Chapter 3

Nina walked into La Esperanza, a high end Italian restaurant in a neighboring territory. The hostess at the front was a young woman, sharply dressed in her uniform. “Hello” she smiled at Nina as she walked in. “Do you have a reservation with us today?” She asked in a welcoming tone.

“No, but I'd like to make an order of cold noodles to go” Nina replied, as if the dish was the most natural thing to order in such an establishment.

“Cold…noodles?” The hostess looked at her confused.

Nina took a closer look at the woman and nodded “you must be new.”

She blushed “y-yes ma'am, I just started here a few days ago.” She was nervous, she had been yelled at a few times by entitled customers already for refusing to seat without a reservation.

“Give the order to someone in management then follow their instructions. Don't worry” Nina gave her an encouraging smile “they'll know how to handle the order”

The hostess smiled back then went to fetch her manager “Antonio?” She got her manager's attention nervously. He was always angry about something.

“What Beatrice, could be so important that you left the stand?” his face was red and he was already close to going on a rampage.

“Uhm a woman just ordered cold noodles to go?”

“Shit,” he cursed, his angry demeanor completely deflated. “Tell her to wait a moment while we get her table ready. The chef will come escort her when it's ready”

“Yes,right away” she said and bolted back to the hostess stand “please wait a moment while your table is being prepared”

“Thank you” Nina smiled and sat down in a nearby chair.

After a few moments the head chef walked up. He was a portly, middle aged man “Ms. Liang, thank you for visiting” he motioned for Nina to follow him. Nina stood up and smiled “thank you for having me.” she followed the chef, waving kindly at Beatrice before she left.

They walked to the back of the kitchen and finally to one of the freezers in the back. “Here is your jacket Ms. Liang, will you be having your usual fare today?”

“Yes, thank you” she smiled as she put on the jacket and walked into the freezer where a thin man in a jacket and scarf seemed to have made his home.

“Is this a social call or business?” He asked in a monotone voice as he motioned for her to sit. “Mostly social. The business could have been done over the phone”

“Don't you have Rico for social visits?” He asked and picked up a cup from the table to sip out of.

“He's in Milan for fashion week”

“So you've come to bother me instead?”

“Precisely” she grinned.

Enzo Vittorio, a local Don, was one of Nina's closest friends and allies.

He let out a sigh and readjusted his scarf after drinking “I heard about the trouble you caused at the banquet. You're lucky that any hitman with a single brain cell wouldn't take a job for your head.”

“It's not luck, I'm simply accomplished” she smirked, she loved getting under Enzo’s skin.

“Anyways, be careful. There's always someone strapped for cash.”

“Technically I just kissed the man” Nina shrugged.

“Knowing your ex would react the way he did.”

“Well, if he won't allow me to have a relationship outside of him, then I'll just make use of it.” She said in a nonchalant manner.

Enzo rubbed the bridge of his nose. She really did know how to give him a headache.

“Why don't you use that power of yours to take out one of the people on my hitlist?” he sighed

“What's in it for me?” She grinned

His eyes perked “are you suggesting a bet?”

The two of them bet often. Nina's power stemmed from the fulfilled contracts she made and Enzo enjoyed making money off the bets.

“Sure, how about that French place that borders our territories? Espoir I think the name was.” Nina leaned forward, seeing if she caught his attention.

“Hmm, that place is high end.” He leaned back “fine, however you have to get him to kill Hiro Sato without communicating his name to Yao and if you lose I get Hunnan” he didn't particularly care for Chinese cuisine, but he knew Nina liked the place enough to frequent it even if it didn't belong to her anymore.

Nina mulled it over and smirked “Alright, in one week's time. If someone fulfills the contract before then, then the bet is void. Deal?”

“Deal.” They didn't shake. They didn't need to. Enzo knew that if she didn't fulfil her end of the bet, she would risk going into a coma for an indeterminate amount of time.

While they spoke a seafood risotto and a bottle of white wine made its appearance on the table. They knew not to bother them while the two talked, business or otherwise. “Half the reason I come here is for the risotto” Nina smiled as she scooped a spoonful and ate a bit.

“So what business do you have?” Enzo asked as Nina ate. He poured a full glass for her. It wasn't etiquette, but the woman drank like a fish.

“I was hoping to see if you could find European herbs that are traditional and earth aligned. I've been stagnating with my cultivation and thought maybe a change of medicine would help.”

“Maybe getting rid of your toxic ex would help instead” he rolled his eyes “but yes, I will look into it.”

“You know that's not fair Enzo. “ Nina sighed and leaned on her elbow while she ate, a little put out by the comment “it's not like I can just…leave. Not without dying”