Cara’s pov
“Wait here.” Diana instructed before she left the pantry.
I heard her chat briefly with the guys, sounding natural enough not to make them suspicious. Whatever she was about to do, I had no idea but I was fully on board. This was not the solution I’d envisioned but it was still a presented opportunity no matter reckless or risky it was. A gift horse if you will, and there was this saying about not looking one in the mouth.
I dropped my weight on three large bags of flour stacked on each other, my leg shaking like someone with a bad case of rheumatoid arthritis. My mind stayed busy, trying to map out the outcome of what we’re about to do as I waited for Diana to come back.
Hopefully, this loan shark dude would be cooperative and loan me the money, and we return in one piece. I’d pay Diego the next day and Luca doesn’t have to find out about the videos. Life would go back to normal.
All that would be left is figuring out how to pay back the loan. Another bridge to cross like Diana had idiomatically put it. And if I was being honest, it seemed like the rocky kind of bridge- no smooth and easy crossover and all.
I exhaled heavily, this was one hell of a situation.
The door creaked open and closed quietly. Diana was back with her familiar tote bag that she refused to replace, and she brought with her some old chef whites.
“Had to ransack the deepest, darkest parts of the storage room for these,” she informed, holding up the coats like they were some treasure she found on a dangerous quest.
I stood up from the flour bags. “So,” I started as Diana shoved one of the two coats to my chest. I clutched onto it, trying not to gag from the dusty odor, “We wear this. What’s next?” There was no point of the disguise if we still had my bodyguards standing meters away like fixed statues.
Diana began to change from her waitress attire to the regular clothes she’d brought along denim pants and a cute mesh top.
I sniffed the chef coat one more time, my face squeezing with disgust. God, it had such an ancient smell. I really couldn’t believe I had to put it on.
Diana got out of her waitress skirt, snatched up her pants and hooked both feet into the legs before answering. “Next,” she huffed, wiggling into the skinny jeans, “We walk out of here like two normal girls that just had a private chat. Then we lose your stalkers and make a run for it. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?”
I scoffed. Yeah, easier said than done. Placing my hands on my hips, I asked, “Diana, how are we going to “lose” my well trained mafioso bodyguards?”
A calculating smirk appeared on my friend’s face. “We create a diversion.”
A diversion?
“Oldest trick in the book,” She fussed with her fly. “Find something to distract them with, put on our chef disguise and leave through the kitchen back door.”
I must confess, now that she put it like that, it does sounds easy. But nothing is never really is. “So what’s this distraction tactic we are implementing?”
Diana cleared her throat and swallowed. After a brief beat of choosing words carefully, she said, “that… is still undecided.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Hey! It’s fine. We’d work something out.” Diana tried to assure me but failed, because I was at it again- losing hope, losing control.
I rubbed round the back of my neck and not too gently at all. I focused on my breathing, tried to regulate the anger seeping into it. “You don’t understand,” I said in the calmest way I could.
“What?”
“You don’t understand how this is important. How terribly it’d go for me if Sergio and his guys catch on. How ruined I’d be if I don’t get the money today. Diana is my life we’re talking about, if we are doing this, we need to have a solid plan.”
I’d hoped that went across much rather nicely but the crumpled look on Diana’s face told me otherwise. Along with crushing my heart.
“Diana, I-”
“No,” she pronounced. “You’ve made it perfectly clear. You think I’m playing here, that I haven’t realize how serious of a situation this is.” A bitter chuckle. “Well you’re wrong because I do know. I do understand. And I’m fucking risking my job for it. Regardless of how this goes, I’m going to be in trouble, a worse one if our plan is successful. You’d be getting your money and I’d be thinking about how to explain my unpermitted leave. So yes, Cara, I do know how important this is.”
Fuck. I deserved to be thrown to the wolves, thrown into the fiery pit of shitty friends. “Diana,” I started apologetically. If she decides not to help me anymore, it well deserved. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t- I didn’t mean it like that.”
Although she still had that pissed off glow around her, she sighed. “It’s fine. Let’s just get you out of here.”
I started to apologize more, wanted to tell her to forget about coming along because I can’t have her jeopardizing this job but she snatched up her own disguise, put it back into her tote bag and gave me a “now is not the time” look.
“I’d leave first. Follow me after a few minutes and head back to the staff break room. You’d know when whatever diversion I come up with happens, when it does, put on the chef coat and slip away to the kitchen. Take your first left, walk all the way down and turn to the right to get there.” She reached for the door and before she disappeared, she mouthed, “good luck.”
Good luck. I’d need lots of that.
I remained behind for approximately seven minutes, not too long as ten and not too short as five. Just perfect. Sergio and Nino were the only ones at the door when I got out. “Where are the others?”
“Doing rounds around the perimeter. See if there’s someone suspicious within range.”
I quirked my eyebrow. We were in Salato, a very open yet very private restaurant. Who the hell was going to be lurking around a place like this? Even the Russians wouldn’t be that stupid.
“We need to have prior knowledge of our surroundings should anything arise.” Sergio said, reading the skeptism on my fave. “That way, we can determine how to deal with a sudden threat and what route to take to bring you to safety.”
I accepted his explanation with a dismissal nod meanwhile I was screeching and pulling out my hair internally.
Instead of getting rid of all complete numbers of my mafioso bodyguards at once, I had to worry about not running into a few dispersed ones, lurking somewhere in the building or out of it. Great, just what I needed.
I got to the break room, now deserted and sat down to the curiosity of my main bodyguards.
“Is your little visitation not over?” Nino asked with a frown.
I set my shoulder purse on the littered table and I hoped Sergio and Nino doesn’t notice how puffy and bloated it looked. Fitting the coat into the much rather smaller bag had been an almost impossible fit. I was sure to look a rumpled mess by the time I had to put the coat on.
“Aren’t we heading back?” Sergio added to Nino’s question.
I forced a smile. “Not yet, I still- eh… still have something to discuss with Diana.”
“You didn’t do all the discussion when you had the chance?”
“No, Nino we didn’t.” I said through gritted teeth. I was getting pissed off. “Diana had to leave. We’re going to wait until she’s free again.”
“Would she be though?” Sergio pointed. “It’s working hours now.”
Whatever sharp retort I was going to give was interrupted by a loud banging noise. The two guys instinctively stepped closer to me and reached for their holsters.
“What was that?” Nino asked, his eyes trained on the entrance.
Sergio was doing the same. “I don’t know,” he pulled out his gun. “Stay with her, I’m going to check it out.”
He disappeared and Nino stepped even closer to me. My entire body was thrumming with adrenaline, ready to bolt any second but many passed and even more passed and- nothing.
Nothing happened next. Sergio returned, grumbling something about clumsy kitchen assistants, tugging back his gun.
My heart dropped all the way down, confusion taking over my excitement. Where was Diana? Was she caught up in some situation? Caught by a superior? I swallowed, did she change her mind about helping me?
“We really should be going. You can complete your talk with your friend another day.” Sergio was saying but I wasn’t really paying attention.
I was pulled into a state of despair, my shoulders slumping and my heart breaking. Don’t give up yet, a hopeful whisper resounded in my head, nearly startling me.
“You’d know when it comes.” Diana had said. My eyes shot to the entrance. What if the diversion hasn’t come?
As the universe will have it, a bunch of tough looking guys started filing in. I instantly knew they were normal staff but affiliated with the mafia. If the respectful nod they were giving Sergio was any indication. More of them kept coming and I suddenly remembered when Diana mentioned on time on her rants that she suspected Luca fed his men at the restaurant.
Two of the guys went up to Sergio and Nino, momentarily taking their attention. Even better, Sergio phone began to ring and he stepped away, turning away from the noise to answer, and that’s when I knew. This was the diversion.
Slowly, I reached for my purse. Slowly, I shifted for the door and just when breakthrough was an inch away, as my darned luck will have it, Sergio glanced around as if looking for me before locking eyes with me.
His expression morphed into a mix of alarm and annoyance.
I couldn’t hear him over the loud chatter but I could read his lips and could tell he was speaking Italian, probably to Luca on the phone, probably telling him of what I was about to do.
Shit.
I didn’t think, I dashed out of there.