SEVER Jane, Melissa (management books to read .TXT) 📖

take aim between his legs, he quickly intercepts, positioning himself between my thighs.

“Sweetheart,” he patronizes. “The mafia are our best clients.”

17

J oseph drags me through multiple back doors, down dark passages and finally up a narrow flight of stairs.

“Why am I here?” I ask as he throws me into a top-floor office, his body blocking the door. “You can’t hold me prisoner.”

Joseph eyes harden with indifference. “I can do whatever the fuck I want.” He pulls a Glock from his behind his back and aims it my chest. I step back, my breath catching in my throat.

Perhaps I have underestimated him. I raise both hands to placate the situation.

“Get that chair and sit your ass down.” His eyes flick to the wooden suede chair positioned in front of the mahogany desk. I do as he says and wait, my eyes still trained on the gun. Two men enter the room, one carrying rope, and together they bend my arms around the backrest and tie my wrists to the wood. They pull hard, rope burn searing my skin. I wince and bite my tongue, not wanting to further annoy Joseph.

He saunters forward, gaze narrowing, as he tries to work me out. Pulling the other chair over, he sits directly in front of me. “What are you doing here, Blythe Blakely?”

Is this a trick question? Is this where I reveal my amateur sleuthing has taken me too far into the depths of hell.

“I had an invitation extended to me.”

“Wrong answer.” Joseph straightens the gun he now has resting on his knee.

“I heard about this club and wanted to check it out.”

“Wrong.”

“How is that wrong?”

“Because this isn’t a club, and no one who’s a part of the society ever talks about it to those who are not.”

“Well, I did. And as soon as I got here, I knew it wasn’t the place for me. That’s all.”

“Wrong again.”

I heave in frustration. “What do you want me to say, exactly?”

He pulls back the safety. “Why. Are. You. Fucking. Here?”

I don’t know how to reply, so I remain silent. In that time, his eyes turn from indifferent to curious. I can hear the cogs turning in his brain as he fits his own puzzle together. “You know, Blythe Blakely, I knew there was something about you when we spoke earlier.”

“Oh?” I say, purely because it feels like he has more than just a nibble on the end of his line.

“Yeah,” he says as if he’s convincing himself. “Your face is very familiar, but the color of your hair and complexion threw me briefly off the scent.”

I swallow hard knowing he’s made the connection. Joseph pulls his cell from his pocket and hits dial before holding it to his ear. He holds my gaze, a small smile playing on his thin lips.

“My office, now,” he orders, hanging up and watching for my reaction. I give him nothing, which is pointless because in a few moments he’s going to flaunt it in my face. I hear footsteps racing up the stairs, followed by a knock at the door before it opens.

“Yes?” the familiar voice calls. I look up and meet her gaze, yet Joseph’s focus remains on me. “Jesus, fuck! Blythe, what are you doing here?” Samantha’s horrified green eyes flick from Joseph to me, then to my restraints. “Joseph! Are you insane? Blythe is my sister.” She moves to untie the ropes but the firing of the Glock into the ceiling stills us both.

I feel Samantha’s trembling hand against mine. White powder filters down like snow from the roof directly above while we wait for the eerily calm Joseph to speak.

“Take two steps away from your sister,” he orders and Sam immediately complies.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” she asks cautiously.

“I’m hoping you can tell me since your sister here…” he points the Glock back at me, “is excellent at playing dumb.”

“How am I supposed to know,” Sam replies defensively. “I only got here an hour ago and didn’t even know she was here.”

Joseph sighs in frustration. “Perhaps your stupidity runs in the family. So, let’s try this again… Samantha, have you been opening that sweet mouth of yours and breaking society rules?

“No, I haven’t! I swear. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone.”

“Yet, your sister sits next to you in a place she should know nothing about, and you still plead ignorance.”

“I’m not being ignorant, I’m—”

“Enough!” Joseph bellows, lunging forward and wrapping his hand around her throat the same way he did mine. She staggers back from the force until she’s bent over the large desk with Joseph on top of her. Sam attempts to fight him off but he squeezes harder until I hear her gasping for air. I lean forward so I can awkwardly stand enough to turn my chair. Panic takes hold because he’s a lot more aggressive with my sister to the point where he could kill her in the blink of an eye.

“She doesn’t know anything,” I yell. “I’ve been following her the last week because she wasn’t returning my calls. I followed her here,” I continue in desperation. I see Sam’s legs kicking—time’s running out. “It just so happens I found out what this place is called and secured an invite. I passed all the checks, all without Sam knowing. Let her go, please! You’re going to kill her.”

“And if I did, you’d be to blame,” Joseph snarls, releasing a gasping Samantha. She slips from the desk to the floor clutching her throat, red-faced and wheezing. “You see, the problem is, now you know more than your sister.”

I shake my head, not understanding. “What could I possibly know that she doesn’t? I don’t even know how she got the job here.”

I look to my sister and see a flicker