Chapter 05

If there was one thing Vince hated, it was being deceived, used, devalued. He felt himself going through these three stages, with that woman with honey hair and eyes like the sea.

‘That hot bitch had the nerve to make me look like a fool!’, he thought, angrily, as he punched the table. Yes, she was hot as hell, and he wasn't about to let her get out of that situation without him getting something out of it.

          Never, since he became a man and started going out with girls, had he been treated like that, like a simple... He didn't even have an adjective for that! A mere means to reach an ex-boyfriend who certainly couldn’t even compare to him!

          ‘So humiliating…’, he closed his eyes as he thought about it.

          A knock on the door and Gambini entered.

          “Ah, Mr. Bonaccorso ... Is there a problem?” Gambini asked, rubbing his hands nervously. He saw when Lina almost ran out of the V.I.P. room and, as she passed by him, she said absolutely nothing other than that she would not attend the special room that night.

          “Your employee is the problem,” Vince replied.

          “W-What did she do?” the bar owner asked, uncertainly. Lina was an excellent employee. All customers had nothing but praise for her. The man in front of him, as far as Gambini knew, was considered difficult to deal with.

          “She doesn't meet the requirements of a good waitress. Sassy, arrogant, insolent. If this is the type of employee you assign to the special wing, Gambini, I'm sorry to say, but your business will end up going bankrupt,” Vince looked firmly at the man. “I can make sure it happens.”

          Gambini understood the message very well: fire this woman or I will sink your business.

          “I'm sorry, Mr. Bonaccorso! I'll talk to her for sure. Lina is an excellent employee, normally. Maybe she had a bad day, I don't know!”

          “With certain people, there’s no point in talking. Either you get rid of them, or they get rid of you, Gambini. And I don't think you'd want anyone to get rid of you, do you now?”

          Vince looked at him seriously, deeply. He owned many restaurants and bars in New York. When he wasn't the owner of the business itself, he was the owner of the buildings. Gambini, for example, paid a hefty rent to Vince, who always helped both him and anyone who rented a property from him, to have clients. Gambini was an associate. But if Vincenzo Bonaccorso decided that the business wasn't worth it, it would be the end for the poor shop owner.

          “I'll take care of it. The reputation of a place is what matters.”

          “I couldn’t agree more. And bad employees should not be forgiven but replaced. Before that bad apple ruins the whole barrel.”

          Gambini nodded and with a dismissive wave of Vince's hand, he left.

          Regretfully, Gambini went after Lina. He really liked her, her work, but a battle against the owner of New York was something he couldn't buy.

          She was leaving the restroom when he entered the staff section.

          “Lina, I have to talk to you.”

          From his expression, she already knew what it would be.

          “No need, Gambini. I'll get my things.”

          “Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I can't pick a fight with him.” Gambini apologized, feeling really bad about it. He knew that Lina paid for her college education with that money, paid her rent, supported herself!

          In fact, Bonaccorso, in Gambini 's eyes, was being benevolent, as he had the power to really get rid of Lina. Not even the police could do anything against him in that city.

          “No worries. All good. I understand your position.” And she really did. Lina had already realized that that man in the V.I.P. room was not someone a sane person would want to have trouble with. Only she herself could have been crazy enough to challenge that kind of person.

          “Come by tomorrow to pick up your payment.”

          “I will,” she said with a weak smile. “And thank you for everything, Gambini. Oh, if you have some other place to recommend me, I would appreciate it.”

          “I'll see if I have someone who can employ you,” Gambini said, knowing that it would have to be all behind the scenes, after all, if Bonaccorso found out, he would not only end up with Lina, but with Gambini as well. There were no second chances with that man.

          Lina waved goodbye and walked out the back door, breathing deeply. What the hell was she going to do? That weekend job paid well enough for her to support herself and her education. Was she happy by listening to stupid jokes sometimes? No, but so far, she had managed to deal with it well, being kind, but making it clear that she did not provide any service other than waiting tables. The tips were wonderful.

          She started walking back home. Having just been fired meant that she couldn't spend a single penny on frivolities and expendable things like public transportation when she could walk a little. She didn't live too far away, so no harm would be done.

          When Lina was turning around the corner next to her building, a car stopped almost next to her. At first, Lina didn't pay attention to that, but when the door opened, before anyone could get out, she knew it was the car that had approached her when leaving college. She swallowed hard and tried to walk faster, however, one of the security guards' arms wrapped around her waist and a hand covered her mouth. She was forced into the car.

          Inside, as she expected, that man. She didn't even know his name.

          “To hell with you! Don't you think I've already paid it with interest? I lost my job because of you!” She was fuming.

          “Do you know who I am?” Vince asked. She was too disrespectful to understand who she was dealing with.

          “No, and I don't have the slightest interest in finding out. Now, open the damn door so I can get out!”

          Vince couldn't take it. He hated hysterical women. Normally, he would stop the car and make the bitch get out, however, he wanted that minx right there, next to him. He pulled her by the waist and pressed their lips together. She struggled for a few seconds, trying to push him away from her, but little by little, she gave in.

          Vince pulled her on top of him, making her ‘straddle’ him, with one leg on either side of him.

‘Lina, stop being so weak!’, she scolded herself, but when he raised his hips and she felt his volume, in that moment of tension, Lina moaned and lost her train of thought.

          She might be a virgin, but she wasn't ignorant. Lina hadn't slept with anyone, but that didn't mean she didn't watch or read naughty things. She wasn't against having sex, she just didn't have the courage to give in to just anyone.

          Vince's hands were everywhere. He moved his mouth down her neck, going to the neckline of her blouse. The man looked at her with those dark eyes, bright with desire, and lifted Lina's blouse, pulling it over the woman's head. She was wearing a black half-cup bra, with small lace around the edges. Her full breasts were very round. Vince wanted to remove the lingerie and see if those juicy round breasts would fill his big hands. He was sure they would.

          Vince leaned down and placed kisses on the edge of the skin along her bra, then gave a light bite. Lina reacted better than he expected, with a pleasant moan and rocking her hips. He smiled, naughtily. That woman was pure fire!

          He reached down and started to unzip her jeans, but Lina put her hand over his.

          “No,” she said, weakly. Even though she was dizzy with desire, she hadn't lost consciousness.

          “You want it,”  he replied, his voice full of lust.

          “Not yet. I’ve never… I don't know you.”

          His eyes widened as the realization of those words hit him hard. She... Was she a virgin? Sure, he had already realized that she wasn't like any other, but a virgin? He didn't fuck virgins! Virgins were synonymous with problems. They always wanted more, as compensation for giving something so precious to a man. And being who he was, even if they knew marriage wasn't an option, they wanted to be his mistress, at least.

          Even though it was painful, Vince moved her to the side, letting the beautiful young woman sit in the car seat.

          He ran a hand through his hair and rested his elbows on his knees.

          “Why didn't you mention that before?” he asked.

          “What?” She asked, confused, looking around, behind her blouse.

          “What do you mean ‘what’? That you are a virgin! Cazzo ^[1]!” he said it loud and harshly. “I don't go around fucking virgins. Even if you are not Italian, or not from my ‘environment’, I prefer to avoid it.”

          “I had no reason to tell you anything. I wanted a kiss, not to sleep with you!” She replied, offended by his tone, as if she had tried to deceive him in some way. “You're acting as if I had, I don't know, asked you to marry me!”

          “You almost did!” he shouted. “A man won’t devirginize a woman like that to leave her. At least I don't do that.” He said, sincerely.

          Vincenzo was Italian, he was part of the mafia, and he preferred to follow certain precepts, applying them even with women who were not from the organization.

          “Hmm ... So, you still have some honor,” she commented, but he felt the slight acidity in her tone.

          “What you mean? I have a lot of honor! I'm Vincenzo Bonaccorso!” She raised her eyebrow, thinking that at least she already knew the name of the owner of the best kiss of her life!

          “I don't think I need to say it, but I will anyway: your name means absolutely nothing to me. Sorry.” She said and shrugged, making it clear that she apologized as a mockery.

“Of course... I already imagined it. Or you wouldn't even have approached me in the first place, right?” He asked, with a slightly mocking tone. “Unless you were really looking for trouble.”

          “Oh, please! Ok, Mr. ‘I’m-so-important’! What are you trying to tell me, huh? That’ you’re a mafia King?” Lina asked as a joke. She had already noticed that he looked Italian and ‘evil’. But when he didn't respond and the car fell silent, she looked at Vincenzo. “Are you... from the Mafia?”

          The expression on her face indicated that she didn't want it to be true. This gave Vince even more pleasure in confirming her biggest fear at that moment.

          “What do you think, principessa ^[2]?” He asked, reaching back and pulling a pistol from the waistband of his pants.

          “Crap!” Lina backed away from him, until her back hit the car door.

          “Relax, I'm not going to use this on you. If you are interested in entering into a new agreement, I will use something else with you. Something very pleasant,” he smiled sideways as he looked at her. “This was just to show you that I'm not lying about who I am.”

Vince opened his arms and rested them on the car seat, with his legs wider apart. Lina understood what he wanted to use on her. And even if he was cheeky, she wouldn't be a hypocrite to say that she didn't want him to do everything he seemed to have in mind to her. But giving in to a man, without being married, was a danger. Her mother was a good example of that.

“You said you don't get involved with virgins.” She reminded him.

“I said I don't go around fucking virgins. There is a difference.”

^[1]“Damn!”, in Italian.

^[2]“Princess”, in Italian.