Page 6 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

"There's something about him," he says casually. "I don't know. I feel like I might have met him somewhere before..."

Something about that statement sends a shiver down my spine. I don't like the idea of my father having seen that man before. Though I make it my business to keep my nose out of his, I get the impression that what he does isn't always the... fairest way of going about things. The less I know about it, the better, as far as I'm concerned, but if he knows this Johnny guy from one of his illegal enterprises, I don't know how to feel about it.

"Maybe you're just getting him mixed up with someone," I suggest.

My father nods. "Yes, I suppose it could just be that."

He's pulled away by another guest before I can say another word to him, and my eyes linger on Johnny as my father's wordsrush through my head. Does he know him from somewhere? And if he does, what does that mean? There is something about Johnny that's throwing me off, and I'm just not sure I know what it is yet.

But then, he lifts his gaze to meet mine. I feel a jolt rush through my body as he looks at me, and I quickly snatch my gaze away, my cheeks getting warmer.

I need another glass of champagne. Several, actually, if I'm going to get through tonight.

Chapter Three—Giovanni

As I make my way to the elevator, I'm sure the office is empty. That is, until I hear a sudden soft sigh from behind the row of filing cabinets next to the exit.

I peer over the top of them, and sure enough, there is Elena. Her head is in one hand, and in the other, she's fiddling with a stylus over a tablet. She looks worried.

"What are you doing here so late?"

My words nearly make her jump out of her skin. Her head whips around, and she plants a hand on her chest in relief when she sees it's just me.

"Oh, Johnny, you scared me."

"Sorry," I say, coming around the filing cabinets, pulling off my messenger bag as I go. "You working on something?"

"Yeah," she replies with another sigh, gesturing to the tablet in front of her. "I was supposed to have all of these finished for the end of the day, but I completely forgot until Kyra reminded me."

"What are they?" I ask, leaning in a little closer so I can look at them properly.

"They're meant to be the introductory flyers given out to everyone at the start of this meeting she has tomorrow," she explains. "She's running a new campaign past all the heads of office. But I need to try and figure out what they all do and don't know so I don't stuff this thing with more information than I need to."

"That sounds like a hell of a job to be doing by yourself at this time of night."

She shrugs, shaking her head. "It's my fault. I'm the one who made the mistake. I'm the one who should fix it."

"You want me to help you?"

"I can do it myself," she mutters.

"Hey."

She lifts her head to look at me, chin in her hand. "What?"

"I know you can do it yourself. But I want to help. Okay?"

That seems to be enough to convince her. With a shrug, she pushes the tablet over to me.

"It would be a big help if you could get the design of this thing down," she says. "I'm going to go through the inter-office emails and see what I need to include."

She heads off to grab her laptop and then returns to the desk, where I've already started work on the flyer design. The two of us work in companionable silence for a while, and I steal a few glances at her. She's chewing her bottom lip as she works, and I can't help but notice how full and soft it looks.

"Ugh," she groans as she leans back from the desk. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea where to even start."

"To start with what?"

"Putting all of this together." She sighs, waving her hand at the screen. "I'm not good at this stuff. Studying is one thing, but applying what I learned is another."

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