Athena
When I opened my eyes, floral designs in the shape of a dragon stared back at me. It was quite beautiful and I’d give kudos to whoever designed the interior of the suite. The suite was quite large.
It had a smaller room that led directly outside and the larger room contained the giant bed I currently slept in. The two rooms were separated by two pillars.
I didn’t want to rise. The bed was too damn comfortable and I wanted to remain that way, swaddled in soft white sheets that threatened to envelop me forever. It felt wonderful.
I closed my eyes lazily, reflecting on what should have happened in the past few hours. My eyes caught the clock on the wall. It was seven in the evening and the sun had set. That meant I had been asleep for about four hours.
Groaning, I tried to rise. I had to. Before Luciano came in, I needed to sort out my thoughts and make sense of what exactly was happening.
I doubted Luciano had brought me here because he wanted me to sleep and laze around. There had to be an ulterior motive. With a man like him, there always was.
My mind flashed back to the crowd I had seen when we stepped into the resort. There were workers in the resort among them, they had worn uniforms. But there had been other people in ordinary clothing as well. Were they all in the mafia? Or only a selected few?
It didn’t seem likely that all of them would be. It wasn’t like every Italian was in the mafia. Perhaps they knew about its existence, but it didn’t mean they were a part of it. I pushed off the covers that kept me warm and sat up. The spot beside me was cold, which meant Luciano had left a long time ago.
Ah crap, I should have resisted. I should have fought his hold on me harder. Now, I had no idea where he went.
Well, I thought while climbing off the bed, I suppose I could always find out. Beside the bed was a huge ass wardrobe against the wall. I pried it open and oh my goodness!
There were a lot of pretty dresses in there. No wonder Luciano had been adamant not to pack anything. Who owned all these dresses?
Curious, I reached out for one to examine it. “They better not be Giorgia’s. I’d rather not die by her hands. She’s fucking crazy.”
“I hadn’t realized you had this perception of me,” The bitch herself, spoke up suddenly materializing on a couch in the smaller room.
“What the hell?!” I gasped and her eyes widened. I watched the intruder place a finger on her lips urging me to be quiet. Narrowing my eyes in suspicion, I placed a hand on my hips and demanded, “What are you doing?”
“Don’t talk so loudly, Enzo and his men are out there,” she grumbled and rose, walking into the larger room, and standing a few meters away.
“I’m still confused, so you might want to explain yourself or I’ll scream.”
Giorgia gave me a death glare, seething then whipped out a gun. “Scream all you want. This bullet will be lodged within your stupid forehead before any of those men step foot in here.”
Tah! This bitch was crazy. I had known it, I just had to know how much. Could she be the mole then? Was Luciano right?
“What do you want Giorgia?” I asked, sighing deeply, and walked to the bed to sit. This was going to be a long discussion most likely. I was damn tired.
“Quit moving around. You have guts. I’m holding a gun and you’re doing whatever you please. Sei pazzo!” She snapped.
I gave a bored look and picked at my ears. “You and Luciano have that nasty habit of mixing Italian in your words. For all I know, you most likely called me an elephant.”
Giorgia snickered. “You’re crazy. That was what I said.”
Oh, well that wasn’t wrong. No one in their right mind would approach a billionaire mafia lord, try to get into his bed and then try to get out of it. It was madness.
I had a tormenting feeling that Luciano would take what he wanted very soon. Hell, one day he’d just haul my ass over and fuck the brains out of me without permission and I wasn’t sure I would mind.
However, before that day came, I had to find my ticket out.
“I’m sure you didn’t come here to barter words with me. Or to kill me.”
She scoffed and cocked the gun. “What assurance do you have that I won’t kill you?”
Would you look at this dumbass? Who the hell did she think she was talking to? A five-year-old?
“If you wanted to,” I explained, examining the dress I had taken with me. “There would be a silencer on that pistol. From the look on your face, I’d say you just wanted us to talk.”
“You underestimate me!” Giorgia spat with a cackle. “I could be willing to risk it all. As long as you’re dead, I can take whatever hits Luciano throws my way. You’re just a toy he’s using. Very soon, he’ll forget all about you.”
I mulled over her words for a while, carefully preparing my reply. “It is because of that reason, you won’t shoot.”
“Why you crazy bitch-”
“You can live with Luciano’s anger but not his hatred,” I said looking her dead in the eyes.
“Shut up! What do you know?!”
“You’re the one yelling this time. Considering you don’t want Enzo to hear you, I’d say you snuck into this place. I don’t even want to know how.” I was lying. I wanted to know how.
If Luciano had people stationed outside the room, then it meant he wanted to keep me in. And to fulfill my end of the bargain, I needed to be out. Giorgia in her infinite foolishness might just as well show me the way out today.
“However,” I continued. “I know you won’t shoot. Because I’m Luciano’s favorite toy at the moment.”
“That doesn’t change shit!” She gritted through her teeth. “I could still kill you,”
I tsked, shaking my head as I watched her pitifully. “You love him,”
Another gasp slipped from her lips and she stepped back a few steps. “What… How… What on earth are you saying?”
“Woman, there’s no other logical explanation for you hating on me ever since you saw me. Or for all the emotions on your face when you see him. Kind of pathetic to see.”
“Watch your words!” She threatened.
“I’d say watch that trigger. If you accidentally kill the woman, your honey pie is currently crazy about, he’ll most likely hate you for a long time.” I explained. “That’s why you won’t kill me, Giorgia. You’ll threaten and yell and scream, but you won’t kill me.”
She laughed long and hard, the maniacal sounds bouncing off the room. I could hear footsteps approaching the suite.
“Trust me, Raven Gonzalez, I will find a way to get rid of you. You can save your head and get your ass back to America. Because you won’t be leaving Sicily after my grace passes. Mark my words.” Holding my gaze, she walked back into the smaller room, to a corner that used to be covered in heavy curtains.
There was a trap door on the floor opened and revealing staircases. I whistled watching her climb into it, close it, and disappear with almost no trace. The trap door rhymed with the floor, it was almost unnoticeable. Fucking wonderful.
I covered up the evidence that she was there quickly before Enzo’s men came in. They gasped and quickly turned their backs to me. I had forgotten I was undressed. Shit.
“I’m sorry Miss.” One of the men said, his English thick and heavy with an Italian accent. “We heard a noise and-”
“It’s okay. I was checking out the suite. You can leave now.”
They scurried out as if their asses were on fire. I walked to the bed and plopped my ass on it and covered my face in shame. I should have worn the dress while I was talking to that crazy woman.
“Whatever,” I whispered. I’d just count it as one of the many sacrifices I had to make to achieve my goal. Yeah, that was it. Sacrifices.
Yanking on the dress to avoid a repeat, I walked to my luggage and began unpacking. Finally finding the burner phone, I updated Damian on the progress we made. Then texted Frederick as well.
“You’re safe?” He replied almost immediately and I chuckled. He must have been so worried.
“I’m safe,” I replied. “Damian should land in Italy soon. He says he can’t come to Sicily yet so he’ll be staying in Puglia in the meantime.”
“Whatever he says, can we trust him?” Frederick asks.
“No,” I texted back. “But he’s our only shot at the moment.”
“I already got permission to work with the Italian police.”
I nodded, hummed, and typed. “That explains why they followed us everywhere. I’ll find the mafia hideout and get us the evidence we need with Damian’s help. He claims he’ll get a video of Luciano during mafia activities, all I need to do is supply his location. Then you all can swoop down to get Luciano when the evidence drops. Got it?”
“Got it.” He texted and I sighed. The next few days were going to be hell as hell crazy. So fucking exhilarating.