Chapter four

CHAPTER FOUR

It has been a week since I began living and working in the mansion and I couldn’t help but notice the men in black with different sizes of guns strapped to their bodies, patrolling the outskirts of the mansion. At first I felt strange about having a bunch of armed men around me but I soon got used to them, even though I made conscious effort to avoid them.

During my short time here, I'd grown close to the rest of the domestic staff, enjoying the normal human interactions I'd been denied for so long. 

The mansion buzzed with an strange energy that morning. I tried to ask Maria about it, but she brushed me off, telling me to focus on my work and when I tried to ask Alicia, she sneered at me in response. My curiosity peaked even more after that.

"What's going on, Gigi? Everybody seems so busy today" I ask as we folded the clean laundry together. 

"You don't know?" She must have noticed from my expression that I was clueless, “Honestly Lena, I’m starting to think you really do live under a rock. Don Luciano is returning today, and everyone's trying to make everything perfect for his return. The Don isn't an easy man to please," she explained, while putting away some folded sheets. 

My mind spun. "Did you just say Don?"

Gigi regarded me with an odd expression, as if I'd grown a second head. "Yes, Lena, the Don of the famiglia... Wait, don’t tell me you've never heard of him?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in question as she noticed my silence.

“I have, but I never thought I'd be working for him." I admitted with a shake of my head.

Gigi nodded in thought, "Neither did I. He may be a very terrifying man, but I'm thankful to him. Who knows where I’d have been by now, probably begging for scraps in some slum," she chuckled at her joke, though I could tell her words had deeper meaning. I guess I should also feel somewhat grateful to this man too.

“I really had no idea, but why are there are no pictures of him around the mansion?”

Gigi shot me a knowing smile. "The Don is a very private man. You'll come to know that soon."

We worked in silence but I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the mysterious Don. "Where has he been all this time?"

Gigi shrugged. "He traveled a week ago. I don't know the specifics, I don't keep tabs on the Don's whereabouts, neither do I ask questions.” I got the underlying message in her tone and words and decided to keep the rest of the questions.

We continued to fold the rest of the laundry when Alicia, another maid in the mansion entered the room. Alicia was one of those maids who thought herself to be higher than everyone else.

"Elena, would you be a doll and clean the room in the east wing? I have so much work to do," she requested, and though I wanted to object, I did not want to upset her. Alicia had made no effort to hide her dislike for me since the very first day I got here and I made it my goal to stay out of her way.

I tried to refuse, but she interrupted, “Oh thank you, you are such a darling Elena,” she said, turning on her heels, her rather short uniform skirt swinging in the air as she moved.

“She's such a bitch. Who does she think she is?" Gigi fumed.

I sighed, too tired to engage in Gigi’s daily dose of hating Alicia, "You shouldn’t talk about her like that Gigi, She's only doing her job."

"Sorry but her job is cleaning, Lena, not bossing us around. And why didn't you say no? She keeps pushing her work to you and disappearing to do only God knows what."

“We're finished here anyway. Let me just clean the room," I said.

Gigi shook her head at me, clearly tired of my antics, "You're too kind, Lena.”

I shrugged, picking up the cleaning supplies from the storage, as Gigi asked "What wing did she ask you to clean?"

When I told her, she gasped. "Lena, that's the Don's wing. Why would Alicia ask you to clean that wing when she knows only Maria goes in there?"

I wondered too but time was of the essence. "I don't know, but I'll clean it and be back."

"Alright sweetie. I'll wait for you. Be careful!" She called after me.

Grabbing the fresh linens, similar to the ones Maria used whenever she handled the east wing, I made my way there.

The doors were heavy against my palms when I tried to push them open, nevertheless, I entered the room, gasping at the sheer look of it. It was a perfect blend of modern and traditional. I walked further into the room, past the adjoining living room and into the what I expected to be the bedroom. The high windows going from floor to ceiling, behind the large bed, gave a wonderful view of the garden and massive acres of greenery. I let my fingers glide over the old linen on the bed, marveling at how soft they were. The room exuded dominance and had the musky smell of a man, I stopped myself before I could get carried away.

After setting up, I began cleaning, hoping to get done soon. I don’t know how much time had passed since I’ve been in here cleaning this large room but I was relieved to be done. I rubbed my aching wrists and stretched my back with a sigh before picking up the folded linen I had just removed from the bed and the rest of my cleaning supplies and moved towards the door, just as I reached to open it, it flung open, startling me into dropping the sheets. Hurriedly, I dropped to my knees, I had been so focused on picking up the fallen sheets that I hadn’t heard the footsteps nearing me, but as I caught sight of the formal dress shoes by my knees, I froze.

I followed the trail of the shoes up till I was staring into the deepest pool of grey eyes I had ever seen. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” The harshness in his voice had me wincing and tumbling back, desperate to put a distance between us. He didn’t seem to want the same as he took a step towards me, his eyes moving from my face to the sheets I clutched tightly in front of me as if it would provide some sort of protection. 

“I-I”

“Are you dumb? Who are you and why are you in my room?” This was his room? I had never seen this man before, I would remember if I had. His presence alone could not go unnoticed.

I pressed myself further into the foot of the bed suddenly feeling suffocated. My fingers trembled against the sheets, my breathing turning erratic, and tears blurred my vision. I felt a light touch on my jaw and soon I was staring at those grey eyes again. I watched his lips move and could barely hear when he whispered, “Breathe gattina” 

Gradually my breathing slowed and my heart steadied but kept a steady beat probably from how close we were. When he was sure I was calm, he let his finger drop before returning to his full height and taking a few steps backwards making me stare up at him. He was even more intimidating from my position on the floor. 

A moment of silence passed between us between us before he broke it, “Now, who the fuck are you?” What followed the question was the cocking of a gun and what scared me most was that when I looked up, it was directed at me.