*Beware of grammar mistakes and possible inconsistencies (It's one in the morning and I have work in four hours so I won't have time to edit).
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Sunlight peaked past the neighboring buildings and into my kitchen. The smell of Cuban coffee danced its way throughout my small studio apartment. I hummed as I poured myself a cup of the coffee and sat down at the counter that separated the living room and kitchen. My laptop sat atop of the counter with scattered bills around. As I turned it on I looked around my small home and smiled.
Though my home was small I loved it. With just on bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room that connected with the kitchen, there was nothing else I could ever want. It was the first lace I had moved into when I realized there was no pint in trying to run from the underworld. Even when I started earning money that would buy me a bigger place. I refused to leave. It was one of those things that made me feel like I had a normal life.
Once logged into my laptop, I scrolled through news websites. Since Matteo had demanded me to go to the club earlier than normal the past few days I hadn't had time to watch t.v or get updated with what was going on around the world.
I liked to be informed with what went on around the world. Not knowing what was going on made me feel detached and secluded from the world. It was a horrible feeling especially if you spent most of your days sleeping and nights holed up in a night club.
I scrolled through various news articles, each one reporting the usual; political disputes between the U.S opposing parties, some celebrity getting a divorce, Kim Kardashian posting a new nude photo on the internet, and the weekly murders that always occurred in New York.
My interst started to dim as I read through all of the recent articles. that is, until I ame across a particular article. the headline read:
REMAINS OF CLUB OWNER FOUND IN RIVER!
That was new. I felt a little stab of worry as I imagined my former boss being the main character of the article. I laughed at my crazy thoughts. Shaking my head, I clicked on the story. My eyes quickly scanned the contents as I brought the cup of coffee up to my lips.
My eyes widened as I re-read the name of the club owner over twice. There, on the second line was my former bosses name! The article read:
"Just three days ago NYPD found remains of a man believed to be Fabian Acardi in the river. Speculation was raised earlier in the weak when the body remains were first discovered. However, forensics have finally confirmed this morning that the DNA matches said man..."
With shaky hands I pushed my laptop away and stood up. the cup of coffee slipped from my hands. the hot contents of the cup splashed against my chest as the cup collided and shattered against the counter. I screamed and jumped back away from the counter. Though I wore a shirt that covered my chest, I could still feel the heat of the coffee burning my skin.
With shaky hands I removed the wet shirt and ran to the sink. I grabbed some paper towels and gently dabbed at my chest. It was merely a superficial bun but damn did it hurt.
I wasn't shaken about the fact that one of the many New York mafiosos had killed someone. That was something I had grown used to reading and hearing about, as sad as it is. What had me shaken up was the fact that it was someone so close to me who had been the target. Everyone in my job knew that there was always a poer change and if someone didn't want to step down from their position then they would be put out by force.
Many people had this romantic cidea that everyone in the mafia saw each other as close family and that they would do anything for each other. While that was true for the most part, when someone of their family started screwing things up then they were going to be on the big guys radar and they were going to be wiped out. Personally, after being around these people for a few years I had come to realize that for a lot of the lower ranks money and power was more important than family.
Fabian was one of those. He played dirty and everyone who worked for him knew that. Though he was nice to his workers I knew he had to have done something for things to turn out like this.
Matteo's name immediately came to mind. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. The day Fabian disappeared Matteo showed up. Matteo didn't exactly like Fabian, it was obvious from the way he spoke of him. It was either him or one of his loyal associates who committed the murder. He had openly admitted to me that he was trying to make his way to the top and I , like the idiot that I am, agreed to help him make it to the top.
What would happen to me if someone from the top ranks were to find out? If some like Fabian, who was part of family and who had understood omertà, was killed without so much as a second thought then what would they do to a nobody like me? What made it worse was that I was a female and females weren't allowed in anything of the mafia.
But if Matteo was able to get away with this then that meant that he had specific orders from some higher power to go through with the murder. That mean that someone else, someone with immense power, was helping him get to the top as well.
After taking a few minutes to calm down my racing mind and breath, I made my way out of my kitchen, through my living room, and down the hallway into my bathroom. I took out some ointment out of the drawers and applied it to my swollen and tender chest. The ointment always came in handy when I got burns from pole dancing, and I knew that it would work just fine to prevent any scarring from this superficial burn on my chest.
I began to worry about how I was going to hide this for work.
Just as my mind began to run wild with crazy thoughts a knock was heard through out my apartment. I washed my hands after I put the tube of ointment back in the drawer and paused as the knocking became more persistent. It was odd to have someone knocking on my door at this time of the day. I wondered who it could be as I walked out of the bathroom and into my room to put on a tank top.
I grew irritated as the knocking turned into banging.
"I'm going damn it." I shouted as I neared the door.
Whoever was on the other side needed to learn how to be more respectful. I wouldn't doubt my door being knocked down with the way they were banging on it.
"What the fuck is your pro-" I began to say but didn't get a chance to finish my sentence because as soon as I opened the door a fist connected with my face.
I was thrown back onto the floor by the impact. My vision went black for a few seconds as I laid on the floor. I blinked repeatedly trying to bring my vision back into focus while also tying to figure out what just happened. I felt something running out of my nose and down the side of my face into my hair. I gently touched my face. I brought my finger into my line of blurry vision only to see a dark colored liquid. Blood.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry!" Matteo's deep accented voice rang throughout my hallway. As my vision started to become clear I felt his arms pull me into a sitting position.
"Fuck. You're bleeding. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you." He said with sincerity as he placed an arm around me and pulled me to my feet. I stumbled a bit but his arm around my waist kept me from falling back down on the ground. Obviously today was not my day.
I titled my head back and looked up to Matteo's face. His hair was styled back as he usually wore it. The minty smell of his breath fanned across y face as he looked back down at me, well, at my bleeding nose. For a split second those honey colored eyes had me forgetting that I was just punched in the face and that I was staining my shirt with blood. I remembered how his honey eyes always maintained eye contact with me whenever I was dancing on the pole. the way he would stare at me always left a trail of fire across my skin. How a man can set my skin ablaze with pleasure without even touching me was a mystery.
I was snapped out of my trance when he took a handkerchief out of his suit jacket and began to dab at the blood on my nose.
"I don't thin your nose is broken." He mumbled.
"Are you sure a out that? Because with the force that you were banging on my door and the way you punched me, I would assume I will need surgery to get my nose fixed." I responded, my voice dripping with annoyance. "Why were you banging on my door like that?"
I took a step back out of his arms and reached up to take the piece of expensive cloth from his hands but he moved it out of my reach. with his other hand he gently pushed me down onto my couch.
"You didn't come to practice."
"You told me it was my day off." I retorted.
He huffed as he bend down in front of me and pressed the handkerchief back onto my nose.
"I sent you a text last night asking you if you could come in today for practice due to one of the other girls being sick. You said yes. I was in town when my security team called me and said you didn't show up at the club. I called but you didn't answer. I got worried so I came."
"I don't remember that message at all." I had to pause and catch my breath because breathing through my nose wasn't possible at the moment. "Even if I wanted to go I can't go in today." I waved my hands in front of y chest. His eyes widened as he glanced down and saw red swelling on my chest.
My body involuntarily shrunk back into the sofa at Matteo's angry sigh. He handed me the handkerchief before standing jp to his full sight. He started pacing around my living room. Suddenly, he stopped pacing when he caught sight of the mess on my counter. I quickly stood up and followed him when he made his way to the counter. I didn't have time to pick up the shards of glass from my broken cup.
I grew nervous when I realized that his focus was on the article on my laptop. I bit my lip in anticipation at what he would tell me. Would he be mad and scold me?
After a few minutes of a soul killing silence, Mateo spoke up. "I prefer Italian over Cuban coffee." He reached over my counter and closed my laptop closed. "You should be more careful. I can't have you missing work because of your carelessness."
I didn't miss the double meaning of his words; stop digging into things that I have no business in.
"So does that mean I don't have to go to work today?" I questioned.
"No." He gave me a pointed look. "Even though you don't have to dance tonight I have another job for you to do. I was going to wait before giving you this job but we might as well get started. I'm running out of time. This is important Elisa. You can't mess up." Determination and seriousness was heavily coated in his voice.
I tossed the blooded handkerchief onto my counter once I confirmed that I wasn't bleeding form my nose anymore. I grabbed his hands and led him to the sink in my kitchen. He questioned me with his eyes when I turned on the faucet and shoved his hands under the running water.
"You have my blood all over your hands."
A sly smirk made its way onto his face. I loudly groaned when I realized what he was thinking of.
"Don't get so far ahead with those fantasies of yours. I'm not a virgin anymore."
He laughed loudly at my words. His laughter was deep and genuine. I blushed when I felt a fluttering sensation in my stomach. Just his voice alone made me swoon inside, his laughter on the other hand made me feel something other than a carnal need. Something that I shouldn't be feeling. Something that I didn't want to feel. Those particular feelings only led to heartbreak and deception. That wasn't something that I wanted to go through again.
Once Matteo finished washing his hands he moved out of the way. I stepped in front of the sink and started to wash my hands followed by my face.
Without so much as a warning I felt his body press against my back. His muscular arms wrapped themselves around my body. My breath hitched at the feeling of his member pressing against my back. It had only been a few days since he last embraced my body this way but to me it felt like months had passed. Conflicting feelings danced around in my mind as I struggled with pushing back any feelings that weren't of pleasure.
"I need you to have a controlled, cleared mind as you go about carrying this plan out." He whispered in my ear.
"What exactly am I supposed to do?" I tried to ignore the way my body reacted to his voice.
I turned off the faucet yet remained facing out the window that was above the sink. I didn't struggle as Matteo reached his hands under my tank top nor did I push him away when he slipped it over my head and flung it across the kitchen.
"There is a man who goes by the name of Marco Rossi. He's a pain in my ass. Getting to him has become a little difficult. I haven't been able to get close enough to even speak a word with him because I'm of a lower rank than him. He refuses to speak to anyone of a lower rank because he sees us as nothing but his slaves. Unfortunately, I was assigned to him when I first entered this world a few years ago. I, just like many others, are tired of dealing with the old mans disrespecting attitude."
I remained silent as I processed everything he was telling me.
"Apparently his men aren't the only ones tired of his shit. Someone from the top sent me to complete a job that involves getting rid of Marco. This job requires me to get close enough for me to kill him. That is where you come in. Marcos weakness is beautiful, young women. Once in a while he comes around to our club just to watch our dancers; specifically you."
I turned around in his arms and looked into his eyes. "So you want me to flirt with the old fart and seduce him. Then what?"
"You're going to lure him away from the safety of his territory where I can easily get to him." Matteo said as he ran his hands up and down my back. Every time his hands would brush past the clasp of my bra a little part of me would wish he would unhook it and just toss my bra aside like he did with my tank top.
"What if something goes wrong and he tries to kill me?" I wondered out loud.
"I'll always have someone watching you just in case. You would be surprised how many of his men are more loyal to me than him."
I fought the urge to ask questions knowing that it would only get me in trouble.
His fingers skimmed up my back and into my hair. I let out of contempt as I felt his fingers play with my hair. "I'm surprised that you're so calm about this. Then again your attitude of indifference is what attracts me to you."
I hated how my heat skipped a beat at his words so I glanced away rom him. I bused myself by playing with his tie. "I'm scared of course but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you will protect me. Besides, I just know how to keep my emotions under control. Showing how you feel is a weakness." I quietly said.
"Hopefully that's not the case when we're fucking each other in bed."
This time it was my turn to laugh at this words. With the short time I knew Matteo I had learned that he had no filter with his words. He was blunt with his words and he had no problem saying what he really thought about a person or situation. Maybe that's why a lot of people respected him.
"So, I'm going to play some secret spy person. What exactly is my cover and when do I start? If he's your boss then in a way that makes him my boss so there is a big chance that he's going to recognize me." I attempted to change the conversation from the direction it was going in but my attempts failed when he grabbed the tips of my hair and pulled so that I was forced to look at him. His lips met mine, cutting off any other thoughts or questions I wanted to say.
"You start tonight. We still have a few hours to discuss things before we have to make our first move. For now let's forget about everything else and let's just enjoy each other."
He didn't wait for me to respond because as soon as he stopped talking he went right back to driving me crazy with those damn kisses of his. We didn't break our kiss even when he lifted me off of the ground and my legs wrapped around his waist.
Once I felt him drop onto my couch with me on top of him I broke the kiss. I gave him a sly smile when his confused eyes met mine.
"You just told me that I need to have a clear mind for the job. I don't think I'll be able to keep a clear mind if we have sex right now."
He groaned in response. "I won't be able to keep a clear mind all night if we don't." He mumbled into my chest.
It wasn't that I didn't want to have sex with Matteo, it's just that I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this relationship strictly about sex like he wanted us to do. I knew how my body and mind functioned when it came to things like this. I was the kind of person that fell in love too fast. I didn't know how to separate love from passion.
In all honesty, the way my heart and mind reacted to Matteo was scaring me more than plotting to kill a mafia member.
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Thoughts?