Page 35 of Giovanni the Savage

I head out of the office and close the door behind me, only to turn and run head-first into someone.

"I'm sorry," I apologize.

I look up to see the whiny floor secretary, Elvira. I almost roll my eyes at her. Her face is a weird combination of bitchy and friendly, but there's only one part I want to explore. Being on bad terms with the floor secretary will not help my mission.

"That's fine." She plasters a fake smile on her face with no sign of emotion, no doubt because of the pounds of injections under her skin.

I'm about to turn and go, but her voice stops me short.

"How is work going so far?" she asks in that weird “bitch-nice” combo. I don't know how she does it.

"It's going pretty well," I reply, returning to face her.

"I don't see you around much," she comments as she looks at me from head to toe.

Now what?

"I'm usually busy." I chuckle, already awaiting the end of this awkwardness.

She scoffs. "Don't burn yourself out."

"Because it's unnecessary," she adds and shrugs.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

She whispers like she's about to give me the intel I'm here for.

"Listen, there's no one who has lasted here longer than a month. So, if you burn yourself out too much, when you're leaving here with your last paycheck, you'll regret all the effort you put in."

Naturally, I'd fear losing my job, but I just stare blankly at her.

"So, what about you?" I nod to her.

"Well, I'm different." She winks. "I think Giovanni just has a certain fondness when it comes to me."

I'm sure she wouldn't call him Giovanni if he was here.

"If he was so fond of you," I smile. "Don't you think you'll be in that office beside him and not standing behind a counter all day?"

I flash her a sweet smile, and she gasps like she's just now realizing.

"You don't know what you're saying," she seethes.

"Neither do you," I shoot. "Now if you'll excuse me."

I sidestep her, and my heels clink loudly as I stride toward the elevator, still feeling the heat of her gaze on my back.

At least my body is giving her something to look at.

I've been wearing fitted clothes since I started working here and even squeezed out money to shop for new ones.

I tell myself it's to look good, but a little part of me knows it's because of how Giovanni’s heated gaze pins me each time he sees me.

The hallway is quiet because there are only two offices on this floor, the conference room and the break room. On this floor, it's usually just Elvira, Giovanni, and me.

I'm grateful for that, because the last thing I want is to make too many friends during such a mission. It will only lead to stale friendships when I eventually have to leave or perhaps when I get caught and carried away by the police.

God knows I haven't thought that far yet, but only because I'm still on the shallow level.

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