Page 83 of La Dolce Vita

Armando removed the tape player from his pocket. A little small one with a tiny cassette inside. He pressed play and handed it to her. The very first voice she heard was one she knew. It was Lorenzo.

ChapterFourteen

Adara and the Dead Girl

Firenze, Italy –

It was Adara who found herself trapped and alone with the unconscious girl. She thought she felt a pulse the last time she checked for any sign of life. But the senator was so distraught and hysterical she couldn't be sure. What she felt sure of was that the girl was overdosing, and if she didn't get medical attention soon, she would die. The conundrum she faced could cost her the deep cover assignment. What was she to do? Time ticked on minute by minute, and Adara paced, uncertain of one decision over the next.Help the dying girl. No, see it to the end no matter the consequence. Time was up. Adara glanced to the girl's naked body sprawled on the bed and then to the phone. She had to decide. The decision was dredged from a place beyond logic and reason. Adara would not, no matter how bad things turned for her and the dying girl, blow her cover.

The room they shared was at the top level of the three-story villa. Isolated and furnished for every kind of debauchery Senator Banfi could conceive. They were brought in through a downstairs door to the side of the villa. Adara had only seen one person from the car to the room of sex, and debauchery. The moment she entered she was given strict instructions not to leave. The drugs weren't her thing. However, Adara went the distance with the sex games, and whatever the senator wanted. But she was serious about no drugs, and so were her bosses. That nastiness was reserved for the poor dying girl on the bed.

Adara refused to think of her role in the girl's death. She refused to think of what she could do to save her life. At the moment she had to act and pray that her boss was right. That the man who came through the door next would be the enforcer they called The Butcher, and finally she'd get her shot. Quick, yet aware, Adara put back on her party dress and shoes. She tucked her undergarments in her purse and then proceeded to search the room for anything other than the drugs. She wondered if there was more. This man's perversion had to have crossed the lines of the law many other times before.

Without caution, Adara tossed scarves, toys, bottles of oils and lubes out of the drawers. She found nothing. And then time was up.

Remember your training.

Remember your training.

Remember your training.

"Andiamo!She's in here," Federico said. The door was tossed open. Adara turned on the men arriving. Senator Federico Banfi rushed in first, in a dark robe tied with a silk belt tied underneath his fat belly that covered his manhood. He had red-rimmed, swollen eyes, and was sweaty. The men who strolled in behind him were the polar opposite. Both were dressed in dark suits with black gloves. But there was only one she couldn't take her eyes off of. It was Carlo, the Butcher. He glanced in her direction and then his stare moved to the dying girl on the bed.

"She took something... I didn't give it to her, she brought it here, and smoked it with that plastic tube and foil," the senator said. The senator wiped the traces of cocaine from his nostrils. How was this man considered the most powerful politician in the parliament? Certainly, as a politician, he knew how to lie?

"Where is it?" Carlo asked.

Senator Banfi pointed to the dresser. Carlo walked over and picked up the aluminum foil the drug sample was left upon it. He dipped his pinky into the powder and tasted it. No one spoke with The Butcher in the room. Adara made sure to stay silent.

"Che cosa è questo?" Carlo asked.

The other man with him walked over and took the sample of drugs from his hand and inspected it. Carlo looked around the room. "Where did you get this girl?"

"Malvo," Federico answered.

Carlo chuckled. "No wonder she's a junkie. And who is that?"

Senator Banfi glanced over to Adara. Now the men were all staring at her.

"She came with the girl. I don't know her fucking name."

***

The woman boldly met his stare. She had large brown eyes with sweeping lashes. The only blight on her beauty was the streaks of mascara that ran dark tears down her cheeks. She wore a shiny silver mini dress. It squeezed in around the waist and heaved her breasts while flattering her curved hips. The dress was pink and so short if she bent at the waist her ass cheeks would certainly drop out. The beauty possessed traits common to working girls, except for her eyes. Once again he was drawn to the fearless way she met his stare without lowering her gaze. That bravery reminded him of another woman. One he wished he could push out of his memory. Then he realized it was more than her bravado that captured him. It was her face, her lips, her nose, her hair. The locks were thick, dark, fluffy with curls and streaked in pink. Some of the long curls fell over her brow into her face, and she used her slender hand to push them away. Yes. It wasn't his imagination. Shae was several shades darker, and far curvier. Still he couldn’t shake the similarities. Maybe he was losing his mind.

Carlo approached her. "What's your name,cara?" he asked. His tone was gentle on purpose, to gain her trust. Though the defiant way she stood with her back straight and her left hand curled into a fist, clearly indicated he'd have to work harder. "I asked you a question, lovely. Don't make me repeat it."

"Adara," she said.

"You one of Malvo’s girls?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Sometimes, yes."

"No? Yes?" Carlo chuckled. "Which is it? No or yes?"

She cut her eyes away as if in disgust. The action, the mere turn of her face as she dismissed him was so similar to Shae it caught him by surprise. Her thick curly hair even swayed in the same manner. He frowned over the mental comparison.Shae wasn't a whore.What was wrong with him? This beauty was throwing him off because his mind was fucked up. It had been since Shae broke his heart. He was fucked up.

Carlo turned Adara's face back to look into her eyes. They were brown. Far richer in color than brown--the pair had golden flakes of ginger. Those eyes weren't like Shae's. Those eyes belonged to Adara alone. He smiled at her.

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