Emily stood in front of Angelo, speechless, and she suddenly remembered a friend telling her how important it was to research your employer, and oh, how she wished she had taken that advice.
"I, I—" she stuttered in the presence of Angelo.
"Is it just me, or are all my employees suffering from severe speech impediments because none of you can deliver a proper sentence? Now, Mr. Manny, I don't know how you run things around here, but I do not tolerate slackers, and I certainly do not appreciate my employees standing up to me."
"Yes sir" Manny responded with his head bowed down, afraid to meet Angelo's gaze.
"And as for this young lady, I suggest you reach an agreement with her that involves paying not just for the wine that she wasted but for my designer wine glasses as well," Angelo ordered.
Emily's eyes grew wide with shock; her mind mentally calculated just how much that would cost, but in the end, it did not matter; at least she still had her job.
Without saying anything else to her, Angelo turned on his heel and began walking away, but then he stopped at the casino's entrance. With his back still facing them, he delivered the blow.
"Oh, Manny, please tell that fool who spilled my wine that she's fired," he ordered. Emily watched as he entered the casino confidently and without a care in the world, while her world had just fallen apart before her very eyes.
After Angelo left, Manny turned his attention to Emily and began yelling at her, yet she did not hear a thing. That was it; once again she had lost out on a job, all because she wanted to defend herself.
"Emily!"
"Yes!" she answered. She turned her head and saw Margaret standing beside her, her face saddened; she already knew what had transpired.
Smile Emily, smile. She reminded herself, and almost mechanically, she plastered a smile on her face.
"I heard everything," Margaret informed her. A tear rolled down Emily's cheeks, but she quickly wiped it away; there was no time to wallow in self-pity.
"I'll just go and get my stuff." Emily tried walking away, but Margaret stopped her.
"What will you do now? I know that your son is—"
"Please, don't worry," Emily pleaded, taking Margaret's hand in hers and kissing it before walking away from the older woman.
**
Surprisingly, Angelo was not as upset as he thought he would be. Having a mare employee talk down to him in the presence of his guests was something that under normal circumstances he would have never allowed, yet here he was, seated on his sofa, in his private room.
"I've seen you've grown soft," Angelo heard a voice, throwing his head back, and almost immediately he felt a throbbing headache. Unfortunately for him, his sister had the gift of doing that to him.
"What do you want, Lexi?" he asked her as his eyes shot wide open. There she stood, at the entrance of his private room. Her blond hair was always styled upwards as if she lived in an eighties sitcom, and she wore a mini dress as if she were a woman in her prime.
"Is that how to welcome your sister?" She asked him, and without an invitation, Lexi walked towards him and sat beside him. Angelo turned his head to the side and, interestingly, looked at his older sister.
"Has it ever occurred to you that I would rather not see you today?" He questioned her, and almost immediately she stopped smiling.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked him as her eyes watered. Angelo simply rolled his eyes with annoyance. This was typical of Lexi, who always uses emotional blackmail to get her way... Unfortunately for her, it had worked on Angelo but many years ago.
"What are you here for?" he asked once more, groaning and dreading the thought of listening to her answer.
"I heard that someone outbid you," she blurted out, and immediately Angelo stood up from his sofa and angrily looked down at his sister.
"Who told you this?" he questioned her. No one was supposed to know that once again he was outsmarted by a man or woman without a face.
"Relax, no one knows about this," Lexi reassured him and waved him off.
"Then how did you come about this information?"
"Come on, Angelo, I have my way of getting the kind of information I need," she answered playfully. He looked down at his sister, who was now playing with her hair—a sign that she was here for something more than gossip.
"How much?"
"Excuse me?" Lexi asked, surprised by Angelo's question. Digging his hands into his pocket, Angelo stared right into Lexi's eyes.
"You either tell me how much you want from me or risk—"
"Only fifty thousand dollars," she responded, cutting Angelo short of what he wanted to say.
"Find my accountant and have him write out a cheque for you," he ordered her, and with lightning speed, Lexi stood up from the sofa and walked past Angelo, but not before stopping beside him.
"Oh, I saw what happened in the garden. Next time, I suggest that instead of just firing her, you make her regret ever speaking to a Sorrentino like she just did," Lexi told him. Her tone was less sweet than when she had nearly begged him for money a few moments ago.
"I fired her, and I believe that is enough."
"No! It is not enough. Our family name is under threat, and we have more to worry about every day. That stunt you just pulled there shows the people that you are weak; you don't want to disappoint our late father, do you?" Lexi's words struck a nerve with him.
She was right; the Sorrentino name needed to be feared and respected at all times, and he needed to once again prove himself and prove that his late father had made the right choice in naming him heir to the Sorrentino fortune