Page 2 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

"That's crazy," Valentina protests. "You can't just… I can't let you just—"

"You're not letting me do anything. I'm choosing this. I have everything in place. And it's going to happen."

She falls silent, knowing better than to argue with me. Growing up, even with our fiery relationship, there came a point for both of us when we knew the battle was already lost. And she can tell that there's no way she's getting through to me, not now.

"That's twisted, man," Marcus says. But there's a note of amusement in his voice. He can see how satisfying this would be, how good it would feel to take them down from the inside out, to turn them against each other so they can never trust one another again.

I'm going to snuff out that relationship between father and daughter like it never even mattered in the first place.

"I know," I reply, almost proud. "I got myself a position at the company. I'm going to be working as an assistant to the head of marketing, just like she is. And we're going to be spending all day, every day together. We're going to get to know each other very well."

Valentina still doesn't look convinced.

"You sure it's going to be safe?" she asks again, reaching over the table and giving my hand a squeeze. I know what she's really saying: I can't lose you, too.

I squeeze her hand back, letting her know that nothing is going to happen to me.

"You know I can handle myself, Sis," I promise her, and she draws her hand back. I don't know if she trusts me or not, but I sure as hell trust myself.

I'm going to take down the Westbrook family, wipe them off the map for what they did to my parents. And when they've fallen, I'm going to build our empire on the ashes that remain.

Chapter One—Giovanni

I straighten my tie as the elevator slides smoothly up the building. It's my first day at Carter Enterprises—and the first day I'm going to be working alongside Elena.

I've done my research on this place, of course. I've been asking around during my college classes, learning as much as I can about how it functions. I was the first one to put my application in for the internship position this semester, and I knew it was going to be mine from minute one. I'd worked my ass off in the access courses and made sure I was top of the class. Well, I might have encouraged a few students to keep their heads down in the process, too.

I spent most of my evenings looking up every little detail that I could get my hands on. Jacob, who runs the place, uses the name "Carter" to hide the Westbrook connection—it's the name he gave his daughter, too, probably to protect her.

From men like me.

The thought draws a brief smile to my face. Yeah, they have no idea what they're up against here, but I sure as hell can't wait to show them.

The elevator slides open, and I step out into the bustling open-plan office that I'm going to call home for a while. I roll my shoulders back and paint a smile on my face. I might be the first in my family to ever take a job like this, but that doesn't mean I can't convince everyone I belong here.

I head toward the main boss's office. Kyra Langdon, the head of the advertising department for this so-called tech firm, iswaiting to meet me. I know I have to make a good impression on her. I have no clue how knowledgeable she is about what's going on in this place, and I don't want to risk letting her see through me this early into my stay here.

I'm about to lift my hand and knock on the door when it opens—and there, standing on the other side, is Elena.

"Oh, hello!" she greets me. "You must be...?"

"Johnny," I reply calmly, extending my hand to hers and taking it. She smiles as she shakes my hand, completely oblivious. "I'm the new intern from the university."

I know all about her, of course. She's the main reason I'm here. In all the work and research I've put into finding a weak spot in this family, she's the one who stood out. The youngest daughter, just 23, and she's just taken on an internship here under her father—not as though he couldn't have just opened the doors for her and let her in, but clearly, he wants her to work for it. With her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she has the look of some naive fairytale princess.

And I know for a fact that she isn't exactly big into the dating scene. She's never been spotted out with anyone. I assume that her father is holding her back, making sure she saves herself for a man he can marry her off to. That's usually the fate of women like her—not Valentina, who would have dug her heels in if I'd even tried to mention it to her, but for someone like Elena, this is probably natural. This is the life she's always lived. She's never known anything different.

"Great to meet you," she tells me. "Kyra is just getting out of a meeting, you want to come in and I can introduce you...?"

I nod, and she leads the way inside the large, airy office that Kyra works in. She's an older woman, close to 50, her hair streaked with some gray. Her smile seems warm when she holds her hand out to me.

"Glad to have another assistant around here to keep things ticking," she tells me briskly as she sinks back down into her seat. "Much as Elena tries her best, there's so much going on—"

"I really do try," Elena echoes, sounding a little hurt. My ears tune in to it at once.

So, she's worried about people who might think she's not good at her job? It wouldn't surprise me, given that she's only here because of her father, but it's good to know what I can and can't use against her if I need to.

"I know you do," Kyra replies, an edge of impatience to her voice. Perhaps she's less than happy about having to work with her boss's daughter. Perhaps that's why she brought in someone else to help, a ringer to make sure the work actually gets done.

---