Bed Of Roses

Giovanni

The weight on my shoulders is slowly taking a toll on me. I can’t keep juggling the responsibility of being the Italian mob boss and trying to make sure my daughter is taken care of. To top that off, there's a million paperwork ready to be filed. After my wife passed, I just couldn’t hire a secretary. It would feel like I was replacing her bringing a woman in my home. Luca, my second-in-command, has been filling the position so far, but now he’s training his son, Lucien, and very busy with other things. It was time to fill the position.

I’ve been sitting here since this morning interviewing women to fill the secretary position. Most of them were dressed in skin-tight dresses with no knowledge of how to even turn on a computer. They were here for one reason only—to weasel their way into my bed, hoping to become the new queen. No way in hell was that happening. I swore off love when my wife was brutally gunned down and killed.

That was the day my heart froze.

No longer the man I used to be.

The man who was once a warm and loving husband and father became a heartless and cruel bastard.

My heart only had room for one person now.

My daughter, Caterina Lucchese.

I glanced up when Luca led in who I thought would be another harebrained woman. Should've kicked Luca's ass for putting the secretary position on damn Facebook. I told him I was fine to do it on my own, but he insisted. He may be my second-in-command and best friend, but sometimes he really did do stupid things. Putting that advertisement up on the internet was like putting a bull's eye on me. I ran my clubs legally, but also had an underground casino. I’ve got enemies ready to make a move from the shadows. My eyes landed on a pretty little blonde with the deepest blue eyes I'd ever seen. Her face reminded me of the way my Rachel used to look at me. Luca curved his lips, cocking his head to the side. Waiting for a reaction from me. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she raised her head. My heart began to beat erratically as she held the paper to her chest. I watched the rise and fall of her chest, she was nervous. Rose was a true beauty, just like Rachel.

Stop it Giovanni, just interview her and send her on the way.

I watched as her heels clicked across the floor, and she sat in the chair, nervously biting her lip. My eyes traveled up the curves of her creamy skin, taking in her beauty. Suddenly, I began to feel pounding in my chest. My breath hitched in the back of my throat as I tried to keep it under control. I cleared my throat as Rose took a seat from across me. “Let's get this over with. You know how to turn on a computer, send e-mails, familiar with a filing system?”

She gave me a curt nod and slid a typed document across to me. I tried to advert my eyes from glancing between those perfect globes, just begging me to touch them. Fuck, it suddenly felt so hot in here.

Why was it so damn hot in here?

I tugged at my collar in attempt to cool down. “Everything you need is in my resume.”

I skimmed through the work history and that's when I saw it. Nikolai Vasiliev, the Russian lad I had saved from the bastards who betrayed me. “You worked for Mr. Vasiliev? It says here he referred you.”