My Mafia Madness

Chapter 5 - Running Late

Feeling a little dozier than she normally had, Alexa slowly blinked her eyes open to reveal the new morning’s rays beaming brightly into her living room through the thick curtains.

She squinted her eyes in confusion as her head turned slowly from one side to the other and she took in her new surroundings.

She was… on her couch… back in her condo?

But how was that possible?

In an effort to try and regain any memories she possibly could, Alexa pulled herself up to sit as she held her head and looked around for any signs of movement.

The last thing she remembered was being grabbed by those muggers in the street.

She recalled her mysterious rescuers arriving and shooting her three attackers without any kind of mercy or concern.

Her skin crawled as she replayed the vision over in her head; watching as the bullets pierced through her attacker’s heads as if they were nothing but butter.

Her stomach began to turn in unease.

And then the pain surfaced, sending sharp discomfort across her left cheek as she hissed and moved her hand to touch her bruised face gently.

She recalled being hit.

She wondered if it had bruised quite badly.

She couldn’t afford to have a bruise, not today…

Then the realisation suddenly hit as her eyes finally darted across to the large black and white clock hanging on the wall.

They widened with horror as she read the time it displayed.

“f**k, I’m late!” she cursed loudly.

Jumping off the couch and sprinting towards her ensuite, she continued cursing along the way.

“Not today! s**t, s**t, s**t!”

Rushing to get herself ready in time, Alexa had finished putting on her makeup and managed to hide the majority of her welted bruise from sight with a mixture of concealer and foundation.

Once she was satisfied with her look, she worked to style her long blonde hair into a lose twist at the back of her head and clipped it in place.

She had chosen a simple white buttoned blouse and slim-fitting black pencil skirt to wear, along with her usual stockings and heels.

After gathering up her belongings, Alexa quickly exited her condo, locked it and made her way down to meet the Uber driver she had organised the day prior.

She could only hope that traffic wasn’t going to be an issue.

-

Meanwhile Romano Enterprises was bustling with excitement on both the inside and the outside. Cameras flashed around the entire thirty story building.

Word of Dante Romano’s visit had apparently leaked and the press had the front doors surrounded, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the famous billionaire CEO.

Standing at the window of his massive office, Gary Harworth had his teeth clenched together and his hands on his hips as he watched the vultures surrounding their building through his steel blue narrowed eyes.

This was a serious problem!

“Mr. Harworth, we’ve just got word that Mr. Romano should be arriving shortly.” came the voice of Stella Michaels, secretary to the thirtieth floor of Romano Enterprises as she strolled in.

She met him by the window.

“Is everything alright sir?”

“How the hell did the press get wind of Dante’s visit?” Gary snapped, still not turning to face her as he glared out at the tiny people below.

“I thought this was meant to be kept discreet. No one was to leak word of his visit to the press, isn’t that what I said?”

“That is what you said, Mr. Harworth.” Stella agreed, pursing her lips together.

“And where the f**k’s Alexa? Have you heard anything from her yet?” he spun around now with both hands on his hips.

“She’s over an hour late! I’m gonna have her f*****g job for this!”

“No sir, not a word from Alexa… But I’m sure she’s on her way in now.”

“f**k, this is not the morning for f**k ups!”

With that, the middle-aged man with silver hair marched out through his office doors with Stella following along closely behind him.

-

Dante had always known there was a possibility of a leak getting out to the press of his visit to Romano Enterprises this morning.

But seeing the street entrance packed with reporters and vans of all shapes and sizes, it instantly caused his blood to boil with rage.

“Looks pretty packed boss.” Luca reported from the driver’s seat as he steered the sleek black town car around the corner to approach the building’s entrance.

“You want me to circle around back or something?”

“No, just pull up out front.”

Dante’s tone showed his frustration at having to face the cameras first thing in the morning as he looked to Nicola sitting beside him.

“Stay close to me.”

Nicola nodded his head.

Taking yet another stress-relieving puff of his cigarette, he watched through his darkly tinted windows as the town car rolled up to the entrance of his family-owned company and came to a slow halt.

Show time.

As soon as it had, cameras were now aimed at his car and began flashing senselessly, over and over. People of all ages began to swoon in to get a good look at the famous billionaire.

Luckily Dante’s security team was always top notch and the dozen or so massive bodyguards managed to hold the crowd back as both Nicola and Luca exited the car first, then making their way around to open Dante’s door for him.

As soon as the door opened, reporters began barraging Dante with countless questions and statements, their microphones all held out for the young CEO as he stepped out and straightened his suit jacket with a dashing toothy smile put on for the crowd of guests.

He even managed a wave before beginning to make his way inside of the building, escorted by Nicola to his left-hand side and surrounded by his well-dressed bodyguards boxing him in.

-

By now Alexa had managed to make it to pick up her boss’ usual coffee order but was forced to walk the rest of the way in to work after finding it almost impossible to get dropped off anywhere near the front entrance.

The place was packed!

As she fought her way through the crowd of reporters, she could see why that was the case.

Apparently, Mr. Romano had already arrived.

Which meant she was in deep s**t!

Entering the incredibly large modern building, she darted across towards where the elevators were located, balancing the tray of hot coffees in her left hand as her three-inch heels clicked against the white marble floor beneath her feet.

Turning around the corner she noticed an elevator with its doors opened and began darting forward to make it in time.

There were several large men dressed in black suits standing around it, but she didn’t give them much notice, far too desperate to make it to the elevator before the doors closed.

“Wait, please hold the elevator!” she called out.

Two of the larger men stepped out in front of her, blocking off her path and glaring down at her as she forcibly came to a halt and reached down to grab her VIP all-access entry card attached to the lanyard around her neck.

Lifting it up for them to see she spoke.

“It’s alright, I work here, I’m a VIP. This gives me all-access throughout the building.” she announced confidently to the meaty-looking men blocking her way, their arms still crossed over their ripped chests.

“Please I need to get upstairs right away. It’s urgent! I’m expected.”

A deep, husky voice spoke from behind them.

“It’s alright boys… She looks harmless enough. You can let her through.”

Alexa watched as the two bodyguards parted to reveal a well-dressed man standing alone in the elevator, casually leaning up against the railing with his glistening emerald-green eyes locked on her.

His hair was short and dark, almost black in shade and styled in a trendy slick-back wave.

He was wearing a well-pressed silver Armani suit and a pair of hand-made white Louis Vuitton loafers on his feet that looked brand new.

And he smelled incredible; a mixture of something woodsy and sweet like musk Alexa thought.

Nicola squinted his eyes as he looked over one of the bodyguard’s shoulders to see the stunning blonde standing less than a metre away from him.

He thought that she looked incredibly familiar somehow, though he couldn’t quite place it.

As if he had seen this woman before, somewhere.

“Meet me upstairs in ten minutes.” Dante gave his order to Nicola who nodded respectfully in response.

Alexa stepped inside and made sure to stand off to the side as the elevator doors slid closed behind her sealing both her and the handsome stranger inside together.