Page 24 of When She Unravels
He’s wary of me. I wonder why? What has De Rossi said to him about me? “It’s Friday. Do you think I passed the trial?”
“You’ve still got one shift left.”
“But you know De Rossi. Which way is he leaning?”
Ras looks behind me. “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
I turn around and see De Rossi enter the room. He slaps Ras on the shoulder as he passes him, which Ras takes as a signal to leave.
“Did Ras tell you what you need to do?” he ask once we’re alone in the room.
“Yes, he gave me all the instructions for cleaning your lair.”
“My lair?” De Rossi asks. He leans against the desk and gives me a smirk. “It’s more of a torture chamber, as far as you’re concerned. If you think I’m going to give you a break just because it’s Friday…”
His words pass by me as my brain latches on totorture chamber.Lazaro’s basement flashes in front of my eyes. The torn, bloodied flesh. The glint of the knife I’m holding in my hand. And the worst of it, his voice penetrating my ears with cruel commands to inflict unimaginable pain.“Take his hand, Vale. I want you to cut off his fingers for me.”
“Ale.”
De Rossi’s voice snaps me out of it. He’s standing very close to me now.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I take a step back. I can’t let my thoughts wonder like that, damn it. I need to get through the next few hours without giving De Rossi a reason not to hire me.
His expression is strange. If I didn’t know any better, I might think there’s a hint of concern reflected in his eyes. “Were you having some kind of a moment, or were you just ignoring me?”
“I was ignoring you.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “Why did you apologize?”
Why do you care?I want to scream. Instead, I say, “I can’t remember.”
He’s not impressed with my response. “Do you need to sit down?” he asks, surprising me.
“I’m fine.” I begin to rummage through the cart for a clean cloth. “Can I get started now?”
De Rossi flexes his jaw and nods, but he doesn’t leave like I hoped he would. He sits down at his desk and watches me as I climb up the step ladder and begin to dust his shelves. His gaze heats my skin, and a drop of sweat rolls down the valley of my spine.
“There must be something more important for you to do,” I exclaim when I can’t take it anymore.
“Nothing more important than quality control.”
“Don’t tell me you can see an errant speck of dust from all the way over there.”
“Do you want me to come closer?”
“No, thanks.” I climb down the ladder and move it over to the next bookshelf. This guy has thousands of books in here, mostly classics and non-fiction. Rows and rows of tomes on business, strategy, marketing…
“You really built your business by yourself?” De Rossi looks fairly young for a business mogul. No more than thirty. How does one become so successful in such a short amount of time?
He leans back in his chair. “I had an investor when I got started. I doubled his money in three years.”
“What was the company?”
“Concrete.”
I yawn. “Boring.”
Amusement flickers over his face. “Nightclubs are a lot more fun.”
