Danger

The digital clock on my bedside table read 2:14 am. The entire mansion was silent and I was dressed in all black, the dark clothes blending into the shadows of my room. My bag lay open on the floor, the small, sleek device inside its only content. It was a CCTV deactivation device. It was a piece of police tech that could briefly turn off the cameras, giving me a 20 minute window. So I mentally planned myself. I had five minutes to get to the study, ten to search, and five to get out.

I took a deep breath, then I got ready. I slipped out of my room and into the hallway. The air was cool and still. I moved down the corridor, passing silent portraits and towering vases. Reaching a corner, I took a quick look around. There was no one. I pulled the device from my pocket and activated it. A small, green light blinked and I knew all the cameras were now turned off.

My internal clock started ticking. The mansion's layout was already seared into my memory, and I used every shadow to my advantage. I saw the glint of a guard's light at the end of a long hallway and ducked behind a silk curtain until he passed. Finally, I reached the narrow staircase leading to Dante's study. I checked my watch. Four minutes and thirty seconds. I was ahead of schedule. I crept up the steps. I tried the study door and it was unlocked. It was a little too easy. My instincts screamed at me to be careful, but I was so close that I couldn't just back away.

I slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind me. I checked my watch again. Five minutes on the dot. I was in. I took a quick scan of the room. The cameras in the corners were deactivated. The study itself was exactly what I had expected. An immaculate and intimidating space. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, and a massive mahogany desk sat in the center. I wasted no time.

I started with the desk drawers, sifting through piles of documents. All of it was legitimate business of contracts for wine shipments, financial reports, business plans. Nothing was out of place. I checked the drawers on the cabinets next, but they were the same. 

“Fuck!” I said frustrated. I had been here for five minutes already. I was running out of time.

My eyes darted around the room, searching for anything I might have missed. That's when I saw it. A framed painting of an old vineyard on the wall, and next to it, a faint seam in the wood paneling. It was definitely a hidden compartment. My heart rate kicked into overdrive. This had to be it.

I rushed over, my fingers tracing the line of the seam, looking for a latch or a button. But just as I was about to press on it, a voice, soft and silken, broke the dead silence of the room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I froze. A cold sweat instantly broke out on my brow as my entire body went rigid. The sound hadn't come from behind me, but from the center of the room. I slowly turned, and Dante Giordano stood in the middle of the study, as he stared at me with those eyes. I hadn't heard the door open. I hadn't heard a single footstep. He was just... there.

He took a step toward me, and I instinctively backed away, my back hitting the hidden compartment with a soft thud. "What are you doing in here Liam?" he asked, his voice a dangerous rumble.

My mind went blank. I licked my lips, trying to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to me. Dante took another step, then another, his presence eclipsing everything around me. I backed up until I was pressed against the wall, I was trapped. He was so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. My hand instinctively clenched the knife in my pocket I had carried just in case. 

He reached into his own pocket and pulled something out and I was ready to stab him if need be.

But then, he dangled a pen in front of me. I blinked confused, but I recognized it. It was my pen, the one I had left in the car this evening.

"Is this what you were looking for?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.

I stared at it for a moment, then back at him. My brain finally caught up. A pen. He was asking if I was here for a pen. 

I snatched it from his hand. "Yeah. Yeah, that's it." My voice was a little too high. "I left it in the car earlier, and I needed it to fill out some paperwork tonight."

He chuckled. "And you couldn't have waited until the morning? You had to sneak around like a thief huh?"

"I... I couldn't," I stammered, offering a nervous, strained laugh. "I have a lot to do."

He took a step back, the tension in the air dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. "Well, you've found it. I won't hold you any longer. Get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow." He gave me a knowing smile, then turned and walked to his desk. "Goodnight, Liam."

"Goodnight, boss," I said. I practically ran out of the room, my heart still racing. As soon as the door closed behind me, I felt my body sag with relief as I let out the breath I had been holding. My hands were still shaking uncontrollably.

I hurried back to my room, sinking onto my bed. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. He had caught me red handed, in the dead of night, standing in front of a hidden compartment, and he had let me go. Was he an idiot? Or was this some kind of sick game to him? Whatever the reason, I was still alive. And I was more certain than ever that the document I was looking for was behind that painting.

The next morning, I was up early, dressed and ready. I went down to the kitchen, and had breakfast with the other workers in the mansion. They were polite but distant, their glances full of cold curiosity. As I ate, one of them turned to me. "The boss is about to leave. You're expected to be ready."

I nodded, grabbing my tablet and heading out. I was still thinking about what happened the night before, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going through Dante's head. 

And like a curse, I saw the beautiful man that was making me all confused walking over with that look on his goddamn face again. 

Antonio walked past me, shoving me aside. "Stop staring like a fool. Get in the fucking car wimp." I shot him a glare, but I didn't respond.

I slid into the backseat and Dante got in next to me, but he didn't look at me this time as he was so focused on his phone. The drive was deadly silent this time.

Barely three minutes on the road, I noticed a car behind us as Marco drove, a black jeep with tinted windows. It looked suspicious. My police instincts flared up.  They were obviously tailing us. I looked up and I wondered if Dante and the others knew? But I shouldn't alert them because I was supposed to be just a secretary. But if they are in danger, doesn't that mean I'm in danger too? I was conflicted.

Just then, Dante looked up from his phone, a smirk on his face as he looked at me. "Your senses are quite sharp Liam. It's a good quality to have." He then said, not even a beat of hesitation in his voice, "Marco, lose them."

"Sure boss," Marco replied, his hands gripping the steering wheel. The car surged forward, weaving expertly through traffic. The jeep behind us tried to keep up, but Marco skillfully lost them. 

“Hah, those little boys really be acting out these days.” Antonio sneered. 

So they did know we were being tailed. We seemed to be in the clear, when suddenly, a different car swerved from an intersection, speeding toward us.

"Look out!" I screamed, as I saw the incoming vehicle but it was too late.

The impact was brutal as the sound of crunching metal and shattering glass filled my hearing. My body was thrown forward, but before I could slam into the seat in front of me, Dante's arms were around me, pulling me into his chest. His body shielded me from the broken glass that exploded from the window as he held me tightly.

I was heaving as the world went silent for a moment, the only sound the ringing in my ears. The car was sideways on the road. 

“Are you okay?” Dante asked, but before I could answer, I heard the sound of gunfire.

Fuck my life! Am I really about to be caught in a mafia crossfire? How ironic.