Page 28 of Family Secrets

Chapter Eleven

Elizabeth dropped the box in her hands onto her desk, the action reminding her of cleaning out her granny’s attic. Opening the lid, her eyes gleamed with delight at the mess of ledgers and various receipts, all waiting for her to dive in and organize them. Sully had no idea the gift he’d inadvertently given her. Elizabeth found serenity and calm in figuring out puzzles such as this, making clarity out of confusion was the best stress relief she knew.

Opening the first ledger, she found detailed information on a dry-cleaning business in Flatbush. Sliding behind her computer, she typed in the account number, expecting to find the account closed. However, much to her surprise, the account was open and with a substantial balance. Scanning the transactions, she found it odd money was going in every month, but nothing had left in quite some time. Returning to the box, she found envelopes full of canceled checks, the majority of which were made out to cash and the signature on the back too sloppy to read. Elizabeth tried to do a search on what account the money was deposited from, but her access was denied. Collecting a handful of checks and the ledger, she rounded her desk with determination, heading for Sully’s office.

As she reached the door, the sound of laughter halted her progression as the man himself walked toward her, Lisa wrapped comfortably around his arm.

“Elizabeth,” Sully greeted, bending down to place a kiss to her cheek. “You’re here early this morning.”

“I couldn’t sleep last night, so I came in.”

“Couldn’t sleep, huh?” Lisa wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “Did the guy from last night keep you up?”

Elizabeth sent Lisa a look. The pair had grown closer in their time working from the same office, the easy banter between them a contrast from her previous job. Where Karen had no qualms about showing her lack of boundaries, Lisa encouraged her to spread her sexual wings, which did not include the man from last night. A salesman from Ohio who knew nothing about boxing, but tried to impress her with the terms he made up. Thankfully, he’d taken the hint, after she’d ignored him, keeping her focus on the fight.

“My inability to sleep was suffered alone, thank you very much. However, I’m glad I ran into you. I found something in one of those boxes you asked me to go through.”

Sully glanced at the files in her hand, his curiosity piqued. His understanding was the contents of the closet were outdated files he moved from one of his warehouses, making room for the supplies he needed to manufacture the drugs his brother gave him.

“Show me,” Sully instructed, tipping his head toward her desk.

Spinning on her heels, Elizabeth spread the pages out on her desk, explaining in detail what she’d found.

“This is…wow, Elizabeth. Looks as if you’ve saved us a ton of money.” Sully praised before pulling her into a tight embrace, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

Elizabeth allowed herself to melt into his arms, silently chastising herself for enjoying his touch so much.

“We should celebrate,” Lisa announced, her eyes still wide from the total on the page. “Take you to see Simone at Mia Bella, let her do the works on you.”

Elizabeth promised her coworkers she would allow them to take her to this salon and have what they termed ‘the works’ performed on her. Trouble was, she hadn’t been able to find a bank to deposit the check Mr. Evans gave her and didn’t feel comfortable using the cash Tony handed out the other day.

“I need to find an apartment,” Elizabeth reasoned, having accidentally found out how much her hotel room was costing Sully.

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, I meant to get you one last weekend, but something came up. Give me a couple of days and I’ll get you the best apartment in New Jersey, I promise.”

“Mr. Vitale—"

“What did I tell you about the mister, Elizabeth?” Sully interrupted, reaching into his pocket for his money clip.

“I’m sorry…Sully.” Elizabeth reluctantly corrected, still not comfortable with the informal address of her employer.

“That’s better, beautiful.” Sully smiled, the action making Elizabeth’s knees weak and the argument on her tongue fade in the sexual haze he created. “Take this,” Sully handed a wad of cash to Lisa, Elizabeth held her shock at the number of bills clasped between his fingers. “And the two of you have fun.”

* * *

Elizabeth staredat her reflection in the mirror, the silver foils in her hair making her feel more alien than human. With her hair naturally dark, it had given Simone quite a challenge getting it to a light enough shade for what she’d proposed. She’d been waxed, buffed, polished and tanned within an inch of her life over the course of the day.

“Another ten minutes, and we’ll rinse this out,” Simone told her after lifting the edge of one of the foils and scrutinizing the hair beneath. It’d been like this the entire day; a few more minutes until she could get dressed after her spray tan, another few seconds and she could blink her eyes with the extensions to her lashes. She was ready for the whole process to be over.

Much like the office, lunch was brought in by one of Sully’s men. She hated taking advantage of his generosity, but with her inability to cook for herself, she remained at his mercy.

While the minutes continued to drag, Elizabeth took a look around the room at her coworkers sitting in one chair or another. What she assumed was a day with Lisa had turned into a field trip for the entire office, making her wonder who was answering the phones. With her eyes trained on Cheri, a beautiful blonde with lips that looked as if they’d been stung by a bee, chatting away with Bernadette, the quiet girl who’d applied the acrylic nails Elizabeth was still trying to get used to, she tried to recall the last time she’d heard a phone ring in the office. Searching her memory of the last few days, the only ringing had come from the personal cellphones each girl kept with them.

“You ready to get this off ya?”

Startled, Elizabeth shifted her eyes to Simone’s reflection in the mirror. The tall, curvy girl with bright pink hair and pierced tongue, smiled apologetically at her before motioning toward the shampoo bowl behind her.

Closing her eyes, Elizabeth allowed the feel of the hot water and Simone’s gentle fingers massage her tender scalp. She took the time to compare her old office to the new one; phones ringing off the hook, to none at all. Deliveries and mail, customers and salesmen, all came to the Co-op, but not a single one came to the car rental. It wasn’t for lack of product she surmised. The parking lot was full of beautiful, high-end cars waiting to be driven. Another thing she pondered, the receptionist at the front door. In the six days she’d worked for the company, there’d been four different women sitting behind the counter. Did they switch out? What exactly did they do? Looking harder at the girls around her, Elizabeth was forced to ask the same of them. While she and Lisa perused spreadsheets and paid bills, the other girls in the room focused their attention on the men who came off the lot.

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