Chapter 3
Mia
“Mia, what a pleasant surprise.” He embraces me with a kiss on each cheek. “You look absolutely stunning.” Lorenzo takes my hand and kisses my knuckles too. He then steps back to enjoy the view.
Tonight, I decided on a black silk dress with a red bag and red shoes, not forgetting my red lips. I see his wife watching us over his shoulder, so I give him a little twirl and accidently on purpose fall into him a little. Catching me by the waist, he clearly more than appreciates this. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lorenzo’s wife making her way towards us.
I stroke his arm while he speaks, which prompts him to lean in and whisper in my ear, “Why don’t you join me in my private room for a welcome drink?” He moves the hair off my shoulder and runs the tips of his fingers down my arm.
My body wants to shiver in disgust, but I hold it in. “I don’t think your wife would approve of that, Chief Lorenzo. Do you?” I say a lot more loudly than needed.
“Approve of what?” snaps Lorenzo’s wife.
Lorenzo moves away from me, scowling, before turning to his wife. “Oh, we were just having a little joke.” Lorenzo puts his arm around his wife and turns her away from me. “Come on now, let me introduce you to someone who has been dying to meet you.” They mingle within the crowd, soon disappearing from my view.
The bar is quite busy, but I find an opening between two very large men who have their backs to each other. Sitting on a bar stool causes my dress to open at the split, displaying my tanned, smooth legs. After ordering a margarita with salt, I sit and wait for the men beside me to notice. It doesn’t take them long.
The first guy is Russian, and the other is Spanish. I can speak many different languages and I am very good at pronunciation and accent. When I go to England, people think I have lived there all my life, my English is so good, and it’s the same with Spanish. Putting on my best British accent so as not to arouse suspicion, I soon have both men eating out of the palm of my hand. Each of the men are representatives of underground organisations. I recognise tattoos they have on their hands. Neither man is at the top of their hierarchy, but both must hold valuable and influential positions. As far as they know, both organisations have just been invited to celebrate Lorenzo’s new position as chief. Both admit to having found the invitation strange, but they decided to attend out of curiosity.
What is that sneaky chief up to?
After humouring the guys for a while, I make my excuses and find Marisa and Lucia. It seems Lorenzo has invited members of each of the organised crime groups from Italy’s surrounding countries. All countries have organised crime groups. Italy’s main organisation is the Guerra, but the country also has our archenemy the Martelé, however there doesn’t seem to be anyone from the Martelé here. Albeit Illegal, underground organisations are needed to keep the countries from going into chaos, so they generally work alongside the police. I cannot speak for all, but the Guerra have good values, protect their own, and have respect for civilians. We also respect our fellow countries’ organisations and expect them to do the same. Their unannounced arrival at this event is not going to go down well with Marco.
Van doesn’t say much when I ring and explain our findings. He never tells me anything. I’d love to know more and be part of all the excitement, but I am a female, so that means it is not my place. It’s a protection thing, apparently, not a sexist thing. I’ve tried, believe me. I will just have to do what I normally do: find things out for myself. But it looks to me like Lorenzo is trying to make allies.
I buy us girls some drinks and let them go and enjoy the attention. All eyes are on them as they walk through the groups of people. Every man has a look, whether it is a blatant open-mouthed stare up and down or a sly peek over their glass so their partner doesn’t notice. Marisa and Lucia own the room, and they love every second of it. They better make the most of it, as this party will be coming to an extremely abrupt end very soon.
Perched on a stool at the bar, I think over the event tonight. Surely Lorenzo would know that the Guerra would find out about his party and who was on the guest list. He would also know that the Guerra would not be happy. He wanted to piss Marco off. He also knows that Marco will not let this go. I have no doubt Marco will have also worked this out. It’s quite clever when you think about it, really. Tonight the Guerra could storm in here and potentially start a war with every one of its surrounding countries. These people are all on our territory at the same time, and the Guerra must stand their ground.
I’m so deep in thought, I hadn’t noticed the tall man appear beside me. I sense him looking my way, so I look at his face. A smile fills his strong jawline right up to his cheek bones. He’s obviously amused by how deep in thought I was. Maybe he has spoken to me and I didn’t realise.
“I’m sorry. I was in a world of my own.”
His smile fades slightly as he looks into my eyes. His are deep and warming. Butterflies in my stomach have me breaking our connection.
“Would you like another drink?” He points at my half-full glass of champagne that has bright red lipstick on the rim.
“No, thank you. I will be leaving soon.”
“That’s a shame. It’s Mia, isn’t it?” He offers his hand to introduce himself. “I’m Ross.”
When I place my hand in his, he doesn’t shake it but turns it over, lightly rubbing my fingers with his thumb. I suddenly remember him. We have met before. He works for the police department.
“We’ve met before. Detective Rossini, isn’t it?”
His eyebrows rise, and he smiles that smile again. “I wasn’t sure if you would remember. Yes, we have met. A couple of times, actually.”
I hadn’t noticed before, but Detective Rossini is a very handsome man. He looks to be more suited to the Guerra rather than the police force, though. His large frame would fit in perfectly. His smile, on the other hand—maybe not.
“May I?” He points at the stool beside me.
“Of course.”
As he sits down, his suit trousers strain over his thigh muscles and his aftershave fills my senses—delicious. I could definitely see myself sitting on his lap. Conversation comes really easy with him. He has me laughing and relaxing into the moment, forgetting where I am and why I am here. Suddenly my bubble bursts, and my walls are back up in full force. It’s funny how I know when he is near. I don’t need to turn around to know that Marco’s eyes are burning into the back of my head from the doorway.
“I’m sorry, Ross, I really need to get going.”
He looks genuinely disappointed. As I stand up off the stool, he stands, too, taking my hand and leaning into me.
“You are incredibly beautiful, Mia. I’d love to get to know you better. Could I have your number? I’d like to see you again, if you would like that, too, of course?”
I smile. I would like that, too, actually.
“Here’s my card.” I hand him my business card, kiss him on the cheek, then go and find my girls.
Once I have rounded them up, we make our way to the door. We are greeted by Marco with a face like thunder.
“Mia, a word.” He storms out of the building and around the corner. The Guerra men are arriving and being briefed by Van. I leave Marisa and Lucia to swoon over my brother and follow Marco. What is his problem tonight?