Page 31 of Mistletoe in the Mafia

CHAPTER 8

Madelyn

Iwake up the morning after Dominic’s appearance at my workplace armed with a plan. Since it’s pretty clear I can’t get rid of him, the obvious thing to do is ignore him until he grows bored and leaves on his own.

The only problem is that he doesn’t strike me as the sort of man to give up easily. But I can do this. Kill him with kindness.

It’s what my mom used to say.

Sometimes the best weapon a person can wield is kindness, Maddie. Kill them with kindness.

Granted, in the real world, you can’t actually kill people with kindness. But for a seven-year-old girl who was prone to punching boys in the face, it was pretty solid advice. From today onwards, if I have no choice but to speak to Dominic, I’ll be perfectly amiable.

I’m good at that, pretending away my feelings. I don’t feel angry or embarrassed. I feel nothing when it comes to him. I repeat the words like a mantra over and over in my head. I repeat it as I step into my office at work.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t show up to the morning debrief. Joshua carries on the meeting without pointing out his obvious absence, which is odd. I know he’s already here; I caught sight ofhim in his office when I was coming in. Dominic’s just choosing not to show. If it was anyone else absent, Joshua would make a disappointed face and call them out for it in his office. But with Dominic, he’s obviously letting him do as he wishes.

That does not go over well with Kenny.

“You catching the favoritism going on?” he asks after the meeting when we head over to grab donuts. “Hale doesn’t show up for the mandatory debrief and Joshua doesn’t even bring it up?”

I shrug. “Maybe he’s busy?”

Kenny shakes his head. “No, it’s not that. I heard the only reason Hale got the job is because those two are friends. Joshua pulled some strings.”

My eyebrows rise. “Are you serious?”

I’m finding it hard to believe because, number one, I seriously thought Joshua was better than that. And number two, I never would have pegged Dominic as a guy capable of having friends.

“Yeah, he absolutely did. The entire thing has a bad smell. The guy suddenly shows up as an intelligence analyst when we already have an extremely qualified and capable one?—”

“Thanks, Kenny,” I say with a warm smile.

He smiles back and then continues. “I took a peek at his file, and Hale’s got no work experience prior to this job. The guy drives an Audi. He’s obviously loaded, so what the fuck is he even doing here?”

I take all that in silently for a couple of seconds. “What else did you see in his file?” I question curiously.

“Not much more, to be honest. He’s thirty-one years old, graduated from Harvard, studied computer science. It’s all clean information to justify his being here, but I’m still suspicious as fuck. He gives me a bad vibe.”

Damn. I’ve never seen him react this strongly to anyone, ever.

“I’m sure he’s not that bad,” I say, waving off his concerns. I can’t believe I’m defending Dominic right now.

“Why? You know him?” Kenny counters with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” I say on a laugh. “Of course not.”

“Really? Because you two looked pretty cozy yesterday when I found him in your office. And then you agreed to go out for lunch with us when you never do. It seemed like you couldn’t get out of your office fast enough. Why is that?”

Jeez, I feel like I’m being interrogated.

I smile, looking up at him. “There’s nothing going on, Kenny. I promise. Yesterday, Dominic was just asking me something about work. He and I are strangers.”

He’s a stranger who knows what it’s like to be inside of me, but a stranger nonetheless.

Kenny still looks a little suspicious, but he shrugs and his expression clears. “Alright. Just be careful around him, Maddie. Okay?”

“You got it,” I assure him. “I’m going to head over to my office. See you later.”

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