Heartcraft

Four

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ Azra ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

Two hours pass with me and 'Armando' sat side by side together on the couch watching random TV channels. As soon as the owner of the house left, Armando sat down and turned on the TV without uttering a word to me. At first, I was scared from the strange contrast between the two men but when I realized that he's actually not gonna talk to me or come near me, I relaxed.

At some point, I get thirsty and my throat feels parched. I haven't put anything in my mouth since yesterday afternoon and I think that was a full 24 hours ago. A new record. I eye the coffee mug that's still front of me for six and a half minutes, I know because I counted the seconds in my head. I look at Armando beside me to find his eyes still glued to the screen. I switch my gaze back to the mug and try to weigh the pros and cons of drinking it in my head.

By the time I reach the third point, which is 'it could be drugged but you could also die if you don't eat or drink something', a deep and gravely voice startles me.

"I could drink from that first if it would make you feel safer." Armando suggests in a low tone, his eyes still on the screen. When I don't answer, he slowly leans forward, grabs the mug from in front of me, takes a large sip, and puts it back while muttering a small 'There."

I switch my focus from him to the mug several times in surprise and can't help but start to feel the wariness slip away. These huge, intimidating, buff men are kind of...nice?

I grab the coffee and start taking slow sips from the now cold liquid. Armando goes back to watching TV without initiating any more conversation. He either doesn't like talking or is not very interested in talking to me.

Or they're both playing a very sick game to mess with my head.

My dad and brothers always told me that I didn't have the best judgment in the world, that I was naive and trusted people quickly. That was also usually their excuse of why they couldn't count on me in the outside world. I wonder what they're thinking now.

I was alone, in a foreign country, in a stranger's apartment. I can already see the vein bulging on my dad's neck and hear Ismail's reprimanding words as if they were right here.

༄𖤍🂱 Dario 🂱𖤍༄

"Did you find anything?" I pick up Azul's call from the first ring knowing that Armando tried last night to find out the girl's identity and that Azul picked up from where he left off today.

"I don't think you're ready for this." I can hear the amusement in his voice.

"What?" I urge impatiently.

"Your bruise girl is Azra Dogan, Aslan Dogan's daughter." I almost don't believe him as my body stills and I try to process this information.

"What in the actual fuck?" I mumble into the phone, still shocked.

Why the fuck was the daughter of a well-known Turkish crime family just casually sitting on a sidewalk on a random Wednesday at one in the morning in a whole different country?

"They apparently arrived to the states two days ago. Aslan, one of his sons, Azra, and a few other elders from the family. They had that annual meeting of theirs with the Italians and the Russians."

"And the girl just fled?" I ask, "Or did she just fucking get lost?" The entire family must be in havoc right now, flipping the city upside down in search of her. Why haven't I heard news of this yet?

It's not everyday we get a mafia princess on the run in this city. It's pretty bug fucking news.

"I don't know exactly what happened yet but I know they're trying their best to cover it up, since no one has contacted us or any of the others." He explains.

"Must be something awful if they're trying to cover it up." I mumble.

"Aslan is a bastard full of pride, if his daughter ran away from him in a city full of mob families, you bet he's not gonna utter a word about it."

"We positive she ran away?" I ask again, partly to myself but Azul answers anyway.

"From what I've gathered, that's the only plausible conclusion until now." He's right. The bruises could also be from one of her family members but these are all assumptions.

Where did she think she was gonna go in a city full of her dad's allies?

I end the call and start picking up my wallet and keys, now more excited to go back to my place than I was before. Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever been this excited to go back to that penthouse ever before.

An interesting turn of events. I leave the building with a huge grin plastered on my face, feeling more intrigued with the princess than I was before, and more entertained than I ever was since I crossed that goddamn border onto here.