Page 21 of The Mafia's Property

“Keeping it in the family, are we? That’s good,” he said.

“The jewel. Tell him what you’ve learned.”

“You know, if you give me the jewel again and let me run more tests—” If Sunny thought we’re going to give him the jewel, then he must be high on that stuff he tests.

“Tell him what you’ve learned.” Dante’s repetition was enough for him to drop the suggestion.

“It’s one of the most priced jewels of Russia for one. It got lost during the Russian revolution and as the years went on, it made it into Italian hands and then finally yours.”

I knew about all of that, I want to say. But he seems animated in his retelling of jewel history and I wasn’t about to stop him.

“A lot of people are looking for it. Saccone’s men, yes, but others as well. A man called Volkov has been obsessed with it for years. He went after Saccone and tried to buy it from him. And when Saccone refused, he tried to steal it from him. He failed in that, too. So he used other means. Stealth.”

“He had some of his men infiltrate Saccone’s empire,” Dante added.

My heart skipped a beat. I had an inkling where this was going and I do not like it.

“And when he heard that Saccone’s empire had fallen,” Sunny said.

“He figured we must have it. He went back to his old ways,” Dante said. “He came to me trying to get me to sell it. I refused. Then he had some of his men try to steal it here. In this store.”

“Were you hurt?” Not really afraid for Sunny, but worried about what this might mean regarding our security. “Why not sell it to him? We have a willing buyer.”

Dante shook his head. “He doesn’t want to buy it. He thinks it’s his. He offered me a million dollars to get it off my hands as he said.” That’s one percent of its worth. Nowhere near its value. “Recently,” Dante continues, “We learned he was sending in spies and other people to get close to us. But not just that. A mole of his we caught said he had someone close to us who could be working for him.”

The puzzle pieces he lays out were easy to put together. I know what he’s trying to say before he even finished his sentence. He was not the only one who was suspicious of her. My mind went to yesterday and where I found her. Below the jewel. There’s only one new person around us who could be a spy. “So what you’re saying is that Freya’s working for Volkov.”

“We don’t know. Watch her, but don’t tell Rico. I could be wrong. There could be more. “

“More!”

“It’s a one hundred-million-dollar piece. You can only imagine the lengths someone could go to get it. We need to observe her first. We might get something from her that could help us end Volkov.”

Freya

I DIDN’T KNOW what else to do after I left Enrico’s room. When he caught me literally in the middle of snooping, I thought that was it for me, and then things took a turn. Who knew Enrico had a BDSM kink? And who knew I would respond to it so unashamedly? I was still aroused when I went back to my room, high on adrenaline and blue balls. He was an enigma. A different one from Nico, but an interesting one nonetheless.

As soon as I closed the door, my phone chimed. There were four texts. All from him. I could only guess at what he wanted. The jewel. Pity I have no new information to give him. The texts were as curt as I expect. “Did you find it?” “respond immediately” “are you getting these?” He sent the last message twice. God, was he panicking already? I open up the app and typed a quick response. “I tried to look around and couldn’t find anything. I’ve only been here for a few days, remember?” A couple of days, really.

He responded immediately. “Keep digging.”

I threw the phone on the bed and my body followed, collapsing face down. I am in too deep. I should quit. Leave this place and tell him it was futile. Tonight was a close call, and I almost got caught. If he had found out my true purpose, I would have been toast. The Morellis are capable of harming people. People like me who have no one to look for them when they died. People like Zoe. I wish I knew what she was doing with them or how she fell into their trap, or so to speak. She was never talkative, a bit reserved so when she came back home withdrawn after a night of ‘high paying VIP clients’ I didn’t think much of it. I should have questioned her more. I should have asked her if she was okay. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have known who killed my friend. A friend with no one to cry for but me. As much as I desired them, as much as they turned me on, I should not be swayed from my goal.

I barely sleep that night and by the time sunlight beckons, I wake up and make my way to the kitchen. I’m hungry, I realized having eaten very little the previous night. It’s hard to swallow food when you are suspicious of the people feeding you as much as they like feeding you.

I opened the fridge and scanned for something filling. Most of the food, if you could call it that, was mainly liquid. Water, energy drinks, beer and soda drinks. Where’s all the food Nico filled the counter with? He must have ordered all of that from the hotel that’s below this apartment. I wish he left some of it in the fridge. There’s some fruit in the vegetable drawer, so at least that’s something. I took that, cut it up and throw it in the blender. Now to turn it on.

And there was nothing on the machine I could call a power button. It was smooth with little lights on the side, but nothing else. Was this a blender or something else entirely different? It definitely looked like one. I try all sorts of things to wake it up. I shake it. Twist it around, lift the bottom to check for a button. I even press the little lights. Nothing happens. I am about to give up when Enrico enters the kitchen. The last person I want to see this morning.

It’s from him I learned how the damn thing is used and, of course, the blender is part of the smart home or whatever. It used voice activation, like an Alexa. Condensation dripping from his voice as he explained how the damned thing worked was enough to dry up my any latent desire I had for him. He immediately left as soon as Nico came to join us, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Enrico, as the bastard like to be called, could make me nervous just by being present.

At least Nico’s different. At least he’s predictable. I am starting to have an idea how Nico’s mind works. His rules were simple and easy to follow. From what I have gathered so far, he enjoys dressing me up and dictating what I eat. It’s a little odd, but at least I can handle being pampered. But sometimes I felt I’m being treated like a doll. Like now. He frowns when he sees the hodgepodge of a smoothie that I made.

“You’re my Property, I should be the one to take care of you,” he said. “Sit.” He pulled one of the stools on the breakfast nook and urged me to sit. I did as he said and watched him whip up a smoothie like he’s my private chef.

“Oh my god,” I screamed when I took a sip. The juice tasted of a heavenly concoction of berries, yogurt, matcha, nuts, and some syrup he poured in.

A big grin was plastered on his face when I open my eyes to face him. “You like it?”

---