“Tin—”
“Don’t. Don’t call me that,” I snapped, unable to hear him using his nickname for me like nothing had happened between us. “Only my best friend called me that, and he decided to lie about a few things while abandoning me for my own father.”
Hurt flashed across Ryker’s face as if surprised I was upset with him. He should’ve known better. I wasn’t a woman who forgave others easily. Stepping around him, I moved across the landing to the stairs to the first floor, ignoring him as he opened his mouth to say something. This wasn’t the time or the place for us to hash out our issues. It was too public, and everyone was watching my every move until they formed their opinion about me. Thankfully, he kept silent, but I could feel him close behind me as if he wasn’t willing to let me ignore him completely.
The second I passed through the door and entered the dining room, a pleasant smile quickly appeared on my lips as I realized we were the last to arrive. “Good morning, everyone. My apologies if I kept you from being able to eat.”
“You’re forgiven, dear daughter. It’s your first morning here, after all,” Father greeted me, motioning for me to take a seat to his right. This was the spot reserved for the underboss and the underboss alone—the title I now carried.
Slipping into my seat, I shook out my napkin and placed it on my lap as a woman came over with the coffee pot to fill my mug. As if on cue, the platters of breakfast food were set on the table, and everyone dug in as a separate plate was set before Father. His food was portioned out and tasted like they used to back in the medieval days to check for poison.
To my surprise, another plate was handed to me as well, after I’m assuming someone tasted it. My gaze lifted to meet an identical pair of emerald eyes. Father just shook his head slightly, telling me to leave it alone, so I did. It would seem becoming the first female underboss would be as dangerous as being the boss himself. Oh goodie.
seven
Thetablewasquietas we started to eat, the only sound was the silverware scraping on the plates and the clink of glasses. The men I was now to oversee seemed stiff, unlike my uncles and Father who were totally relaxed. From where I sat, it gave me time to take a good look at all of them from under my lashes. I was curious as to what each brought to the business that my father felt was enough to have this position. Lieutenants were the inner circle and ran the biggest parts of what brought money into the family. Each of them were paid handsomely and lived here in the house, most likely on the second floor, leaving the third floor to Daddy and me.
“After breakfast, I figured it would be best to have you and your lieutenants talk business,” Father said, breaking the silence. “You boys will show her where the leaders’ conference room is, won’t you?”
“Of course, Boss,” the suave man, Gunner was his name, answered far too eagerly.
Oh, he was a brown-noser of the highest quality, making sure he was the teacher’s pet at all times. Well, he was soon going to find out I wasn’t easy to impress. After what I’ve seen and done in my short life preparing for this role, I valued authenticity above all else.
“Boss, are we to assume that Miss Caprioni doesn’t know anything about the business if you want us to educate her? It would seem highly impractical to go over that much detail otherwise,” a man stated at the end of the table.
I tilted my head as I observed him for a moment and found only honesty in his eyes. He wasn’t trying to make a dig at me for being a woman or getting put into a position over him, he truly wanted to know the answer. His dark blue eyes hidden behind a pair of stylish round glasses met mine without flinching.
“I think it would be best to assume I know everything you know, but take this meeting more as a way for me to get to learn your skills, whatyoubring to the table,” I suggested.
“It would be impossible for you to know everything I know. Even Boss doesn’t know everything I do,” Atticus pointed out. “Although I do acknowledge your strategy to have me prove my skills to you since you don’t know how intelligent I am.”
A genuine smile grew on my face as he spoke. This man was an unexpected gift, and he probably didn’t even realize it—no, Iknowhe didn’t realize it. Deception wasn’t something he probably understood or saw the point in practicing. “Atticus, correct?”
“Yes, Miss Caprioni.”
“Please, call me Astin. I’d very much like us to be close friends,” I said, perching my chin on the back of my hand. “It’s quite refreshing to meet a man with your obvious intellect as well as upfront manner of speech.”
Atticus blinked at me a few times before the corner of his mouth pulled up in what I might guess was his version of a smile. “I’m glad you appreciate my direct manner. Many people tell me I lack the social skills needed to interact well with people.”
“Then they don’t realize the joy of knowing exactly where you stand with someone,” I answered, sitting back in my chair as I looked at the others. “You guys want to know the key to working with me? It’s simple really, but few have the balls to pull it off. Own who you really are. Don’t give me what you think I want from you, be your true self. Do that while giving me your best, and I’ll respect you far more. To have someone real enough to tell me I’m being an idiot is worth more to me than having my ass kissed and fail, even though you knew it was a bad idea from the start.”
The guys all looked at each other like I had three heads. Well, everyone but Ryker, who just watched me with a smirk. He was well aware of this skill, having been that person in my life, but he would have an uphill battle proving to me he deserved to be in my inner circle once more.
Father reached over and patted my hand lovingly, giving me a wink when I met his gaze. “I have my own meetings to deal with, but when you’re finished with them, come find me in my office. There are other meetings this afternoon we’ll need to do together. I tried to make your first day as easy as possible, but I have a feeling the rest of the week will get rather exciting.” Having said what he needed to say, Father pushed back from the table and left with my uncles following after him.
“Everyone finished?” I asked as I motioned for my coffee to be refilled.
They all murmured their agreement and rose from the table, pushing their chairs in. It made me smile to see how Father’s obsession with good manners has trickled down to those in the inner circle. Sipping my coffee, I trailed after them as we walked to the back portion of the house. We stopped where a set of thick, carved wooden doors greeted us. Ryker typed in a code and placed his hand on a scanner before the doors opened and revealed the inner sanctum of the Caprioni Family business.
“At some point today, I’ll need to put you into the security system and have you create a pin number. There are a few secure locations on the property that will require this method of entry,” Ryker informed me, his tone all business, unlike earlier.
Calling this place a conference room wasn’t really fair to the space. It had high vaulted ceilings with a library on the second story full of all the information we could possibly need about the business—in code, of course. The only people who could read it were those with the last name Caprioni so no one could use it against us. The entire space was designed with deep polished wood, black metal accents and railings, giving off a sense of power and masculinity. The table itself was massive, with twelve leather armchairs set around it, taking center stage in the room. Off to the side was a bar stocked with everything a person could need, ready for a late night of work or celebration at the success of a deal. I went to the head of the table furthest away from the door where my father would sit if he were here. Seeing as he wasn’t, I decided it wouldn’t matter all that much if I used it.
“You can’t sit there,” Atticus called out the second he saw my ass hit the chair. “Only the boss sits there.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you, but seeing as he isn’t here, and I hold the position of underboss, I’m the highest-ranking member here,” I challenged to see what he’d say.
Atticus paused and seemed to process my words. Nodding, he sat once again at the end of the table. The others found their spots which were also the same as they were when we had breakfast.