“Touch Her Again and You’re Dead,” the Mafia Boss Warned After Seeing Her Superior Touch Her…

Leo looked at him for several seconds

Leo looked at him for several seconds.

Then he said, “You haven’t been regional manager for the last ninety seconds.”

Richard blinked.

“What?”

“I own Northside.”

“I know that.”

“Apparently you forgot.”

Leo stepped closer.

“You’re fired.”

Richard stared at him.

“You can’t—”

“I just did.”

“My lawyer—”

“Excellent. Mine enjoys exercise.”

I almost laughed.

Almost.

Richard pointed at me.

“This little bitch set me up.”

Leo’s expression changed.

Just slightly.

But I’d spent my life watching men for danger.

I saw it.

“Lower your hand.”

Richard did.

Leo turned toward me.

“Get your coat.”

“I can drive myself.”

“No.”

That annoyed me.

Good.

Anger felt better than fear.

“I said I can drive myself.”

“And your car has one broken window, two bald rear tires, and an inspection sticker that expired last month.”

I stared at him.

“How do you know that?”

“I own the parking lot too.”

Of course he did.

Outside, sleet hit my face hard enough to sting.

A black SUV waited by the curb.

Boston traffic hissed across wet pavement.

Somewhere three blocks away, a police siren wailed.

I stopped beside the SUV.

“I’m not getting into a mobster’s car because he fired my creepy boss.”

Leo looked at me.

“So you know.”

“Everybody knows.”

“Everybody suspects.”

“I work in logistics, Leo. I notice things.”

Something almost like amusement touched his face.

“Good.”

That should have worried me more than it did.

Inside the SUV, I kept my purse on my lap.

Ten minutes passed.

Then Leo said, “Oak Creek has been paid through December.”

My head snapped toward him.

“What?”

“Your sister’s account.”

“No.”

He didn’t move.

“You had three overdue invoices.”

“I said no.”

My voice rose.

“You don’t pay my bills.”

“I already did.”

“You don’t get to buy me.”

Leo’s eyes hardened.

“I didn’t.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Nothing.”

I laughed once.

Ugly.

Disbelieving.

“Men like you never want nothing.”

He leaned back.

“I watched you keep a branch alive while Richard drank bourbon at lunch. I watched you catch freight errors my auditors missed. I watched you stay in a job you hated because your sister needed medical insurance.”

His jaw tightened.

“I also watched you flinch every time that man came near your desk.”

I looked out the window.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Make me sound pathetic.”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic.”

The answer came instantly.

“You’re exhausted.”

That hit harder.

The SUV stopped outside my apartment building.

The porch light was dead again.

Somebody had left a Domino’s box beside the mailboxes.

My life looked embarrassingly small through tinted glass.

Leo handed me a folder.

Inside was an employment contract from Apex Global Freight.

Director of Logistics.

Triple my salary.

Comprehensive medical coverage.

I stared at the page.

“This is insane.”

“No.”

“You didn’t interview me.”

“I reviewed twelve months of your work.”

“You’re terrifying.”

“I’m aware.”

I closed the folder.

“If I take this, I work for you. I don’t belong to you.”

His eyes locked on mine.

“Good.”

I reached for the door.

Then Leo said something that kept me awake until sunrise.

“Clara.”

I looked back.

“Richard wasn’t only harassing you.”

My hand stopped on the handle.

Leo continued.

“He’s been stealing from Northside.”

“How much?”

“We don’t know.”

“Then why tell me?”

“Because the discrepancies began in accounts you were managing.”

Cold slid through me.

“He used my work?”

“Your credentials.”

I stared at him.

Leo’s voice stayed quiet.

“He wasn’t just planning to touch you tonight.”

He nodded toward the folder in my hands.