Arianna’s POV
Being away from the mansion felt like heaven. I was unable to control my smile. Niko and Mike the guards that squashed me between them like a tuna fish kept giving me strange glares but I didn’t care.
The first time I had left the mansion with Gabriele was in the evening and he was there with me.
All I could think of was him. His strong masculine presence had made it impossible for me to admire the freedom of being outside the mansion even if I was in the car with him.
When I wasn’t thinking about him, my mind was somewhere in our destination. I was busy worrying about what I had to say and what not to say so as not to put Sofie into even more trouble.
I could enjoy the city.
But right now I was out during the day. The job I was assigned to do was pretty easy. I studied all of the files last night and basically all I had to do out there was smile and say a few ‘yes’.
I didn’t also have to bother about getting shut down because these people were actually good people. They were not criminals or drug lords or anything like that.
So, I was free like a bird.
I have never seen Italy up close. My trip from the airport had basically been the only time I got the chance to view the city and even that was short-lived.
Italy was truly a beautiful city.
If only Gabriele wasn’t a mafia king, he could have taken me to sightsee.
“Can I please open the window? I promise I won’t do anything silly,” I pleaded with them. Either of them.
No one told me Niko and Mike looked so much alike. Their bald heads and muscled-up bodies were similar in every way. I couldn’t tell who was who.
Perhaps they were long-lost brothers and they didn’t even know it… Or maybe they knew?
I shook the thought out of my head and flashed them both a smile.
“Please!”
“It isn’t safe to open the windows,” Niko… Or Mike mumbled under his breath.
I narrowed my eyes at him as I thought of a proper comeback. I wouldn’t let them win.
Basilio had made it seem like they were monsters but I didn’t see that in either of them. They just looked like people who lacked love and we’re overly protective of their boss, Gabriele.
“But you are here for my safety, are you not?” I retorted.
He turned beady eyes to me and I raised my broad daring him to deny it.
“The car is bulletproofed -including the windows. Taking it down will make that option useless,” the other said.
“We are not in a controlled area. Opening the window is inviting danger,” the first said -he had to be Niko.
Niko sounded like a name for someone who didn’t like talking much. So, the name matched him.
I decided at once that I would rather try my charms on Mike instead. He seemed more open to conversations.
“But how can this place be dangerous?” I cried out turning to Mike.
I gestured around us with my hands as the car kept flashing past really beautiful architecture –”How can any of these be dangerous?!”
“Criminals don’t do their work in the open. They find hidden dark places to do it. Look around you, Mike!” I insisted.
“All I want to do is feel the air on my skin and smile at the city! Is that too much to ask?”
Mike exchanged looks with Niko like they could speak to one another through their minds.
“We understand your concerns but trust me when I say, criminals don’t need a hidden place to commit a crime in Italy,” Mike said, moving his brows like he was explaining something to a little child.
“Again, you will protect me if at all, any…” I said as I made invisible quotation marks in the air, “of those criminals show up!”
“The problem is they won’t just show up princess! Why don’t you get that?” Niko spat out.
Why was he getting agitated? I wasn’t even talking to him!
I rolled my eyes at him and raised my finger to his face. “Listen here, I am not scared of the criminals out there. You know why?” I asked, pushing my finger closer to his nose but never touching it. “Because one of them kidnapped me… And you know what again? I am sitting right now between the two of them and they say they are very merciless too!” I spat and the car went silent as he glared daggers at me.
He wouldn’t dare raise a finger to harm me because Gabriele said they would only harm me if I tried escaping. I haven’t tried that, so he had no right to touch me.
His loyalty wouldn’t let him!
Suddenly he brushed my finger away from his nose and I slapped his hand away.
“Don’t you dare touch me!” I snarled.
Again a battle of hot glares began between us and I could feel the heat in the car despite the cool air.
He was like one of those guards in England. No matter what you did as long as you didn’t touch him, he was powerless.
For Niko, as long as I didn’t try running –he was powerless.
“You can feel the air when we get there, we will secure the area,” Mile said, breaking the tension between us, while Niko hardened his face and turned to stare out the window.
I turned my face to him and smiled. “Of course, you will do that,” I said and then continued enjoying the view like a fight wasn’t just about to happen between me and the most notorious guards in Gabriele’s crime circle.
Yes, I had to compromise and keep enjoying the view from my squashed position between them but I didn’t let that bother me for I was certain I would get to enjoy my freedom once we got out of the car.
They wouldn’t squeeze me between them as we walked -or would they?
The thought suddenly came to my mind as the car came to a halt in front of the highest and most sophisticated building I had ever seen in my life.
I came from America. We were supposed to have all the beautiful structures but this one was a masterpiece.
I was drooling as I tried to get the entire view. Who built something so magnificent?
The entire building was covered up in glasses that glowed a dull green-like shade. It was like a jewel lost among stones.
I tried to count the floors but my neck started hurting at the ninety-eight floor.
Woah!
I was brought out of my daydream when the doors clocked open beside me.
Mike stepped out first and I made to go after him since we had arrived out of an obvious location but Niko held my arm.
“What?” I hissed out.
“We are going out to survey the area. Stay in the car with the driver. If something is wrong, we will signal to him to return you to the mansion,” he replied in a low growl.
Oh… That made a lot of sense. I had already been kidnapped once. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“You could have said it calmly, you know?” I retorted that despite my understanding of the situation, I couldn’t help giving him a comeback.
“Yeah right… While you drooled,” he said and then closed the door.
“I wasn’t drooling!” I yelled but the fool had already closed the door and only the driver chuckled at my comment.
I glared at him through the back mirror and he wiped off his amusement at once.
Niko was such an annoying fellow. No wonder his parents gave him a name that was fitting for criminals. It was like they knew he was going to be a criminal even before they birthed him!
“I’ll get him!” I mumbled as I settled into the seat enjoying the extra space they left behind.
I closed my eyes and tried to go over what I had read and prepared for. The anxiety about what I was about to do slowly crept in and I felt my hands getting sweaty.
What if I ruined the transaction and Gabriele got mad at me for it?
Oh my God!
I didn’t think of this! I didn’t even ask him what would happen if I couldn’t deliver the assignment. What if he killed me? Or sold me back to that cruel bald man?!
By the time someone knocked on the car’s window, I jumped out of my skin as I realized it was time.
The driver automatically lowered the windows as Mike waited outside. He brought his face closer to the window and said, “everything is clear. You may step out and have your fresh air now.”
He even added a little smile and I felt a tiny bit better by his kind gestures.
But I was no longer interested in enjoying the fresh air.