The food was quite delicious but I preferred Olivia's bruschetta. "Hey princess." I called out to Rosa who played in the sitting room with her dollhouse and something caught my eyes. A big bear which Rosa received for Christmas. It was him, Giovanni. He bought us these presents. How could I not think of this. The necklace which had 'amore mio' and the lingerie pajamas. I loved it, he bought it in my favorite color, red. "Who got you the bear?" I asked her before sitting next to her.
"Daddy got it at the house this morning. Are we staying here with him?" She questioned.
"Yes, yes Angela we are." I was certain. I've thought about this long enough now and it's best for Rosa to have Giovanni in her life.
"You've been gone for the entire day mommy, where have you been and you look pretty in your new outfit." She chuckled. She turned all her attention to me and sat on my lap. "Daddy would love to see you in this." She acknowledged and I gasped. Feeling embarrassed, she hid in my arms and that made me laugh.
"I've been working in my new office, daddy got me one." She squealed when I pinched her nose softly. "Do you know where he is?"
"He left for work and said he'll be back at seven for dinner."
I smiled at her and told her I get to leave for work at three. "Princess, what do you know about the bad men?" I suddenly asked her. I shouldn't have because she looked scared but I pulled her into a hug.
"Mommy always told me that Rosa means rose and that women are afraid of roses because of their thick thorns. She and dad are not from Italy but they never told me where. Also mommy kept rose quartz on my nightstand, in my treasure box." She said and hurried off to play again. Rosa. They named her after a rose.
We've been looking in the wrong direction all this time. They ran away from dangerous people. They stole something from them, they stole Rosa. They're not part of any group.
"Princess, I have to go back to work right now, I'll see you at dinner." I kissed her head. Right this instance Antonio walked in with some take-away boxes. "We need to get back to the office right now." I hurriedly walked down the hallway.
"You found something?" He questioned, keeping up with my pace.
"I figured it all out."
"I bought you pizza." He said, handing me the box. "What did you find?" He questioned as we entered the office.
"Thank you and we've been looking in the wrong direction all this time. Rosa also means rose in Spanish. This has more to do with just groups. She mentioned something about rose quartz in a closed box. This might be something more."
"So what do we do?" He shrugged, pacing back and forth.
"Is it possible that we go back to where she lived and find it? I'm sure everything is still there." Antonio was hesitant at first. He was more worried about what Giovanni would do to him.
"I don't think it's a great idea. This might be dangerous."
"Giovanni won't be back at the house till seven, Antonio. You drive his cars around and I'm capable of protecting myself, I've learnt over the past few months. This won't be long. Can we please go?"
"I'm dead after this." He whispered. "We have to leave right now." He hurriedly pulled the keys out. "Do you know where this house is?"
"Meet you at the front yard in five, let me go ask Rosa. I won't be long." The adrenaline in my veins made my body hot. I was bursting with excitement. My first mission. I hurriedly flew my coat over my shoulders and exited the office in the direction of the family room. "Hey princess, where did you live when your genitori died?" I asked her.
"Are you going there mommy? The bad men will get you." She frowned.
"Princess, they won't. I'm coming back to you." She looked scared, like she didn't want me to leave. "I promise." I told her. Her eyes glistened, like she got some hope.
"It's a house on a hill, mommy. It's small and painted in yellow. There are flowers planted all around it." She talked in her baby voice. "We lived in Potenza and had to walk far to get to shops." They were in hiding and still got found. I thanked her and ran out the door. Antonio had the car ready and I flew myself in, right there, he stepped on the gas.
"We're going to Potenza, this won't be far from Naples? Would it?" I asked. He sped over the limit at this point.
"This is an hour and forty-nine minutes, Irina. I need to get there faster to get back to the house in time."
"Antonio, this was my idea and no, you're not losing your job. You work for me now." I smirked and he went faster. He didn't question me, I liked that. "Turn the GPS device off." And he did just that. He didn't look scared anymore. He passed stop signs and traffic just to get there in time and we did, arriving in one hour. I was shocked we made it out alive.
"There are many houses there, did she describe it to you?" He stopped to the side of the road, allowing other vehicles to go on their way.
"It's a yellow house and is far from this place." He pulled out a PC from the back of the car and started looking at a satellite of the place. After some time of swiping right to left, he handed me it.
"This is the only yellow house, hidden in parco del rossellino." He stepped on the gas and drove as fast as he could. "We get there and make it as quick as we can."
"We just need to get to her room and search for a treasure box and get out."
"Open this there Irina and get the gun out. You might need it."
We climbed out of our seats and entered through the back. There were dead flowers and the house was coming apart. The windows had all fallen out. This house was very small, smaller than I imagined. The floors were stained. No one washed out the blood and it reeked. "Get in here." Antonio whispered. He had broken a door to get into a room, "You don't have any gloves on, don't touch anything. Let me do the searching." We searched for a long time, until I looked up and saw a brass box peaking through the ceiling. Antonio was already losing all hope.
"Antonio." I called and he continued rummaging through stuff. "Antonio." I said a little louder. He then searched under the bed for the fifth time. "Antonio." I yelled and he jerked up, hitting his head. It was funny, I must say.
"I'm sorry, Irina. I got carried away." He groaned, looking in the direction I was pointing in. It's like all his pain was replaced with hope.
"This must be it. How do we get up there?" I questioned. It took Antonio no time to have an idea, pulling the rotten nightstand to the corner of the room. They must have hid it there before they got killed. "Antonio, this is very rotten, be careful."
"I need you to rest your elbows onto this, whilst I climb up." This guy is much heavier than my 5'5 petite body and wants me to hold onto this. I have no choice, I can't let him fall. He struggled to reach the top but that didn't stop him. "I'm going to fire this gun so that it falls. I need you to let go of the nightstand and catch it on the count of three. 1. 2."
"Wait, is there a better way, I don't want you falling, Antonio." I pleaded.
"Irina, this is the only way and I won't fall. I promise you that. This house might still be watched since we found the box. We get out as soon as you get hold of it." I listened and he fired. It fell in my hands and Antonio's foot got stuck in the wood. Shots were being fired at the house. "Irina, you get out right now." He insisted. I'm not doing this after I forced him to bring me here.
"So much for not falling, Antonio. I'm not leaving you here." I placed the box in my pants pocket before helping him out. "Hold this." I placed the gun in his hand and pulled apart the wood, it being rotten made it easier for me. "Climb out." I yelled, then pulled the gun from him. "You get in front of me."
"No, I'm not doing it."
"Antonio, you need to get to the vehicle to start the engine, I got your back. Go." I scolded. "Or we both die." He rushed past me and headed towards the vehicle. There were men dressed in red. I fired the gun and didn't miss this time. I felt proud of myself when two of those fuckers fell dead.
"Get in." Antonio yelled as the vehicle sped to my front. I didn't stop firing shots as I got in and another fell dead. I rolled up the windows and we both laughed.
"This is fun." I squealed. "Are you okay?" I laughed. Antonio's eyebrows furrowed together, in shock like he has never heard anyone say this before.
"Nothing happened to me. I don't feel a thing but Irina, are you okay?" He stressed on the last question. "I've never heard anyone say this before, not even Anastasia. She hasn't gone on missions like this neither has Olivia." He surprisedly chuckled. He sped faster and I felt like I was in a movie. My first mission, completed. "If Giovanni finds this out we're dead."
"No we're not and maybe this isn't bad after all. Just need to switch this back on when we get to Pompeii. He won't be suspicious." I reached for the box in my pocket and it was locked. I unpinned my hair loose and started picking the lock with my hair clip.
Antonio gave me a glance then watched the road. Like an hour thirty minutes ago, we were passing traffic and stop signs. It clicked open and I stared in disappointment, or so you can say. These are much darker than rose quartz but have the same structure. I know it was more than that but how much more? I shot Antonio a glance then turned the GPS back on. We arrived in Pompeii in fifteen minutes, this was how fast he drove. "We get thirty minutes to arrive in Naples, it'll be fifteen minutes before Giovanni arrives at the house. When we get there, we get James to take the car away to the garage and move to my office." He nodded after everything I said. "Then you clean up before he calls for you." He nodded. He sped down the street and the gate swung open like it knew this car belonged here.
Hoping out of the car, my boots hit the wet ground. "James, clean this car up as quickly as possible before six thirty and you better keep your mouth shut if you like it." He looked like he didn't want to take others from me until Antonio spoke.
"Do it." And he spun on his heels and did. The power Giovanni holds, Antonio must be second in line since James took the order from him. We rushed down to the office and everything was left the way I kept it.
"Take a look at this." I handed Antonio the box. The inside of the box was coated with pink powder. "Rose quartz don't do that. They made Rosa believe it's rose quartz."
"These are not rose quartzs." He shifted his gaze to me.
"We're one step ahead, Antonio. We don't have much time left until Giovanni arrives. You need to go now." I took the box from him and hid it behind some books on the shelf. "Meet me here at nine tomorrow, in the morning." He left and I felt exhausted, yet excited.
I dragged myself up the staircase to my room. I needed a hot bath to relax my muscles. Giana came in fifteen minutes later to help me out. I really don't need any help. We were down at seven and Giovanni and Rosa were already seated at the table. I sat hoping Rosa said nothing of my departure.
Dinner went smoothly and I had to act like nothing happened between me and Giovanni. At eight, we left and I got time to be with Rosa. I got to tuck her in bed and tell her a story. I did miss her.
"Was there any bad men at home mommy?" She questioned. She layed in bed, her hair loose on the pillow.
"No princess. I promised you I'll be back. Did you tell daddy I left the house?" I brushed her cheek. She pouted her lips together, thinking.
"No, he didn't ask me if you left. There was no reason for me to tell him. If he asked, I would have." She said, I breathed a sigh of relief. "I want to hear the story of sleeping beauty. Last night I made Giana tell me a story. She is very nice, mommy. She told me the story of the dog and the bone. I liked it." If there was something Rosa did was talk a lot without stopping. She's a child and it happens.
After the story, I kissed her goodnight and turned the lights off. I headed to my room and spotted Giovanni having a conversation over the phone. He was yelling, this didn't look good.
"I'll fucking kill this SOB." He roared. Oops. Did this person steal from him again? It can't be Antonio or else I'll kill James myself.
I entered my room and sank down into the stool next to the window, a blanket wrapped around me. I wonder what Leonardo was doing at this time. I hated waiting for him to call me.
"The boss is really angry." One maid told the other as they passed my room. I wanted to call Antonio so badly but I didn't have his number, instead he called me.
"Irina, Giovanni is very upset but I don't know why. It's probably because he knows I let you leave the house. I'm in charge of security footage here and I made sure no one got them. James must have talked."
"I'll kill this SOB, everything will be alright and you're not going anywhere if you're in trouble. You're in trouble because of me and won't have to face any consequences." I watched the stars.
"I believe you, I should go now it's almost nine. See you at nine in the morning."
"Why doe-" And he ended. Why does it matter if it's nine, am I being watched? Giovanni would not put any cameras here. I'm twenty five and don't sleep early, he wouldn't dare do that. My phone then rang again, startling me.
It's Leonardo. "Hey Leonardo, how are you?" I smiled.
"Just the voice I needed to hear." I laughed, a soft laughter. "I'm fine darling, I got promoted to work on a project in Potenza." He spoke.
"That's very far from Avellino." This was where he lived and traveled fifty minutes just to be at the fair in Naples. That's nothing from Giovanni who left Rome just to be closer to me here in Naples.
"It pays good money, darling and I won't miss this opportunity." He said. "I might as well rent an apartment when I'm there. I don't want to be traveling every day for one week."
"Leonardo, may I ask what the project is about?" When I think of projects, I think of months and what project is there to be done in just one week. "When do you start?" I questioned.
"It has to do with fundraising and I don't know when I start." This was a lie. He knows and there is more to that project.
"I got to go now, Leonardo. Goodnight." I shouldn't think too deeply into this. It's maybe what happened today that's getting to me since he mentioned the project being in Potenza and I am sure I did not give Leonardo my number that day at the fair. I called Antonio but the line was cut off. It's ten thirty and I didn't feel like sleeping. I crawled into bed and began searching on my phone's browser. I didn't come across any projects to be done in the area of Potenza nor any fundraising. Don't they do these at fairs? This guy got me right there. A scene flashbacked to me.
Leonardo stood there whilst everyone ran for their lives. He just stood there and watched me. How could I not figure this out a long time ago? He works with them and also his fucking tattoo. Just like the men who attacked in Potenza. I'm sure it was a rose but I only saw the thorns when he shook my hands. The phone, he can track it down. He probably has my location by now. I flew out of bed and smashed it with my foot, regretting that I didn't cut communications with him that night.
"Fuck." I yelled. What company does he work for? They all had the same rose tattooed on their arms and he got promoted. We need to find the name of this company. All this time we thought they were part of groups but no they're much bigger than that. It's twelve and I need to get to the office tomorrow on time.
What's in the box is very important.