^tumblr quote, probably irrelevant to the plot
***
I was now on the backseat of the car, one seat away from a tied up Sarah.
Leo said that he wanted to drop me off at home and then question Sarah somewhere more private,but I insisted and barely convinced them to take me along because "I didn't want Sarah to know where I live" and stuff.
Bullshit excuse,but it surprisingly worked.
We stopped in front of a massive garage door and entered hurriedly, making me stumble on my feet a little.
Inside was a chair and some chain folded nicely by it in the middle of the tall room.
This doesn't look good. Like at all.
Sarah started to cry, looking at me with teary eyes, silently asking for help.
I nodded at her subtly,assuring her that I would do everything in my power to get her out of here alive.
She was seated on the chair and Dante signaled into the darkness and a burly man came out.
Since when was he here?
Did he really wait into the shadows just for dramatic effect?
A quick 'pfft' came out of my mouth and I quickly covered it with my hand, returning my torso away to calm myself down.
I took a couple of deep breaths, bit my upper lip to refrain from laughing and turned back, seeing 4 pairs of eyes on me with a bewildered look in them.
Only I could find the potential beginning of torture funny.
"Sorry, carry on" I said, waving my hand in dismissal.
Leo, that was beside me, staying as close as possible, slightly in front of me in a protective manner, smiled as well, but hid his amusement a lot more skilfully than I did.
The newly arrived man stood behind Sarah, adding mental pressure to the situation.
Dante made a few steps closer to her and then crouched to her level, looking into her eyes.
She bit the inside of her cheek and held his gaze, not able to resist.
"I want you to tell me what happened today after I've left" he said in a kind voice,slightly tilting his head to the side.
She took a few breaths and then exhaled, calming herself.
"After you've rejected me, I went to the bar to get a couple of drinks and then this Silvio dude came up to the bar and offered to get me a drink. I accepted as I was kind of low on money at the time and when he offered to take me home, I accepted as he didn't seem like a bad guy or the kind to try something. I had my pepper spray just in case so I thought I was OK. He then showed me the way to his car, opened the door for me and all and when he closed it, he just waved and another burly man got into the drivers seat and started going God knows where. " she started, frequently glancing at me while she spoke.
I face-palmed mentally so much that I've started to physically feel pain in my hand and forehead.
Y u so stopid?
Well, I'm not one to talk,but even so...
I sighed and she continued.
"I managed to pepper spray him and stop the car, but another guy appeared out of nowhere on the backseat and swiftly took the can out of my hands, then tied me up with these cable ties. I would be very grateful if you'd take them off now, by the way."
She lifted her hands in front of her and looked hopeful.
I started to make a step towards her, but Leo put a hand in front of me, shaking his head.
I looked at him with a puzzled face, but didn't comment.
"I'll do that in a second, but first you need to do something for me."
She looked at him nervously and slowly nodded, curious.
"You'll phone Ottone and tell him that you've failed and you're going home"
Ottone?
Who the fuck is this fella?
The girl looked surprised and due to the shock, remained silenced for a couple of moments, until she got a hold of herself and smiled slightly, her innocent demeanour slowly slipping away.
"So you finally figured it out? I was getting a little bit bored."she said with a disrespectful edge to her voice, her perfect teeth showing.
"So you finally show your true colours"
"I had fun. Ottone warned me that this might happen, but I didn't expect it to last this long."
"At the moment you've appeared before me, I knew you were a fake, but I hoped that you'll have some information regarding the authentic 'Cinderella' as Leo puts it, so I played along. Now that I have already found my runaway principessa, I don't need to deal with you nicely anymore." Dante said with a smile, shutting her up effectively.
"Um...Ottone?"I asked hesitantly, waiting for one of them to fill me in.
"Remember that uncle that 'hooked me up' with my supposed girlfriend? Well, he has a brother. He's not as strict when it comes to my parteners, but still is constantly trying to get me to marry someone as I am 'not getting any younger and I need to produce an heir presto',so e started sending all kind of girls naive, girly, tomboys, girls of all shapes and sizes for dates. It was hell ."
"Wow, your family sounds fun.... besides the mafia thing, you know" I said, bursting into a laugh "You are really getting along."
"Yeah...You can say that" he replied, looking as if he wanted to refute, but decided not to argue and deepen the subject.
The mood suddenly turned dark, making me a little bit uneasy, but Sarah impatiently cleared her throat.
"Can we get this over with? I've got better things to do."
Omg, she's lucky she's extremely pretty, because damn, her personality is twisted for real.
Dante nods and gets out a phone, letting her dial and put the call on speaker.
"Make it quick. "
I raised my eyebrow at the clipped tone, but didn't speak, shifting from one leg to the other.
"This is Sarah. He finally figured it out." She said succinctly, not going into the details.
"Is he there now?" The man on the other side of the line asked, an evident amusement also coming through.
"You're on speaker, you can go all out." Sarah added, leaning back into the chair.
"I really hoped you would like this one, she's perfect for the Mafia! But it's ok, I have my eye on another possible daughter-in-law, she's very nice, tall, can wield a gun like professional, can cook-"
"Yeah, as much as I appreciate your efforts, I am obliged to refuse. I already have someone I am pursuing at the moment" Dante interrupted him, winking at me on the second part, with a smirk on his face.
I felt my ears getting hot, but I just crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow, unwillingly adopting a smirk of my own.
A long pause ensued,making us wonder if the call ended.
The man cleared his throat and stared speaking on a neutral tone.
"Bring her to the wedding. I need to meet her presto. "
Wedding?
I almost forgot that they need to get to a wedding in a month or so in Italy. I wonder who's getting married.
"That might not work out I'm still pursuing her, thing which means that she hasn't yet accepted my ...offer ... To be my significant other."
"Well, I'm not surprised in the least. You still have someone here, one way or another and no decent woman would accept anything of the sort from a man that already has a lover back home."
"She's not my lover!" Dante raised his voice a little, glancing between me and the phone, worried that I might misunderstand.
I laughed shortly, but concealed it with a hand.
"She doesn't know that Dante" the man said, on a more serious tone, changing the mood instantly.
"I'll sort things out with her when I get back. Whenever I try to bring it up, she ends the call or doesn't reply to my messages. There's nothing I can do from here" Dante explained, hoping I didn't get the wrong idea.
"That might explain her foul mood these days. Anyway, let Sarah go and we'll see each other at the wedding. I promise not to send anymore mistresses your way until I see this girl that has finally stolen your heart."
"Um.. Alright... See you then" Dante said a little awkwardly, ending the call after they've said their goodbyes.
Never thought I'd see Dante act awkwardly.
Their family seems quite normal if you overlook the family business. I wish my family was so tight knit.
Dante untied her and she rudely shoved past him, hoping towards the door.
I raised an eyebrow at Leo, to which he just shrugged, shaking his head lightly, not knowing what to say.
"You've heard the guy. Do you have plans that day?" Dante asked indirectly, looking kind of nervous.
"I actually have another wedding to go to in that period of time, but if the dates don't coincide, I might be OK with a trip to Italy." I said thoughtfully, remembering Nick's wedding.
I'll have to call him soon to tell me the details of the event.
I looked around and my whole body froze, the blood stopping into my veins, leaving me cold. My frame shivered a little at the sight of dry blood on the ground on the right of the chair Sarah stood in.
That reminded me the nature of my new friends. And that not every one of their encounters ended with a simple phone call just like the one today.
Am I an idiot?
Well.. Yes, but am I this bad?
I got carried away and went with the flow. They acted in such a manner that made me forget their occupation and even thought I knew the truth, I decided to put it in the back of my head and leave it there.
These guys might have killed before.
No... I'm sure they've killed before. I say to myself only now noticing the multitude of scars on Leo's knuckles.
There were sharp blade scars, blister scars on the middle knuckles, probably from repeatedly striking something or someone and my eyes widened slightly at the nail scratch marks slightly peeking from under his sleeve. The half moon marks were no doubt made by human nails, not some mean house cat, as I would like to believe.
I shivered once more, hugging myself.
I need a reality check.
Presto.
I have absolutely no self-preservation skills and that might get me killed someday and with these guys around, that day might come faster than I've thought.
Am I over reacting?
No.
I don't think so at least.
I was just ignoring the facts I've been seeing since day 1.
I wanted to believe that they were good guys. Normal people I could be friends with.
Why did it take me so long?
Did I honestly think that my lighter gun is going to protect me against legit ones? Am I a fucking idiot?
My mental rant was cut off when I saw a hand reaching for me from my left, making me flinch and step back.
I quickly looked at the possessor of the hand and saw a confused look on Leo's face.
He slowly returned his hand to his side and cleared his throat, shifting his position.
"Are you ok?" He asked gingerly, not intending on scaring me away further.
I glanced at the blood stain on the ground and caught myself quickly, looking down.
"I'm fine." I answered slowly, inspecting my shoes.
Leo did however catch my gaze just now and looked into the general direction I was previously looking in and quickly found my subject of interest.
His face turned bitter and he turned back to me, backing up a few slow steps, getting out of my personal space.
"Let's go. We'll drop you off "he said disappointedly, taking the lead.
I slowly nodded and went after him seeing Dante outside, who went on ahead to warm up the engine.
Dante opened my door and I got in, very aware of him and tried not to touch him in the process.
Dante looked quizzically at me, but didn't comment and just shut the door.
Leo put a hand on his shoulder and said a few words,making Dante's face fall, then quickly glance at me.
All the emotions that crossed his features made my heart ache for some reason.
Helplessness. Anger. Frustration. Confusion. Regret.
Those were the emotions I could make out in order. There was a hint of something else, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
I couldn't hear anything from inside the car, but I could guess what this was about.
When they climbed into the car, Leo drove silently, not a word being spoked through the whole ride.