I was so glad that only Luca, and not Alessandro was the one taking me home. I really didn't like that guy. He was scary and looked like a cannibal. I kept thinking he’d rip out a part of my skin and chomp on it in front of my eyes.
" Ti sei divertito , giglio?" Luca asked as I strapped myself in the passenger seat of his Bugarti.
(Did you have fun, lily?)
"My name is Isabelle. I'm sure Don told you. And you guys know I don't know Italian, so maybe you should stop talking as if you are in L'Italie. Sí?" I rolled my eyes. What a bunch of morons. It was so fun for them to confuse me with their language. If I knew another language I’d use it with them.
"Sí," He grinned. "L'Italie is French, by the way."
Oh.
"I know." I lied. I spotted a small pack of gummy bears in the backseat. “You eat gummy bears?” I questioned. He looked too…violent for that. I wouldn’t say too old, because denying people candy because they’re old makes no sense. But Luca didn’t look like the kind of man who’d eat gummy bears.
He chuckled. “They’re for my son, Remi. You can have some if you want?”
Well, I was hungry…
I grabbed the packet and opened it, then took four bears, and kept the rest back, then proceeded to stuff my face with all of them at once.
Luca stared at me, starting the car. "You're Don's nicest conquest ever."
"I'm not his conquest." If anything, I was going to be his next murder victim.
He shrugged, an amused smile playing on his lips.
Weird cult.
"So, are you guys a cult or something?" I asked as he began driving and got out into the city. He had brought me to a deserted area, some large building that looked non-functioning, but had people inside nonetheless.
"You didn't figure out what we are yet?" Luca laughed.
I shook my head. "I figured you're an illegal cult. Headed by Don."
"Well, you're partially correct." He sighed. "I've vowed to a code of silence,"
"Like Omerta?"
"What?"
"Code of Silence - like the Omerta? The Sopranos?" I asked.
"Oh," He let out a large breath. "Sí. Like that."
"And you're not gonna break that?"
"No. But if you deserve to know about us, Don will tell you."
I nodded. ‘Deserved to know’, more like ‘deserved to get initiated into our weird-ass religion.’ Man, I didn’t know cult leaders could be hot enough to melt ice on. "Okay.” I agreed, nonetheless. “What's your favourite colour?"
He blinked at me. "Yellow. Yours?"
"Red. Do you have a pet?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Do you?"
"Nah. Do you have any weird quirks? Like, my best friend says I always cross my legs when eating, but never when I’m drinking."
His eyebrows rose. “Why are we having this interview session, giglio?"
"We're playing twenty-one questions, Luca." I rolled my eyes.
"You're weird." He just looked at me for a while.
"Oh, I know. So, quirks?"
-------------------------------------------------------------
When Luca pulled in in front of my apartment, Aiden, my roommate/best friend came rushing out, threw the car's door open, and punched him in the face.And that led to a brawl - which resulted in Aiden getting a broken nose, and Luca - a busted lip. Currently, both were sitting on my couch and helping themselves with a first aid box.
"Izzy, seriously, why have you brought this douche home?" Aiden said.
Luca glared at him from the corner of his eye. "Shut up, little boy."
"Fuck off, oldie."
I rolled my eyes at the scene before me. Were they little kids?
"Luca, please don't kill him. He's just very protective." I pleaded as Luca's hand went to his gun holster.
"Why does he have a gun?" Aiden yelled. "I'm going to call 911."
"He's a cop." I lied smoothly. Drama classes in grade 8 had helped.
"Oh." Aiden looked suspicious, but when I glared at him, he backed off.
"I'll leave now, giglio." Luca said. "See you later."
I nodded. "Yes, thanks for bringing me home. Tell Don I said thanks, too."
Luca smirked. "Will do."
Aiden took three minutes to burst after Luca walked out of the door. Those were probably the most awkward three minutes of my life, as he stared at me, fuming, and I fiddled with my fingers, staring at the floor.
"Don? You're associating with the mafia now?" He yelled at me.
I flinched. "His name is Don, Aiden." How dumb of him.
I was met with a roll of his eyes. "Fine. Just call whenever you're staying out overnight, okay?"
"Yep." I kissed his cheek. "Drive me to Uni?"
Uni was good. Better than high school, at least. I was majoring in English Literature, and Aiden was getting a degree in architecture.
I had missed first and second class, so when I walked into English, Landon and Felicia practically jumped over me. They were twins. Felicia was older by two minutes. We had a few of our classes together. Landon was majoring in advertising, and Felicia, like me, English.
"Where have you been, bitch?" Felicia smacked the side of my head. “You didn’t show up to class and didn’t see any of my messages.”
Landon glared at her. He had developed a protective attitude towards me ever since we met. One time a guy had accidentally spilled his coffee over me, and I’d had to beg, literally beg Landon not to create a scene. It was still nice, though. I really was glad for Landon and Felicia to be my friends.
"I slept in." I lied smoothly. Landon caught my gaze, glaring hard at me, now.
"Sure, Izzy?" He asked. I gave a silent nod. He ran a hand through his blonde locks, messing them up a bit. He was pretty handsome. But I didn't see him that way. Aiden kept on saying he ‘had the hots’ for me. His words, not mine.
I rolled my eyes as Landon slipped in beside me in the last row, leaving Fell to look for a seat for herself.
"You should be nice to your sister." I admonished playfully.
"I'd rather be nice to you." He said with a straight face. I giggled.
"Hey," Landon caressed the back of my hand, "Felicia and I are going to watch Married to The Mob tonight. It’s up in that cinema that plays old movies. You wanna come? You can bring Aiden."
"I think I'll pass.” I frowned. Movie night sounded good, but I couldn’t. “I've got to work."
Oh shit. Work!
He shrugged. "As you wish, Izzy."
He was here. Don. Don was here. I did not have it in me to face him. We would be meeting again; I had known that. But this...soon? I was not so sure about that. What if he’d decided today was the day I died? What if he wanted to kidnap me and sell me to a cannibal? What is he sold me to Alessandro?!I told my co-worker, Millie to take his table. She looked at me weird - because, who'd deny a chance to wait on that sexy piece of a man?She pushed her chest into his face, smiling coquettishly at him as she asked him what he wante
We pulled in back to where I had been last night. The old decrepit building where Luca had brought me. Did he live here? He looked rich enough. He could rent a small flat, at the least?"Do you live here?" I asked Mariano the moment we stopped."Sometimes."
I followed Mariano up the stairs that Aria had just come from. His steps were deliberately slow. I was getting pissed. What exactly was happening here? I was dying, dying of anxiety."You called me yours." I said to him. He turned around to look at me once, then commenced walking, entering a large room with a mahogany desk. The same room where we had first met."This is my offic
I had expected his floor to be…well...plain. But it was actually nice. Welcoming. Warm. I’d expected all darkness and dullness and boring décor. But I kind of liked it, actually."This is nice." I smiled at Mariano.He grunted. "My mom decorated it. My house is better, I swear."I laughed. "Sure."
I woke up alone in bed. Good thing, because somehow in the course of the night I had become diagonally positioned. I turned to the side. Mariano stood in front of me, all dressed up, looking dapper in his usual attire."Buon giorgio, Bella." He smiled.(Good morning)"Good morning." I said, sitting up. "What's the time?"
Saying that Aiden was mad that a new man was driving me home every other day would be an understatement. When Mariano pulled in in front of my apartment building, Aiden was standing there talking to Landon. I got off the car, and both of them strangled me into a hug so that it looked like we were a throuple. Landon pulled away a lot later after Aiden did and glared at me."Too many one-night stands, babe? I didn’t know you were that kind of girl." He taunted. I narrowed my eyes at him. That kind of girl?Mariano stood there, leaning against his car and watched us.
The club was blaring hard rock music. It smelled like sweat mixed with expensive cologne. And, it smelled, vaguely, like gunpowder. But maybe that was just in my head, considering the number of guns I was near these days. The name of the club was The Nostra. I thought it was weird, as it sounded like something related to the nose. Landon explained that it meant 'the thing' in Italian. Too much of Italian. I was surrounded by everything from that damn country. God.Landon made me sit on a high stool at the bar - I'm too short for him, he's like 6', Mariano maybe is 6'3, and why is he interrupting my thoughts? - and ordered me a cranberry and vodka. I was underage, but Landon knew
I woke up in Mariano's arms, snuggled closely against his chest, his face buried in the crook of my neck. I could feel my hair stand on end as our skins kept touching, his soft, warm breath fanning my cheek. I don’t think I’d ever slept like this with a man, except Aiden. I realised I’d had another night without a nightmare. Maybe my shrink wasn't that bad."Hey." I whispered, but he didn't reply, probably still asleep.