by Leah Wilde
“You can’t?” his mother asked sharply, getting to her feet and walking around Vince and the desk to pour herself a drink at the minibar against the wall. “Or won’t?”
“Either,” Vince said, shaking his head as his mother poured herself a thick shot of whiskey. “Listen, I know you’re going through a tough time right now, but really, this isn’t the way. I promise you that you will regret it if you start to interfere with the business.”
Mama Romano put the glass of whiskey back down on the minibar, smiling brightly at her son like a light had just been switched on inside her head. “Oh? Is that a threat, darling?”
Vince hadn’t meant it that way, but he couldn’t back down now or else he’d look weak. He tightened the muscles in his jaw and stared his mother down, refusing to blink or flinch or budge an inch. He had to show that he was resolute in this. He wasn’t firing Fiona. There was just no way he was going to let this happen under his leadership.
“I see,” his mother said, picking up her drink again and downing the rest of it in a single gulp, wincing a little at the bitter taste and wiping her mouth a moment later with the back of her perfectly manicured hand. “So, there is nothing further for you and me to discuss.” She turned on her heel and headed for the door, but Vince caught up with her in time, stopping her with a gentle yet firm hand on her shoulder.
“Wait, Ma, stop. Don’t do this. Don’t walk away from me. Not now. Not after losing Dad the way we did,” Vince said earnestly, feeling totally exposed and vulnerable in front of his mother’s sharp, pointed gaze.
“That’s just the thing, Vincent,” Mama Romano said. “If you can’t defend me now, after everything I’ve lost, how can I depend on you ever? What’s the point in even calling you my son?”
Her words stung him like a bullet to the chest, the pain spreading outward as her accusation echoed around inside his head. She was threatening to disown him, all because of Fiona, who he barely even knew. The smart thing here would be to nod at his mother, tell her that she was right, and carry out her will, if only to make sure that there wasn’t unnecessary strife in the business so soon after his father’s death.
But he couldn’t force himself to move into action, nor even to say a word to his mom. Instead, he just stared at her sadly, while in the back of his mind he thought about Fiona, about how much this job meant to her. He couldn’t take it away from her, especially not after he realized how perfect she was for him. Even if it meant losing his mother forever…he couldn’t act against the will of his own heart.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, rubbing his mother’s shoulder gently. “I can’t do that, Ma.”
“Well, then, I suppose our meeting for today is concluded,” Vince’s mother said in a stilted, stiff tone of voice, a forced polite smile appearing on her face as she unlocked the door in front of her. “So long, Vincent. I expect to see you at the funeral.”
Before Vince could come up with anything else to say or do to stop his mother from leaving on such bad terms, she pushed the door open and strode out imperiously into the compound, ignoring various servants who called out to her to say hello.
Vince blew out his breath, watching as his mother’s slim figure receded from his line of sight. He shut the door after her instead of watching her disappear completely from view. He didn’t want anyone at the Romano compound to think that she’d run out on him and cut their meeting short. It was better if everyone thought that they were on good terms, especially since many of the servants were still loyal to her.
A few minutes later, he finally decided he’d had enough time to reflect on the encounter and exited his old office, stepping out into the main hallway where a large group of people had gathered, turning to look at him expectantly as he appeared. His mother must have paused in the main room to talk to somebody, as he could still hear the click-clack of her heels disappearing towards the main exit. Vince decided to just smile reassuringly at the crowd of various employees who looked to him worriedly, obviously detecting the tension between Vince and his rapidly departing mother.
“Everything’s fine,” he announced to the room. “Business as usual.” As soon as he said the words, he realized that he believed them. He’d directly disobeyed his mother, and the world hadn’t ended. In fact, everything was perfectly normal. Everything was totally fine. Nothing bad was going to happen to him just because, for once in his life, he didn’t do what his controlling mother wanted. He had the power here.
There was practically a spring in his step by the time he crossed the hall back to his new office, where Fiona was waiting for him. He felt weirdly excited to get started on work today, to spend the day torturing himself with close proximity to Fiona, letting himself smell here but never actually touch her. He’d make up for it tonight in the playroom. Vince already knew what he was going to do—kick the domination up a notch by binding her hands and feet at the same time. God, it was going to be so fucking hot.
“All right,” he said, shutting the door behind him and putting a lock in place for good measure. He didn’t want to be interrupted, even if he couldn’t allow himself to touch Fiona while at work. “Now let’s go ahead and handle…”
Fiona jumped up from her desk, arranging piles of papers in place before stepping away from her work station, going to meet Vince in the center of the room. What was this all about? Was she trying to change the rules on him or something?
“Mr. Romano, I’m afraid…” she started to say, cutting herself off to swallow visibly and shaking her head. “I quit.”
Vince wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, even though she looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes, like she was awaiting her death. “Fiona…I don’t…what?” he stuttered out, totally confused as to what was going on.
“I’m sorry,” Fiona said, ducking her eyes so that they weren’t looking directly at each other anymore. She leaned over and grabbed her purse from off the floor, reaching into the bag and pulling out a badge. “Here. This is what I use to get into the building. You should take it back. I won’t be using it anymore.”
“Fiona, what’s going on?” Vince said, dropping the boss act as panic started to set in, making him feel like his bones were being licked away by flames. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
“No, no, I can’t,” Fiona said, shaking her head, but then she sighed and added, “I mean, nothing’s wrong. I just need a change of pace, that’s all. I realize that I can’t work here now that Paulie is gone, and well…I just need to be somewhere else. Okay? That’s what I have to do. Goodbye.” She moved to walk around Vince to the door, but Vince stepped in front of her, refusing to let her pass that easily.
“No. I deserve an explanation. What did I do to make you do this? Is it the pay? Do you need more money? I can help you if you have financial problems—”
Fiona cut him off with her hand in the air, shaking her head furiously. “No. Let me out. I have to leave now, okay? I have to go.”
“I’m not going to let you just cut and run on me without even telling me why,” Vince said, once again trying to step in front of Fiona when she tried to walk around him. But this time, she evaded him more successfully, walking rapidly across the room towards the door.
“I just need to go. That’s all you have to know, okay?” she said, an edge of urgency in her voice as she unsuccessfully pushed at the doorknob.
Vince walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, mostly to keep her in place but also just to feel her, one last time. “Can I still…see you at other times?” Vince asked, his fingers tingling where they brushed up against Fiona’s shoulder.
There was a long moment of silence. Fiona’s head fell forward between her shoulders, sagging like she had no longer had the energy to hold it up. She slowly lifted her hand to unlatch the lock on the door, and then she whispered softly, “I’m sorry. Really. But no.”
Then she opened the door and marched out, gripping her bag in a tight fist, leaving Vince to stare after her helplessly.
Just like that, she was gone. And Vince had no idea why.
Chapter Sixteen
Five minutes before Vince walked into the office, Fiona was sitting at her desk, organizing a stack of papers on the gambling connection in Atlantic City, when the door opened and someone walked in. “Did that go okay?” Fiona asked, assuming she was speaking to Vince without looking up from her desk.
“Oh, it went splendidly,” Mrs. Romano said in an icy tone of voice, making Fiona jump in her seat in surprise. Dammit, Fiona silently cursed, forcing a smile onto her face as she looked up at her boss’s mother. “I just wanted to spend a few moments discussing certain pressing matters with you.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Fiona said, keeping her voice casual and steady, even though her fingers had started trembling. Even after a year working here, Mrs. Romano had never acknowledged her presence directly before, only ever talking to her to demand to meet with her son or husband.
Mrs. Romano looked around the office, possibly searching for a chair to take, but instead, she just raised her upper lip in a half-snarl, signifying her disgust at the clutter that filled the office in the aftermath of her husband’s death. Fiona felt her face and neck heat up in embarrassment. Things had just been so hectic. She hadn’t had time recently to keep things as orderly as she normally would have. It wasn’t like she was expecting a visit from Mama Romano herself.
But then again, Mrs. Romano had other reasons for feeling disgusted at Fiona. None of them were based in reality, of course, but that didn’t seem to matter. For the head of the Romano family, it was clear that Fiona had fucked Paulie before he died, and there was nothing Fiona could say or do to change her mind. She could only straighten her spine, swallow the bile that slid up her throat, and be as strong as she could in the face of adversity, just like always.
“What can I help you with?” Fiona said after an awkward pause in which neither of them spoke, attempting to prompt Mrs. Romano into airing her grievances already so she could go on with the rest of her day.
Mrs. Romano smiled, then, her bright red lips stretching across her face so far that it looked painful. Fiona fought as hard as she could not to shiver at the lean, hungry expression in Mrs. Romano’s eyes. She looked like Guido, the intense, predatory way he looked the night before when he was threatening her. Up to this point, Fiona had promised herself not to think about it, to let it go, to not let Guido know that she was at all frightened. But now, Mrs. Romano turned to her, hands firmly planted on her hips, smirking before she spoke. “Me? Oh, no, ma’am. I don’t need your help. I’m here to offer you mine.”
“Wh-what?” Fiona said, feeling utterly confused and maybe even a little bit helpful. Was she aware that her younger son was attempting to take control of the business despite Paulie’s wishes? Maybe she was finally coming around.
Mrs. Romano turned and walked slowly over to Fiona’s desk, standing over her and looking down to meet her eyes. “I just want you to know what you’re dealing with. That’s all.”
“What am I dealing with?” Fiona asked, feeling another surge of anxiety climb up her spine as she fought to maintain solid eye contact with the woman towering over her.
“More than you know,” Mrs. Romano said, shaking her head a little as she chuckled. “Now my son Vincent has made it plain to me that you are very crucial to certain…functions of this organization. But I know what my family needs. And it isn’t you.”
“Ma’am, I’m not quite sure you know what’s—” Fiona started to say, but Mrs. Romano cut her off with some deep, throaty laughter.
“Oh, my, that’s funny. It’s really amusing, hearing you scramble to defend yourself. I know, I know, poor little mistress, all shit out of luck now that my husband is dead, and he didn’t leave any money to you at all. Oh…poor thing.” Mrs. Romano’s smile slipped off her face, replaced by a hard, mean look that confirmed Fiona’s worst fears. She didn’t come in here to help her. She came in here to intimidate her, and so far, it was working.
“I didn’t have anything with your husband,” Fiona said through gritted teeth, feeling her frustration overcome the fear inside of her. “I’m not a mistress.” Except for in the kinky sex sense, she thought to herself, thinking back on how Vince’s servants referred to her at the penthouse. It was tempting to break the conditions of the contract, if only to explain to Mrs. Romano what was really going on. Maybe the truth would shock Mrs. Romano enough that she’d believe Fiona about her relationship with Paulie. After all, if Fiona was shameless enough to admit being a sexual submissive, there’d be no logical reason for her to lie about having an affair with an older man.
But she couldn’t do that to Vince. Even though they’d only fucked once, she felt like she knew him, maybe even more than she’d known any of her partners in the past. And she knew that it would crush him if she broke his trust. That was what the whole thing was about: the horribly stupid, ridiculously miraculous reality that they trusted each other enough to let each other in, despite all the risks involved. Fiona couldn’t betray that. She couldn’t hurt him, even if protecting his secret meant getting hurt in his place.
Instead, Fiona mustered up all the courage she could summon and stood up, still standing a few inches shorter than the tall, slim Romano matriarch. She didn’t back down, though, keeping eye contact with the older woman through their tense silence. Finally, Fiona’s nerves got the better of her, and she spat out between clenched teeth, “What do you want from me? Spit it out. What’s the big idea, coming in here to taunt me with shit you know nothing about?”
“Just a friendly warning,” Mrs. Romano said in a low whisper, her eyes darting back and forth between each of Fiona’s. “I don’t like to get my hands dirty, and I’d rather avoid it if possible. That’s how you can help, I suppose.”
“How?” Fiona asked, the suspense practically killing her at this point.
“By getting out of the way,” Mrs. Romano said with a shrug. “My son and I have business to do here, profits to make, and we’re not going to let you stand in the way. So, I suggest you get out of here before the sun sets or something very bad might happen.”
“What? You’re going to kill me or something?” she asked, trying to scoff as if she wasn’t scared at all, even though her heart started pounding against her throat like it was trying to escape her body entirely.
Mrs. Romano smiled again and gave a half-shrug, like she honestly didn’t know the answer. “Who knows? But someone will get hurt, Fiona. Maybe even someone close to you.”
“You’re threatening an old man with a weak heart,” Fiona said, thinking back on her frail father, how much he’d been struggling to breathe recently. She felt a flare of anger empower her, making her stretch up higher so that her eyes matched Mrs. Romano’s. She wasn’t going to back down. Not that easily.
“Who says I’m just talking about your father?” Mrs. Romano said, lifting her eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into her thick, dark hair. “There are other things you care about, things that have just been brought to my attention today, actually.”
Fiona was utterly confused for several long seconds, searching Mrs. Romano’s face for any clue that would tell her what she meant, but then it hit her. Vince. She’d just spoken with Vince. Somehow, she’d figured out that they were having a relationship on her own, without either of them needing to divulge any information. Maybe Guido had told her, for all Fiona knew. It would make sense, the two of them plotting together to get control of the business.
Fiona felt more emboldened than ever, smiling as meanly as she could and backing away from Mrs. Romano, resuming her organization of the papers on her desk. “You showed your hand there,” Fiona said, shaking her head. “You’d hurt your own son if it meant fulfilling your ambition. Now I know there’s no point in trying to reason with you. You don’t have a heart. Maybe that’s why Paulie was so
sad all the time.”
Crack. Fiona barely had time to register the fact that Mrs. Romano reached out and slapped her across the face before the hot pain settled in on her cheeks. Still, Fiona resisted the urge to grab her face or wince in pain. She held strong, staring up at Mrs. Romano with as much disgust as she could muster. “Pathetic,” she muttered, feeling her heart pound with anger rather than fear now.
But Mrs. Romano had no intentions of backing down, either, despite the brief lapse of her temper. “Forgive me,” Mrs. Romano said, smiling tightly. “I’m still mourning, you see, and I’m sensitive about people trying to tear my family apart.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Fiona said firmly, trying to make it clear that there was no way Mrs. Romano could emotionally manipulate her into feeling sorry for her. She wasn’t one of her sons. She couldn’t be fooled into thinking she was a frail old woman, not even for a second. “You threatened Vince. What makes you think I’m going to leave his side now? You just proved to me that you’re willing to hurt him if it means getting what you want.”
