Uncovering The Boss

CHAPTER 10: WALKING HEADACHES

“Are you alright sir, Michael? Those cuts were never there last time I saw you, and I’m sure I saw you yesterday and the day before, so I know that those were never there. I mean, did you get into an accident or something? Did you have an encounter with street thugs without your bodyguards for some reason? I heard that there are thugs these days that try to terrorize the people that look like rich businessmen- ”

“That is enough, Alex. I've been having an annoying headache since this morning, and your panicking is doing nothing good for me. Also, to answer those questions, it’s none of the above.”

“But, sir, by the look of that thing covering your hand, it looks like the wound is deep enough to require a doctor to stitch it up. I didn’t receive any call from you last night to call a doctor, and I’m certain that none of your bodyguards informed me that you went to the hospital.”

“I had the family doctor stitch it up last night, and I also made sure that the wound is not deep enough to prevent me from going to work today. Therefore, if you’re done worrying like a deranged uncle, can you give me all of the details that I would need to find a new secretary? It has been more than a month since I last had a decent secretary.”

“Oh, umh, yes, sir. Here are the files of all the women who passed all the basic tasks to become your secretary, and I have already taken the liberty to inform them of all the possible problems that they will encounter while working for you.”

“Ottimo lavoro, Alex. Keep up the good work and keep your stuttering to a minimum when you can.”

“Grazie, sir. I’ll make sure that everything will be easier for you today, and I’ll also get the office nurse to check you later if your headache isn’t going away.”

“Are every woman on this list ready for the interview? I don’t want to waste time with women who would be disappointing at first glance. Remember that the first impression will always matter in an interview.”

Alex proceeded to leave, but I stopped him before he was able to leave the office. He gave me a confused look, but I decided to ignore it and threw a small black box to him, and he caught it with ease. 

“What’s this, sir? Do I have to deliver this to someone in the building? Or do you want me to keep this for now?”

“That is a gift from me, Alex. That is yours, and I expect you to use that whenever you want. However, that gift cost me a pretty penny, and I expect you to do better in speaking Italian. I can’t have a business based in Italy and have Italian employees and customers, and yet my personal assistant lacks fluency in the language.”

I saw his eyes widen and looked at the box in both gratitude and fear. I understood the fear more than I did the gratitude, so I just laughed and shooed him away. With a look of bewilderment, I saw him mindlessly leave my office.

I picked up my phone, and I dialed Bruno’s number on my private phone. The other line rang twice before a gruff voice answered on the other line. By the sound of the voice, I was sure that it wasn’t Bruno.

“Why, hello there, boss, I assume that you wanted to talk to your boy Bruno?”

I felt my entire body freeze and I looked at the phone number to make sure that I was dialing the correct number. I saw that I didn’t make any mistake, so the person speaking to me was not Bruno, but someone who has his phone.

“Hello? What’s wrong, boss? What’s with the sudden silence? I thought that you would have cursed me to the end of hell by now or something. Some mafia bosses tend to do that when an enemy is able to capture and hostage the head of his personal security, and his right hand man, the capo.”

“Who in hell do you think you are, you bastard? What did you do to Bruno and his men?! Why in the world do you think that speaking to me like you know me and insulting my men are a good idea?!”

The huckle from the other line made me understand that this guy that was speaking to me using Bruno’s phone was more than experienced in these kinds of talks. If he was a normal thug, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Bruno or any of his men, and he wouldn’t be there talking to me.

I felt my headache disappear as it was replaced with pure rage at the thought of one of my men, or possibly multiple men, would be in any form of danger. They were my bodyguards and they were assigned to protect me at the cost of their lives, but I would never intentionally allow them to get hurt if I had a better choice.

“Lister here, BOSS. I don’t care if you are the current King of the Italian mafia. I’m sure that you’re still a man that’s capable of being handicapped and killed if the men around you disappear one after the other. Now, be an angel like your name says and pray to God that you’ll get to keep your men, your life, and your company longer than a year.”

“I’m sorry, bastard, but as you've said, I am the King of the Italian mafia, and a king will never let a bastard like you live after what you’ve done. Now, make sure that whoever you are, you’ll be very careful of living your life.”

“Well then, we’ll see what an angel like you can do against the hell that a dragon like me can make.”

His laugh was eerie, but instead of being frightened by his threats, the anger inside of me increased, and I felt the urge to strangle whoever he was. I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down and thought of a way to know what he did to Bruno and Bruno’s men.

“I know that you’re thinking of your men right now, Mr. De Angelo. That is a nice quality for a boss to have. However, the King of the Italian mafia must not be afraid to lose any number of his men to get to the top and maintain his spot.”

“Whoever your boss is, I’m sure that he thinks that way, that’s why you’re bold enough to threaten me the way you do right now. I pity you that you work for a boss that doesn’t care whether you live or die, only whether or not you do your job right.”

“Nice try, De Angelo. If you think that you could sweet talk me into telling you where your men are, then you must be more of an i***t than your men.”

An explosion was heard from the other line, and I heard the man grunt and shout in pain as I heard multiple gunshots near the guy on  the other line. I was sure that there was shooting where he was, and if I had to take a wild guess, I was sure that the one who shot the first bullet was Stephanie. That woman was the best Capo that I have ever met, and I knew that she was an even better assassin when you put any weapon on her hand.

“Hello? I’m sure that you’re still there, boss. This is Capo Dela Mayor speaking. Bruno and two of his men are now inside the ambulance, and the four men who captured them unfortunately died due to crossfire. I would submit a full report as to what happened here today, and it would be sent to your office at the main family mansion.”

“Excellent, Steph. I never thought that you and your people would be able to find them so quickly. Bel lavoro di squadra to you and your team.”

“Grazie, Don. However, I would like to say four words that I hope you put in your brain right at this moment. These words are very important.”

“What words?” I asked curiously.

“I. TOLD. YOU. SO.” I heard men laughing on the other side of the line, and I could imagine the bold smile that probably crossed Stephanie’s lips after realizing I turned quiet.

“FINE. You can all go home now, and I’ll make sure that there will be a feast for all of you at the main house in the forest tonight.”

A loud cheer was heard on the other line before I cut the call, and I couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of being proven wrong by my best friend. I couldn’t believe that Stephanie’s little plan paid off. 

I expected a call like this would happen, but with all the problems that I was currently facing, it slipped my mind last night that Steph and the others were monitoring the shooters that kept chasing me for weeks. I knew that there would be a time when the plan to kill those bastards would happen. However, I completely forgot, and now I have my beautiful yet deadly Capo who would be pissed if I didn’t keep my end of the bargain and feed all of them tonight. The thought of the possible teasing from all of them was giving me another headache.

Steph knew that the people who were shooting me these past few months would aim for the head of the security, and so Bruno was the one who took on the role. She knew that no one would believe that a dark haired italian lady that was only five feet and five inches with soft features would be the head of security of the King of Italian mafia. 

Bruno was always against the idea of pretending to be the Capo, but he knew that it was important to keep one of the two brains of the operation hidden. Stephanie was born to be a Don like me, that’s why I treat her as an equal, and I gave the strict command to take care of her with their life the same way they do to me.

It was a good thing that the one who took Bruno and his men were not aware of the truth, or else, the plan wouldn’t have worked so flawlessly. I just decided to call the main house and wait for Steph to come back and report about the entire encounter.

“Excuse me sir, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but the ladies are still waiting for you at the meeting room for their interview with you.”

I forgot about the interview, and I nodded as a sign that I was going as soon as I was done fixing the things I needed for the interview.

“Oh, sir, I know that this wouldn’t be a good time to tell you this, but there is also a woman outside that said she wanted to be your secretary. Veronica is sitting outside of the meeting room for the secretary position, and I wanted to throw her out, but threatened to cause a scene. I decided that I should tell you before I order security to throw her out of the place.”

The mere thought of Veronica and the mage she left the last time I saw her made my headache worse. I saw Alex calling someone on his phone while I rubbed my beating temple, and instantly, Alex approached me quickly and handed me medicine for my headache.

“Thanks, Alex. I’ll drink this later when my headache gets worse. Now, I want you to call security and get Veronica out of this building fast. I don’t care what you need to do, but that woman is banned from getting near this company ever again. She’s a walking headache, and I’m not in the mood to witness her thrashing and flailing her hands as the guards drag her out. Get it done, and call me again when they finally get her out so I don’t have to see her.”

“Copy that sir. I’ll tell the guards to get the walking headache out of this building quickly.”