Page 26 of The Mafia's Property

“Were you listening or was I rambling to myself?” For a listener, she could be a little absentminded at times.

“I was thinking about what you and Enrico were saying. The person who’s after me. Did he work here at some point?”

“Are you afraid he’s going to jump out from under a table and shoot you in the head?”

“Something like that.”

“Don’t be. We’ve rigged this place with a lot of cameras and surveillance so that anyone would never even attempt it. At least not here. “

She didn’t look convinced. If anything, she looked even more worried, deepening my anxiety over what Rico said. I mean, maybe I should have done a little more digging into her than I did. But truth be told, I thought I had done so. What I found out about her was so boring there was no need to look into her any more than necessary. “However,” I said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t be protected when you’re here. That little thing,” I pointed to the bracelet on her wrist, “will let us know where you are at all times,” I said, waving my phone in the air. “But it can be compromised, so one of us has to be with you even when you’re here.”

“Is that why he asked you to bring me here with you? It’s for my protection?”

“Kinda,” I said. “And to see your beautiful face.” By now, we were making our way back to the elevators and back to the offices.

She raised an eyebrow as the elevator doors closed behind us. “Last I checked, you were only using me to make your girlfriend jealous.”

“And you still are. But it doesn’t mean I can’t admire beauty when it’s in front of me.”

“What did she do to you? Your ex.”

“Do to me?”

“A man can only act like that if the other party hurts them. You didn’t do the hurting.”

“Beautiful and perceptive.” Maeve was someone I thought I was going to marry at one point. I wasn’t a romantic, far from it, but Maeve made me want to settle down and have a family. She wasn’t the little flower that everyone sees. She can be vindictive, cruel and downright evil. All of those things weren’t repulsive to me. They were what made her fascinating. I thought she and I were two peas in a pod. Not like how it was like with Rico, but different. Ever since I met Rico, I had always thought that it shouldn’t be just us two, but that there was a third missing piece. Another person to fill the void I’ve felt and I damn well know Rico has felt it too. I’m sure Maeve is the one even though Rico doesn’t believe me. He had never liked her one bit and Maeve reciprocated the hatred. Much like Freya.

“She thought I wasn’t good enough,” I said. “Her parents want her to marry a man from her station.”

She frowned. “Aren’t you two from the same class? I thought you’re a billionaire.”

“My money’s tainted, you see, and her family can’t mix with my own tainted one.” Her father made it clear to me the first time I met him. He had even offered me another girl to date, just so I can leave Maeve. I thought she would never take his words seriously until the day she called it quits. Her reason: we’re not alike.

Her face dawned with realization and quickly turned to pity. I don’t want her to think I’m a lost little puppy that one should feel sorry for, but her response surprised me. “All money’s tainted.”

The elevator doors opened, and I watched her as she got out. Beautiful ass aside, she had something to offer that I never thought I would want in a woman until now. Intellect.

Freya

CLUBBING HAS NEVER been my thing. I usually don’t go out and spend my hard-earned dollars on expensive alcohol and watch people gyrate against each other on the dance-floor. I had enough of bodies rubbing against each other at work, thank you. So when Rico, of all people, asked me, strike that, commanded me to come with him to his club, I was a little, let’s say, hesitant.

“You can go. I’ll stay here,” I said to him when he barged into my room. It has been a week ever since I’ve been staying here and during most of the time, Nico has been absent. Work trip, he said. I didn’t need to ask any further to know what work trip meant, and throughout this time, I’ve been forced to deal with the less hospitable brother, Enrico. He ignored me the entire time. That was the good part.

The worst was when he was forced to acknowledge my presence. That was when his brash, insufferable, and downright mean self came out. He demanded that I accompany him to work all the time. For my safety, of course—even though I was beginning to doubt that story—where I would sit quietly in his office as he went about his business. I literally did nothing all day except for sit and watch stuff on my phone. I even got an iPad when the insane weekly allowance dropped into my back account, but even the purchase of that device had to go through him and I noticed he made sure to ‘protect’ the device by putting spyware on it. He did the same with my phone too, so that meant I was out of communication with my partner in crime for the time being.

In the meantime, Nico didn’t call or text. Was he calling Maeve instead? His true love? And why do I care? It’s not as if our relationship was built on anything more than mutual attraction. My days were spent watching movies and reading books and if I was anyone else, I would be tearing my hair out by this point, but I was kinda enjoying being ignored. It was when he gave me his attention that I did not like. My response to him in particular was what messed me up. I should hate him and I do, but every time he spoke to me, I waited to hear him say something kind, hoping maybe we will develop a more cordial relationship. Instead, I got an indifferent response. So when he demanded I go to some club with him, my answer was no, thank you.

“That won’t work,” he said. “You’re coming end of story.”

“And if I don’t?” I responded with my gaze firmly on my tablet. I was lying on the bed pretending to be engrossed by the book I was reading, as if words were not a jumble ever since he came in.

“You’d be in breach of contract.”

I stared back at him. He could not be serious. In breach meant paying this insufferable prick two million dollars. Money I didn’t have, nor hoped to see anytime soon. I turned down the tablet and plastered a smile before turning to face him. “Fine. I’ll be done in a sec.”

“Wear something nice,” he added. “Not too slutty. I don’t want you to be an embarrassment tonight.”

Has he seen the stuff his brother bought for me? It ran from slutty to whorish. Everything was expensive and even glamorous, but decent? No. “Sorry, I don’t think there’s a Sunday best in there,” I said, nodding at the closet.

---