The Mafia Puppet

ess

bill across the counter, his eyes lingering far to long on my

e drawled, his grin crooked a

ght catch fire. " Change? This isn't e

ered. " What di

ng my arms " Next time try tipping

placed with a sneer. " You're lucky I'

idn't pour this coffee

r, I turned to see Carlo stomping towards me, his beefy ha

ell is wrong

g out of the cafe, muttering insults under

ved his hand towards the now empty door like the man had been his most prized

ghably low-wage job. It was busier today, and tips were low-earning money from pouring a cheap cup of coffee for drunks and

I asserted, to keep my voi

ll trying to maintain some veneer of authority. I thought

ng. "I promise I'll keep my mouth shut." For a moment he looked at with m

." "So you're firing me?" "I'm giving you a choice." I di

ere in front of him, the way he expected m

rily. The chill of the morning wind but at my face as I stepped onto the bustling Sicilian s

d ag

vings left My mom's hospital bills weren't going to pay the

nd I was running

anger had turned into determination. The bar's neon sign flickered and buzzed

stepped inside. The air was thick with the odor of stale beer and unwashed bodies, the

g a glass with a ragged dishcloth. He looked up when I approached, his brow raised

ed the fact that he had just fire

ngs light. "Marcello, please," I said, softening my

rself is exactly the problem. You've been fired multipl

ter this tim

as his lips curled into an amused grin last

. What was I suppo

ead. " You're trouble, Alessia.

et the words trail off, letting the unsaid weight

aining power. But I needed this job, and I had no other leverage. Marcello was a former college of

. But if you break anything

ver me. " I won

ter not" h

asked. "Now" he sai

counter tying up my

n he wa

ontinued to wipe down the counter, pretending not to care. The last thing I neede

back down, as if the sight of the man made him nervous. "No one you want to get involved with." "That's not what I asked." Marcello

ingle word. I didn't know if people respected him or feared him, but t

s I concentrated on wiping down the bar. Behind me, the door swung open, and

might as well have shoved a bottle of cologne in my face and told me to inhal

o men who I might have thought would play straight with a woman behind a bar more often th

of my last nerve getting hit. I felt the heat rise up my neck to my cheeks. "Call me sweethe

e that." One o

le . "Let's see how much you like i

ssia

llo b