Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
I don’t know what to think about the “promotion”, but being in front of Dominic causes a whirlwind of emotions. He’s more attractive in person than he was in the surveillance footage that was shown to me before being assigned to this case. He’s tall, with broad shoulders and hands large enough to look like he can wrap them around my waist.
His light brown eyes sparkle as he speaks, and he wears a charming half-smile as he brushes a strand of black hair away from his eyes. I oddly feel excited being in his presence, and it’s a feeling almost foreign to me. At twenty years old, I’ve never even kissed a man before. Suddenly, my chest swells and my throat goes dry when I see Dominic.
“What have I done to deserve that?” I ask him, genuinely curious about his sudden interest in me.
“I took a look at your resume and feel you’d be better suited as my assistant.”
I know it’s a lie. I don’t have a resume on file here. Sergeant Tully managed to get me assigned here through a temp agency that’s worked with the VICE team a few times. They sent me a letter of recommendation and a list of skills that I possessed applicable to what Paulie needed. Dominic is lying about why he wants me to work for him, and I don’t know why.
As curious as I am, I’m just as worried. I’m here on business unrelated to anything they think. Someone in the DeLuca crime family killed one of our own, and we’re looking for justice. If any of them find out I’m a cop, I’m done for.
Even though I’m worried, I can’t help but feel impressed with myself. Whatever the reason was, I’m being invited to work for Dominic DeLuca. He’s our main suspect and the leader of the family. I was assigned to work with Paulie because I’m a rookie. Everyone thought it would be easier for me. Now, I’m going to prove all of them wrong.
“If you’ll just gather your things, I can take you upstairs to your new office,” Dominic says.
All I brought with me in the morning was my purse and a lunchbox, so I grab both of those and follow him to the elevator. A mixture of nerves and excitement confuses me while I follow him. I’m retreating into my head, unable to stop wondering why he wants me to work for him. If there is any chance he knows who I am or why I’m really here, joining him on the elevator could be a death sentence.
And yet, I follow him anyway.
It’s hard to tell if it’s ambition, stupidity, or something else altogether. Everything I know about Dominic DeLuca is telling me I should leave, but actually standing in his presence is disarming. I should be nervous. I should be afraid of someone like him, but I’m not. It’s the strangest feeling, but I’m calm around him.
When he looks at me, there’s a fire in his eyes that my body responds to. I try to brush the feelings aside because they’re so wrong. He’s a criminal and a powerful one at that. He's a criminal, yet I'm instantly attracted to him. I don’t know what to make of it.
Dominic is notorious in the department, and I remember other officers telling me stories about times they tried and failed to bring him in. His reach is long, and it spread into every level of our judicial system. There’s a reason none of the Dons from the DeLuca family have ever been charged. Money can fix a lot of problems, and the DeLucas had no shortage of that.
Both of us stand on the elevator together while we ride up to Dominic's floor. It's a short ride, but while I'm looking ahead, I catch a glimpse of him in the reflection on the door staring at me. His eyes climb over my body—starting from my legs to the back of my head. My whole body warms at the attention, almost feeling the way his eyes are caressing me. I soak in the feeling, savoring the idea that someone like Dominic could be attracted to me.
The elevator doors open and Dominic gestures for me to walk ahead of him. His eyes have been glued to me, and I like it more than I should. Normally, I feel uncomfortable getting attention like this from men. There have been a few guys at the department who have tried to take me out, but I always turn them down.
I wanted to become a cop because of my father. I never actually got to meet him since he died while my mother was pregnant with me. All my life I've heard stories about how heroic he was. I idolized him and even slept with a picture of him in uniform by my bed my entire life. Being a cop and following in his footsteps has been my dream for as long as I can remember.