Fatalé (18+)

Chapter four

Ilaria

Music blared outside of this room and it was the only barrier between my brain and my thoughts. But the music was slow and so serene, it sounded rich, exactly what a rich motherfucker would listen to while he ate his dinner.

When your brain consumes a lot, there's no way of thinking. You're too occupied to even think, process your thoughts to gain a clear understanding. Which is why it's convenient to multitask. Growing up, I always multitasked. It was a natural gift, it was in my fucking blood. I can only do so much at once but thinking, in a room filled with grown men and a couple of women, waiting to spend their money on stupid things seemed impossible. It seemed to do the trick.

No. No, it was not that.

I was here to kill Angelo today, and I was tired. That's probably why.

"Niccolò doesn't visit this side of Italy often so it's a miracle we're even here." Angelo remarks, his associates mumble mutual words and nod a certain degree of agreement. "Let's get started before we all change our mind."

"It wouldn't be futile of me to make the travel to Portofino because we have an agreement, unless you're offering anything less than what we originally agreed on."

There goes that deep voice again, penetrating my ears, striking something inside of me and definitely making my head turn. But, it wasn't enough to divert my attention away from Angelo. I was studying the bastard, even amongst his bodyguard that thinks he can save him. I didn't look at anyone else but Angelo because before I kill him, I want to know what his quality was. And at the moment, it was lying.

When. When. When. Time. Is. Ticking.

"You're right." Angelo nods, "And no, don't worry. An agreement is an agreement, I'm sure you're aware of the consequences, no?"

Silence fills amongst us but the room was filled with chatter. The tone that Angelo spoke with seemed as if he was going to get himself killed before I could even get to it. I didn't even have to witness the other parties response to know what the rest of the people were thinking in this room. Angelo just seemed to be ahead of himself, the guard outside of this room might be afraid of him but nobody in this room was. Everyone in the room paid attention to the interaction between Angelo and this man but were also speaking amongst themselves. Angelo has his associates and the other party had his own.

"Sì. But if you want to talk about consequence, I suggest you educate yourself." The man, Niccolò prompts. "You came to me Angelo, you need my services and should you abuse the terms, you will deal with consequences."

"Sì," Angelo clears his throat, "but it won't come to that. My men will arrange the case, in the meantime, enjoy your time here. I will return to you once the case is ready." Angelo finishes.

Nobody said a word and it was strange. I've witness too much of this but from a distance. If Alfonso and Ricardo were clever enough, they would never have tasked me to work around the mafia because I came from a mafia family. Angelo was not the mafia, he was a business entrepreneur who was probably bored of his life. Everyone else here wasn't the mafia, it was obvious that they were not. Mafia's are not friendly with their enemies. Mafias are not friendly in parties unless it's their own. Which is why nobody here was the mafia. Not with those smiles on their faces, or the way they spoke. Though today should be about Angelo, I couldn't help but want my mind to be elsewhere. Who was Angelo here with? Why was he even here? He wasn't friendly, in fact, his tone towards Angelo was hostile. It almost made me want to make him next on my hit list even though it wasn't part of my job.

Silence still comforts us, it's like as if everyone forgot what to say. The silence was comforting me but no the other parties in the room, but soon, it was impossible to embrace the silence. I dwell in my thoughts, clenching my jaw and entering reality again. When I look at anything other than Angelo, my skin crawls.