sorry I’m late,” I panted, pulling out a plastic chair and collapsing into it. “I met a rabid asshole on my way down here and we exchanged some very choice words.”

Jean didn’t even look up from his screen, a faint smirk playing on his lips. “You really can’t go a single day without some kind of corporate drama, can you, Aria?” he said, shaking his head as he pushed a sandwich and a juice box across the table toward me.

“Thanks,” I muttered, aggressively stabbing the straw into the drink wrapper. “But sincerely, it wasn’t my fault this time around. I mean it.”

I quickly recounted the entire aggravating interaction to him. The exact moment I finished, Jean actually lowered his phone and burst into a rare, loud laugh.

“Keep it down, will you?” I glared at him, leaning across the table. “I don’t want to answer questions from the entire floor about what exactly got the popular, unbothered Ice Prince of the office crackling this early.”

“Oh, I’m sure they would love a story this juicy,” he said, tempering his laughter but keeping that amused glint in his eyes. He leaned back, crossing his arms. “But seriously though... who tells a woman they just met that they don't mind getting on their knees for her? It’s completely unhinged, but I'll give him points for originality.”

I rolled my eyes and stood up as the lunch buzzer rang, and Jean followed suit.

“Is that seriously all you got from my traumatic narration, friend?” I asked dryly.

He laughed again, falling into stride beside me. “Frankly, all I see is a rich, arrogant weirdo who seems to have fallen for you at first sight. Maybe he’s your literal ticket out of celibacy and those exhausting s*x dreams.”

“It seems you weren’t listening at all, because I don’t think I missed the part where I explicitly stated that I hated his entire guts.”

“Hate turns to love, Aria, so don’t dismiss it just yet,” he teased, wiggling his brows as we reached the elevator bank. “Tell you what, I can ask around the legal and security departments to see what his name is, if you want.”

“Do that,” I smiled, my eyes narrowing. “I need to get a proper, formal apology out of him first.”

“He’s probably from some upper-management department you hardly ever interact with,” Jean said calmly as the elevator doors chimed. “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, try to consider not hating him, okay?”

Before I could fire back a retort, Jean suddenly changed the topic, his tone shifting. “Oh, by the way... did you hear the rumors that the new ownership is arriving early?”

I nodded grimly. “Sadly, my team gets the absolute pleasure of working personally with him during the takeover. I’ll probably see him later today.”

“Good luck with that,” Jean said with a supportive smile, waving goodbye as he walked off toward his department while I stepped into the elevator to head back up to my floor.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator doors, I found a cluster of people gathered right at the entrance of our department.

“Why are you all hovering out here?” I asked, tapping Agnes on the shoulder as she stood near the edge of the crowd.

“Oh! Miss Aria, I was just about to text you! The new CEO is already here,” she whispered, her voice practically vibrating with excitement.

“Like… right now?” I asked, my eyes widening.

Agnes nodded frantically.

Well, this was significantly earlier than expected. But hey—corporate eye candy is eye candy. Who was I to say no to a distraction after the morning I’d had?

I expertly slipped through the tight crowd, making my way toward the front of the line, where Mr. Frank’s broad back was completely blocking my line of sight.

Can he move his massive ego already? I breathed internally. And as if the universe heard my complaint, Frank stepped aside to hand over a set of corporate files.

The exact moment he moved, I froze entirely.

No—this was way worse than freezing. My entire internal system suffered a violent, catastrophic shutdown.

Because standing right there, adjusting the cuffs of his flawless suit jacket, was the man. The exact same arrogant elevator pervert I had just had a hostile standoff with downstairs.

The universe didn’t just have jokes; it was actively cruel. They had made him my new boss. Time to say a permanent goodbye to my steady paycheck.

The moment my brain registered the sheer corporate danger, I instinctively took a slow step backward. Maybe, just maybe, if I blended into the sea of pencil skirts and blazers, he wouldn’t notice me. But the moment I dared to glance up again, his sharp eyes locked directly onto mine.

A slow, oily smirk played on his lips.

I had been caught red-handed.

Instead of continuing his conversation with Frank, he took a deliberate step forward, cutting straight through the crowd until he was standing directly in front of me. The entire room went dead silent.

“I’m very glad to meet you again, love,” he murmured, his voice dropping into a low register that carried an unsettling weight. He leaned down, and I almost shivered in pure discomfort as his lips brushed entirely too close to my ear. “I was just about to ask around for you. We are definitely going to have a lot of fun together in this transition.”

Before I could even process the intrusive boundary violation, he pulled back, offering the rest of the stunned office a dazzling, fake smile as he turned and walked into his private suite like nothing had happened.

“Oh goodness,” I whispered, my heart hammering painfully against my ribs. I stumbled back through the whispering crowd until I was finally safe at my desk, gripping the edge of the wood for balance.

Agnes settled into her seat a second later, completely oblivious to the panic attack I was having. “He is absolutely gorgeous, isn’t he?” she chirped.

I forced a tight, highly nervous smile, my mind frantically trying to map out exactly how screwed I was.

“His name is Conan,” Agnes added, leaning over her partition. “I heard his family lived abroad for years before moving back here to take over the local markets.”

Conan. What a normal name for a completely unhinged person.

If he was this wealthy and powerful, what the hell was he doing playing weird, dominant mind games with a random employee? I let out a shaky breath. What was I supposed to do now? Go into his office and apologize for being rude downstairs because I didn’t know he held my career in his hands?

Yeah, definitely not happening. If anything, his behavior in front of the entire staff proved he was exactly the pervert I thought he was.

I fished out my phone beneath the desk and fired a frantic text to Jean:

News flash: the new CEO is the elevator pervert.

Just when I was about to toss my phone back into my purse, a shadow fell over my desk. I looked up, and my frown deepened as Mr. Frank glared down at me, his expression a mix of anger and sheer confusion.

“Do you need me for something, Mr. Frank?” I asked, keeping my voice level. “What did I do now?”

“The new CEO is asking for you,” Frank said, his brow furrowing deeply.

“What??”

“Don’t make me repeat it, Aria. Just get up and go see him,” he snapped, lowering his voice. “I have absolutely no idea how or why he already knows your name, but do not mess this up for our department.”

He turned and walked away with another deep frown.

I sat there frozen, my thoughts spiraling into absolute chaos, before I finally forced my trembling legs to stand up.

What could he possibly want with me? Was this going to be the shortest employment in Saturn Finance history?

I took a deep, shuddering breath as I came to a halt outside the frosted glass door of his office, my hand hovering over the cold metal handle.

Here goes nothing.

I gripped the handle, pushed the heavy door open, and stepped into the lion's den.