ALICE | ONGOING

Chapter 4 - Attraction

Angelo confidently strode into his office.

Elegantly decorated and spacious, this was the room he spent most of his day in. A plethora of criminal acts of almost every sort had been schemed within its four walls.

It was already nighttime. Having showered and changed into clean clothes, he sat at the large ash grey couch that rested against the right wall of the room, next to the massive bookcase.

He massaged his temples and rested his elbows on his knees.

After failing to calm himself, he stood and walked to his large mahogany desk. He sat in his chair and turned, and gazed outside to the garden through the large window.

He couldn't get himself to forget the day, no matter how hard he tried.

The Russians had proven to be a huge pain in the ass. The amount of drugs they had prevented from being delivered, by ambushing the last two shipments, had cost the family millions upons millions of dollars.

They seemed to know when and where to strike.

A rat. There could possibly be a fucking rat in the family.

If that was the case, it wasn't the first time it would happen, but it annoyed him more and more everytime.

Men in the family would get greedy from time to time. A man from a different family would approach one of his own guys, offering money for information.

The only problem was, when you joined the family, you had to devote your life to it. Anyone betraying the trust by breaking the Omertà would sooner or later face the consequences of their actions. There was no way around it.

They all knew what they were getting into.

And most were scared to their very bones at the mere thought of the punishment deemed appropriate for traitors.

Neither the culprit, nor their relatives ever lived to see another day.

He decided he would inform his most trusted men to watch out for any indication, any of the men acting weird.

He would decide how to handle everything from there.

His mind started to wander and eventually settled on the waitress from earlier.

Alice, her name tag read. He hadn't even done anything to scare her and she seemed terrified. He nearly chuckled. Poor thing.

His irritation had momentarily blinded him. He hadn't gotten the chance to fully take her in.

Her large eyes were a bright shade of emerald, her lips plump and their shape was perfectly defined. Her cheekbones were high and her nose slightly curved up, with a narrow bridge. The apples of her cheeks flushing as she stared up at him.

His lips lifted in a smirk.

He was no stranger to the effect he had on women. Her blush was proof enough that she too felt some sort of attraction. 

With this woman however, things seemed different on his part. He was actually intrigued.

Angelo was entranced by her face, as he pictured her in his thoughts. Completely captivated as he engraved her features to memory.

Not just her face. Her amazing figure as well. Her narrow waist highlighting her delicious curves. Her body was probably enough to bring most men to their knees with her smallest gesture.

And yet, she didn't seem like the type to strive for that kind of attention.

Alice.

A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought.

"Entrare" he mumbled while turning his chair to face inside the office once again.

The door flew open, and in came his right hand man and most trusted friend, Giovanni, with his young brother, Matteo.

Giovanni had taken over the clean up at the café, but he hadn't asked any questions. It was like it hadn't even happened. It was his job.

"Buonasera Angelo. Do you want to go over the details for the new shipment now, or should we come back later?" Matteo spoke, always the formal brother, compared to Giovanni.

"We should probably go over everything now. We are running out of time. The buyers are losing their patience with us. They were supposed to get everything today. The next one should be sent off at dawn, if possible, to avoid any futher delay. È giusto, capo?" Giovanni said with an amused grin, noticing Angelo was distracted and annoyed by their intrusion.

Giovanni was great at his work, but he also was one of those people who enjoyed getting on other people's nerves.

He was around the same age as Angelo. They had entered the family together early in their lives, since their fathers were both important and respected members. Giovanni's father had been the Don's right hand man for years.

Angelo was the Don's son, of course.

And as much as it annoyed Angelo that Giovanni had the nerve to talk back at him with ease, he knew he was right when he did so most of the time.

"Giovanni is right. We also need to take a different route this time, make sure everything is delivered safely. The Russians are too close for comfort now that they have ruined shit twice in a row. Figli di puttana." Angelo replied, his voice bitter.

The two men walked further into the room and sat down on the chairs in front of the desk. The youngest, Matteo, started to speak.

"So, where do we begin?"

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Chapter 4
Love
xx
E.