Having finished the meals bought for her by Gio, Daniella was then sitting in the living room with her and Sensi, in full-blown, deep conversation."So, you've been in here, by yourself, all this time?" Gio asked. Mercedes had told him this before, but it seemed so surreal that he had to get a second source to confirm. "No friends? No people? Nothing?""Daniella shook her head gently, a sad look on her face. " Mercedes says nobody is to be trusted because Aleksandr has men everywhere in the city. So, I've been in here. No school, no friends, not even neighbors.. She comes to see me once every month, and she stocks the kitchen with food enough for a month until she comes again the following month."Gio's mouth hung open for a moment, as he imagined this much loneliness and depression the girl must have gone through.Daniella had more to say, though:"The door is always locked from outside, so I can't even go outside. Mercedes says I have to stay as silent as possible to make the house
"I don't know what you think this is, Sensi, but I do not run a fuckin orphanage!""But, Marie, it's not..""It's not what, Sensi? You bring a little girl who I don't know to me, and you want me to house her until whenever? Who does that? Are you taking advantage of the feelings you know I have for you? Is that it?""Marie, calm down.."When Sensi had said he had a 'solution' for Daniella, what he'd meant was Marie's house. But the Parisian wasn't having it, as she made her feelings known and was being very clear about how much she detested the arrangement. Now, Gio and Daniella were outside in Gio's Maserati while he reasoned with Marie."Look, I just need you to let her stay with you for a while.. She's a good girl and she doesn't cause trouble for anyone. Hell, she won't even go out, trust me. I just need you to let her stay here.." Sensi pleaded.Marie was sitting on the bed in the room, her arms folded and a stern look on her face."Why? Is she your sister? Your daughter, Sensi?
"We used to spend hour after hour here.. Talking, planning, doting on one another... Those were incredibly...times."Don Fabrizio had taken Mercedes out of the room where she'd been stashed for weeks for the first time, and now, they were in his garden. Of course, there was a host of at least twelve men who were to watch her, prevent her escape, and take her back to her room when this was done, but, it felt immensely good to be out and under the skies and feel the cool of the afternoon. She had missed this."We would talk about anything imaginable; my obsession with politics, her obsession with fashion, our children, our home country, Italy, food; anything.." He continued.They were standing in the midst of the magnificent garden under the mild sunlight and breezy winter, and Don Fabrizio was staring into a space, a dreamy smile on his face, reminiscing on the past bliss he'd enjoyed with his late wife."But then... Cancer came and took her away from me... And even before she left, th
After days of hiding out on the outskirts of town to mourn and get over the death of Mindi, Agent Snyder was finally ready to return to his investigative duties, and although he knew fully well that he wouldn't be able to do that if Amy was still with him, the girl had refused to go back and be with her mother, and so, they were both in his Sedan and headed for another location where someone he'd been estranged from lived.Amy was lively all through and vibing to all the songs on the radio. It was mostly contemporary music from artists that had all the catchy hooks, powerful kicks, and clean beats.Snyder had ignored her all along, allowing her to sing along while he focused more on where they were going and what he was going to say to the person they were going to meet when he got there, but it got to a certain point when he couldn't anymore.He got to the breaking point when he heard her sing some of the filthiest lines he'd ever heard from a certain song:'I want to fuck in the mir
Detective Dan James sat in his Plymouth, which was parked by the roadside, in a brown jacket and shades, thinking long and hard while puffing on a stub of cigarette.His conversation with Agent Ruby the previous day, along with the evidence of Naomi, his protégé, walking into the building of Aleksandr Matiç, the man suspected of ordering the death of Mindi, had made him very sober.He had seen many double agents in his time as a serviceman, but he had never expected that Naomi would be one of them. Now, he could just go and confront her, but that would simply be a stupid move because:If she was indeed working with/for Aleksandr Matiç, confronting her would only make him appear as a threat, and then, it would endanger his life.If she wasn't working with Aleksandr Matiç and had been there on undisclosed business, then he'd simply be scaring her off and coming off to her as a mentor who didn't trust his menteeAnd so, to protect his life and his reputation, he was going to keep mute ab
"And.. You're sure she'll be safe, there?""Positive.. Apparently, you did a good job of hiding her away from everybody's knowledge all these years, and.. It's the most unlikely place that anyone would look for her even if they'd found out about her, which still looks unlikely, thankfully. So you can rest assured that she'll be safe.. I'll be in constant touch with Marie, the woman she's staying with, and I'll make sure to send her enough money to feed.."For the first time, Mercedes was having a normal conversation with Sensi, and although it felt weird and had seemed unlikely given how they'd first been introduced, they were now on the same side, standing against Don Fabrizio and his tyranny."Relax, Mercedes, she'll be fine," Gio, the third man in this little resistance triangle, spoke.Mercedes nodded her head and smiled, and although she was visibly worried, she felt better to know that Daniella was now living with someone who'd speak to her and interact with her, as opposed to t
Travel bags. Four of them. In Ruby's living room.Omari and Ruby were seated in silence and tension on her couch and the travel bags were by the center table. Omari was planning on keeping his word and leaving the city to save his sister's life. But such a drastic move was the last thing he had envisioned; he hadn't planned to leave the city for the next two, three or even five years, but this was what life was when one dealt with organized criminals: things tended to move fast. Very fast.In an hour or two, Omari was going to get on a bus and leave the city, and then he was going to make a video call to the phone which Sheila had reached him from to prove to her captors that he had indeed left the city, and then, she would be released.This was the plan, and Omari was willing to follow through, but this was just like a farewell visit to Ruby, the woman he loved."I really can't believe you'll be leaving.. Just like that.. I mean.. We only just met.. I.."Ruby cut herself short, swall
"So, essentially, you're saying you lost her, right?""Yes sir... I'm really sorry, sir.."The officer whom Dan James had assigned with the responsibility of trailing Naomi Wallace had just returned to say that he'd lost her. Dan James was not mad at the young man who was still starting out, because he had expected this.He was more concerned with Naomi's whereabouts; where could she have gone?She was no slouch, he knew that she had been well aware of the vehicle tailing her and that she'd expertly evaded it. Now, the fact that she hadn't even bothered to call him and ask why a tail was on her meant that she knew why she should be running. She had something to hide."You can go, officer," he said at the end to the fidgeting officer before him."Thank you, sir," he said, before scurrying out of sight as quickly as possible, probably to avoid another task that he was scared of failing at.As he pondered on it, Dan James got up to his feet and decided to take a stroll out of his office