A Suite For The Mafia Boss

A man’s life

AURORA’S POV

His hand reached for the gun beside him and I felt my knees going weak.

“Boss, please.”

One of the men's voices cracked at the edge. “My daughter just turned two, My wife is pregnant and will be due in two weeks. Please boss.”

Damien held the gun loosely. His brow furrowed as he clocked on the gun in a painful slow movement, like he wanted every second to count.

I kept my breathing steady, my face flat. I didn't dare look away from him, I kept my eyes fixed on him because looking away meant giving him the satisfaction of seeing me tremble.

When I made up my mind to work here, I had mentally prepared myself that anything could happen and I shouldn't be surprised.

This was the same hotel where my Mom's lifeless body was rolled out.

He raised the gun to his shoulder, moving through the motion like he had done it a thousand times before.

The other man on his knees had stopped talking. He was just making sounds now, animal sounds, his whole body shaking so hard.

"My daughter—" the first man was still trying to speak, his voice still desperately pleading. "Please, I have a family. I have a wife. I have a—"

The shot came.

Louder than I expected. I felt a loud ringing in my head. No it came from my ear, drowning out everything else.

For a second there was nothing but that loudly ringing in my head, and then it died down completely, like the world had stopped moving.

I felt warm liquid hit my face, my cheek, my neck down to the collar of my white sleeve.

It slid down my skin and I tried not to move, not even a blink, even when every nerve in my body screamed at me to run and not look back.

What if I did and he points the gun at me? I couldn't risk that.

I bit on the inside of my cheek, my eyes still locked on him.

The man’s body slumped forward. The one that had been begging had a pregnant wife and a two years old daughter.

The room went completely still, no one daring to leave.

Damien leaned back against the couch, then touched his temple with his free hand with a bored expression, like this was just a daily routine he was tired of, like he hadn't just taken a man's life.

Just then, his eyes found mine.

Sky blue. Unreadable and studying every muscle in my face like he was looking and waiting for a reaction.

I could feel my hands getting clammy beside me, I forced my breaking to remain steady.

You can't break now, Aurora. You've held it together through worse situations.

For a long moment, Damien didn't say anything to me. His eye brow narrowed slightly, his eyes moving across my face before he finally looked away.

"Get him out of here and contact his family," he said to his guard beside him, his voice completely flat.

The guard nodded and moved toward the slumped figure. Two of the men who'd been standing silent against the wall came forward to help.

Moving the body like it wasn't a big deal, I felt a tight knot form at the pit of my stomach.

"You can go," Damien said, not sparing me a glance.

I turned and slowly walked out, making sure how I felt didn't reflect in my movement.

The hallway was completely empty by now. The staff knew better than to be anywhere near that floor when something like this was happening.

I made it to the bathroom when I finally got to my floor, holding myself till I got to the staff lounge.

I locked the door and bent over the toilet and threw up everything inside me.

My hands were trembling. Every muscle I had held in that suite came loose all at once, and my body rejected everything.

I threw up until there was nothing left and my stomach was completely empty and my throat was starting to burn and my eyes were watering so hard I could barely see.

When I finally stopped, I sat back against the cold tile floor and tried to catch my breath. My legs were completely weak and I felt my entire body didn't belong to me anymore.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Blood was still smeared across my face, drying on my neck and down my uniform.

My dark brown eyes were wide and shocked even though on the outside I had been acting completely unfazed the entire time.

I splashed cold water on my face and watched as blood swirled down the sink, red against white porcelain, then it turned pink before it completely vanished.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub and my mind started working. Putting pieces together I didn't want to put together.

This wasn't the first time any of this had happened.

Those men, people disappearing or quitting, my mother…

None of this was an accident. This was what the Corey Hotel actually was.

And Damien Corey was the one running it. And whatever business those men were conducting, it wasn't the normal kind.

It was the kind that ended with people dead and bodies removed before anyone could ask questions.

And I had just walked right into it. I had walked into the same building that had swallowed my mother ten years ago. I'd taken a job inside a place where people died and I had watched it happen before me.

My hands were still trembling. I could clean off the blood, change my uniform, walk back to work and pretend this was just another night at work.

But I couldn't unsee everything I had seen. I couldn't go back to thinking the hotel was just a hotel. I couldn't go back to thinking my mother's death was some accident, some case closed before it opened.

This was the real business happening beneath the surface of five-star service and room service trays.

And somewhere in this hotel, in these halls, in this building, was the answer to what happened to my mother.

I just had to survive long enough to find it and I will.