CHAPTER 2

Marcello stared at his elder brother coldly, silently calling his bluff. He knew Lorenzo would never fire the shot, and even if he was compelled to do so he wouldn't. That was how much he valued Marcello.

"Lorenzo, what do you want?" Marcello growled, Lorenzo lowered the gun looking drained.

"I want to make you the new underboss and get Uncle Pietro out of the way, I don't trust him to continue holding back his rather obvious hatred for us without taking action" Lorenzo gritted, Marcello scoffed before turning away.

"You underestimate how much I hate the mafia Lorenzo, do to Uncle Pietro whatever you wish but leave me out of it" Marcello called with a dismissive wave,

"Marcello you realize you are talking to your boss" Lorenzo bellowed stopping Marcello right in his tracks. Marcello fisted his palms then turned back, trying to calm his temper knowing how foolish it was to lose it around Lorenzo.

"Let's talk in your office brother, I suggest a calmer discussion over glasses of your favorite Bowmore would be more sensible," Marcello said in a tight voice, Lorenzo considered the fragile truce, he decided it was better than threatening his younger brother, so he gave Marcello a short nod and headed back into the house In long strides.

Marcello handed Lorenzo a glass before taking a sip himself. "I have no wish to be part of the mafia Enzo and you know that, just let me focus on VALVERRA that's where I excel" Marcello implored, watching his brother's expression.

Lorenzo turned to Marcello, his amber eyes mirroring the whiskey in his hands. "If I leave you as the CEO of VALVERRA then who do I make underboss?" He drawled. Marcello shrugged, if Lorenzo was the boss then whoever he made underboss would still answer to him so he just needed the right victim or puppet.

"Why don't you leave Uncle Pietro as underboss since he does his job perfectly when he isn't busy hating us, and I'm sure it irkes him having to answer to you so it would be fun having him clean up the worse messes" Marcello offered, mischief glinting of his identical amber eyes. Lorenzo grinned, nodding at the idea "Then it's settled, you remain CEO and Uncle Pietro can suck dick" Lorenzo said and both of them broke into laughter.

"No better proposition if you ask me," Marcello said bringing his glass to his lips.

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Celeste peered closely at the spot on her forehead. She could feel her frustration mounting, it was a blasted pimple. After 8 hours of undisturbed sleep and proper skin priming, she was seated here already late on her first day at work and with rough skin.

"Argh! Fuck fuck fuck!!!!" She yelled when she spotted a brown stain on the collar of the cream shirt she had chosen to wear. It was astonishing how she hadn't seen the stain yesterday when she had checked her outfit.

"Celeste stop yelling, I'm trying to sleep" Isabella her best friend and roommate groaned. Celeste's head shot up as it occurred to her why the shirt Isabella had worn two nights ago looked familiar.

"Isabella! I will fucking kill you" Celeste screamed, marching furiously to Isabella's room. She yanked the door open to a startled Isabella, who was trying to help a guy Celeste didn't recognize button his shirt.

"Really?" Celeste erupted, and Isabella flinched.

"Sorry Celeste, we slept in" Isabella murmured, while the young man looked like he would rather be shot than be caught in the middle of their argument. Celeste finally got a good look at him, and her eyes widened.

"You're fucking him again?!" She asked horrified. Felix quickly dashed out the door, knowing Celeste was about to lose it.

"Come back here you bastard, God help me if I don't rip that dick and shove it down your throat" She screamed, moving to follow but Isabella held her back breaking into shallow sobs that distracted Celeste.

Celeste turned to her, fury still seeping into her veins. "I am already late and it's my first day but when I get back, I demand a full explanation of why you are still with Felix," she said then shook off Isabella's hands and stormed off to her room.

As soon as her door banged close, it occurred to her why she had initially gone to Isabella's room, she brushed it off since complaining wouldn't remove the stain automatically. Her eyes swept through her closet, trying to find a good shirt to replace the cream one. She spotted a burgundy satin shirt and decided it would go well with her black pencil skirt.

Brushing her raven black her which fell in waves till it gleamed, Celeste's thoughts went back to the incident earlier. Felix was Isabella's ex who had cheated on her and broken her heart and Celeste knew how long it took to console Isabella, now they were back together and it infuriated Celeste that Isabella would try to hide it from her.

Checking herself in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place, Celeste dashed out the door. Through the help of her Uncle Theodore who was an executive staff at VALVERRA, the famous conglomerate owned by the Martino brothers, Celeste had been able to secure a job as an executive secretary.

Although she only knew of Marcello Martino whom she had set her heart on since their meeting at an event where she had been a plus one for her Uncle. She had been nervous when her Uncle introduced her to the gorgeous and charming man whose smile promised comfort and pleasure.

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Bellamy " he had drawled in that Italian accent that sent tingles through her spine.

When he bent lower and lifted her hand to his lips, still gazing at her with those whiskey-colored eyes, Celeste knew her heart had been snatched from her. Even now, her face flamed just thinking about him. He had been the reason she had worked her butt off to excel in her degree and now she has the opportunity to work for him, she was going to have a clean record.

Today was her first day and she didn't want to create a bad impression. Snatching her purse, she rushed out and flagged down a taxi. During the ride to work, she kept wondering if she would be able to meet Mr. Marcello by any chance, though that would be impossible since he was the CEO and was rarely around.

As soon as she alighted, she stood in front of the imposing building of VALVERRA and took a deep breath. This was it, no turning back now. Celeste plastered on a sweet smile which was bewitching as the cherry red lipstick added a seductive glow to her full lips.

She stepped into one of the elevators and picked the 3rd floor where Uncle Theo's office was located. She admired the interior, which was classy despite being just an Elevator. The Elevator stopped and the door opened, Celeste immediately beamed, a cheerful greeting on her lips as she looked up to greet whoever stepped in.

The greeting died an unflattering death as she couldn't get the words out. She had hoped and prayed for this to happen, but she had not expected it to be this soon.

"I believe you are on the wrong Elevator Miss," he said in that lazy drawl that seemed to snap her out of her trance.

Celeste finally pulled herself together and forced a greeting through her clogged voice box.

"Good morning Mr Martino"