Dangerous Desires Part 1: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Me series)

by A. G. Khaliq

Limited?!”

  Millie

  repeated, mind-blown.

  “Why, is there something wrong?” I asked awkwardly, scratching my arm.

  Millie let out a giggle.

  “No, just that the CEO of that place is an absolute babe!” Maisie said coyly, her cheeks flushing bright pink as she bit her lip.

  “Seriously, you need to get you some of that, girl,” Millie added, winking. “I'm sure you'll be working very closely with him.”

  “Give over,” I chuckled, shoving her playfully.

  “We'll let you get to work, you don't 31

  wanna be late,” Maisie grinned.

  “Or a certain boss might have to punish you when you get there,” Millie smirked, and we all roared with laughter.

  “Yeah, I should get going,” I smiled, with my hands on my hips. “It was nice meeting you girls.”

  “You too, babe!” Millie exclaimed, and then both of them waved me goodbye as I made my way to the elevator.

  “She's so lucky,” Maisie giggled as I left.

  I made my way to Indigo Limited in an Uber.

  The building was huge, and must have had hundreds of floors. Just staring at it made me feel intimidated.

  I dusted myself off, before making my way inside, to the main Reception desk. The receptionist was really pretty, with dark skin and black hair. She looked really friendly too.

  “Hi,” I smiled.

  The receptionist put her book down, and then rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

  “How may I help you?” she shrugged.

  “I'm Sapphire Myers,” I explained. “I'm one of your new software developers. I got confirmation that I got the job a few days ago 32

  over the phone.”

  The receptionist rustled with her papers, and then scribbled something down with pen.

  “Yes, I have your name down,” she said finally. “Welcome to Indigo Limited, Sapphire.

  We really hope you'll enjoy working with us.”

  “I'm looking forward to it.”

  “Follow me and I'll take you to your boss,”

  she replied, getting up from her seat. “He'll give you a rundown of what your daily tasks will be.”

  “Thank you,” I said appreciatively, and then followed her lead down the hallway.

  The receptionist led me to the door where Donte’s office was, a few floors up from where we had been before.

  “Boss, I've got your new software developer here!” she called out.

  I scratched my arm uneasily, suddenly a bundle of nerves. This was the first time that I was going to be meeting him, and I was suddenly anxious at the very thought of it.

  “Let her in!” came Donte’s voice.

  The receptionist opened the door and ushered me inside.

  “I'll leave you to it, Boss,” she smiled, before departing from the room, leaving me 33

  alone with him.

  For a minute, I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Donte had his back turned to me as he rustled around with his paperwork. Then, he turned around to face me, and my jaw almost dropped to the floor in shock as I drunk him in.

  The boss of Indigo Limited was standing before me…

  Staring at me, with his arms folded.

  And he was fucking gorgeous.

  Maisie and Millie weren't lying.

  I was not expecting this...

  34

  3

  donte

  When the receptionist Sainabou called out to me and told me that the new Python developer had arrived, I turned around from rustling around with my paperwork. I'd just been in a heated phone call with one of my business partners, so I was stressed as fuck, and pissed off. I really couldn't be arsed to deal with anybody else right now, who would add even more shit to my plate.

  But as soon as I laid eyes on her…

  I was fucking shocked to say the very least.

  35

  I took a minute to look at the beautiful woman standing before me in my office, who'd suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts about work. All I could focus on was her. She was the highlight of the damn room.

  She was dressed awkwardly, probably the only woman in this office I'd seen who wore a tiny skirt but with tights.

  It was like she was trying to look sexy but still cover herself up at the same time, barely showing any skin.

  She looked like a mystery…

  But I found myself drawn to her, wanting to know more about her. She'd sparked my curiosity to say the least. She was a mystery that I wanted to solve.

  She had bright purple-colored eyes.

  I couldn't tell if they were contact lenses or real.

  But either way…

  They were beautiful.

  I’d never seen a girl as beautiful as her in my entire life before. Just one look at her was enough to make me feel undone and unprofessional.

  How had I never come across this woman before?

  I'd seen a lot of women in my lifetime, and 36

  had my fair share of them too. Pretty women, curvy women, slim women…

  But never a woman like this.

  Despite her gorgeous exterior, though, I could see pain in her eyes...

  When I stared into them, I felt a sense of familiarity. It was like I was staring back at myself in the mirror. It was like she was feeling the same emotions that I was, because I'd been through a hell of a lot in my lifetime.

  She looked exhausted, broken, tired.

  Just like I was.

  And it scared me. It always took more than a pretty woman to bring me to my knees, but I saw pure, vulnerable emotion on the surface of her. She looked like she was trying to be strong, but really, she'd gone past her own breaking point...

  And that was something that I knew all-too-well about. I'd been through it myself.

  She had long, dark black hair.

  And she was scratching her arm awkwardly, looking intimidated by me. She looked insecure and anxious, and it made me wonder why the prettiest women always thought so little of themselves.

  She looked intimidated by my gaze, and the way that I was looking at her.

  37

  It was like I was making her nervous with just my presence in the room.

  It was like she didn't realize how beautiful she really was…

  38

  4

  maya

  As I stared at him, I allowed myself to drink him in.

  This man was gorgeous…

  I would be lying if I said that he wasn't. It didn't take an idiot to notice that he was attractive, and fairly young at that, too. No wonder Maisie and Millie had spoken about him as if he was Manhattan's most eligible bachelor.

  He had light brown hair, thick eyebrows, gorgeous pale brown eyes, a scruffy, rugged 39

  beard, and a scar through his left eye.

  He was wearing a tight black jacket, but the top underneath had been unbuttoned slightly, to reveal his locked heart tattoo, that had been inked on his perfect, chiseled abs.

  Maybe he got that tattoo to show that he shut off from people, too… Because as I stared at him, I couldn't help but to get this feeling that he was a closed-off and reserved person, just like I was.

  I was usually good at reading people. I'd taught myself how to after everything I'd been through as I grew up, that led up to my job in the Secret Service. I'd grown up without the luxury of having a lot of friends or having people close to me. But I'd gotten used to it. The solitude, and being comfortable with my own company.

  A lot of people grew up with friends who ended up double-crossing them. That was why I was so good at reading people. I could usually tell if somebody was two-faced by the way that they behaved, and I was usually good at figuring out their true colours.

  But this man was a mystery.

  It felt like under his rough, tough exterior, there were hundreds of jigsaw pieces that were just waiting to be fit together. I couldn't figure him out at all. Because in some ways, he looked 40

  like
a broken and tired individual, but in other ways, he looked dangerous, and not somebody that you would want to fuck with.

  But either way...

  He looked like a mystery that I wanted to solve.

  I didn't know if he was part of the Russian Mafia or not...

  But seeing as he was the CEO of Indigo Limited, he must be involved somehow. My boss had told me that he suspected Donte.

  I didn't know if I should jump to conclusions, because I needed to start investigating properly before I reached a verdict about this man. I needed to focus on the task that I was given by the Secret Service.

  I shouldn't let myself get distracted, by somebody who was potentially the enemy. I couldn't just stand here and allow my mind to wander, just because Donte didn't match the man I pictured him to be in my head. Good-looking or not, he was probably a fucking criminal.

  Donte began rubbing his chin in thought, as he continued to stare at me. I couldn't help but to burn underneath his gaze. There was so much tension in the air right now, that you could cut it with a knife. He was staring at me as if he was 41

  staring right into my soul. And it fucking terrified me. I was losing my composure over the first time that I was ever seeing him, and it made me wonder if I would even be able to keep up being a double agent at the rate that I was going.

  I needed to diffuse the awkwardness of this situation somehow, and snap out of my thoughts. I'd trained for years over shit like this.

  I knew what I had to do.

  I walked towards him, ready to introduce myself. Despite the mission, I had to force myself to act polite with him, even though I'd come here to tackle some murders. I had to try my best to bury my feelings under the surface. I was going to be working here now, after all.

  He looked like he'd abruptly snapped out of his thoughts, too, and now, he was back to being professional.

  “Hello…” I began sheepishly. “Mr…?”

  “Abruzzi,” Donte smiled, folding his arms.

  “Hi, Mr Abruzzi,” I greeted, with my hands on my hips. “I'm your new software developer.”

  “As I've heard,” Donte replied. “What's your name?”

  “It's Sapphire,” I said awkwardly.

  “Sapphire Myers.”

  42

  I knew that it would be hard to get used to my new name. I was a little paranoid that I would slip up one day and end up allowing my real name to roll off my tongue. I really had to get used to saying this new fucking title of mine.

  “Miss Myers,” Donte smiled. “I've left a list of things that need coding by your desk.

  From your resume, I'm assuming that you're well familiar with Python?”

  “Yes, I am,” I confirmed.

  Which was an absolute piss-take to learn just for the sake of this job! I thought to myself.

  “Excellent,” Donte grinned. “I'll let you get on with it then. The receptionist will show you your way to your new office.”

  “I get my own office?” I giggled.

  “Courtesy of working with Indigo Limited.”

  I bet, I thought to myself.

  “I'll get going then,” I said, and then turned on my heel to begin making my way out of the office.

  “Wait!”

  As soon as I took a step away from Donte, he stopped me from going. Electricity jolted through my body as he put his hand on my waist to prevent me from taking another step. I felt frozen to the spot. I turned around, biting my lip 43

  as he stared at me. He was so tall, it was like I was trapped underneath him.

  This seemed a little inappropriate... He wasn't even doing anything, but I could feel the physical attraction towards him. I was getting so nervous, and his eyes were burning into mine.

  But I couldn't help but to feel disappointed at myself for allowing him to screw with my mind like this. This man probably thought that I was an easy fuck. He probably felt entitled... That just because he had a pretty face, I'd drop to my knees for him, strip for him, and let him treat me like a fucking lapdog. I'd come across his sort before. I'd been part of tackling organized crime operations before in my career, too. And if there was one thing I'd learnt about the men who were involved in drug smuggling, and cartels...

  It was that they had no fucking soul. They showed no remorse for what they did, and how many lives they fucking destroyed. They treated women as nothing more than whores, to use at their own disposal. Everything in their lives revolved around money, and being rich as fuck, no matter what means they had to take to get that money. I'd tackled scum that were involved in human trafficking operations, as well as trafficking to do with guns.

  44

  I took a moment to stare into his eyes a little…

  And it was like I could see darkness in them.

  I could feel the darkness.

  And it scared me.

  I was already running from a dark past…

  And this man seemed like he was still living in a dark present.

  My gut instinct had never failed me before, and my gut instinct was telling me that this man was bad, bad fucking news.

  I didn’t leave a monster from my past behind just to get involved with another one…

  “Is there a problem, Mr-” I swallowed.

  “Mr Abruzzi?”

  I scratched my arm nervously, as I tried to figure out what he was thinking about in this moment. I’d probably already blown my chances at this job, and made a terrible first impression. I was supposed to strut in here with confidence, knowing my stuff, but as soon as I set eyes on this man, it was a different fucking story…

  45

  5

  donte

  There was so much chemistry between us right now…

  I could feel it radiating.

  She was so gorgeous, I wanted to ask her for a drink after work…

  But I didn't know if I was being too forward. I didn't know why I was behaving this way with a woman that I'd just met. I'd spent my whole life just having casual hook-ups and empty sex. I'd never cared about a woman 46

  before, but looking at Sapphire intrigued me. I found myself wanting to know more about her, despite the circumstances of her being my employee, and me being her fucking boss.

  But she was out of my league anyway...

  It wouldn't be fair on me to throw myself into her life.

  With the amount of baggage that I carried, the amount of weight that I held on my shoulders...

  With the criminal life that I led.

  She didn't deserve a man like me. She looked like a good girl, but I was battling with my own demons. My life was a fucking shit-storm.

  There was always a new fucking problem or issue in it every day, and it would be wrong of me to drag her down with me and force her into a life on edge with no rest.

  I liked to think of myself as a decent person. Sure, I was no fucking saint, but I wasn't exactly the devil either. From a young age, my father wanted to raise me and my brothers to have the life that he never had. My father had grown up in the hood, along with my mother, and had ties to a criminal family. But that was the thing when you grew up in the streets. You had to do what you had to in order to survive. It was kill or be killed, and eat or be eaten in that 47

  fucking world.

  My father had a past that he wasn't proud of. Growing up in the streets, he had to sell drugs and compete for territory to make his way up.

  But he made sure to put himself through an education, promising himself that he would make it out of the hood one day. He made a promise to my mother when he fell in love with her that it wouldn't always be like this. That they wouldn't always have to get by, by doing terrible fucking shit.

  Despite him selling drugs and shit, my father still had a fucking conscience. He would never get himself involved in human trafficking, or participate in the kidnapping, slave labour and rape of men and women. The Russian Mafia, with which my father had ties to, fucking insisted on it, but my father always said no.

  And he held up his
end of the promise to my mother. When my mom got pregnant, my dad decided that enough was enough. He didn't want us to grow up in that kind of environment, where we would get influenced or always have to live our life on edge, having to look over our shoulder wherever we fucking went. He tried to cut ties with the Russian Mafia, but obviously, the Mafia wasn't something that you could just leave. In the Mafia, you're bound by blood.

  48

  He eventually managed to break away from it and live a legitimate life. He was more of a guy that loomed in the shadows, who was only needed whenever something extreme was going on. The motherfuckers agreed to let my dad live a normal life, but in return, they wanted us to use our businesses to launder their illegal funds, from offshore bank accounts, or their blood money. We didn't take part in selling drugs or collecting debts or anything like that anymore.

  We did sell guns, but only legally, to people like cops and do-gooders. It was a blessed, legal side of business.

  Don't get it twisted though. We only laundered their money because we had to, or they would never be sweet to us or get off our fucking back. And even though we laundered their money, we didn't build our businesses from the ground up from illegal money. We'd put nothing but blood, sweat and tears into building our empire. Our software company, laundromat, casino, and strip club... It was all the result of hours of hard work and dedication. Not any fucking hand-outs.

  Even though we weren't directly a part of the Mafia, there were things that I'd seen growing up that I couldn't un-see. My dad always tried to keep business out of the house, but 49

  sometimes, those motherfuckers would just barge in to take care of shit. I'd seen people be murdered and tortured, not by my dad, but by the Russians.

  Even though my dad despised it, I knew those motherfuckers still sold women on the down-low. Shit like that made my blood fucking boil. Knowing that so many women were being raped, and being forced into doing things that they didn't want to do. Being forced into fucking prostitution. That was why, growing up, even though my father tried his best to keep me and my brothers out of everything...