Interview

EMMA

I wake up early on the day of the interview.

~Do I really want this job?~ I need the money, and it would look good on my resume, but the real question is, do I want to work for Diablo...

~I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even had the interview yet, and I’m already acting like I’ve got the job. As if someone like Diablo would hire someone like me.~

I decide to go, if only to save face. If I get the job, I can decide then whether or not to take it. I have a habit of overthinking things.

I put on a simple blue and white striped dress, a denim jacket, and white flats. Nothing fancy, but it’ll do. I leave my black hair loose and apply just a touch of makeup.

Plain and simple, just like me. Just the way I like it. I head to the kitchen for some coffee. I need to be awake and alert.

I want to make a good impression, even though deep down I know that someone like Diablo would never hire me, let alone like me.

I find myself lost in thought, thinking about his magnetic presence, his green eyes, black hair, and that seductive voice.

He’s the whole package, but I know I’m not the first woman to think that about him... and those luscious lips...

I shouldn’t be thinking about his lips. It makes me wonder if he’s a good kisser and what those lips could do.

“~Emmmmmmaaaaaa!~” Carly’s voice screeches from her room, breaking my trance. She only sounds like that when she’s hungover.

“B, I need coffee pwetty pweese!” she says, talking like a toddler.

I roll my eyes, pour her a cup of coffee, and walk into her room. Big mistake. Standing there in all his glory is the bartender from last night.

I can’t help but stare.

Wow, he’s ripped. No wonder Carly looks so worn out. He probably has stamina for ~days~. I hand her the coffee and turn to leave, but he stops me.

“I’m Travis, the boss’s head bartender, driver, or whatever else he needs me to be,” he introduces himself.

“I’m Emma,” I manage to say. At least he’s dressed now.

“The boss wants me to drive you to the interview today. Figured I could kill two birds with one stone,” he says, glancing at Carly, who’s all smiles.

“I can take a cab, thank you very much,” I say quietly.

“He insisted. Said you might chicken out if I didn’t drive you.”

~How did Diablo know?~ ~Did I say something out loud last night?~ I wonder.

“Fine,” I say, taken aback. I’ll just have to ask him when I see him.

“We need to leave in twenty minutes if we’re going to make it on time,” I say, not really to anyone in particular.

The last thing I hear before closing the door is Carly squealing. I guess they’re at it again.

Twenty-five minutes later, I’m irritated and knocking on Carly’s door. It swings open to reveal Travis, hopping around as he tries to put on his shoe.

“We have to go now,” he yells. “I don’t want to get fired!”

I glance at Carly, who’s grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“I guess Cashè is out of the picture for now?” I ask. She just smiles and nods.

~That didn’t last long. Same old Carly.~

We get into a black Mercedes GT63. Travis drives like a maniac, and I have to ask him to slow down more than once.

He just laughs and tells me it’s the boss’s car, so he likes to speed when he’s not driving him. And we are ~late~.

I hate being late. It’s one of my pet peeves. My mother should have named me Emma Punctual Taylor. This is not how I wanted to start my day, especially not on the way to an interview I’m already nervous about.

We pull up to the club with three minutes to spare. I shoot Travis a death glare and rush into the club. Luis greets me right away, telling me I’m right on time.

He leads me to a staircase opposite the one that leads to the VIP lounges. We walk down a hallway and stop at the second door on the right. Luis knocks and I hear Diablo’s gruff voice telling us to come in.

We enter an office that’s decorated just like the club downstairs, minus the dance cages.

A large desk sits in the middle of the room. There’s a long table to my right, probably for business meetings. The entire back wall is made of glass, offering a view of the club.

~Wow!~

My eyes immediately find Diablo’s. Big mistake. He’s wearing a black suit with a green tie that brings out the green in his eyes. I feel like I’m drowning in them.

~Holy shit, he’s magnificent~, is all I can think. I see his lips moving but I can’t make out what he’s saying.

“Emma. Emma. ~Emma!~” he shouts, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I mumble an apology for zoning out.

He offers me a seat and something to drink.

“Water,” is all I can manage to say before sitting down in front of his desk. Luis hands me a bottle of water and takes a seat next to me. Seriously!

“Two of you, how serious is this position?” I ask.

“Very,” Diablo says, sounding bored. He slides a document across the desk to me. It’s an NDA. I look up to see both Diablo and Luis watching me.

“What is this?”

“You disappoint me, baby love. I thought you were highly intelligent.”

I can’t seem to form a coherent sentence. “Of course I know what a non-disclosure agreement is,” I snap at him. “What’s it for? I don’t understand. This is supposed to be a job interview.”

“It is,” Diablo says. “But before we can proceed, you need to read and sign the NDA. If you don’t, the interview is over.”

I find myself staring at him, then shifting my gaze to Luis, who’s just lounging in his chair like this is a regular Tuesday. I snatch up the NDA, grab a pen from his desk, and stride over to the long conference table.

I can feel both men watching me, but Diablo’s intense green eyes are the ones that really get to me.

“What?” I snap. “I’m not signing anything until I’ve read it and I agree with what it says. That’s just good business, Diablo,” I say, trying to sound confident.

I sit down and start reading. It seems pretty straightforward. Don’t talk about the business blah blah blah…until I get to the second-to-last page.

That’s when I stop and look up at the two men. I can’t decide whether to laugh, cry, or run like my life depends on it.

~Paragraph 29: The employee shall at all relevant times during and after his/her employment has been terminated, not disclose to any third party/ies or to any of the owner’s business rivals any information pertaining to~

~the owner’s underground business, shipments, training, security tactics, security forces, identity/ies of current or future business partners, etc. (This paragraph to be amended from time to time.)~

~Paragraph 30: The employee shall at all relevant times protect the owner, business, and his or its affiliates.~

~Paragraph 31: Should the employee be in breach of paragraphs 29 and 30 above he/she will be punished. The relevant punishment to be verbally discussed with the business owner so as not to leave a paper trail~.

~Holy fucking shit.~

Me, sweet, innocent Emma, what have I gotten myself into? I’ve never cursed so much in my life and now it’s “fuck this” and “fuck that.”

Diablo clears his throat, and I realize I’ve been staring at them blankly. I’m not one to do things without thinking or to break the law, but I’m tired of being seen as Miss Prissy and Virgin Mary.

So, I stand up and walk with as much confidence as I can muster to Diablo’s desk. I sit down and sign the NDA.

Both men just stare at me, dumbfounded. It seems that neither of them expected me to actually go through with it.

“Well, are we going to stare at each other all day, or is one of you going to tell me about the job?”

“Feisty,” Luis comments.

Diablo starts to explain in great detail the operations of the club itself as well as the other nine that he owns all over the world.

“Nothing underground about that,” I mutter.

He raises his eyebrows and gives me a smoldering look, which I guess would make most people cringe. But somewhere between graduating and now, I seem to have grown a backbone, and I stare right back.

~Emma, you are so ugly. Emma, you are so prissy. Emma, you will never be seen or heard. You will disappear into the masses as soon as you finish school.~ I had to put up with this throughout my school years, and the memory still hurts.

Diablo clears his throat and explains that he needs someone who can read people. She must be good with people, highly intelligent, and know a lot about business and accounting.

He thinks his trusted managers of the clubs and underground businesses are skimming, making deals behind his back.

He needs someone by his side that he can trust completely, and I fit the bill.

“I thought Luis was that person,” I blurt out.

“I am, sort of, but I don’t know shit about accounting. I’m Diablo’s right-hand man, but he needs a woman as a partner. And honestly, my people skills suck.

“I mainly handle the killings or punishments when needed.”

I gape at him. Did he just say killing and a woman beside Diablo in the same sentence?

“What the actual fuck? Shit, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Both men just nod yes.

~Fuck, fuck, fuck~.

Now I’m panicking. What if I get killed or punished?

~Fuck.~

But wait a minute. Diablo hasn’t said anything about me being the chosen candidate. I look at Diablo.

“Well, do I have the job or not?”

Diablo is silent for a long time, all the while staring at me.

“Yes, you do. But only if you and I are a perfect fit.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, looking at him.

He just keeps staring at me. Finally, Luis answers the question I asked minutes ago.

“In order for this business and personal relationship to work, you need to be Diablo’s partner not only in business but personally as well.”

“Meaning?”

Diablo answers this time. “It means, baby love, that you will be mine in every sense of the word—physically and mentally, exclusively. And I will be yours. But there won’t be any love, it’s purely business.

“I’m currently affiliated with four other Mafia bosses and I want to expand, but I’m hitting roadblocks for various reasons.

“Reasons which will become clear to you if you agree to this arrangement and as we go along. You will be the key to getting me the business.”

“I won’t be your whore, Diablo. Fuck you for even suggesting it. If that’s what you want and need you can go fuck yourself!”

I’m shouting by this time. Luis is getting a bit anxious.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I never share my women, and you, baby love, will definitely only belong to me for the rest of your life if you decide to take this opportunity.”

“Diablo Salvatore never shares. If I say you are mine and I will be yours, I mean it. If you so much as look at another man or he breathes the air close to you, you will be punished, and he will be killed.”

“Do you understand?”

“Y-y-yes,” I finally stammer. I’m so glad I’m sitting down. I think if I were standing, I would have passed out by now.

A few minutes pass, both men looking at me, when I finally find my voice. The only sentence I can come up with is that they’ll have my answer by tomorrow, Sunday.

The shocked look on both their faces is priceless.

“Travis will take you home and give you my personal number,” Diablo says. I just nod, turn, and leave his office, probably never to return.

DIABLO

Emma strolled into my office, donning what could only be described as the most hideous dress I’d ever laid eyes on. It was paired with a denim jacket and flat shoes.

I couldn’t help but wonder why she chose to conceal her natural allure. She was breathtaking, to say the least.

I was certain that after reading the NDA, she’d bolt. But she didn’t.

That was the first surprise.

Even after hearing my personal requirements of her, she still didn’t flee.

That was the second surprise.

She didn’t even flinch when she learned about the killings or punishments.

That was the third surprise.

It’s not easy to catch me off guard, but Emma managed to do it effortlessly. I could see her mind working overtime, processing everything. She was truly an extraordinary woman. I’d never desired anyone as much as I desired her.

The prospect of having her as mine while we conducted business was an added bonus, a little extra I’d asked Luis to include.

She’d require extensive training, but fortunately, she had a knack for business and accounting. I was aware that I was hemorrhaging money. I could only hope she’d be able to trace it.

The thought of having her in my bed was the icing on the cake. She was the first woman I planned to let stay in my bed until morning.

Now, I was stuck waiting another damn day for her decision. I despised waiting. It made me restless.

To make matters worse, the image of Emma’s eyes kept flashing in my mind, stirring a physical reaction within me. I needed a release.

I decided to call Lauren. I knew she was in town, and she never failed to deliver. She had a great body, but it paled in comparison to Emma’s.

I knew Lauren had a soft spot for me, so she’d come running whenever I called, always hoping for more—a hope I’d dashed from the get-go.

I dialed her number, and she picked up on the second ring.

“Hi, Big D. Want me to come over?”

I simply replied, “Yes,” before hanging up.

I needed to get the image of the blue-eyed woman out of my system—immediately.