Page 5 of The Prices We Pay (Vittori Enterprises #1)
Josephine
I ’m standing outside the Vittori Enterprises building, staring at the doors as a mill of people pass by me on the busy New York City street. I know that the moment I walk through those doors, my entire life is about to change.
Today is not only the first day of a job I never could have dreamed of in a million years, but it’s the first day of the rest of my life.
And I’ll be damned if I make that life anything but exceptional.
Tightening my hand around the handle of my bag, I make my way into the building and through the lobby toward the elevators while simultaneously scanning my surroundings, both nervous and hopeful about the prospect of seeing Lorenzo again.
A small wave of disappointment rolls through me when I don’t see him by the time the elevator doors open.
It’s a rarity, but I’m the only one in line for the elevator, so when the doors close in front of me, I take a few minutes to gather my bearings before it reaches the top floor, where I’m supposed to meet Clara and the Human Resources representative, per the email I received after I left here yesterday.
As the elevator rides up, I stare at my reflection in the metal doors, doing one last check to make sure everything is just right.
Similar to the pants I wore yesterday, I’m wearing a pair of black, high-waisted trousers with a matching black bodysuit.
I paired it with a black oversized blazer that I have rolled at the sleeves and the black Gucci belt with gold hardware that I bought myself after I got my first job when I moved to New York a little over a year ago.
Not the smartest purchase, but I deserved it .
After many late nights and grueling year-round classes, I graduated in three years with a bachelor’s degree in business management from Palm University in Pensacola, Florida.
I quickly realized that I needed to find a path, and I needed to find it fast. Not only did I have student loans to pay off, but I was determined to never return to Billings again.
I worked too hard to get out of that place, and I didn’t want to go back with my tail between my legs and be financially supported by my super-successful younger brother because I couldn’t find a job.
I mean, how embarrassing.
I was already behind, considering I couldn’t enroll in college until I was twenty, and I didn’t want to delay my future any more than it already had been.
Luck was on my side, though, because a week after graduating, I applied for an internship in Miami at Aldrich Real Estate, a super successful Fortune 500 real estate company.
Having no real connections to Pensacola, I moved south to Miami after getting the job and worked there for a little over a year, absorbing and learning as much as possible .
One night, at a company event, I excused myself to the restroom, where I heard CEO Charles Aldrich verbally berating his wife in the hallway to the point that she was in tears.
I quit the next day.
I refuse to work for a company where a man like that is in charge. I’ve seen how those types of relationships can play out firsthand, and I won’t put myself in that space ever again.
I realized I didn’t want to risk putting my future in the hands of anyone else, so I got my customs broker license, a job I knew had a high probability of making decent money and something that my type-A Virgo personality would excel at, and started my own business.
I worked my ass off for two years, taking on as many clients as I possibly could, and quickly became one of the most sought-after customs brokers in Miami, regardless of only being twenty-four years old.
Yet, something about Florida didn’t feel quite…
right. So, I packed up everything I owned and moved up to New York.
After wheeling and dealing with just the right clients, I was able to make enough money to buy my own apartment in just six months.
Me, Josephine Jenkins, a nobody from Billings, Montana, now owns a luxury apartment in New York City.
Two years later, I’m twenty-six years old and a customs broker so successful that companies are fighting to secure contracts with me.
And now I’ve secured a contract so lucrative that it could set me up for the rest of my life.
I’ve made a success out of myself. I’m in a city I love.
I have an apartment that, for the first time in my life, feels like a home.
I have a career that I built from nothing.
I finally feel like I’m who I was meant to be.
Yet somehow, the small twinge of pain lingers in my stomach from memories I’ve tried to bury deep down but are never far from the surface.
Not the time , Joe.
The elevator opens on the top floor, pulling me out of my trance.
I take a deep breath and step out onto the luxurious marble floor, fully prepared to run into Clara or even the human resources rep.
Instead, I am greeted by a man as big as the Chrysler building with hazel eyes that feel like they see straight through me.
Craning my neck up at him, I smile. “Dante.”
His face softens slightly, but he doesn’t smile. “Ms. Jenkins.” Reaching out, he hands me a coffee and a wrapped breakfast sandwich. “When I’m nervous, I don’t eat. I wanted to make sure you did. Need all the energy you can get for your first day.”
For a brief moment, I can feel my chest well with emotion over the sincerity and thoughtfulness of his gesture.
To have someone care for me, let alone a person I barely know, feels completely foreign.
I force myself to push it down, though. I cannot get emotional over something so small on my first day.
Let alone in front of a man who looks like he’s never shed so much as a single tear in his life.
I reach out and take the breakfast from his large hands.
“I’m actually starving. Thank you. And please, call me Joe.
I’ll even accept Josephine. Anything but Ms. Jenkins. ”
“Joe, it is.”
The two of us stand in front of the elevator, neither seeming to want to move from our spots.
Regardless of how excited I am to start my first day, I don’t urge him on.
Instead, I let myself swim in his aura. His calming presence and the scent of spice and vanilla envelop me.
A strange look passes over his face before he steps to the side.
“Clara had a phone call run a bit long, but she’ll meet you in the first office on your left as soon as she’s done. ”
“Right. Thank you.”
“I’ll see you at the meeting this afternoon.”
“Meeting?” I ask in confusion.
“Yes. Luca set up a meeting in the conference room this afternoon so you could meet the COO, and the three of you could go over goals and expectations.”
Oh, sweet Jesus.
Suddenly feeling like I’m sweating, I answer, “Well, I’ll see you this afternoon then.”
He hits the button to reopen the elevator doors. When they do, he steps inside, faces me, and says, “Good luck today, Joe.”
“Thank you, Dante.”
With my bag over my shoulder, latte and breakfast sandwich in hand, I walk down the hall, passing a closed office on my right that reads “Chief Operating Officer” on the door, and head toward the first door on the left.
I push open the cracked door with my hip, expecting to find a small generic office, and almost drop the generous breakfast Dante brought me at the sight in front of me.
I probably would have, had I not been wearing my favorite pair of Louboutins.
Walking into what has to be a six-hundred-square-foot office, I immediately notice the entire wall made of windows directly in front of me that allows me to have an uninterrupted view of Central Park right across the street.
The wall to my left is adorned with the most gorgeous dark green floral wallpaper I have ever seen, and in front of it sits a black desk with gold legs equipped with a top-of-the-line computer.
In front of the desk are two matching black suede chairs.
The ceiling and the remaining two walls are painted a dark emerald green.
A large white sofa sits on the opposite side of the room near a fully stocked bar cart, and an ornate gold and crystal light fixture, resembling branches adorned with leaves, lights the room from above.
I take a few more steps into the gorgeous space and spin in a few slow circles. Even though it only has small pieces of decor and artwork, it’s like my dream office came to life before my very eyes.
There is no way this is mine.
“Hey, girl!” Clara’s bubbly voice breaks through my haze, and I spin to face her, still clutching all of my belongings in my hands as her short, full frame practically bounces over to me.
“So sorry I wasn’t here to greet you! I got held up in a meeting.
We’re getting ready to close a deal on a fashion magazine, and the owner decided to be a stickler about some last-minute issues.
Men can be so stubborn sometimes, but they’re no match for me.
Must be why Mr. Vittori hasn’t kicked me to the curb yet.
Anyway!” She inhales a deep breath and continues, “I’m so happy you’re here!
Do you love the office?! We had a design team here until the early hours of the morning.
We’re still waiting on your nameplate for the door, and I wanted to wait for you to pick out the rest of the decor, but other than that, it’s mostly done! Do you love it?”
Eyes wide, I look down at her in shock. Both at her excited rambling and the fact that they said they decorated this office for me. “Th—this is really mine?”
“Of course it’s yours! You have no idea how excited all of us are to have you here, especially me. We could use another badass woman on this floor. Plus, I’ll be forever grateful if I don’t have to listen to Mr. Vittori complain about customs forms ever again.”
I laugh at her brazenness. “I’m happy to be here.”