Black Death And White Roses (1) Mafia Romance

17. Guilty pleasures

Marco

The way the light draws shadow on the brittle limestone walls seems more intense today, darker and more vivid. Even the taste of the coffee seems richer and I can hear the song of the birds from the garden if I blend out the voices. Everything is the same but still somehow different as if there is something in the air, something I can't pinpoint.

Aziz will be here today and Stefano did not feel like dealing with him. I can't wrap my head around this man, what he wants, or what side he is on. That happens rarely and it makes him dangerous. That and the fact that Stefano is playing two hands by doing business with him and with Alexei Orlov when he knows the two want each other dead.

Hmm. Maybe that is what Stefano wants in the end, for them to kill each other and for him to rise from the ashes of two huge clans. Maybe also collect Alexei's wife as a war price, given the fact that he was stating quite bluntly that he would like to sleep with her, luckily though not in front of her husband. I suppose her being off-limits is driving him crazy. There are not many women out there that would say no to Stefano and he knows that, but this girl is married to his very powerful business partner and is also actually in love with him.

Anyway, I shouldn't worry about her; she is quite safe, unlike other women Stefano meets. Thinking of it, I haven't seen the clumsy Swiss girl lately, and that can potentially be pretty bad. I don't understand why he insists on sleeping with the staff; it is not like he does not have very easy access to women without involving the ones who work for him.

Aziz has arrived. I greet him courteously. He seems glad the meeting is with me not with Stefano. They don't really vibe the same way.

When his brother Amir was taking care of business our alliance was quite obvious. Amir and Stefano shared more than a few common traits and interests, but unlike his brother, Aziz does not like to drink, party, and fuck around. I wonder what he likes though, except Alexei's wife.

Yes him too, and I honestly wonder what it is about that girl. Sure she is very smart and cute in her own way even if not model-like beautiful, and also very much down to earth. Much like... Roxana. It dawns on me when I see Aziz staring at her. That was what he was staring at all along. Please tell me this is not happening.

It is difficult enough to prevent Stefano from asking her to his room, but Aziz...

It's not like this girl is any of my business but I just don't like it when I see abuse and imbalance of power and it's not the first time Stefano did shady things with the staff.

Ok, I am being a hypocrite now. Besides all that, I find her cute. Not sure why, perhaps the way she talks, a bit sassy, or the way she smiles, beautifully but not always reaching her eyes. It's pretty relatable. And that damn dance that Stefano made me dance unwillingly just made me feel things I didn't feel in a while when I am not big on feeling, to begin with. I shouldn't be. In my line of work, it only causes trouble.

She looks strange today, terribly pale.

"Shall we move to the terrace?" I ask Aziz to kill whatever is about to bloom here.

"Yes, sure. But what's going on there?" he answers, lost in thought still looking up at Roxana.

I glance up too and Christ what is she doing? Jumping? Freaking falling?

She will hit her head and die! More instinct than will, I leap forward, one arm on the metal stair of the scaffolding the other stretching out and leaning forward to catch her.

Aziz stares at me taken aback.

"That. Was quite impressive," he says glancing at me.

That is not good; he just might start thinking about what else I can do. But these are future problems, the current issue is lying in my arms and looks deadly pale.