The Mafia Boss Caught His Secretary Packing—Then Found the Threat Hidden Under Her Desk
Chapter 1
“Where are you going?”
The question stopped Elena Rossi in the middle of the room.
She stood beside her desk with an open suitcase on the floor.
Three neatly folded blouses were inside.
A pair of black trousers.
A coat.
Her passport.
She slowly turned.
Marco Moretti stood in the doorway.
He wore a dark suit, no tie, and the expression that had made powerful men twice his age nervous.
Marco was the head of the Moretti organization, a man whose influence stretched through half the city’s legitimate businesses and several things that were never discussed in public.
For three years, Elena had been his private secretary.
She had learned his schedule.
His habits.
His enemies.
His silences.
She had also learned when not to ask questions.
Tonight, she had broken that rule.
“I’m resigning,” she said.
Marco’s eyes moved to the suitcase.
“You’re resigning at eleven forty-five at night?”
“I wasn’t sure you’d let me leave in the morning.”
That answer made him suspicious.
“Why?”
Elena looked away.
“I have personal reasons.”
“No.”
She looked back.
“No?”
“You don’t pack a suitcase because of personal reasons.”
Marco stepped into the office and closed the door.
“You’ve worked for me for three years. You’ve never missed a deadline. You’ve never left before I told you to. You don’t suddenly disappear.”
“I’m not disappearing.”
“You’re packing.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the handle of her suitcase.
“I need to go.”
Marco studied her.
She looked frightened.
Not nervous.
Frightened.
“Who threatened you?”
“No one.”
“Who?”
“No one.”
Marco’s voice hardened.
“Elena.”
She swallowed.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
She shook her head.
“I just need to leave.”
Marco looked around the office.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Her computer was still on.
Her files were neatly arranged.
Then he noticed something.
One drawer of her desk was open.
He walked toward it.
Elena immediately stepped in front of him.
“Don’t.”
Marco stopped.
“Why?”
She didn’t answer.
He looked at her.
Then at the drawer.
“What is inside?”
“Nothing.”
Marco smiled without humor.
“You’ve worked for me three years.”
He reached for the drawer.
“You should know better than to lie to me.”
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“Please.”
Marco froze.
She had never touched him before.
There was desperation in her eyes.
“Please don’t open that.”
He slowly pulled his hand away.
“Why?”
Tears began filling her eyes.
“Because if you find it…”
She stopped.
“Find what?”
Elena looked toward the underside of her desk.
“I don’t know.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
She whispered:
“I found something there this morning.”
Marco crouched.
His eyes moved beneath the desk.
Something had been taped to the wooden frame.
A small white envelope.
Marco pulled it free.
Elena stepped backward.
“Don’t open it.”
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena leaving Marco’s building.
Taken from across the street.
On the back were six words.
Next time, she doesn’t walk out.
Marco’s face became expressionless.
He looked at Elena.
“You were packing because of this.”
She nodded.
“Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the first message wasn’t under my desk.”
Marco looked at her.
“What first message?”
Elena slowly pulled a second photograph from her handbag.
This one showed her apartment.
Taken through the window.
Marco’s jaw tightened.
Someone had been watching his secretary.
Someone had entered her office.
And someone was sending a message.
Not to Elena.
To him.
Because whoever left those threats knew exactly where Elena worked.
And they wanted Marco to know that she was no longer safe.
