Domani De Luca bought himself and Mia's ticket in first class. I did not. I was towards the back of the plane fighting with my neck pillow as I always do. I'd really like to sleep on this red eye or I'll be exhausted tomorrow, and I'm meant to sight see.
We're meant to be in London for roughly four days. With the overnighters and time zone changes it's not exact, I suppose.
Tomorrow is Saturday, so we'll do a little sightseeing and then we have Sammi's big gallery that night. Sunday morning Mia is meant to visit some friends for brunch. People from the fashion world. An old boss of hers or something. I'll branch off on my own for a bit while her and Dom do that. The rest of our Sunday is ours for whatever.
Monday is much more sightseeing for me. I'll leave it optional for the other two, though Mia sounds very enthusiastic to do many things with us as a lovely trio. And we leave on Tuesday, so we have some time for London, and need some time to get our things together for the airport.
Mia mentioned shopping that day, but I have no use for it. Again we'll see if we part ways or do other things together that we can all agree on.
I've never spent much time with Domani De Luca, and I think this trip will be a rare opportunity to see a side of him I doubt many have. He's different with Mia than he is with everyone else. I wouldn't call it a softness because I don't think there is a single soft thing about that man, but he's less Domani the mobster, and more Domani the man I suppose.
I won't lie, I'm interested in getting to know him for myself. Since coming into this group of Italians I've heard varying stories about him, and all are controversial and usually shed a pretty bad light on him.
Toxic, crazy, possessive, aggressive, violent, evil, and so on.
This trip came at the perfect time for me though. I feel like a lot has happened within the last 24 hours. I got to witness first hand how nasty a man my fiance can be when having too much to drink. I sliced my stupid palm and hurt my wrist. It's wrapped up right now as we speak. Then I went and slept with Anthony after I told myself I wouldn't anymore.
Then there is the issue of my father and Dmitriy. Andrei too I guess, though lately he's actually become the least of my worries. He's been so busy with his spy position within the Italians that I think he's actually having fun with it, and keeping out of trouble in other ways.
Dmitriy has shown me he's Vitaly's son through and through. Pressuring me more than anyone to get my wedding straight and to follow through with the deal. He's the reason why I was locked away for days. He's been a thorn in my side since he stepped stateside.
Vitaly too, though I see him less and less. And trust me, I am not complaining.
When the lights above head dimmed as the flight stabilized from take off I shook all that from my mind. I want to forget about hard truths on this trip. Just for a little while I don't want to think of weddings, mafia men, or anything else. I want to be Lexi Vero here just as my passport says.
I heard the ding above head signifying we could safely remove our seatbelts. I closed my eyes after that, letting the constant rumble of the plane's jets below our feet turn into a white noise to bring some sleep to me.
-
Dom and Mia had a beautiful suite. I went up with them to check it out first thing, then parted ways with them to bring my things to my own hotel room. Dom pulled some strings and got me a room down the hall from them. It was nicer than I deserved, but he swore it was nothing and didn't let me compensate for it.
We agreed to meet in two hours after we settled in and got ourselves showered and things. I was all types of messed up in this time zone, but for work it's something I've experienced many times.
I set a timer on my phone and took a quick cat nap to reset my biological clock, then I took a nice refreshing shower and threw something on. It was a little black one piece that looked like a body wrap dress, but was actually shorts.
I decided to bring my 35mm camera with me to take some photos too. I'm no pro, I won't be setting up any galleries of my own, but I like how the camera works. It produces decent enough photos for an IG stream.
Mia shot me a text asking if I was ready to go. I told her I'd meet her in the lobby.
We were gonna hit a few easy spots since Big Ben and the London eye are right in the same little area. I've been through here for work before, but I never actually went up in the London eye, so that's what we'll do.
When I made it downstairs I saw Mia and Dom lingering by the doors. They're a funny sight together. He's tall and brooding, and she's miniature and a fashionista. She's bubbly, and smiles, and talks while he just looks down on her and nods.
But he also looks at her like she's everything that man needs to breathe. He's touchy with her. Holding her hand, throwing an arm around her, pecking her head absentmindedly. That's the side to him I bet no one else receives.
"Lexi! Hey" Mia noticed my approach. Dom, to no surprise, just gave me a nod of hello. "So Dom had a great idea. We're gonna do the London eye at sunset. We packed a little bag of champagne and plastic flutes," she whispered the last part to me. I nodded that it was fine with me.
"That being said, let's go take some pictures in the telephone booths. Last year, well...almost a year and a half ago now I think, he and I took a picture there and I wanna recreate it" she told me as we left the hotel lobby.
"Big picture guy, are you?" I looked at Dom with a smirk. He gave a short chuckle.
"Not in the slightest, but she's very big on picture's, so" he trailed off knowing I knew what he meant. He does it to make her happy. "Well, I brought this so" I was the one trailing off now holding up the 35mm camera. Mia gasped. "Oh this is great" she clapped her hands together.
"Do I look okay?" She looked down at herself. "Are you kidding? That's like a magazine worthy outfit" I chuckled, because I could tell she genuinely wanted to know. She wasn't being vain and awaiting complements.
"I'm going to check one little store in passing, by the way, it's on the way to the spot I'm taking you to, but I'll be quick. Promise" she informed me as we walked to a car I guess Dom ordered for us.
"Mia" I heard Dom huff, eyeing her like he was giving her a warning. "I swear it'll only be one minute" she gestured like she was crossing her heart. "Yeah, that's how it always starts" he wrapped an arm around her and I watched them slide into the backseat of the lift.
Time for an adventure with the most unlikely pair.
-
Mia mostly stuck to her word on a short visit to the store she needed to pop into. It wasn't a minute, but it wasn't an hour either. We went and took the photos at the phone booths, and walked down to a restaurant for a late lunch. That is where I talked to Dom the most I ever had.
"How are you getting on with Enzo?" He'd asked me. I was looking down at my plate and stayed looking there. The silence was deafening. "Fine" I finally spoke half heartedly. When I did eventually look up I spotted Mia's concerned expression.
Dom was stone faced, but he did ask, "Is there a problem?"
I smoothed my napkin over my lap and looked at the mob boss head on. "There's been a problem since before I even met him. It's an arranged marriage for a mob contract. It's always been a problem" I deadpanned.
He looked over his shoulder when I said 'mob', and didn't look too happy that I said it. As if someone overhearing us would think I'm being serious. Most people are oblivious to this world. Bless their hearts.
"Trust me, it wasn't my idea" he told me. I sighed. "I know. I heard once upon a time I was meant to marry You" I lightened the mood, or thought I would, but he got stiff. "I never told you that, huh?" He turned his attention to Mia. She tipped her head.
"Wait, what?" She looked between the two of us.
"Oh shit tits. My bad" I realized I spilled a business based secret. I doubt he tells Mia much about his job. He's not a great person in that world, and I doubt he wants her to judge him for it. Dom explained to Mia what we were talking about. How the original proposal was the Italian mob boss Domani De Luca for the Russian Bratva daughter.
"Now that I think of it...this is quite serendipitous. I heard you ran off to London to see Mia after you heard of the proposal. You didn't accept the offer because you didn't wanna give Mia up...now look at us three here hanging out in London" I wasn't being condescending or sarcastic. I truly did find it serendipitous.
Mia laughed, which visibly relaxed Dom from his stiff defensive state.
"So you went against your father, the Russian mob, and everyone else because you wanted me?" I could see Mia swooning at the realization. Dom's expression went flat and he looked uncomfortable to be revealing some emotional connection in front of a stranger like me.
"How have you not understood yet that you were mine even then?" He said in a low voice like he was trying to keep his words private. Too bad I heard him loud and clear. I just took a sip of my drink and looked back down at the table.
I could tell by the motion that Mia had just leaned over and kissed him. "That means a lot," she told him. I was glad that my bringing this up turned the attention away from me. I didn't want to talk about Enzo because I was still furious with him.
When they'd seen my hand I told them I was stupid and cut in on glass. They didn't ask further into it. I wasn't hiding what he did, I just didn't want to advertise it, and make it everyone else's business. God knows my life has already been on display since I met the Italians that day in that gambling den.
"My apologies for the part I played in this contract. Mia calls you a friend, which makes you alright in my book" Dom surprised me by saying. Mia looked like she was on cloud 9. "Thank you for saying so baby" she squeezed his hand that was placed on the table beside his short glass of whiskey.
His hand looked rough and inked. It looked massive compared to hers. She has delicate hands and manicured nails. I liked the contrast. It made me smirk and look back down again. "I don't blame you" I said finally when the table settled into the quiet.
"Oh shoot, look at the time. We better eat up before we miss sunset in the eye" Mia glanced at the clock on the wall. "Champagne and sunsets. Am I third wheeling right now?" I came to the conclusion. It felt very romantic for the three of us. Mia laughed and her smile cracked open wide across her face.
"You're not nearly as invasive as my best friend Sophia. She makes Dom the third wheel, so I think we can handle the likes of you" she laughed again. "And what about him?" I thumbed behind me to Boris who was a few tables over from us. That one even got a laugh outta De Luca.