They Bullied Me at Work but My Father Is the Don

"Tap more ash into his cup. He needs to understand this isn't the place for an idiot like him." I went to the break room at lunch to fill my water bottle. The second I walked in, I saw Santo and his crew gathered around my mug, ruining it. Ash coated the rim, and cigarette butts floated in the coffee. The sight turned my stomach. My folder lay on the floor with a few black boot prints across it. Santo raised an eyebrow when he saw me. "Good. You saw it. We don't feed idiots here. Go back where you came from. "You've got one week to leave on your own. After that, I have plenty of ways to make you disappear." I said coldly, "You don't call the shots at these docks." Tony, Santo's right-hand man, laughed, pulled out a gun, and tapped it against my temple once, then again. "You'll find out soon enough whether my word means anything. "You crossed Santo, and you still think you can stay? Dream on!" The others sneered, and every one of them slammed a shoulder into mine on the way out. I watched them go and smiled a little. They have no idea who I really am. And they certainly don't know that one word from me is all it would take to make Santo disappear from this world. Chapter 1 Three months earlier, the Don of the Ferraro family found me and told me I was his biological son, the baby who had been switched at birth. These docks were the first thing he gave me to make up for it and the first test he set for me. My father tapped a ledger with one finger as cigar smoke curled around his face. "Take charge of these docks. Show me you have what it takes to be the Don's heir." I took the encrypted ledger and nodded. The next day, I became Vincent, a bookkeeper at a small shipping company on a remote stretch of docks. When I started, everyone treated me normally enough. Then they realized I wasn't taking their hints and was recording every entry exactly as I found it. The way they looked at me changed. The first week, someone would still say hello now and then. By the second week, no one would partner with me to reconcile a shipment. By the third week, even the men in the cold storage room next door avoided me. Wherever I went, groups broke apart and people scattered, avoiding me as if I were a fly. I'm not stupid. I knew what it meant. It didn't bother me. I came here to do a job, not to make friends. Every day before I clocked out, I pulled out the old receipts, checked them, and marked every irregular entry in the encrypted ledger. The more they acted as if I didn't exist, the more quietly I could go through the books. Then, during an inventory count at the docks, I got jostled in the crowd and accidentally bumped into Santo. His smile froze, and he pointed a finger right in my face. "Who the hell do you think you are, touching me? "Do you have any idea how much this suit cost? I could dump you in the harbor, and you still couldn't pay for it!" That same day, Thomas in HR moved my desk to the farthest corner of the office, right next to the cold storage room. "Vincent, if you're not going to work, at least stay out of everyone else's way. You'll sit there from now on." I stood my ground. "I'm not bothering anyone. I'm not moving." Thomas frowned. "If you don't like my decision, take it upstairs yourself." I knew Santo had the company's management under his thumb. If I challenged him openly, the rest of my investigation would become much harder. I had no choice but to move. The cold storage door opened and closed all day, filling the air around me with the smell of frozen meat. After that, Santo came after me more and more often. In an alley at the docks, an oncoming truck slammed on its brakes inches from my feet, splashing muddy water all over me. Santo sat in the cab with a cigarette between his lips, almost smiling. In the break room, I found a razor blade in my food after stepping away for a minute. Santo sat across from me, eating his sandwich and winking at me. And when I got back to my apartment, there was a dead fish stinking up my bed. That's how a warning is delivered in our world. [Keep sticking your nose in, and you'll end up like the fish.] When I went to confront Santo, I found him with the ledger I kept locked in my drawer. He was holding a lit lighter beneath it. I crossed the room and took the ledger from him. I went through it twice to make sure nothing was damaged, then let out a breath. Santo walked over and patted my cheek with his gold-ringed hand. "Look at this soft little thing. His eyes are actually turning red. "What are you going to do now? Run home and hide behind your mother's skirts, begging her to protect you?" When he was done, he took his hand away. The crew behind him laughed. I only grew calmer. I committed every one of their names to memory. Santo. Tony. Paolo. Thomas... I hadn't made my move yet. I hadn't finished checking the books. It was too soon to act. Once I'd finished going through the docks' books, I'd settle the score. Chapter 2 The next day, we had a company meeting. Santo stood smiling in front of the projector, with a diagram of the new port routing plan on the screen. "Headquarters has praised our new port routing plan. "Keep it up, everyone. This year's bonus is locked in." A ragged round of applause went through the room. The whole crew crowded around him, showering him with congratulations and flattery. I was the only one who hadn't moved, and my whole body went cold. "Santo, I made that routing plan." I had walked those docks more than a dozen times to find the best possible route. I'd sent him the final version for review the week before. He'd replaced my name with his and sent it to headquarters. The room went silent. Santo scoffed. "You? Have you ever even walked these docks? Do you know what a checkpoint looks like? And now you want to take credit for my work?" Thomas from HR said evenly, "Vincent, ambition is a good thing, but it doesn't give you the right to claim your supervisor's work. "I'll record exactly what you said in this meeting. You're losing your performance bonus this month, and you'll stay late today to sort out the warehouse." Every face in the room turned toward me with the same sneer. I lowered my head and laughed at myself. I'd almost forgotten that everything sent to headquarters passed through Santo first. My plan had been sitting on his computer the entire time. Nothing I said in that room was going to matter. The meeting broke up, and I headed back to my desk. A few of Santo's dogs blocked the doorway. Paolo stepped closer and lifted my chin. "Trying to take credit for Santo's work? You've got some nerve." Tony took two steps forward. "Looks like we've been too nice. Boys, let's give Vincent something to remember us by." I eyed them warily. "What do you want?" Tony leaned against the doorframe with a nasty smile. "Relax. It's nothing much." Paolo and another man grabbed my arms and shoved me into the storeroom next door. "You can spend the day in here." The door locked behind me. I stood against the wall in the dark and added it to their tab. Good. They were one step closer to death. A second later, I kicked the locked storeroom door open. Out in the corridor, I saw Santo talking to two men in suits, his face red. They had come from headquarters. They looked ordinary, but Santo was rattled. Once the inspectors left, Santo glared at Tony. "Tony, why is someone suddenly auditing the routing plan? Did you let anything slip?" Tony waved both hands. "No! Didn't you tell me to keep an eye on Vincent? My guess is he's behind this. "Don't worry. I just locked him in the storeroom to teach him a lesson." Santo snorted. "At least you're useful for something. I'll let it go this time. "Stay in line, or you'll end up where Vincent is headed." I stood around the corner and heard every word. Santo went after me because, to him, picking on the new guy was how a man made a name for himself. When I refused to fall in line, he wanted me gone. It was laughable. He never could have imagined it. The man he was grinding under his heel was the one man in the world he could never afford to cross. I turned and walked away. As I stepped onto the office floor, someone put out an arm to stop me. "Hey. Thomas wants you in his office." Chapter 3 I went upstairs to the HR office. Thomas came straight over and pulled me aside. "Did you report Santo for stealing your routing plan? "Did you bring the auditors down on this company?" I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't sent that email, but the auditors showing up suited me just fine. I countered, "Didn't you say the plan belonged to Santo? "Even if I did take it to headquarters, if it's really his work, I'm the only one who'll be punished. So what are you worried about? "Or did you know from the start that it was mine?" That stopped him. But he recovered quickly. With a warning in his eyes, he said sharply, "The routing plan can only belong to Santo. "There are powerful people above him. You can't afford to cross them. All they have to do is say the word, and you'll disappear from this city. "Don't get yourself killed. Go in there and tell them you were jealous of Santo and made the whole thing up. "I'll do what I can to bury this. Then leave. Go as far away as you can." I pulled my arm free and smiled. "I know what to say now." Inside, the man from headquarters looked me over. "You're Vincent? Someone reported that Santo, the dock supervisor, stole your routing plan. "My name is Elio Ricci. I came from Rome to investigate. You say you designed the plan. What proof do you have?" Thomas's head snapped toward me. I ignored him. I pulled out the flash drive I'd prepared and plugged it into the computer. My sketches appeared on the screen, along with my survey notes from the docks and every version of the route. They were all originals from when I built the plan, complete with timestamps and the full edit history. Thomas went pale and lunged for the drive. Elio wasn't a pushover either. Elio gave Thomas a single look. The two bodyguards behind Elio lifted Thomas off the floor and carried him out. Elio reviewed the drafts and survey notes, then nodded. "Vincent, I can confirm that the routing plan is your work. We're going to Santo's office now, and I'll make him answer for it." I nodded. "Thank you." Elio took me down to Santo's office. At first, Santo assumed I'd come with Elio and was very polite to both of us. Then Elio explained why he was there, and Santo's face darkened. "This is an internal matter. There's no need to trouble anyone upstairs." Elio pushed the flash drive across to him. "Vincent's evidence is complete. It proves that he designed the plan. "Now that we know the truth, we'll give Vincent the credit and punish the person responsible. Those are the rules." Santo flicked the drive aside. "Mr. Ricci, you haven't been doing this for very long, have you? "For your own future, think a little harder before you act." His tone was flat, but the threat underneath it was clear. Then he turned to me. "Vincent, I know someone pulled strings to put you here. "I've worked on these docks for years. I'm good at what I do, and I have connections. It's only natural that you'd be jealous. "I can live with a little friction. But accusing me of theft breaks the rules. "Before this goes any further, tell Mr. Ricci you filed a false report, and I'll let you keep one arm." Elio's face turned cold at Santo's blatant attempt to twist the story around. "What does any of this have to do with how long I've been on the job? "The evidence is right here. All we have to do is..." Before he could finish, Santo threw the drive to the floor and crushed it under his heel. "What evidence? "All I see is a useless man who got this job as a favor and bribed someone upstairs to frame the boss who built this place. "Mr. Ricci, I'll report the bribe you took to the higher-ups. You're in for more than you can handle." Then he turned back to me. "Vincent, you've broken the company's rules so badly that there's no place for you here. You should disappear." When Elio saw the crushed drive, he lunged at Santo, seeing red. "Are you insane? How dare you destroy the evidence proving that Vincent designed the routing plan!" Despite Elio's fury, Santo looked completely unbothered. He was only so calm because he thought he had powerful backing. He thought having a sister married to the South District boss gave him the ultimate trump card. He didn't know. One district boss. A man who might not even be able to get into the same room as me. I caught Elio by the arm and shook my head, letting him know it didn't matter. He got himself under control and patted my hand. "Vincent, don't worry. That routing plan matters to the future of this entire company. We won't let Santo get away with this." Before I could answer, Santo sneered, "Vincent, you have no idea who you've crossed. "My sister is married to the South District boss. Even made men show me respect." Before I could say a word, Elio stepped in for me. "Vincent, don't be afraid. We have people on our side too. We don't bend easily. "Santo, don't forget that we report to the East District boss." Chapter 4 Santo's face changed. The four district bosses are supposed to be equals. But the East controls the best territory, brings in the most money, and has the most soldiers and associates. So its voice carries more weight. Santo's expression turned grim, and he muttered, "What do I do now?" Elio slammed a hand on the desk. "Send out an internal notice right now. Santo stole Vincent's work, and Vincent gets the credit for the new route." I expected Santo to take the easy way out. Instead, he frowned and glanced around. Then he seemed to make up his mind. He knew someone had pulled strings to place me there. He just didn't know who it was. He could admit that he'd stolen the plan, but I still had the docks' books. Those books contained things no one could be allowed to see. He couldn't leave them with me. He had to get me out of there! All at once, the office door was kicked open. Ten soldiers marched in and formed two rows. A middle-aged man in a black suit walked in behind them. It was Santo's brother-in-law, Lucio Amato, the South District boss. Santo regained his nerve the moment he saw Lucio. Thomas was on his feet with a fawning smile. "Mr. Amato, a phone call would have been enough. You shouldn't have had to come down here yourself." Lucio said nothing, but his presence filled the room. The woman behind him took off her sunglasses. It was Santo's sister, Rosa. She scoffed, "If I hadn't come, who knows what you would've done to my baby brother!" Santo pointed at me with a scowl. "Rosa. Lucio. That's the one who framed me." Lucio didn't even look at me. His cold, piercing gaze went straight to Elio. "Santo told me what happened. This has seriously damaged his reputation. These docks owe him an answer." He paused. "Vincent, you accused Santo of theft in public. You'll hand over every ledger you have, then pack up and leave. "There won't be a place for you on any Ferraro dock." Elio burst out, "Santo is the one who stole the plan, and Vincent is the victim! What gives you the right to treat an innocent man like this?" Rosa sat down on the couch and said casually, "My husband is the South District boss, and these docks and this company belong to us. That's what gives us the right." Elio clenched his fists and stepped in front of me. "We have conclusive evidence that Vincent designed the routing plan! "As its creator, he knows every route better than anyone else and can help the entire company make more money! "And don't forget that the East District boss stands behind us!" Lucio's expression didn't change. He only scoffed, showing no respect for the East District name. I stood there, and it all became clear. I already knew a good deal about the South District boss. He was a smooth operator who always weighed the pros and cons and never pushed things to the point of open conflict. Yet today, he was unusually aggressive, willing to go head-to-head with the East. From the beginning, they hadn't just wanted to force me to admit I was at fault and suffer the humiliation. They wanted to take the ledgers from me and drive me off these docks for good. Because... There was something much bigger they needed to bury. Santo tugged on Lucio's arm and whined, "Lucio, this punk has been sabotaging me behind my back at every turn. I don't want to see him again." Lucio's eyes turned cold, and he stopped trying to negotiate. "If he won't confess and leave on his own, there's nothing more to discuss." He raised a hand and barked, "Take him. Throw him into the sea and feed him to the fish. Tell everyone he lost his footing and fell overboard." At his command, the soldiers closed in on me from all sides. Elio did everything he could to protect me, but the soldiers quickly shoved him aside. A hand reached for my shoulder. The office doors flew open. Dozens of men in black coats filed in, each with a hand on the grip of the gun at his waist. The room filled with the threat of violence. A deep, steady voice cut through the chaos. "Who gave you the authority? You're only a district boss. How dare you order the Don's son killed?"