Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 2-8

My hands pulled at the bottom of the top, which was too tight, too short, too everything.

"You have nice cleavage."

Ashley immediately regretted her words and pursed her lips in fear of my reaction.

"I'm not comfortable. I've never actually worn an outfit like this before today."

"It's just for a few hours. It looks great on you."

My assistant tried to reassure me as best she could. She then handed me a phone.

"The battery is full, so it won't die during the day. I created an email address and put Yeraz's number in the directory. Only he and your assistants are allowed to contact you on it. It's geolocated. Make sure you always have it with you."

I nodded, still surprised by the young woman's efficiency. How did she do it? Suddenly, a soft but authoritative voice was heard from the other side of the office doors.

"Where is she? Miss Jimenez?"

A man in his fifties with a partially bald head and a small stature entered the room like a hurricane. His oval face, tanned, showed a certain coldness. Visibly angry, he was frowning, his bushy eyebrows furrowed.

"Peter?" Ashley said, her eyes wide.

I vaguely remembered that name. Camilia had pronounced it during our interview. It was her assistant. Peter was in charge of the applications for the assistant position. My blood left my face and I leaned against the table to not collapse. He was coming for me.

"Cooper, leave us!"

Ashley complied and disappeared at full speed without saying anything. Peter seemed to have all the power. He didn't mind Mr. Khan's presence on the premises. He walked around me, his eyes wrinkled with anger. His checkered jacket and velvet pants contrasted with the Khans' very refined style.

"So, you're the person I supposedly recommended? You're an impostor!"

His disdain for me disarmed me. I wanted to disappear. The man continued to circle me, like a lion around its prey.

"I assure you, I repeatedly refused the offer."

Peter stopped right in front of me. His little brown eyes pierced me.

"Yet here you are. I've put at the service of Yeraz Khan a young woman who knows nothing about this business, nothing about this world, and who doesn't care about the codes of beauty and fashion."

I answered in a weak voice, "I doubt my beauty and fashion style will have any impact on Mr. Khan's daily life."

The man pulled back, surprised by my words. He sneered at me with contempt.

"Yes, it will, Miss Jimenez. And you'll find out soon enough. The only thing that pleases me is that Mr. Khan's taste in women is on a much higher level than yours. You, at least, won't be sleeping with him!"

Peter turned around, satisfied with the darts he had just thrown at me. I was glad to hear that I wasn't to Mr. Khan's liking. I would have been surprised, if not frightened. I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with a parade of subordinates like him all day. Before he walked out the door, he turned and said to me in a nasty tone, "Quit, Jimenez. You'll be doing everyone a favor, especially yourself."

Yeraz joined me in the back of the sedan a few minutes later. Two men who accompanied him got into another car in front of us. Fortunately, this car didn't have seats facing each other, so he couldn't watch me like last time. I didn't know if he noticed my new top, but if he did, he didn't make any comment about it and I silently thanked him for that.

"To Saleh's," he ordered his driver.

He turned his face to the window and addressed me in a cold voice.

"I received the new schedule that you sent me by email. There are no appointments for Saturday."

I emitted a few unintelligible sounds. "I am not available on weekends."

Yeraz turned his head towards me. His pretty features were of an icy and unnerving impassivity.

"You have advantages that few people around me get, Miss Jimenez. You are lucky to be able to rest."

I wanted to say something, but my inner nature took over. Rest? I'd been working odd jobs since I was sixteen, and my only distraction was the recording studio on weekends. Besides, that job required a lot of effort. Rest? I cursed him for judging me like that, just because I wasn't available to him. This man was able to put me in an emotional state I had never been in before. I would have preferred to be with my cousins, or to listen to my mother's incessant thoughts about me, than to be sitting with him right then.

I clenched my jaw and decided to ignore Yeraz for the whole journey. Ashley's tablet would help me. I focused on my work, recording in my memory all the faces and functions of the people the tablet contained.