before I could dive deeper into sad memories. I straightened, took a deep breath and left the guest bedroom. There was no going back, but it wasn’t always easy to move forward, especially if you didn’t know which way to go. But I needed something that gave my life meaning and structure, something I could put my energy into, as long as Dante shut me out of his life.
I missed having a purpose, a daily task. I wasn’t someone who could sit at home all day, or spent hours going over the newest piece of juicy gossip. I wanted a job, but even during my time with Antonio, people had found it strange that he’d allowed his wife to work. I worried that it would be a scandal Dante wasn’t willing to risk.
My steps slowed as I headed toward the door he hid behind almost all the time. I wasn’t only nervous because I wanted to ask Dante for a job. What if things would be awkward and strained between us now that we’d slept together? Though I really wasn’t sure how our relationship could take a further nosedive. We were already barely being civil to each other. Apart from throwing dishes at each other’s heads and bickering constantly, there really was no way our interactions could change for the worse. And to be honest, I wondered if I might prefer heated fights to the cold ignorance I was getting now.
Gathering my courage, I knocked at his door.
“Come in,” Dante called after a moment.
I entered his office. My eyes immediately darted to the spot on the desk where the photo of his first wife had been, but he’d removed it. I didn’t think he’d thrown it out. It was probably hidden away in one of the drawers in his desk, and I didn’t expect him to forget her, to throw away every piece that reminded him of her, to banish her memory from his heart; I only wished he’d leave a little room in his heart for me.
Dante looked up from a pile of papers. “What do you need?” He didn’t say it in an unfriendly way, but it was obvious that he was busy. His demeanor toward me hadn’t changed at all, despite what we’d done yesterday. As my eyes took in his dark gray vest, my body remembered the way a similar vest had rubbed against my nipples yesterday, and I almost crossed the room and threw myself at Dante again. But I didn’t want to appear too needy. Our next sexual encounter would have to be initiated by Dante. Of course, maybe he’d go back to not touching me again.
I pushed that worrisome thought aside as I closed the door after me and walked closer to the desk. “I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Dante scanned my face. “Go on.”
“I want to work. When I was married to Antonio I helped him run his family restaurants too.” They’d only been a way to launder money, but I’d enjoyed the task. I’d greeted guests and organized arrangements when someone booked a wedding in our restaurants. After his death, his younger brother had taken over. A woman alone couldn’t possibly handle the task. That’s what our men thought anyway.
Dante leaned back in his desk chair with a frown. “Work? What did you have in mind?”
I was glad he was open to the idea and didn’t shoot it down immediately. Emboldened by this, I walked around the desk and settled on its edge. Dante’s eyes flitted to my legs, but too quickly they returned to my face. “I’m good at organizing and event planning. I’m also very good with people.” I was also good at leading people, but I kept that to myself. Made Men didn’t like women who enjoyed being in charge. Somehow most of them couldn’t get it in their heads that a strong woman at their side didn’t make them less of a man.
Dante nodded. “I need someone for one of our casinos.”
I tried to curb my excitement. I didn’t even know what Dante had in mind for me yet. “Riverboat or underground?” The casinos on land weren’t official, of course. It was still illegal to run a casino in Chicago that wasn’t situated on a riverboat, but the mob and Dante in particular were working to change that. He could be very convincing, and it certainly didn’t hurt that a few senators were regular customers in the Outfit’s casinos and brothels. Not that legalization