Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 74214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Who had time for that?
“Honestly, I was starting to worry it was never going to come together. But I’m really proud of what we’ve done here.”
“I imagine a lot of that is thanks to you.”
“A lot of it was your vision. I just helped pull it together.”
“Probably did more than help. Love Domenico, but I know he’s not gonna remember to buy doll clothes and leaf litter.”
“He’s oddly good at creating dead bodies,” Hazel said, making a surprised snort escape me.
I guess she didn’t know then.
That was one question answered.
The Grassi name was pretty damn notorious in and around Navesink Bank. But I was pretty sure her résumé included a work history somewhere in the South. Florida, maybe.
If she was new in town, there was a good chance she didn’t know what locals did about the mafia. Or the various other criminal organizations in the area.
Because if she knew or even suspected who we were and what we did, the dead body decorations wouldn’t have been nearly as amusing to her. Disturbing would be a lot more likely.
“If you don’t want Domenico doing the tours for the kids, that’s totally fine. I can come in a little earlier to make sure all of this,” Hazel said, waving out an arm, “is taken care of, so I have time to meet the buses when they start to arrive.”
I glanced over toward where Dom was shooting me a pained look. He didn’t want to do this kind of work. He was much more enthusiastic about mob work. Maybe it was better for him to be a manager in title only.
“If you were to put a percentage to all this, how much would you say you handled yourself?”
“It was a team effort. We all played our parts.”
“And your part was what percentage of work?” I watched as she glanced at her feet, uncomfortable with the question. “No one is gonna get in trouble.”
“Seventy?” she said. And the hesitancy made me think that it was more like eighty or ninety.
“What do you think about a promotion?” I asked. “Maybe… an… operations manager? Dom would technically be in charge as a whole, but you would be right beneath him. With all the power that comes with: company credit card to get the shit you need, ability to hire and fire as you see fit.”
“I don’t need to interview first?”
“Think of this as the interview,” I said, waving around. “It’s yours if you want it. A raise too, obviously. If you’re taking on extra responsibility, you deserve another… five an hour?” Was that too little? I wasn’t used to business shit like this. “With another potential raise depending on how the rest of this season goes.”
“I’ll take it,” she said, a little too eagerly. If she was new to the area like I suspected, she was probably experiencing a bit of shock at the cost of living in town. Even an extra five bucks an hour could make a big difference.
“I’ll put it through the system as soon as I get home.”
“Do I have a cap on how many hours I can work? Because I’ve been pulling fourteen-hour days lately.”
“No cap. Whatever you need done. But maybe consider hiring another hand that you can train and trust to take over for you, so you can have some time off.”
“Okay. Great. I can work on that. We will likely need more hands for the Christmas season too, so it would be good to train them now. I, uh, will go save the children from your cousin,” she said, shooting me a smirk. “Thanks for the promotion.”
“Thanks for making this exactly how I envisioned it. If not better.”
To that, she gave me a dazzling fucking smile.
Then she was rushing off to take over for Domenico. My cousin came sauntering over, looking relieved.
“Christ, they make a lot of noise.”
“They’re kids,” I said, shaking my head.
“No, the moms, man. The moms.”
That got a little laugh out of me.
“You met Hazel.”
“Yeah.”
“Pretty.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Don’t fuck her,” Dom demanded.
“Excuse me?”
“This place would probably fall apart without her. Dunno how the fuck we got through the summer season without her.”
“The farmhands,” I said.
“Yeah, them. But we need her. So don’t fuck her.”
“I wasn’t planning on it. But I did give her a promotion. She’s still under you but has more power.”
“Yeah, man. Whatever she wants to take on, I’m game. You know this ain’t my thing. I’m just here until I’m off parole.”
“Yeah, I get it. I’d be happy to know there is someone here who can take your place when that day comes.”
“Which is why…”
“I can’t fuck her,” I filled in.
Dom slapped me hard on the back of the shoulder. If I were any less fit, I’d have stumbled forward from the impact.
“Now you’re getting it.”
Yeah, well, one part of me hadn’t exactly gotten the message. But I would just have to learn to deal with that.