Page 16 of Mafia Kings: Dario

“Ah, so the master and his useful idiots return with a hostage!” he said in a joking voice. “At least she’s a beauty – thank heaven for small favors.”

He took my hand in his and kissed it.

He was charming, I would give him that.

“Niccolo Rosolini at your service,bella.I’ve arranged a room for you upstairs. Filomena here will escort you and show you to your chambers. Please stow your things and freshen up, then join us downstairs once you’re finished.”

He gestured to an old woman at the foot of a magnificent staircase. She had white hair and a face as wrinkled as a walnut, but she stood straight and tall in her black servant’s dress. She also wore a kind smile.

“Follow me, child,” she said with a Sicilian accent as she led the way up the stairs.

I glanced back to see where the others were going.

Adriano and Massimo were already walking into a parlor off the main foyer.

Dario was watching me with hungry eyes as I mounted the steps…

…and Niccolo waved his hand at me. “Shoo, shoo! We have questions for you, so don’t dally too long!”

I turned and followed the old Sicilian woman up the stairs.

I wondered when Niccolo had learned about me. I finally decided Dario must have called while I was retrieving my clothes in my bedroom.

Filomena led me down a long hallway on the third floor, past paintings that looked like they belonged in a Renaissance museum. In fact, the entire house waslikea museum, there was so much art.

Finally we reached a room with wooden doors, and Filomena opened them up.

Inside was the most palatial bedroom I had ever seen. The giant four-poster bed had a bedspread of purest white, which was turned down to reveal silken sheets and half a dozen pillows. There were more paintings in the room, along with an old stone fireplace.

Glass doors opened out onto a small balcony. Through the glass, I could see a gigantic lawn and a beautiful swimming pool that glittered in the moonlight.

I stared at everything in amazement. The room was ten times larger than my bedroom back home and far nicer than any place I had ever stayed in my life.

“Here is the bath,” the woman said, leading the way to a door off the main room. “There are toiletries for you on the counter.”

She flicked on a light, and I saw a modern marble countertop with glittering gold spigots. A new toothbrush sat in a box next to a fresh tube of toothpaste.

When I peeked inside the room, I spied an enormous bathtub with two showerheads in the ceiling.

I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

“I’ll wait for you in the hall,” the old woman said as she turned to leave.

“Oh, I can find my way back,” I said.

She smiled. “I’ll wait for you in the hall. Don Rosolini’s orders.”

Then she stepped outside and closed the door.

I put my undergarments in a dresser, then hung my other clothes in a beautiful mahogany wardrobe.

I quickly used the bathroom, washed my hands and face, and stared at myself in the mirror.

No makeup… tousled hair…

I looked a mess.

I tried to make myself a bit more presentable – then remembered who I was making myself presentablefor.A bunch of thugs and killers, that’s who.

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