Giovanni
Wait, where is she going? I frown and get up from the bench, keeping my eye on Alina. After spending at least half an hour in Garfield Park and taking photos of the various statues, she finally seems to be ready to leave-but I don’t like the direction she’s chosen.
This neighborhood is poor and ridden with crime. A girl like her has nothing to do here-yet as always, Alina seems to be completely unaware of the rules of Chicago. Leaving her car behind, she walks down the street and looks around, uncaring of her surroundings. Does she think there will be something worthy of a good photo here?
I can’t help but grumble under my breath, following her under the dim lights of streetlamps with my hand holding the gun in my pocket. I feel like the Russians haven’t taught her anything. They should be thankful that I’ve been keeping an eye on her all day long.
As soon as Alina left the Russians’ territory, I got a message from our spies and went after her in hopes of getting another chance to talk to her. I have to be careful not to scare her away, but I also can’t wait for too long-who knows when Raisa and Irina will decide to tell her about the “bad Mexicans” and the elusive Giovanni.
Before it happens, I have to get Alina on our side or, at the very least, make her believe that I’m a good guy. Whether it’s true is up to you to decide.
So I’ve been following Alina for the last few hours and watching her take photos of some more or less famous landmarks of Chicago. Places like Navy Pier and the Water Tower don’t impress me anymore, but it seems that Alina likes exploring the city and spending some time on her own. I could see it in her dreamy smiles and thoughtful looks as she studied new places and looked for better angles.
At this point, I’m kinda curious to see her photos-and maybe I should’ve used that as an excuse to approach her again. I hum, keeping my gaze on her. Last time, Alina didn’t get suspicious of my sudden appearance, but this time I have to choose my excuse carefully. Otherwise, she’ll figure out that I’ve been following her, and my whole plan will go down the drain.
I keep thinking about it when, from the corner of my eye, I notice a group of men crossing the street and walking toward Alina, talking among themselves. I doubt they’re going to miss their chance at taking advantage of a lonely girl in the middle of Garfield Park, and it makes me tense up.
Shit.
There aren’t many people around; in fact, it’s only me and a couple of homeless guys sleeping on the sidewalk. Goddamnit, how did Alina manage to end up here? Does she even know what it means to stay safe?
“Hey, pretty girl.” I hear the first sign of danger in the guy’s voice and immediately focus on the scene in front of me. “Do you need
company?”
Alina is on the other side of the block, and the men are already surrounding her to take away any chance to escape. She grabs her bag
tighter and tries to back away, but it’s too late-one of the guys is already behind her. He puts his hands on her shoulders, and something inside of me tightens with anger. That son of a bitch!
“No, leave me alone. I-I’m Pushkova,” Alina says, trying to sound confident with her voice tense and quivering, but it only makes the men in front of her chuckle.
“Sure, and I’m Don Messina.” The guy who I assume is the leader shakes his head and reaches his hand toward her. “Let’s see what you have there, honey.”
Alina yelps and tries to get away from them, shaking the stranger’s hands off her shoulders. It only makes them aggravated, and one of the guys swings his hand to slap her-when I finally get close enough to aim at his arm and pull the trigger.
The gunshot thunders over the empty street, followed by a roar of anger coming from the thugs. The guy I just shot drops to the ground,
crying out loud and screaming curses at me, while the leader pushes Alina away and lunges toward me with a grimace of rage. “You’re gonna pay for it, you fucking-”
But without a blink of an eye, I raise my gun and aim between his eyes, making the man stop in his tracks. “Yes? And how are you gonna make me pay with your brains on the sidewalk?”
“You think you’re so dangerous, huh?” The man doesn’t seem to understand his situation fully. He growls at me, glaring at me with anger and intoxication hazing his gaze, but at least his self-preservation instinct keeps him in his place a few feet away from me.
I chuckle, not moving an inch. “You know, I think I am.” “No, you’re just-”
“Jo, shut up.” One of his group finally seems to understand something. Glancing at me with caution, he walks closer to tug at the back of his friend’s shirt and lowers his voice into a loud whisper. “I think he’s one of them.”
The man frowns, struggling to process it. “What?”
“Just-let’s go. We’re sorry, man. Okay?” The smart guy gives me a tense smile, lowering his head in apology and dragging his friend away, and after a moment of thought, I nod. I don’t want to spill blood in front of Alina. I doubt it would leave a good impression on her.
She already looks quite shaken, with her back pressed to the wall and her big blue eyes glaring at the thugs walking past her with fear and anger. They leave without another word of protest, except for the drunk leader who’s still grumbling something under his breath. But it seems that the rest of his group shares the same thoughts-they don’t want to get involved in something that’ll cost them their lives. And trust me, if they did try to fight me, they wouldn’t see another sunrise.
I walk closer to Alina, still watching them to make sure there are no dumb surprises, and only when I see that it’s clear do I turn to her and quirk an eyebrow. “Don’t you know that Chicago is a dangerous city?”
“I-I didn’t-” It seems Alina needs a moment to find her voice again. She closes her eyes, putting her hand on her heart, and I wait patiently until she breathes out and looks up at me again. “It was stupid, I know, but thanks so much-wait.”
She narrows her eyes, taking a better look at me, and I pretend to do the same as if I didn’t actually expect to see her here.
“Are you the girl-” “Have we met at-“