Page 71 of The Prizes We Win
Luca claps me on the shoulder. “Let it rip, Amico. We’re bringing in the cleaning crew anyway.”
Making his way to the girls, Luca instructs them to head to Joe’s office. Sebastian and Luca follow them out, but Dante doesn’t move. “Staying or leaving, Big Guy?”
Dante cracks his knuckles, then his neck. “Staying. Always.”
46
Luca
Twenty minutes, and two scotch on the rocks for my traumatized receptionist, later, Dante and Enzo finally come strolling into Josephine’s trashed office. Sans Enzo’s shirt. And even though his entire torso is covered in black ink, I can still see the drops of amber sprayed across it.
Despite her terrified stupor, Clara manages to lean in and ask Josephine, “Jesus, do they all look like that with their shirt off?”
Josephine leans her head against Clara’s. “Few less tattoos, but yeah.”
“I knew you were one lucky girl, but my god. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in that apartment.”
The four of us huff a laugh as Enzo makes his way to Clara. Crouching in front of her he gently sets his hand on her thigh and asks, “You okay, Claire Bear?”
She smiles through tear-stained cheeks and places her hand on his. “I’m okay.”
With his other hand, Enzo cups her face. “Good. I’d hate for my one and only to up and leave me.”
Clara leans into his touch. “Gonna be a lot harder than that to get rid of me.” She looks over at me. “This place would crumble without me.”
I smile softly at her. “Don’t I know it.”
“I am gonna need another raise, though.”
This time I bark out a laugh. “Don’t I know it.”
She looks up at Dante. “Thanks for not missing, Big Daddy.”
He smiles down at her and shakes his head. “I’ll let it slide.” He holds up his finger. “This one time.” Then he looks over at me. “Clean-up crew on their way?”
“Should be here any minute,” I tell him. “Sent an email of the entire staff to take a paid personal day tomorrow too. Figured I’d take that off this one’s hands. Think she’s done enough for the day.”
Josephine rubs small circles on Clara’s back. “Yeah, I’d say so.”
“I’m assuming they need to go in my office?”
Enzo’s eyes grow wide and Dante nods. “I’d probably have them start there. It’s going to take a while.”
“Longer than what’s out there?” I nod toward the hallway. Enzo’s eyes go even wider as he side-eyes me. “Well, alright then.”
“What about the security guards?” Josephine asks regretfully.
Enzo sighs before standing back up to his full height. He, Dante, Sebastian, and I all share a look before Dante says, “The four of us will contact their families tomorrow.”
“We will pay for each of their funerals and ensure their families are taken care of for the rest of their lives,” Enzo adds. “It’s the least we can do.”
“I’ll get the money transferred to the families’ accounts first thing in the morning,” Clara states. All five of us shake our heads, but she raises her hands, effectively stopping our protests. “Let me. You can pay for me to take a vacation later.” I smile and shake my head at her antics. “But tomorrow, let me work. Let me help their families.”
“That’s our girl,” Josephine says before kissing Clara’s temple.
The elevator dings, and Josephine immediately tightens her hold on Clara, while Dante, Seb, Enzo, and I all draw our guns. Slowly, Dante moves toward the door and peeks his head out. Lowering his weapon, he looks at us and says, “It’s the cleaning crew.” He looks over at Enzo. “Wanna come help me cover up the bodies quick, so we can get Clara out of here without her having to see them again?” Enzo nods his head. “Maybe one of them will have an extra shirt for you while we’re at it.”
Enzo wiggles his chest at him. “Awe. You know you like staring at all of this. Don’t ya, Big Daddy?”
