Page 5 of Claimed By My Stalker

He reaches into his pocket and hands me a mobile phone. “I’ll leave you to rest, but think about what my job offer.”

He marches out of the room leaving me alone once again. I decide to take a better look around. Pushing the double doors open I find myself on a terrace with a breathtaking view. Italy is the place I’ve always dreamed of. It helps that I have roots in this town. According to the story I’ve been told, my grandparents are from here, but my father went against their wishes and married an American woman, forever changing the trajectory of our family.

The other part of this city has narrow streets with storybook buildings stacked against each other, painted in bright contrasting colors. The ocean view, although distant and out of reach, is breathtaking still.

I have a lot of questions. The most pressing is if I’m really free to leave this huge mansion on my own accord. The second is just how sincere is this ‘job offer’ and what ‘work’ is really entailed.

More importantly than those two unclosed loops in my mind is the question he still hasn’t answered…why he saved me, from what exactly, and of what use am I to him? Why go through all that trouble for a strange unlucky girl he met by accident? I know he was involved in the shootout and despite all the red flags, I find myself drawn to him.

Breathing in the cool evening air, I dial my dad’s number on the mobile phone. It rings for a few seconds, then I hear the familiar voice.

“Dad, it’s Carrie.”

2

Carlo

Itake a whiff of my Campari as Enzo gives me the week’s report. It’s been a long and hectic one. Most weeks were like that but I hadn’t seen one like this in a while. I'm not complaining, there was a rainbow after the storm. The highlight of it was her. I recall the way my heart stopped when I saw her fall to the floor, torn between losing my cool and common sense in front of my men and running to grab her amidst the flying bullets.

The shootout at the bridge was a result of a small rift with Giovanni's men. Giovanni and I were on good terms till Bruno turned him against me. The thought of Bruno only makes my blood boil, that man has bought me nothing but loss and pain.

A loud bang at the gate interrupts the briefing. Enzo grabs his radio and speaks into it.

“What’s the situation?” Enzo inquiries.

“It’s Bruno, he and his men have just breached the front gates,” a panting man exclaims over the radio.

I snap my fingers and my men comply, aiming their guns at the only place Bruno would walk in through. I know he isn’t going to come down from the open roof, his weary body can’t afford him such stunts.

I hear footsteps approaching,Bruno. I can smell his cologne from a mile away. I exchange a knowing look with Enzo who speaks into his walkie again. No doubt Bruno has breached all the security, it’s up to me to face him myself. Outside, I hear kicks, grunts, and the agonizing moan of one of the men I pay and feed to secure my home.

Amateurs.

The door bursts open to Bruno striding in, his buttons half done as usual exposing a chest full of so much hair, he could be likened to an ape. His usual grin shows a pair of gold teeth, these grandiose accessories make him appear sinister and repulsive, which is only a representation of everything he is.

I hate Bruno's guts, he walks around revealing his chest as if to dare anyone to place a bullet in it. He flashes his gold teeth around like I wasn’t the one that knocked the ingrown ones out.

Bruno and I weren’t always foes, we were childhood friends despite the feud between our families, a naïve young me thought we could set our family's differences aside and be buddies. With maturity comes clarity as to how the world really is. He must have thought we could get along too but it didn’t take long for him to reveal his true colors.

I sit up in my chair swirling my drink around. “Bruno, I wasn’t expecting you”

Bruno wags his finger at me. “I don’t need an invitation to my Fratello's house.” He snatches the Campari bottle off the table before me and takes a long gulp.

“You know, I was passing by, thought it would be rude of me not to stop by. Besides, I brought a gift. I think you’ll find this very interesting.” He snaps his fingers, and one of his men comes forward with a flat rectangular box adorned with a red ribbon. Enzo gives me a look of alarm but I assure him with a slight smirk.

He wouldn't try anything funny or dangerous, I can always see through Bruno's faux bravado. Bruno is the kind of man who wants to live more than anyone else. He’s selfish. Unlike me, he doesn’t value the lives of his men, that’s why he’d never get loyalty by a length's arm pole.

I know he wouldn’t launch an explosive two meters away from himself. Bruno has always been a coward, wearing the mask of a leader. I'm one of the few that knows he doesn’t have it in him, the reason he is always on the verge of running his family business into the ground.

Bruno stifles a laugh. “What is that look? Do you think I brought a bomb?”

Bruno always knows what I’m thinking, being an old friend has given him that advantage. He takes another gulp of my drink and chuckles. “The air is so thick, let’s put an end to this suspense shall we?”

He signals to the man with the box who comes forward and flips it open.

An array of severed fingers lay on white satin, all ten of it. The blood had seeped into the satin making giving it a mix of white and darkened pink. The skin had turned a darkened shade of blue.

I fold my arms, waiting for Bruno to tell me what a set of severed fingers has anything to do with me.

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