Chapter Three- Buddha
I made repeated fists inside my pockets as I stood in the dark room. My father was next to me, along with three of his men. I tapped my right foot and then my left as I stared at Dior.
She was fine as hell. I didn’t anticipate her being this beautiful.
I wanted her to wake up so I could see her pretty eyes look at me again.
Her head was bent forward, her chin resting on her chest. She was tied to the chair, her hands behind her back, and a small chain wrapped around her midsection.
She still wore the name tag on her tank top from that stupid speed dating game she was participating in.
“She’s molto carina…no? (very pretty).” My father said, obviously observing the way I was staring at her. I turned to him and hid the fact that I agreed with him.
“Let’s hurry this shit up, I got stuff to do. Wake her ass up, Julio,” I instructed one of the men, ignoring what my father said.
“Please, don’t hurt her…please,” the sobbing of her father made me turn my attention to him.
He was all the way fucked up from the beating he was given.
One of his eyes was almost swollen shut, and he had dried-up blood around his nose.
I was certain he had at least two broken ribs.
He was lucky he was still breathing, but that could change at any moment.
“Aye, shut the fuck up before I fuck up more bones in your worthless body,” I warned him before turning my attention back to Dior. Julio used the back of his hand to slap her cheeks. I waited patiently as she finally began to stir, and she moaned softly.
“Wakey, wakey sleepy head,” Julio cooed as she groggily lifted her head and slowly tried to open her eyes. I stopped moving as Dior cracked both her eyes open. The room was dimly lit, and it took her about a minute to adjust.
“Mmmm,” she moaned again. I got a weird feeling because the sound she made should not sound that erotic.
“Dior, baby, are you ok?” Her father’s voice woke her up entirely.
She stared over at him with wide, scared eyes.
I could tell everything was coming back to her as she began looking around at everyone else in the room.
Then those pretty brown eyes finally settled on me.
I kept my composure as we both stared at each other.
“Lewis, what’s going on? Who are these people?” she asked, sounding so lost and distressed I almost felt bad for her…almost.
“Dior, I promise everything is going to be ok,” her father made a promise that he knew fucking well he couldn’t keep.
“Stai zitto! (Shut-up).” My father yelled at him, holding one hand in the air. Using his index finger, he pointed at Lewis. “Now, tell your daughter why she’s here.” Lewis began crying softly as he bent his head.
“Tell her!” my father yelled again. Walking over to the tied-up man, he thumped him upside his head.
“Please stop,” Dior said tearfully, begging for the man who was about to change her life forever. In the next few minutes, I guarantee she wasn’t about to feel sorry for her father anymore.
“The money in the suitcase belonged to my boss. When I came back and took it from you, instead of returning it, I took some to the bank to help repay some of the debt we were in. I swear, Mr. Ricci, I didn’t think you would notice,” I shook my head because he must have seen a coffin he wanted to lie in.
“You didn’t think I would notice that $50,00 was missing, idiota, (idiot).” My father lifted his hand to hit him again, making Lewis flinch, but he changed his mind and dropped his hand.
“Lewis, how did this even happen? How did their luggage end up with me?” Dior questioned her father about the mix-up. I stood back and allowed her to ask the question she rightfully needed answered.
“My boss gave me a suitcase that looked just like yours. I had to keep it in the SUV until he called to let me know where I needed to drop it off. I picked you up from the airport without even realizing that both suitcases looked alike. When I left you, I handed you the wrong one. I just wanted help getting back on my feet, so I took some of the money straight to the bank to pay off some of the debts. I didn’t mean to get you involved,” Lewis explained his plight tearfully to his daughter.
I listened, and all I could think was he’s a dumb mothafucka.
How did he think stealing from a mob boss would end?
“Pl-please let us go. I promise he’ll pay you back…we’ll pay you back. Just let us go,” I turned to Dior, she was pleading for both her and her father with tears streaming down her face. It was admirable that she wanted to help when her father had already made a deal to throw her to the wolves.
“Do you have the money to give to me now, carino, (pretty one)?” My father asked her.
“No, but if you give me some time, I promise I’ll get it for you.”
“How much time do you need, carino?” I folded my arms across my broad, muscular chest, waiting for her answer.
“A month, maybe two,” Dior’s eyes got filled with hope as though she was about to be released. My father turned to me and rubbed his chin as though he was contemplating her request.
“Lucky for you, before you got here, your stepfather and I made a deal.” Dior’s eyes lit up, her whole body got perky as fuck.
“Well, that’s good. So you’re gonna let us go, and we’ll pay you back what he took in the next few weeks?”
“Unfortunately, for you. The deal made consists of only one of you leaving today,” my father quickly burst her bubble.
Dior looked really confused as she glared at her father. Her eyes scanned his face as though she was expecting him to clarify what my father just said.
“Lewis, what’s he talking about?” looking at everyone in the room as she asked her question. The silence that followed was deathly; everyone waited for Lewis to speak up, but instead, he said nothing.
“Cat got your tongue, I see. What your stepfather did was offer you as collateral until his debt is repaid,” my father simplified the terms of our loan agreement to Dior. She began laughing almost hysterically as she looked at Tomasso.
“A person cannot be used as collateral for a loan; that’s fucking preposterous. Lewis, can you say something, please? Why the fuck are you just sitting there on mute!” Her voice went up a couple of levels in a panic.
“In my world, a person can be used as many things, carino.”
“Are you all fucking crazy? What kind of people are you that will do this to a person? Lewis, you can’t actually think this is legal,” fresh tears began as Dior struggled against her restraints. Trying her best to break free once she realized what was about to happen to her.
“Mr. Ricci, I’ve changed my mind. I can’t let you take my daughter.
Her mother will haunt me from the grave.
Can’t we come up with something else?” Lewis finally found his cowardly voice, only it was not something any of us wanted to hear.
Especially me, because I had somewhere to be.
I exhaled loudly and pinched between my eyes in annoyance.
I told my father we should have just killed this idiot and be done with it.
I had no idea why he was going along with this charade.
We already paid Edwardo the money, including the 50k that Lewis took.
“Mi scusi? (Excuse me.) You’ve changed your mind, and what makes you think you can change your mind?
How am I going to get the money you stole back?
Did I not tell you what would happen to your very beautiful daughter if you chose not to cooperate?
” Hearing those words made me realize it was time for me to do my part.
Reaching for the gun tucked in my waist, I pulled it out, and with two easy steps, I was now standing behind Dior. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I pointed the gun at her temple.
“Ahhhh,” she gasped, as hair pulled from her scalp. I knew she was in pain, but this was needed so her father knew that we weren’t playing any games.
“Ok, ok. Please don’t hurt her. I’ll get your money back. Just please, don’t hurt her,” Lewis begged tearfully, as he bent his head. His tears fell on his lap as he realized the seriousness of what he’d done.
Releasing Dior’s hair, I put the gun back in my waist and stepped away.
“Good, now if you think that you’re going to do something stupid like go to the police or skip town and not pay me.
To sweeten the deal, your daughter will be married to my son by the end of the week.
You have exactly two months to get my money back, or this is about to be her new home, and I’m about to be her father-in-law. ”
I looked at my father and frowned at what he said because I had no clue what he was even talking about. He never told me about this addition to the terms, and I became confused.
“Married? She’s about to marry Snow?” I asked about my older brother, calling him by his nickname. My father turned to me, placing one hand on my shoulder, and he placed the other hand against my right cheek.
“How can I offer your brother up to be married? He already has a wife, Phillipe.” Once he used my birth-given name, I knew he meant business. The only problem was I wasn’t about to take part in this crazy ass plan of his.
“Me? She’s supposed to marry me, Tomasso. I’m not in this; you need to come up with another plan,” I shook my head before brushing his hand off my shoulder.
“I don’t know what y’all think this is, but I’m not about to get married because my stepfather fucked up. Fuck all that!” I turned to the female tied to the chair as she spoke. She was indeed very attractive, but that mouth she had and her fiery temper. There was no way I was about to deal with it.
“Do you hear that? You must be out of your mind if you think I’m about to marry that petardo, (firecracker).” I pointed at Dior as she wiggled in the chair in an attempt to free herself.
“It will be your job to discipline her when she becomes your wife, mio figlio (my son).”