The next morning, Amelia Clark arrived at Costa Enterprises fifteen minutes early, determined to prove that yesterday’s disaster had been a fluke.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to disagree.

The moment she stepped out of the elevator on the fifty-second floor, her heel snagged on the edge of the welcome mat. She lurched forward, barely catching herself against a marble column.

Several employees gasped.

One woman actually crossed herself.

Amelia straightened her blazer and pretended nothing had happened.

“Good morning,” she muttered.

No one answered.

Everyone was staring.

Not at her.

At the silver keycard hanging around her neck.

The executive-access badge.

The one that granted unrestricted access to Dante Costa’s private floor.

The badge no secretary had ever kept for more than three days.

Whispers erupted immediately.

“She’s still here?”

“How?”

“Did the boss hit his head?”

Amelia ignored them and hurried toward her desk.

A massive arrangement of fresh white roses sat waiting.

Attached was a small card.

Try not to destroy anything today.

—D.C.

Her cheeks turned pink.

Before she could decide whether the note was insulting or charming, Vincent Morelli appeared.

The underboss looked as intimidating as ever.

“Boss wants you.”

Amelia swallowed.

“Already?”

Vincent nodded.

“He says you’ve had enough time to become a threat to society.”

Wonderful.

She followed him into Dante’s office.

The mafia boss stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Chicago.

Dark suit.

Perfect posture.

Dangerous enough to make grown men forget their names.

Without turning around, he spoke.

“You’re late.”

Amelia blinked.

“I arrived early.”

“Three seconds late to my office.”

She opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

“You timed me?”

Dante finally turned.

The faintest smirk touched his lips.

For a split second.

Then it vanished.

“Sit.”

She obeyed.

A thick stack of files landed in front of her.

“Review these.”

Amelia looked down.

Corporate acquisitions.

Shipping contracts.

Real-estate portfolios.

Enough paperwork to bury a small country.

“You want all of this done today?”

“By lunch.”

Her jaw dropped.

Dante simply stared.

Eventually she sighed.

“Fine.”

As she stood, Dante spoke again.

“Amelia.”

She paused.

“Yes?”

His gaze softened slightly.

Almost imperceptibly.

“Don’t work through lunch.”

She blinked.

Then nodded.

When she left, Vincent appeared from the hallway.

The underboss raised an eyebrow.

“You still breathing?”

“Barely.”

Vincent grunted.

“Congratulations.”

“What?”

“You’ve lasted longer than anyone else.”

---

By noon, Amelia had completed nearly half the workload.

Mostly because numbers made sense.

Unlike mob bosses.

While organizing shipping manifests, she noticed something strange.

Several container records didn’t match their invoices.

Millions of dollars worth of discrepancies.

She frowned.

Then started digging.

An hour later she discovered a pattern.

Someone was moving money through fake shipping routes.

Not enough to attract attention.

But enough to steal nearly two million dollars over six months.

Amelia immediately printed the evidence.

Then marched straight into Dante’s office.

Without knocking.

A mistake.

Because Dante wasn’t alone.

Three heavily armed capos sat across from his desk.

The room fell silent.

Everyone stared.

Amelia froze.

“Oh.”

One capo looked horrified.

The other looked amused.

The third slowly reached for aspirin.

Dante leaned back.

“What is it?”

Amelia held up the papers.

“I found theft.”

Instantly the room changed.

The amusement disappeared.

Dante extended his hand.

She crossed the room and handed him the documents.

His eyes moved rapidly across the pages.

The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

“Who found this?”

“I did.”

One capo laughed.

“A secretary?”

Dante slowly looked up.

The laughter stopped immediately.

The capo suddenly found the carpet fascinating.

Dante returned his attention to Amelia.

“How much?”

“About two million.”

The room exploded with curses.

One of the capos nearly fell out of his chair.

Another looked ready to kill someone.

Dante remained perfectly calm.

Which was somehow far more terrifying.

Finally he stood.

Everyone else immediately rose as well.

Including the capos.

Including Vincent.

Including Amelia after realizing she was the only person still sitting.

Dante gathered the documents.

Then looked directly at her.

“Come with me.”

“Where?”

“To find out who stole from me.”

Amelia’s stomach dropped.

“Oh no.”

Dante’s eyes gleamed.

“Oh yes.”

And for the first time since becoming his secretary, Amelia realized she wasn’t just working for the most dangerous man in Chicago.

She was becoming part of his world.

And that world was about to get very, very dangerous.

To be continued…