My Mafia Mystery: The Barefoot Princess

Kat POVI pressed my ear to the door of the suite on the third floor of the Palazzo Hotel, hearing the steady breathing of the occupant inside. He must be fast asleep - just how I wanted him.“This should be easy,” I whispered to myself as I pulled the lock picks from where I had hidden them in my hair.The hotel had been deserted as I had made my way through the foyer and hallways, as it should be at 3am. Only a sleepy looking desk clerk had possibly seen me, but I think the man was too busy scrolling through reels on his phone to even realise that I had snuck in.Not exactly the kind of service you would expect to find at a five star hotel, but I was glad for it. Within a few seconds, I had the door unlocked. With a slightly proud smile, I slipped off my shoes and pushed the door quietly open before I snuck inside. The room was lavishly decorated and my bare feet sunk into the thick carpet. Exquisite paintings hung on almost every wall and I had to stop myself from pulling one off

Kat POVI was drowning. The water flooded my lungs as I tried to scream, my clothing dragging me down into the dark depths as shadows hovered above the water. Bright lights flashed across my vision like fireworks as my lungs burned, and then it all went black.“Wake up, Kat, it’s just a nightmare.” I felt a hand press against my mouth and my arms flew out to ward off my attacker. “Stop screaming before you wake up the others!”Giulia’s face was barely visible in the dark room, her warm brown eyes filled with sisterly concern.I nodded my head and she removed her hand, brushing my hair from my face just like a real big sister would do. “Was it the same nightmare again?” she whispered, careful not to wake up the four children who slept on mattresses on the floor.“Yeah,” I whispered back, shivering as the cool night air cut through my pyjamas which were drenched with my own sweat. Giulia tugged the thin blanket up under my chin, looking after me just as she had done ever since that fi

Kat POV “It’s just down this alley,” Giulia gleamed as she took my hand, guiding me toward the costume shop she knew. Giulia had taken it upon herself to help me find the perfect dress for the fundraiser, and while I was grateful for her help, my sense of style was less dramatic than her own. I guess I was just overly used to wearing neutral colours, whereas Giulia always picked out the bold colours which looked amazing against her dark skin. “Are you sure we are going to find a dress classy enough for me to wear to the fundraiser?” I asked her, unable to keep the doubt from my voice as the costume shop came into view, a few gaudy dresses in the display window. Giulia smiled brightly and tugged me closer as I became more and more certain that I would likely walk out of the shop with a clown costume. “The owner is a friend of mine,” she said, emphasising the ‘friend’ part so that it left no doubt that the man was a client of hers. “I told him about you needing to find a dress an

Kat POVI could still feel his lips on mine as I undressed and laid the dress carefully over a chair in the corner of the bedroom. Careful not to wake the sleeping children, I crept to the bed and slid beneath the sheets. “Did you have a successful evening?” Giulia whispered to me in the darkness. I contemplated telling her about the Castello, but decided not to. As much as I trusted her, I didn’t really want her to tell Fabio. Chances were that her boyfriend would freak out and make a bigger deal out of it than what it was worth. “Yeah, I think I have got enough to make Mother happy,” I responded, my mind returning to the necklace which was still hidden in my boot. I lay awake for at least an hour, my mind wandering down dangerous paths until I finally fell asleep. I woke up much later than I usually did and had made up my mind. I was going to take the piece of necklace back to Castello. Only, when I fetched my boots from the cupboard and plunged my hand into the one I had hidd

Kat POVI sat outside the address Castello had given me for hours after the sun had set, waiting for the man and his wife to finally go to bed so that I could break into the house. “Come on,” I groaned, looking at the watch on my wrist. “It’s almost midnight! So much for old people going to bed early.”I twisted my necklace around my finger, playing with the pendant - a nervous habit that I had picked up at some point in my life, I just couldn’t pinpoint when it would have been. Maybe from a time beyond what my memory allowed me access to. I had tried time and time again to remember something from before Giulia found me on the streets in Rome, a gash on the back of my head, blood matting my hair and staining my nightgown. Before that was a blank slate apart from a faint memory of a boy with white hair and eyes of a pale blue calling me as I laughed and ran away through the trees. “It’s not funny, Kat! You’re going to get us both in trouble,” he had shouted in my direction. That was