Chapter 6 - THE APARTMENT ON MAPLE STREET
The rain had turned into a steady, freezing downpour by the time Nora unlocked the door to her modest third-floor apartment on Maple Street.
She kicked off her heels, tossed her wet trench coat over the sofa, and walked straight to the bathroom mirror.
The red wine stain across her white blouse had dried into an ugly, brownish-pink blotch.
She unbuttoned the shirt, tossed it into the laundry hamper, and stepped under a hot shower, letting the cascading water wash away the lingering tension of the evening.
As the hot spray beat against her shoulders, she replayed every second of the confrontation in her mind.
The way Victor had stood up for her.
The way he had knelt beside her chair to wipe away the stain.
The way his eyes had softened when he told her she wasn't "help."
For two years, she had convinced herself that working for a mafia boss was purely a transactional arrangement—high risk, high reward, zero emotional entanglement.
Tonight, that wall had cracked wide open.
After her shower, wrapped in an oversized fleece bathrobe with a mug of chamomile tea in her hands, Nora sat at her small kitchen table and opened her laptop to check the encrypted company servers.
Her corporate login credentials flashed green.
Access granted.
Instead of tax spreadsheets, a private file notification popped up in the center of her screen.
From: Victor Moretti
Subject: Security Protocol & New Assignment
Nora clicked the file open.
It wasn't a corporate memo.
It was a scanned property deed.
For a penthouse apartment in the newly constructed Callahan Tower overlooking Millennium Park.
Accompanied by a short text note at the bottom:
“Maple Street is too far from the office, and the neighborhood lacks adequate security. Movers arrive Saturday morning. Don't bother packing your old furniture; I've already replaced it.”
Nora stared at the screen, her breath catching in her throat, a mixture of disbelief and profound warmth flooding her chest.
The mafia boss didn't just protect his people.
May you like
He annexed them.
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