Page 60 of Craving Danger

I have.

The memories of Mr. Vitale killing those men flash through my mind, and my anger takes a back seat to my fear.

This man is dangerous.

Tears threaten to overwhelm me as I say, “I saw you kill people and then left the scene of a crime. The police will think I’m an accomplice.”

“They won’t.”

He takes a step closer, but I quickly move away from him.

He sucks in a deep breath as if he’s trying to stay calm, then says, “I have the police commissioner in my pocket, which means I’m above the law, Miss Blakely.

Dear God. He can probably make me disappear, and my family will never know what happened to me.

More fear pours into my chest, and all I can do is shake my head.

He must see I’m terrified of him because he says, “I’ll never hurt you.”

He did protect me today.

Still, he’s a head of the Sicilian mafia.

Holy shit.

I keep getting slapped upside the head by everything that’s happened.

“Vitale Health is a legitimate company,” he says again.

Jesus, how do you hand your resignation to a mob boss?

For a moment, I’m at a loss for words and can only stare at the man.

I remember how easily he fought those men. How he killed them without blinking an eye.

He’s done this before, and he’ll do it again.

My voice is hoarse as I say, “I can’t work for you anymore.” I lift my hand to my clammy forehead and wipe over it. “I’ll leave New York.”

I’ll run like I did a year ago and make a fresh start somewhere else.

Mr. Vitale shakes his head and takes a step closer to me, which has me moving backward. “You’re not resigning, and you’re not going anywhere.”

I’m unsure whether the man is threatening me, but to err on the safe side, I decide not to argue with him, because I’d like to live to see another day.

I don’t know much about the mafia. Only that they’re ruthless, and people end up in bodybags when they try to cross them.

My mind starts to race again, and I’m bombarded with a million questions I want to ask him. The first one to escape my lips is, “The other men… they’re the other heads of the Cosa Nostra, right?”

Mr. Vitale nods. “Yes.”

“And the men I saw when we arrived here?”

“My army.”

Right. Of course, he’ll have an army.

Nodding, I wrap my arms tighter around myself. “I’d really like to go home now.”

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