Black Death And White Roses (1) Mafia Romance

52. Black death and white roses

Roxana

Too many beats a second. They feel like thunders inside me. I stare at the coffee cup. The darkness of the liquid mirrors a wide array of things; some real some imaginary. 

"Signorina, posso raggiungerla per cena?/ Miss, can I join you for dinner?" says a handsome man in his late thirties who must have observed me sitting alone for more than fifteen minutes.

The weather in Rome in early September is hot and sticky like hell or it's me and my profuse nervousness, or both.

"No, grazie, sto aspettando un amico./ No, thank you, I am waiting for a friend."

Right after saying this, my eyes meet the friend who just enters the restaurant and hurries to my table. It seems to me he is even more handsome than I had him in memory.  Instead of a hello, his lips press on mine and I can't help kissing him back.

"Sorry, Roxi, it's just, that I am really happy to see you."

"No, Marco, that's why I am here. I want to be with you. If you'll have me of course. I know it's difficult and -"

"Yes! Yes, it is, but I don't care. I'll figure it out somehow. I am just really happy right now! You look a bit troubled. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Well... I still have guilt issues and right now I feel strange because of that. Please be patient with me."

He almost crushes me in a hug.

"Yes. You will get all the time and patience in the world. And anything else you want."

After more than a month, I get to sleep again in the villa of the Medici in Rome. it's an odd feeling. 

In the middle of the night, I sneak out from the arms of my sublimely gorgeous lover who only hugged me chastely the whole night because I said my mood is still ambiguous and I don't want to have sex. I lied. Or well, it's a half-truth.

I enter the bathroom as silently as possible and vomit for solid ten minutes everything I ate that day. No, I am not pregnant. It's anxiety and one might wonder how I ended up in this situation. Again.

Two days ago I was with my work colleagues on a hiking trip. Kary said it would be a good idea, to socialize, and meet new people. I did. His name is Luciano and he escorted me at gunpoint to his car, in the name of you will never guess... Stefano Messina.

Stefano was waiting for us in Germany. Not sure why there but he probably didn't want it to be neither Switzerland nor Italy.

"I have something for you, Roxana," he said looking at me with his Cheshire cat smirk.

"I am not interested in whatever you want to show me. If you kill me, Marco will find out and he will mind."

"I know he will. And I don't want to kill you, I want to hire you. Well, sort of. I want to propose you an exchange."

"I highly doubt you have anything I would want," I answer phlegmaticly.

"And here you are wrong. It was a lot of luck and a lot of effort too but I do have something you deeply desire."

If that's your dick, I'll pass. Was there, and it was disappointing.

I looked at him still unimpressed how he signaled his bodyguards to open a door but I swallowed my words right after when I was faced with an image of a dream and a bit of a nightmare.
Dani is running towards me. He is skinny, pale, indeed missing two fingers of one of his hands but alive.

"Dani!" I cry out and feel like fainting.

"See. Told you. You could have been less arrogant, Roxana."