Page 23 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

Well, if they deserved it …

I sucked in a breath at my own thought and shook it away, deciding on a quick shower before going to work. I had already missed half the day so far. One more day like this, and I’d be fired for good. I couldn’t miss any more time.

After I found some clothes to wear in the closet—which had been made for someone with a petite frame and not someone like me with boobs, an ass, and curvy thighs—I hurried out of the apartment to find Marco standing outside my door, leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone.

My eyes widened slightly as I rushed past him. He shoved the phone into his pocket and followed me to the elevator.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I clicked the elevator button and waited impatiently, tapping my foot on the ground. “What are you doing, following me?” I asked through clenched teeth, feeling warmth pool between my legs at the thought of how he had touched me so ruthlessly earlier, picking me up like I weighed nothing, spreading my legs for all to see, and sticking his huge cock into my ass.

Heat crawled up my neck, and he stepped into the elevator with me.

“You’re part of the Ricci family. You don’t leave my sight,” he said, crossing his big arms over his chest.

Great. So, now, I have a damn bodyguard.

After waiting for the elevator to take me to the bottom floor, I started my walk toward work. It was a swift ten-minute walk in the city on a sunlit late afternoon—so much shorter than when I’d lived in the other apartment. And Marco followed me the entire time, standing a few feet away, but never losing me among all the people crowding the streets.

The doors were locked when I reached the contracting firm where I worked. I stupidly knocked twice on the front door and impatiently waited for my boss, Roger, to open the door. He peeked his head out and looked at Marco behind me.

“Didn’t you get my call?” he asked me, thick gray brow furrowed.

“No,” I said. My phone was still in the SUV that Ben had stolen.

Roger stepped out of the building and closed the door behind him. “You’re fired, Roxie.”

I shook my head, unable to register what he had said. “What the fuck do you mean?”

He swallowed hard and scratched the back of his neck, glancing back at Marco. “You’re fired.” He stepped closer to me, sweating. This man was sweating. “Don’t show up here ever again, or so help me, they’ll kill me.”

“You can’t just fire me,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve worked for the past two weeks, and I haven’t been paid. I have clients and people to—”

Roger pulled out a wad of cash and thrust it into my hand. “Take all of it and don’t contact me again. Your clients will go to another coworker.” He reopened the door and shrugged. “Sorry.”

My hands clenched into fists as he closed and locked the door behind him. I stomped through the streets, pushing past Marco and right into Cristian Ricci’s fucking club. Though it was nearly five p.m., the bar was already starting to fill up with people after work.

I hurried past everyone to the back room, where Cristian’s office was, and walked right into the room without an invitation. Cristian sat at the table with the same two people from the other day—the woman and man who were in Cristian’s office.

This time, I didn’t care who they were to Cristian.

“You fucking got me fired,” I sneered through my teeth. “How the hell am I supposed to pay Ben’s fucking debt when you got me fired from the job I had worked relentlessly at for the past three fucking years, Cristian?!”

The woman cleared her throat, stood up, and grabbed her man. “Excuse us. This seems like a private matter.” Then, she said to me, “Enjoy your time with Cristian.”

I slammed the door closed behind her and locked it on him this time.

Cristian tilted his head, still sitting in his chair, and tapped his pen against his cheek. “Did you finish the job I gave you in the manila folder? Bullet straight through the head?”

“Fuck that job. I already told you I wasn’t going to kill anyone for your stupid fucking family,” I said, slamming my hands on his desk and curling my fingers into the papers there, crumpling them in my hands.

He grasped my wrist and yanked me forward, making me collapse onto the desk with my chest flat against it. “I told you that you work for me now, not a contracting firm. You kill who I tell you to kill. You take what I tell you to take. You do whatever the fuck I want you to do, principessa.”

Kill? I couldn’t kill someone. I couldn’t steal or hurt or sell cocaine to drug dealers, but I could flirt. And if I had to flirt with Cristian to get out of this entire mess, then I would. It helped that the devil was handsome.

Flirt, Roxie. All you have to do is flirt.

I blew a breath out of my nose, turned around, and grabbed his tie, curling my finger around it. “Let me repay the debt some other way,” I whispered to him, letting my finger trail up his throat to his chin. I pushed my breasts together and bit my lip softly. “I know you’d much rather have me in your bed than out on the streets.”

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