3. Jake

Jake felt like he might pass out from panic. The sight of Damian Sorrento towering over him was almost too much to handle.

He looks… angry.

And I've heard the rumors.

Damian is a bad… BAD… man.

But as scared as Jake was of Damian, there was also the inescapable truth that Damian was as hot as hell too. Jake couldn't help but notice the rather prominent bulge at the front of Damian's immaculately tailored dark blue pants. And the fact that these pants were accompanied by a pair of perfectly polished black brogues was just the icing on the cake.

Damian Sorrento looked every inch the multimillionaire restaurant owner and businessman. But it wasn't that simple. Jake knew how Damian had made his money, well he certainly did if all the rumors were true.

There was no other way of saying it.

Damian was a killer.

And Jake wanted nothing to do with him.

‘Are you going to speak?' Damian said, the impatience in his voice clear. ‘Or perhaps you're not only a thief, but a coward too?'

Jake wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Damian where to stick his patronizing tone and bossy demeanor. But Jake knew that this wasn't a possibility. At that point, Jake just wanted the situation to be over and done with – even if that meant getting fired.

Jake's biggest concern was for his own safety.

And it was all too evident that Damian knew exactly how on edge he was making Jake feel…

‘On your feet!' Damian bellowed, his strong baritone voice bouncing off the storeroom walls. ‘If you want to make it out of this thing, you'd better get a lot quicker at responding to my commands. Up!'

Jake hated this. He wanted to run. He wanted to make a break for it. But he knew that running from someone like Damian wasn't a good idea. In fact, it would have probably been the worst possible idea in the whole world. Damian Sorrento had ways of finding people – and if the legends were true, running always made things far worse as far as Damian was concerned.

‘Y-y-yes, sir,' Jake said, the words making him want to burst out into tears. ‘I can… explain.'

‘You can explain why you were stealing? Stealing from me?' Damian said, his cold, calculating tone putting Jake back on edge. ‘No. I'm not interested. A thief is a thief. I will deal with this based on what I saw. I don't need to hear any excuses.'

‘B-b-b-but-'

‘Silence!' Damian roared. ‘You're a thief, so why wouldn't you be a liar too?'

Jake had been trying his best to hide his tears.

But now another feeling was building up inside Jake. A feeling of anger. It wasn't fair that Damian wasn't allowing him to explain. The truth was that Jake would never have stolen had it not been for how horrible Chef Jack had been.

And Jake was determined to explain this to Damian, no matter the potential cost…

‘It's not fair!' Jake bawled, his lip trembling but his voice full of determination. ‘It wasn't real stealing! I was just paying Chef Jack back for being so mean to me! He was awful! I nearly chopped my fingers off because he was shouting at me so loud! He's an asshole. A total fucking asshole!'

Before Jake realized what he was doing, he picked up a metal spoon and tossed it across the room, clattering it agains the brushed metal units opposite him.

But all the while, Damian did nothing.

Damian simply stood and watched as Jake got more and more wound up, his arms flailing as he threw kitchen utensils. Suddenly, however, Jake realized that he might just have gone too far…

Why isn't Damian saying anything?

W-w-why am I acting like such a… brat?

Fuck. I think I might be in real trouble now…

But if Jake was expecting Damian to start shouting or threatening him, he couldn't have been more wrong. Damian simply stood and waited for Jake to get himself under control.

‘You're coming with me, boy,' Damian said, his voice icy cold. ‘We can't do this here.'

‘Do… what?' Jake said, his voice quiet and subdued.

But before Jake could say anything more, he found himself obediently following behind Damian as the tall, broad shouldered mafia killer made his way out of the storeroom and toward the private elevator that led directly up to the private apartment above the restaurant.

Jake was terrified.

With his entire body trembling, Jake didn't know where to look or what to do. All he knew was that whatever happened next, it was going to be all down to Damian…

* * *

Jake had never been upstairs at the restaurant. It was a strictly no-go area for lowly sous chefs and other staff members. But now he was up there, Jake couldn't help but look around and take it all in.

With its plush red velvet décor that mirrored the seating downstairs in the restaurant itself, it was clear that there was a consistent theme going on.

The walls were dark with gold-leafed stencil work on them. Allied with the dramatic lighting and sleek metallic furnishings, it was certainly the kind of place that Jake could imagine Damian and his fellow mafia men hanging out and concocting all sorts of plans.

One other thing was immediately noticeable too.

The apartment was totally silent. As in, there wasn't a single sound rising up from the restaurant below. This took Jake aback. Soundproofing was one thing, but this was next level – and cause for concern too…

If I can't hear downstairs.

They won't be able to hear us either.

What if I need to cry for help?

What if…

Jake's face must have been an open book to his inner thoughts. No sooner had the idea crossed Jake's mind, Damian was smiling. It was like Damian had the ability to see directly into Jake's head, and Jake didn't like that at all.

‘Guns… I don't like… guns,' Jake stuttered, trying to change the subject by pointing up at the wall behind Damian's large mahogany desk.

The wall display contained what looked like a selection of historical guns, each one a symbol of a certain period of time. Jake recognized the Tommy Gun from the old movies he used to watch with his father, and he was pretty sure that one of the pistols was from the Wild West era.

‘Guns are to be respected,' Damian said. ‘And guns don't like liars, cheats, or… thieves.'

Jake felt his heart stop.

Was Damian about to shoot him?

It wasn't as if Damian hadn't had enough practice. And with the apartment seemingly being totally soundproof, what was there to stop him?

But if Damian was going to take Jake out, he certainly didn't appear to be ready to do it just yet. Jake watched as Damian walked over toward the large rectangular window that looked down onto the street below.

With the city's night skyline a dramatic backdrop, Damian stood and momentarily stared out into the sprawling city. Jake didn't even want to consider what Damian might be contemplating. That was just too scary a thought for him.

But Jake again instead found himself admiring Damian.

Physically, Damian looked to be in his absolute prime. He was a lot older than Jake but his body looked like it had been made out of the finest Italian marble. The way Damian's smart clothes fitted his frame was something to behold – and Jake couldn't stop his mind from wandering about what he might look like without his finely tailored suit on.

No! Stop!

Damian's horrible.

I can't crush on a mafia man! Especially one who might be about to kill me…

Jake found himself conflicted. Yes, Damian was hot. And it was definitely true that Jake's special place was very alert to the idea of what it might feel like to get all hot and sweaty under Damian's powerful, ruthlessly strong hands.

Even hotter was the idea of getting all steamy in one of Damian's collection of luxury cars. This had always been something of a kink for Jake. The idea of having sex in a high-end, totally luxurious car was like something out of the movies. The only problem was that Jake didn't really have much experience with men, and certainly not with the kind of man who would have the means to buy one luxury car, let alone a whole garage full of them.

But on the other hand, Jake couldn't stand the way that Damian had such total, all-encompassing control of the situation. Jake wanted a boyfriend, and he did want a Dom too. But not like this. And Jake definitely didn't want to be some horrible hitman's boy.

Jake took a quick look back toward the apartment door.

Was it too far away to make a dash to?

Where would he go if he did make it out?

But as these thoughts were spinning around inside his head, Damian evidently decided that it was time to break the silence…

‘Don't even think about it,' Damian snarled, nodding over toward the door. ‘You know who I am, don't you?'

Jake nodded.

‘Good. So you'll know that I don't do police,' Damian continued, standing tall at the window, the neon lights of the building opposite illuminating his magnificent physique. ‘You stole from me. Well, tried to steal anyhow. I've killed people for less.'

Jake gasped.

It felt like in that moment Jake's entire life flashed before his eyes.

But Damian wasn't done talking yet…

‘You need to be a good little kitchen hand and submit to me,' Damian continued. ‘I can teach you right from wrong. I know, who am I to talk? But I can teach you the way of the street. The mafia code. Without it, I don't see you lasting long in this city, certainly not the way you appear to be going.'

Jake felt so angry.

Damian was acting like he knew everything, almost like he was some kind of Guardian Angel trying to look out for Jake. But as far as Jake was concerned, Damian was just some sleazy hitman enjoying every second of control over a vulnerable employee.

It was a tough choice.

In truth, Jake didn't know what to do. But Jake wasn't stupid. He knew that if he went along with Damian's demands, then that presented him with the best chance he had of making it out of this situation in one piece.

Anything else apart from accepting Damian's offer was a risk that Jake knew wasn't worth taking. But no matter how much it made sense in Jake's head, he just couldn't get the words out.

I might be younger.

But I'll never submit. I hate him!

He might think I have, but inside I'll know the truth…

Jake watched as Damian stepped away from the window and moved slowly but surely toward him. Jake could feel his body tense up in anticipation. It was clear that Damian wanted an answer, and he wanted it right there and then.

‘So, what's it to be?' Damian said, his devilishly handsome face perfectly lit by the moody lighting. ‘Tick… tock… it's time for the boy to make up his mind.'

Jake felt his heart thumping at a hundred miles per hour. This was happening. There was no way out for him. This was real.

I… I… I don't know if I can do it.

My pride is hurting. I don't want to give him the power.

But… what choice do I truly have?