The Prince of Chicago

Chapter 10

Isabelle

I followed Angelo into a corridor that mirrored the one upstairs, but was nestled on the first floor behind the staircase. This one had only two doors, one on either side of the hall. As we approached, Angelo swung to the right and paused outside of the closed doorway, turning to face me.

“This is where my office space is,” he said, looking down to meet my eyeline. “Our first order of business this morning is to get you acclimated with the space, then we can get you started on some tasks to ease you into things.” I nodded, and he turned again, opening the door.

We stepped into the room, which was an expansive and handsomely decorated office space. It had dark wood flooring, matching that of the rest of the apartment, but featured a modern, lofty rug with angular patterns that took up most of the space. A huge mahogany desk was perched on top, littered with papers stacked in various piles. In front of the desk were two beige, square armchairs, and behind it was a skinny table with stacks of books, little knick-knacky decorations, and what looked to be a couple award plaques. I silently wondered who was giving this man awards. It couldn’t be anyone who knew who he truly was.

I looked over to my left and realized the space expanded beyond just the desk. There was a coffee table over to the side with two chairs on either end and a chess board in the middle, set up like it was ready to play a game. The entire wall on that side of the room was lined with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and each one filled edge-to-edge with books.

Without thinking, I made my way over to read some of the titles. There were a lot of classic 20th century fiction authors on the shelf: Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Orwell, Vonnegut; but also a smattering of nonfiction books too: personal development, best business practices, and the like. I hadn’t pegged Angelo as the reading type, but after he had picked up the book I found upstairs the night prior, I had been left curious about his reading habits. There seemed to be more of him than met the eye, and despite the fact that he definitely terrified me, I also felt this urge to dig a little bit, to discover more surprising things about him. I pushed it down.

Just then, I heard Angelo clear his throat from across the room. I turned around, realizing I had most likely been engulfed in the books for more than a few moments.

“You’ve got a lot of great selections,” I said, gazing back at him from where I was.

“Reading is something I do when I can’t sleep,” he responded.

“Mind if I borrow one or two of these? Reading is also something I do when I can’t sleep,” I turned back to the shelves, skimming the bindings with my fingers for one I hadn’t read.

“Sure, no problem,” he responded. “But let’s play library after work.” I turned back around, expecting a steely gaze, or something cold, but I was met with something I had rarely seen so far: warmth. Was this Angelo warming up to me? That would be the day.

“Yeah, no problem,” I responded back, trying to keep it light so that the mood wouldn’t shift back to his usual unpleasantness.

“So this is my office,” he said, gesturing his hands around the room. “Nothing too exciting here, but it’s where I conduct the bulk of my business. If you follow me through here, I’ll show you where you’ll be working.” He passed me and approached a door I hadn’t noticed on the same wall as the entry to the office, but back toward the wall of bookshelves where I had been standing. When he opened it, we both stepped into what appeared to be a small filing room.

“This is where I keep all the records of all my businesses. The ones you’ll be helping me with, a handful of bars, restaurants, and clubs, have their records stored on this side,” he motioned to the left wall, the one opposite where the hallway was on the other side, which was lined with metal filing cabinets. “Each drawer is clearly marked, and each file is in alphabetical order, and I expect it to stay that way.” I giggled at that last part.

“Something funny?” Angelo shot at me, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, I just didn’t peg you as Type A,” I responded, stifling another laugh. The more I learned about this man the more interesting he became.

“It’s not Type A, it’s running a good business,” he replied, a bit defensive.

“Alright then, whatever works,” I said back playfully. Angelo scoffed and just looked at me, tossing his hands up onto his hips.

“Look, just leave them how you found them, ok?” he said.

“Understood,” I said, putting both my hands up in front of my chest and giving him a smirk. It was kind of fun to push his buttons, and it seemed to keep the mood lighter. Noted. “And those cabinets?” I tossed my head toward the other wall, which was also lined with the same filing cabinets.

“Don’t worry about those,” Angelo said, beginning to walk toward a closed door on the opposite end of the corridor of files.

“Why not?” I stayed put, curious about what he wasn’t telling me.

“Because,” he responded. “Come on.”

“That’s not an answer,” I shot back. Angelo let out a loud sigh.

“Geeze, Isabelle. They aren’t for you, just leave it.” I walked over to one to tug it open, and realized it was locked.

“Like I said, not for you,” he was annoyed now.

“Ugh, fine,” I said back, walking toward the door he had now opened. As I passed through, I caught a whiff of the cologne he was wearing. It was woodsy and a little bit dark, and oh so sexy. Focus, Isabelle! I paused in the doorway and looked up at him. “But I’m always going to wonder, you know,” I said playfully, referring to the files. I caught something dancing in his eye for a moment as I stood, my body inches from his. It was lust. I cracked a half smile at the sight of it and turned to walk the rest of the way through the door, leading me into a similar office space as the first one.

This one was smaller than the last and didn’t have the whole wall of bookshelves like the other one, but had a nice sized wooden desk and large area rug. I heard Angelo close the door and felt his presence approach behind me.

“This will be your office,” he said. I could tell he must be standing very close. I turned to face him, but my eyes were right at his chest, which was just a yard or so away. I looked up at him. “That door over there,” he said, motioning to a door on the wall behind him, “leads back out into the hall we came into. If you need me for any reason just head through there or the filing room. And please, knock before entering, ok?”

“Aye, aye, captain,” I said, bringing my hand up to my forehead and mimicking a salute. Angelo let out an amused sigh and smiled. It may have been the first genuine smile I’d seen from him since I arrived.

“Why don’t you go have a seat, and I’ll get you started on some introductory tasks?”

* * *

The rest of the day passed pretty quickly. Angelo had set me up with a few accounting spreadsheets to look over, some digital files to organize, and a handful of other easy things to get done. Rose came in around noon and had me come into the kitchen, but I ended up eating lunch by myself. When I asked her if Angelo was going to eat, she told me that most days he’d work while eating because he was so busy.

“I don’t think he’d eat at all if he didn’t have me keeping tabs on him,” she had said with a wink.

After lunch, I went back to the spreadsheets, and Rose popped in to inform me that I could be done working either when I finished the to-do list Angelo had given me, or at 5pm, whichever came first, and that dinner would be at 6 in the kitchen. By 4:45, I was wrapping up.

I powered down the computer and walked to the office door, poking my head out. I realized it was the first time I’d been left alone with an unlocked door. I looked down the hall and considered my options. What if, right here, right now, I just took off? No one was around, and not a sound was coming from anywhere else in the penthouse. What if I just walked out the door? Could it really be that simple?

I was startled out of my thoughts by the sound of Angelo’s office door opening. I quickly spun around to face him.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“Just looking for Rose,” I said back, heart racing but trying to mask my nerves. “I just finished up with those spreadsheets and was hoping I could get some of those items she was getting for me today.”

“Why don’t I walk you back up to your room, and I’ll have her bring them up?” Angelo said, suspicion in his eyes. He’d figured out what I was thinking. He took off down the hall, motioning for me to follow after. Damn it. Back to the locked room. I sighed, and followed behind him.