I brush my teeth after wrapping my body in a towel and putting my wet hair up into a silk scrunchie for now. I still have to do my curl routine and start the stretching part while it's still wet.
This morning I woke up two hours earlier than usual and decided it'd be a good idea to wash my hair because I'd been putting it off for a while. I washed my face and went straight to the shower. I just got out, and now I'm brushing my teeth.
I spit into the sink after about three minutes have passed and I'm satisfied with my brushing. Then I wash out my mouth and start the flossing process.
Maria and I are going to the cargo port to supervise our soldiers who are retrieving it. Some cargoes have been going missing and all of them acted like they didn't know shit so I told Pa that it would be a good idea if I stayed hidden and watched them. He loved the idea and was pissed off he didn't think of it himself.
Last month's mafia ball was probably the last time Maria and I hung out because we've both been busy with our own lives and our parents who are both going through tough times at the moment.
The weather in Italy is a little chilly, that's how it always is in December. But I love the temperature, it's just right. A few snowflakes hit my nose and I smile at the idea that there's going to be a white Christmas. That'll bring the mood up and we'll have a little snowball fight in the backyard.
I get in the car and text Maria. I'm in the car. We use the same car every time we go out as the two of us. Maria and I both have a key so whoever gets here first drives.
I feel goosebumps rise on my skin and furrow my brows. Something isn't right—
What the actual fuck.
Someone right behind my fucking seat just threw a rope over my head to land at my neck and pulled so that I'd be trapped. I use my hands to get a firm grip and then put my back into it when I yank down. Their head slams against my seat and I turn around right away.
"Maria, what the fuck?" I screech.
"Man, it was just a test." She rubs her head.
"Why would you do that?!"
"We always do this, you didn't have to yank that hard." She pouts and looks into the rearview mirror to see if it's bruising.
"You can't be doing that when there are threats." I gape at her.
"Noted." She rolls her eyes.
She gets out of the car and moves to the passenger seat beside me before I start the car. We're on the main road in a few minutes without any music on and head to the port.
Maria purses her lips, lost in thought as she watches the beach as we drive by. There's a small beach near the highway we take whenever we're going somewhere and Maria always watches it. She loves the sea, lakes, oceans, beaches, honestly any large body of water.
Her birthday is coming up so I planned a surprise trip to Bora Bora. We were supposed to do it last year now that we're finally adults but she was suspecting it so I threw an average birthday party instead. She's not suspecting it this year so it'll be the perfect surprise.
Our moms are invited, along with Zio Matteo, my dad, Carina, Liana, and Carina and Liana's parents.
We'll stay there for a week, we leave for Bora Bora the day after Christmas early in the morning so I hope people won't drink too hard the night before. We're going to stay at the Hotel Maitai. Ma and Zia Lori are sharing a room, Pa and Zio Matteo are sharing, Carlo and Nairobi have their own room, Carina and Liana are sharing, Adriana and Dahlia have their own room, and Maria and I are sharing.
We're going to visit the mountains, go jet skiing, go on the boat, see a few historical landmarks, go on a safari, and so much more. I can't wait to see her face the morning we wake her up and pull her out of bed with her suitcase packed.
My mind drifts to my parents and my mood dampens. I see my parents all day every day but I feel distanced from them. They hardly get personal with me anymore and it's not normal for me. I'm used to being literal best friends with my parents and now they only want to fight and they don't see how that affects me.
"Seriyah?" Ria asks.
I glance at her and find her frowning so I furrow my brows. "Maria?"
"Are you okay?" I watch her tilt her head to the side in my peripheral.
"Yes," I say without a stutter or hesitation. "Why?"
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am." I purse my lips. "Are you good?"
"No, I'm not. And I'm not afraid to admit that to one of my closest people."
I sigh and stay quiet for a moment. Well, I'm not fine. "I used to dream of the day my parents met when I was a kid." I start quietly, kind of embarrassed with everything that'll come out of my mouth. "I imagined they'd be as inseparable as your parents. Every time my birthday or Christmas came around, I'd wish for that. I slowly stopped caring about it as I matured but seeing how my parents act today is really hurting me."
I pause but she motions for me to continue. "And seeing the way your parents have distanced... will they ever get back together?"
"Honestly, I don't know." She shrugs and rubs my arm, I give her a thankful smile. "Thank you for telling me, but you should also tell your mom."
"Nah, she's dealing with enough already," I say. "I just miss her, you know?"
"Yeah." She nods. "The same thing is going on with my mom, it hurts to see someone you're that close to being so caught up in their own problems that they forget about you in the process."
"Maybe we should give them time." I sigh. "I just hate how they're always fighting."
"Same thing with mine." Ria furrows her brows. "But my mom has been worrying me lately, she keeps going out late and coming home early morning. She won't tell me anything because she thinks I'm asleep and am not aware, but I am. It's concerning me and I don't know what to do."
"Talk to her," I state.
"I might." She purses her lips then asks, "Want me to tell her to talk to Tia Lana too?"
"Sure." I glance at her. "Just know you'll always have me, alright?"
"This scar proves it." She lifts her shirt. "Stupid fuck, stabbing yourself with glass."
I chuckle.
The remainder of the ride is silent until we reach the port. Ria gets out first to find a hidden area to watch from and I park the car away from the port so nobody notices we're here. I get out after parking and walk in the direction Ria did until I hear her loud whisper, "Seriyah!"
I look to my left and then look up to see Maria managed to climb on top of one of the tall crates. She holds a hand out to help me up and we're soon lying on top of the crate, watching our soldiers.
"Wait—" Maria squints. "Is that Vico Corsetti?"
"Where?" I perk up immediately searching for the finest man on the planet.
Maria rolls her eyes and points somewhere to the right. My eyes fall on him and am relieved to see he still has his fluffy black hair and his green eyes are still the same pale color. He is so fucking fine, I can't cope. Every single person in this port has gotten their eyes blessed looking at him.
"I kind of want to whistle." And... Maria ruined it.
"Don't," I grumble.
She always finds a way to distract me from a mission, she's so easily distracted herself. And impulsive. Zia Lori and Zio Matteo made a difficult girl. I love her though.
"Why not?" She whines.
"We're undercover."
My eyes roam over the port as I look for any suspicious behavior. Nothing has caught my eye so far. I purposefully skip Vico every time he comes up because he'll just captivate my eyes and I'll lose focus. Maria seems not to care because that's all she can focus on. Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice allowing Zio Matteo to make her my right hand when I become boss. But honestly, it's not my choice, that's his heir.
"Sy." Ria huffs, rolling onto her back.
"Yeah?"
"When is this over?"
"When all the cargo is taken in our trucks."
She groans in boredom probably. I purse my lips to refrain from saying anything about that. She goes on her phone and uses her camera to check her makeup. When she's done that, she puts her phone down and looks to the side, sighing.
"Seri, look." She says urgently and I roll my eyes.
"I don't care for fine men, I have a task to complete."
"No, it's not that." She slaps my shoulder until I look over and almost gasp.
One of the soldiers— I can't be bothered to remember his name— is opening one of the cargoes behind his car so nobody can see him and putting it in his trunk. I gape at his actions.
I go to stand but Ria holds me down. "Wait to see if he has help."
We watched him unload two crates and store them in his trunk without any help for the next twenty minutes and I turned to Ria with an eyebrow raised. "Can we go now?"
"Sure." She shrugs.
The soldiers stop and stare when we hop off the crate, giving us polite nods after they're done being startled. Maria winks at Vico and he grins, I smile at him and he nods back, his grin somehow widening.
"I made his smile bigger," I whisper to Maria.
She snorts. "I fucked him."
I pause and gape at her. "I did too!"
She stares at me then bursts out laughing and the soldiers awkwardly watch our interaction. Vico flushes as if knowing what we're talking about and I shake my head before dragging her along with me toward the soldier who's stealing weapons. Her smile washes off once we get near him and she puts on her best poker face.
"Hi, Ma'am." He waves.
I only stare and Maria tilts her head to the side. "Get in the car," I demand before walking toward the passenger seat of his car. Ria starts the vehicle and we pull onto the empty, private road in seconds.
Out of all my friends, Maria is my least favorite driver. She... loses focus easily and gets bored pretty quickly so she only drives to short distances. We're going to a warehouse twenty minutes away which is a decent distance for her.
"So..." his voice shakes. "What exactly am I coming with you for?"
"No big deal, we just had a few questions about the cargo."
"Oh, really?" He asks suspiciously.
"Yes, nothing too serious." I shrug.
Ria stares him down through the rearview mirror. Face stone-cold and void of emotions. It seems the only time she really focuses is when she's studying someone, and she studies real fucking good too.
We pull up at the smaller warehouse compared to our other warehouses. It has more of the abandoned look going for it and it's sized perfectly, just enough space for torturing methods. There's even a pool. Once, Ria threw someone in with weights tied loosely to their feet and they untied themself ten seconds later but she was already closing the pool fibreglass. They were too slow and the loose weights were to give them false hope. She said if they got out in time she'd let them walk out alive.
Today I want to keep it simple and go home. Quick answers.
We park in the underground garage the soldier opens for us, and walk toward the elevator to go to the second floor. I always say this place is small but I'm just used to large spaces. I grew up in mansions, a building like this isn't what I'm used to.
When we reach the floor, we walk toward room 203 where we keep all our supplies. This place used to be some old hotel my family owned so that's why it has so many rooms and floors.
Maria leads him inside and I watch as his face pales. "Why am I here?"
"Questioning," I say lowly as I stare at him. Looking for changes in his mood depending on his back. Ria walks off and he pauses probably considering making a run for it. As expected, he turns around sharply only to see me right behind him. "Where are you going?"
Before he can reply, Ria comes back with an empty bottle and smashes it against his head. He falls to the ground, passes out, and Ria drags him off to the chair in the middle of the room as I close the door and lock it. While he's being tied up, I go off to the torture equipment to look at the tall glass filled with wine. I'm guessing that's where Ria emptied her bottle. But since I don't know where that glass has been, I won't take a sip.
"Ria?" I call.
"Yeah?"
"Could you get the guns from the car for me? I have a lot I want to test out on him." I smirk.
Deciding to play tricks on this guy, I use the wine to wet his pants and make him think he peed himself. I place the glass back down afterward and slap the man awake. It takes about three slaps before he jerks up, eyes wide and staring straight at me. Then after probably feeling the wetness, he looks down and gapes at the dark spot on his pants.
"Am I scaring you?" I ask with an innocent smile. He shakes his head but it's all in his body language. I do scare him and I'll use it to my advantage. "What's your name?"
"Soldier 370, Ms. Johnson." He says.
"I don't care about your number, what's your name?"
"Adrian Abramov." He purses his lips.
"Tell me about yourself, Adrian." I tilt my head to the side.
"Uhhh, I have five sisters... two brothers. A ginger cat. Um, my mom left when I was little for some random Italian." He shrugs.
"Are you working with the Russians?"
He has a Russian last name so it'd make sense. Maria chooses that moment to return and hands me a handful of guns. "Have fun with those."
"Ooo, look it's a rocket launcher!" I grin.
After using many guns on him he now has a hole in his foot, bullet wounds everywhere, burn marks, no shirt, and gaps in his pants. He also is shaking... for some reason. But we managed to get all the answers we needed. Adrian Abramov is a Russian spy planted in the Italian mob to gain information in case we one day plan an attack. But we would never do that. We're like Switzerland.
Of course, I had to bring up his wife pregnant with his firstborn to encourage him a few times. I said I'd use one of the guns on her— I would never— and he started talking a lot better afterward.
"Thank you." I smile. "But you were a little uncooperative and we still have one more gun to use... it looks like a flamethrower."
Maria watches in the corner and I toss the gun to her. "I'll let you have some fun with this."
I'm barely in the elevator when Maria's obnoxious scary laugh meets the doors and Adrian's screaming follows before they close. I stand there with wide eyes for a moment because why the fuck does Maria laugh like that? That's new.
I wait in the car for Ria to finish and put the GPS for Anselma's house, Adrian's wife. She's Italian and they were an arranged marriage turned into love so it's cute I guess. Her father forced it on her for business, I'd have to visit her father because how could he not know his son-in-law is a mole?
But we'll save that for another day. Right now, I want to inform her of her husband's death and go home.
Maria entered the car with a sinister grin. I don't even want to know what she did to the Russian. I shook my head and drove off to our next stop. Walking up to Anselma's front porch I was nervous. I don't like comforting people I don't know. Hopefully, she doesn't go all ugly tears because she loved her husband so much.
The door opened after a knock and waiting for five minutes. A blonde woman with pale blue eyes and colorless skin opened the door. Anselma. I met her around four years ago, she was tan back then but now her skin is so fucking pale, like she hasn't seen the sun in ages. She had bruises on her arms and handprints on her wrists. She's either a freak or Adrian was abusive.
She saw us and her face flooded with understanding. A single teardrop fell from her eye and she sank to the floor, clutching her pregnant belly. Ria grabbed her arm and hoisted her up, comforting her as she led her inside the home. I followed and after some walking, Anselma pointed us toward the living room.
She let out a sob once we were seated and I held her hand, rubbing circles with my thumb. She leaned on Maria as Maria rubbed her back.
After a couple of minutes of sitting like that, I spoke. "We have a money plan for you. If you want a job we can offer you pretty good pay depending on your education. We can pay for a therapist..."
She shook her head. "I'm not crying because I miss him." We waited for her to continue. "Four years ago, I found out I would be marrying. I was okay with it, I didn't have a choice. My dad forced me into it for personal gain. He loves money and will do anything to have more."
"Adrian was obsessed with me from the beginning. He offered my dad millions for this alliance and even land. I met him a few days before my engagement party and knew something was off. He was... creepy. I didn't like the way he watched me like he couldn't wait to get his hands all over me. On our wedding night, I'm not sure if it was rape because I was too scared to deny him. I grew up with an abusive father so I knew how to keep my mouth shut."
"He was so gentle and I fell for it." Her voice cracked and she took a second to gather herself. "He said soothing words and called me his doll. Said he didn't want to break me. My first time was nice and slow. And we had many more moments like that. He gave me gifts and made me feel special. After our anniversary he changed and the creepy dude I remembered returned. He was mad at me because I never initiated anything. He told me to hit myself as punishment. He didn't do it himself because he didn't want to hurt his doll. He told me to finger myself in front of him because he wanted me to feel uncomfortable."
"One day I refused to hit myself and he did it for me. That's when the physical abuse started. He'd beat me to a pulp and bathe me right after. Break his doll then fix her up again so she's nice and pretty. I stopped speaking out but no matter what I did I was still his new favorite punching bag. I was married to him for three years and lost hope with every passing day. Until eight months ago when I found out about Agnella. He was so happy. It was like the guy from our first year of marriage all over again but I couldn't trust it. It made him mad that I wouldn't open up again. He would grip my arms and wrists but never hit me while I carried our daughter. This morning he punched my arms because I flinched away from him while eating breakfast."
She sighs. "Like I said, I'm not crying because I miss him. This is the happiest I've been in years. I'm forever thankful for you taking him out of my life. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now but I know Agnella and I will figure something out."
We didn't know what to say to make her feel better and I think she knew that. She gave us an assuring smile and I squeezed her hand in return. We sat like that for a while before Maria decided to open her dumb mouth.
"If it helps you feel better, he suffered." Maria smiled. "His screams were so beautiful."
Anselma chuckled shaking her head. "He was so fascinated with me that he couldn't see my repulsion." Her voice was croaky from her crying.
I nodded, holding her hand because that was the only support I could offer. Maria rubbed her back as she cried in our arms until her tears dried. Now all that was left on her face was relief and peace.
"This baby saved me... but now I'm free." She whispered to herself. "I'm finally free."
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Word count: 3674
Hey yall, thought I'd bring us into the world of what Seriyah and Maria do all day
You'll find out more in Seriyah's book
I got nothing much to say except summer school is a pain in the ass.
Adios lovessss.
<3
7/3/23.