Mafia Girl

Chapter Seven

 “Who’s here?” I asked as a large smile beamed on Rico’s face, lighting up his features.

                       He bolted out of the room and G and I followed him.

                       We arrived at the entrance where Tino was escorting two women inside. The stench of perfume seemed to trail along with them.

                       The first girl had chocolate brown hair and matching brown eyes. She wore heels that were way too high and denim shorts that were way too short. The tight white t-shirt that she wore looked to be about two sizes too small for her.

                       The second girl had golden hair cut in a pixie haircut and grey eyes. She too wore unbelievably high heels and a short skirt. Although her shirt wasn’t as tight as the first girl’s, the neckline was particularly low.

                       Tino saw me and came over to me. He smiled and looked at the two women. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Liona.”

                       The girls’ smiles looked more like sneers as they looked me up and down. I suddenly felt a little self conscious.

                       “Kristella!” Rico suddenly said enthusiastically, which drew the girls’ attention away from me. I was grateful for that.

                       “Brother!” The blonde girl smiled. Rico opened his arms to give her a hug and she wrinkled her nose and stood back. “You stink.” She stated.

                       My eyebrows furrowed. Even if Rico did smell a bit weird from the sweat of our match, there were nicer things she could’ve said.

                       However, Rico just laughed it off – even so, he didn’t stand too close to the girl I now knew to be Kristella.

                       “Liona, meet Kristella and Flora; I’ve known them since my childhood.” Tino continued.

                       I smiled politely. “May I inquire as to why they are here?” I asked.

                       “They’re here for the party, of course.” Tino replied, looking confused.

                       My smile morphed into a sort of glare. “’Party’ you say? This is the first I’ve heard of this.” I had no idea why we were speaking so formally. I think it was because of the company of outsiders that I felt the need to act like royalty.

                       “Yes,” Tino said, “Our engagement party.” He looked worried. “Were you not notified?”

                       I shook my head.

                       “Oh…” he said. “Well, our engagement party is on Sunday and a lot of people are coming. It’s a black-tie occasion – as is everything else we do here.”

                       Flora and Kristella laughed way too loudly than necessary and I sighed.

                       “Tino, Sunday is tomorrow. I don’t even know anything about this party. Is anyone I know going to be there?”

                       “Of course. You’re family and your father’s subordinates are all going to be there, and there has to be other people you would know that are invited.

                       I relaxed a little. The Pantera family was going to be there. That means I’d get to see my father and my brother again just like I’d promised.

                       I didn’t need to worry about clothes either. As Tino said, just about everything we top mafia people do is a black-tie occasion so I had a few dresses to pick from.

                       However, I was stressed. Why hadn’t I been told? Was someone supposed to tell me and forgot or was I intentionally left in the dark? Who else would be coming? All these questions flooded my mind and my heart began to beat faster.

                       “You should get some rest.” Tino said before kissing my forehead which sent tingles down my spine. ”I’ll see that these two are settled in comfortably before I come visit you."

                       I nodded. I needed a shower anyway. My back was itchy because of dry sweat that had appeared during mine and Rico’s sparring match.

                       As I made my way back to my room, I realised that that kiss on the forehead that Tino had just given me was the first real sign of affection I had received for him. A stirring feeling in the pit of my stomach made me want more.

                       I smiled. At this party, I was going to make Tino fall in love with me so hard that he won’t know what hit him.