Nine Lauren Gallo Present I was able to stay. I anticipated him firing me. I anticipated him following me. I did not anticipate wanting him again. How could anyone go through what I went through with him and still want him? I couldn’t explain it. When I arrive at work the next day, I am humming. I also have his coffee ready for him that I pick up at our old favorite spot. I am there before him. I sit on his desk, and I place the coffee cup on it while I sip mine and smile. After a few minutes, the door opens, revealing him. “Coffee, boss?” He looks from the cup on the desk to me. I can feel his eyes travel up and down my body. I flush. I know I’m flushed. I can feel it from head to toe and I absolutely hate it and love it at the same time. I feel like a teenage girl all over again. His eyes settle on mine. “You greet all of your bosses like that?” I shrug. “Only the ones I like.” He raises an eyebrow. “Did you like my cousin?” I snort, and take a sip of my coffee before I get
Daniela Berni “You need a job.” This comes from my best friend Audrina Bianchi, while we’re sitting at the bar. Audrina is tall, with jet black hair, and brown eyes. As a teenager, she worked as a model. Then, when she got tired of having to starve herself and always look good for the camera, she used her money to start up her own fashion boutique. Now, she ran hundreds of stores world-wide. We had originally met in private school, when she would come in every few months before flying away from another job. She’d always tried to get me to model but I’d never been bold enough. My mom worked as a maid for fancy, rich people. And something about that had messed with my psyche a little. I never believed that I was good enough for anyone or anything. “I know,” I told Audrina, taking a sip of the cosmopolitan I had. “You should go back and get your degree then come work for me,” Audrina offered, “I could use someone like you. You’re smart, Dan
TwoNiccolo Capaldi I hadn’t really planned on getting my dick sucked by one of my own waitresses. In fact, I usually tried to keep business and pleasure separate. I was smart that way. I didn’t need some lawsuit saying that I’d been an asshole to a girl. And there were plenty of my “business associates” that had them. Me? I kept my nose clean. I respected women. And, while I wasn’t really the commitment type, I made sure anyone who was with me always had fun. Tonight though----tonight was fucking miserable. Pop had been put in the hospital, and all we could do was wait for him to pass now. Giuseppe Capaldi had worked like a race horse all his life, going at things full speed ahead, never stopping down. Because of him, my brother and I were now the heads of a massive empire that included most, if not all of Boston. Pop had had a heart attack a few months ago. Since then, he had never fully recovered. Tonight, he had had another one and t
ThreeDaniela Berni I felt sick when we left the club. It wasn’t just from drinking either. “Audrina, please tell me that you didn’t know that was their club.” Audrina looked at me with wide eyes. “Of course, I didn’t! My assistant told me about the club. I hadn’t heard about it until a week ago. Why would I make it a habit to hang out around the Capaldi’s? I know the kind of people they are. I worked hard so I could get out of that life, remember? And I know the kinds of memories that they bring up for you. I wouldn’t be so cruel.” I nodded. “Okay. Okay. I know you’re right.” I was still a little bit shaky. I hadn’t planned on reconnecting with the Capaldi’s. I hadn’t even posted on social media about being back. Not that there was a reason for me to. I didn’t have very many friends. Most of the people I’d been friends with in Florida had been friends with my aunt, and all older folks, who were retired. They weren’t exactly spending a
FourNiccolo Capaldi When I got home, the first thing I did was I scrolled through Daniela’s Instagram. I had kept tabs on her over the years. Knowing who her family was, I had to. Pop had given Daniela’s mom, Augusta Berni, a job when no one else would because of them. As long as she’d worked for us, she had been safe from her past. Augusta had been a teenager when she met and fell in love with the son of our rivals, the Ramono’s. Augusta had worked as a nanny for the family. When their son got her pregnant, the Ramono family wanted her and her baby gone because it interfered with their plans to marry their son off to a mafia don’s daughter. My dad had done a business deal with the Ramono’s at the time had seen everything happened. Knowing Augusta would need someone to help keep her and her baby safe, he gave her a job as the maid in our house. That way he could always keep her safe and everyone would know that Augusta and her daughter Daniela were under Capa
FiveDaniela Berni I had twisted dreams all night. Even the plush bed Audrina had in her guest bedroom couldn’t make me escape them. Niccolo’s face kept dancing around in my mind. In it, I was a seventeen-year-old girl again. Living in the Capaldi mansion after my mom had just died in that horrible, awful shooting. It had happened during winter break. After the small funeral, all of my possessions had been taken to the Capaldi mansion. The rest of our stuff, Mr. Capaldi had had put in a storage unit for me, and he said I could have it when I turned twenty-five. My mom had a small savings, but that was also in a trust now too. Mr. Capaldi wanted me to be taken care of and granted, I would never be as rich as the Capaldi’s, but it would be something. Since I’d moved in with the Capaldi’s, I had mostly stayed to myself. I wasn’t in a hurry to get back to school and Mr. Capaldi had allowed me to stay at home for a little bit as long as I did all of my
SixNiccolo Capaldi Alessandro Romano knew his daughter was back in town. He also had no one stopping him from contacting her. Not his father, not her mother, not even Niccolo’s own father had that reach anymore. Not with him in the hospital, barely able to move, and the doctors certain that he wasn’t going to last long. “Luca!” he called out to his brother. The two of them lived in the same, large Beacon Hill mansion that had been in the family for as long as anyone could remember. He made his way from the office, to the hallway, looking for his brother. “Luca!” he called again. “Hey, hey, hey!” His brother came out of his room. “What’s wrong?” “Romano.” Luca’s face paled. “What about Romano?” “The old don is dead. Alessandro’s taking the throne. He just called me to invite us to the funeral and he wants us to bring Daniela.” Luca’s gaze narrowed. “Well, that’s not fucking happening. Her
SevenDaniela Berni “I’m sorry, we’re going where?” I stared at Audrina in shock when she got home. “Italy!” she smiled brightly at me. “I know it’s kind of last minute, but I don’t want to travel alone. And I’ve got to meet with some suppliers. Come on. You’re not employed right now, and you’ve never traveled. Just let me treat you to this trip, okay?” I blinked. “I really think that if I’m going to be living here, I should be looking for a job. I already put some applications out and if I’m not here for interviews, it’s going to take longer for it.” “Look, I’ll give you some tasks if you want, make you like my assistant.” I rolled my eyes. “Audrina, you already have an assistant.” “I’m the CEO. I can make up something for you. Just please, come with me. This is a really big deal and I don’t want to go alone. I need my best friend there! If this goes through, I’ll be able to go global. Well, even more than I alr