Uncovering The Boss

CHAPTER 5: A BULLET FOR A LADY

"Are you alright boss?! Miss Annabella, ma'am, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but my expensive heels are now dead. Your boss owes me a new pair."

Annabella looked like she had no scratch as Bruno helped her up. I had no scratch on me too, and managed to get up quickly.

Bruno, my bodyguard for that day, looked both worried and infuriated by the shooting. The look of anger I gave him made his expression more grim, and I swear, whoever attempted to kill me would wish they were already dead. 

"Forgive me, boss, I'll make those shooters pay. The boys are telling me that they are currently chasing the guy down the block."

"It's alright, Bruno. Make sure you find out who he is and who he is working for. I don't want anyone to know about this incident, and I want you to make sure that this entire place is cleared. Reserve this place for me and Annabella."

"Copy that, boss. Please enjoy your evening."

Bruno escorted the both of us inside, and assigned five other men to surround us while we ate at one of the booths. The entire place was surrounded, and I knew Bruno was hiding in the shadows and overseeing everything.

"I didn't think that you were the kind of girl to have amazing reflexes and help me dodge a bullet. I assume that you'd be terrified and freeze or something."

"I'm not a damsel in distress, Mr. Michael De Angelo. If you're always in the bar, you'd know that this is definitely normal. I’ve seen multiple shootings, and a red dot to the head is one of the most obvious signs that you were dead meat if I was not able to help you dodge that incoming bullet."

"Well, that's very impressive, Annabella. I guess I was wrong to judge you by your looks alone. My apologies if I thought you were one of those girls who were helpless when it comes to guns."

"Apology accepted since you're the King of the mafia world. Plus, I didn't want my date to get hurt. I refuse to go home and waste my dress. I prepared for this, you know."

"Well, that could be easily arranged since you saved me from a bullet, and your looks tonight are to die for. But, on one condition. You need to stop calling me Mr. De Angelo and just call me Michael. I can't have my date call me formally, it wouldn't feel like a date."

"Wow, I never thought the king of the mafia world would give me the honor to call him by his first name. I've always thought that bosses like you would want me to call you formally as a show of dominance."

"I'm dominant, Annabella, but my dominance is only experienced in three places. The office, the field, and in the bedroom."

"Hmm, well, those are understandable places to show dominance, Michael. I don't want to see your dominant side in the first two places, but I'm particularly interested in the third one."

We both laughed suggestively at her remark, and I made a promise to get her anything she wanted after the date. Annabella was indeed a special girl, and what she did tonight surprised me.

"You know Michael, I don't just have quick reflexes, I'm also amazingly flexible. I can show my skills to you if you want me to. However, I'll only show it if you call me Bella instead of Annabella. I adore my name, but I prefer the shorter version of my name since it means beautiful. It's fitting for my kind of beauty don't you think, Michael?"

The twinkle in her eyes showed me that she was more than willing to show me her different skills and the different beauty that I haven't discovered yet. I also know that her skills were not only limited to self-defense and offense.

"Yes indeed, your name fitts the beauty that you possess. Now, one of my condo units is only a few blocks away from here. I have a training area where you can show me exclusively the skills and beauty that you have. Based on your performance today during the shooting, I assume you have more hidden that I'd be glad to uncover."

We both finished our drinks and our dinner, and Bruno escorted the both of us towards the door. However, before either of us could get outside, a woman cleared her throat behind us.

"Boss, I'm really sorry for cutting your night short. I just received a message from Ms. Stephanie, and she had requested your presence immediately.

 We are instructed to bring you to her quickly, because there has been an emergency regarding your upcoming event."

"Wow, I guess the life of a mafia boss isn't as fun as I thought, Michael. It looks like you can't even enjoy the presentation that I had in mind tonight."

"Well, I guess you'll have to show it to me next time, Bella. My men and I will get in touch with you as soon as I can."

"That's a promise Mr. Boss. I would assume a King's word is to be trusted when it comes to a second date with a beauty like me?"

"Of course it is, Bella. I assume you would clear up your schedule the moment I ask you out again? Just so I could see your full performance exclusively."

When the flirting was over, I could see my men helping her get in her car as I was escorted to mine. I quickly dialed Stephanie's number, and informed her that I would meet her at my private villa near the ocean. It was a place where I met with Steph during any kind of emergency regarding our personal lives and the company's sake.

“I called Bruno and the others to make sure that you get here without any problem. There have been multiple times where the men couldn't predict when you’ll get shot, or when a hitman would pop up and attempt to kill you.”

“You’re right about that, Steph. I’m already guessing that Bruno made sure that you knew what happened back at the restaurant?”

“Of course he did, Michael. Unfortunately, he and his men would get a punishment because of this. I didn’t want to give them, but Bruno insisted that they needed to be punished, and suggested to me that your bodyguards should only be the elites and the assassins.”

“Is this the reason why you called me and interrupted my steamy night with the beautiful Annabella? Or is there another reason that you declared an emergency on me just after I ate dinner?”

“Well, well, well, boss, you seem to have a liking for this walking puppet who looks like Barbie but acts like Anabelle the possessed doll?”

The laughter I got from Stephanie on the other line made me chuckle a bit, and I remembered how the two of us would always tease each other whenever one of us dated someone. To me, no one would ever be good enough to date Steph, and she mentioned multiple times that no one was worthy of me either. Unfortunately, she only said that because according to her, no one was bad enough to have to suffer dating me.

“Hey, a king needs his concubines while looking for his one true queen Ms. Capo. Besides, the little miss Annabella is proving that she is someone that I should watch out for and not underestimate. That being said, make sure that you get every bit of information from her, and make sure that she is who she says she is. Because if she is, I’d like her to be my new secretary since she has qualities that I personally like.”

“Oh really? By qualities, do you mean her perfectly made breasts and figure, or her possibly earth shattering performance in your condo that was postponed until further notice?”

“I won’t even ask how you knew all about that, so I’m just assuming you heard it from someone or from some device. Furthermore, to answer your question, it’s all of the above.”

I heard Stephanie faking the sound of throwing up at my answer to emphasize her distaste and I couldn’t help but laugh at her response. After a few more seconds of bickering about my lovelife and her nonexistent one, we both decided to end the call.

After arriving at the villa, I saw the few little children that ran around the place wearing thor pajamas and carrying little toys as they played with each other. They were the children of my men, and the sight of them made me smile a little.

“Hey boss, care to join me in the meeting room, or are you just going to stare at the kids and have baby fever?”

I saw Stephanie at the top of the stairs, and I followed her as we continued our little bickering. The talk stopped when we reached the huge doors of the meeting room. Inside, there was a secret door that opened to my private room where I held the meetings to our most dangerous assignments and plans in the past.

“You’re bringing me here, which means that the emergency is something that involves your personal involvement as both the head of my security, and the capo of the De Angelo family.”

“The project that Alpha Omega Group of Companies has in Asia faced an unfortunate delay due to the investors from Singapore. These investors were bankrupted and bought by a different company in a span of a week, and no one noticed it.”

“They’re just one investor, Stephanie, what harm could they do to the project? We can still do the project without that company.”

“Yes, but the problem is not the investors in Singapore’s bankruptcy and withdrawal. The problem is the company that bought theirs, because that company is Mondragon Inc. Fruego Kane Mondragon’s son now owns the Singapore investor, and is attempting to buy the other companies that invested in our project. The companies that we have formed a bond with in Asia are slowly being taken over by the Mondragon’s through brute force and influence. If we don’t find a way to win more companies, our company could have a big problem, and our cover could be in jeopardy.”

I slammed my fist on the table, and I saw a crack beginning to form on the spot that my hand landed on. Stephanie and I looked at each other, and I saw her pull out another folder that had the word confidential on the front.

“Oh, and here is the photo of the guy that attempted to shoot you back at the restaurant. There were two of them, but only the guy who accompanied the real shooter was caught.”

I looked at the photo, and my eyes felt like it was going to go out of my eye sockets as I saw the guy’s tattoo on his neck. It was a crescent moon that was the same as mine and the guy who killed my brother when I was eight.