2

Warning, there are a few Italian phrases/sentences and I will be using G****e to translate. I don’t speak Italian so please feel free to correct me if I make a mistake :)

***

It was pitchblack in the room, cold from the winter air. The only movement she heard was the wind against the window she left open in the bedroom. She was a bit annoyed that no one was home yet. It was a Saturday night, the only time she decided to play dress up and be someone else besides Lionel Caroni's heiress.

Now this man was wasting her time. She had contemplated going into the depths of Chicago to take Leonardo Bianchi out just to get it over with, but that would be too messy. A man like him never stayed out too late, he loved bringing shiny pretty things home to play with so she decided to check the room and wait.

She had been in the house several times, for gatherings the Italians held to forge new relations with the other cartels. It was a large place to live, not as large as her father’s, this was more like a townhouse. But she had to admit, her target, Leonardo, knew how to live. He was a lower ranking member of the Italian syndicate and cousin to the leader, he saw no reason to seek power, he just used the money he had to enjoy the finer things in life.

Alice sat herself down on the bed and shifted to the centre. If she was going to be here the whole night, she might as well get comfortable.

As expected, the front door slammed a few minutes later, several sets of footsteps started rummaging around in the other room and a female voice chatting in Italian.

Two

Another woman spoke up from outside, it seemed. Alice sat upright when the footsteps approached the master bedroom and the door flew open.

“Merda!” Leonardo cursed out, it sounded as if he knocked his toe somewhere.

(Shit!)

“Zitto, lascia che ti tolga i vestiti.” One of the women said. 

(Hush, let me take off your clothes.)

A smack echoed in the room and the woman screamed out in pleasure. 

“I was hoping that you’d stay quiet.” The sudden light on the bedside table snapped their heads towards. 

The sight of Leonardo shirtless could make a person hurl, he was greying and overweight with pubic hair growing out to his belly button. His escorts were wearing next to nothing, they looked like his kid sisters.

His eyes widened when he took in Alice’s figure on the bed. He knew her presence could only mean one thing. It was his time to die. She crossed her legs and gave him a menacing smile as she pulled out her pistol and rested it on her stomach.The women didn’t hesitate when they saw the gun, they ran out of the room screaming.

Sweat washed his face. He had heard about the infamous Alice Stone, the daughter of the great Don Diablo, how she moved through the shadows like a ghost and how she killed men with her bare hands. He wasn’t around the dealings of the Italian mafia but it wasn’t hard to figure out her identity. No one else would be able to access his house like she did. 

“I don’t understand, I’ve never offended Don Caroni.” He quivered out.

“Sorry Leo. Just doing a little FBI informant cleaning.” Alice’s voice was flat.

He nodded slowly in realization. He had been made. His head fell back against the wall, his fingers trembled. Alice watched him with a measured gaze. No man accepted their fate just like that, even if it was inevitable. As predicted, he slowly glanced at the metal safe next to the door and then back up to Alice. She blew out slowly in boredom and cocked her gun.

In a flash, he pulled out his gun from his safe and pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t go off. It was empty. He squeezed again and again, until his fingers only moved desperately. Her head tilted to the side. 

A wicked smile graced her lips before she sat in a lotus position tauntingly, as if giving him another chance. 

Leonardo growled out before he went charging at her but before he got to the bed, she was already aiming at him. The gun exploded and a titanium bullet pierced his chest, cutting him down. His feet flailed before he hit the small table in the middle of the room. In no time, Alice flew from the bed and careened over Leonardo. He was lying with his mouth agape and his eyes were glazed over.  

“Really? A tommy gun?” Alice scoffed as she kicked the gun from beside the man and kneeled over him. “Maybe you should’ve checked for bullets if you wanted to really kill someone.” She tapped his chest lightly and sprinkled the missing bullets over him. Leonardo groaned out, his breathing got laboured. Alice sighed before she stood up straight and delivered the final bullet to his head. 

*****

It was almost nine when she got to Walsh Hanson’s fight club. Walsh was a stubby fellow, polite when he needed to be and always paid his dues to Don Diablo on time. He had been running this fighting ring for as long as Alice could remember, and a lot of men came in to fight for cash and a few additional strings. If some were lucky, they were offered the opportunity to join Walsh’s club if they wanted. 

This was the place to be on a Saturday night, if someone was interested in seeing women and men kicking the shit out of each other. Alice had heard that a skilled fighter was coming to fight one of Walsh’s boxers tonight. 

She got a deep cleanse and everything and was hoping for a good match but someone at a secluded booth caught her attention.

It was a brunette she hadn’t seen before but he definitely stood out in the crowd of gangsters in a very expensive suit. He was secretly scanning the building, taking note of the guards at the entrance and the exits and he had been staring above the fighting ring at the only camera in the place. He was stealthy, she couldn’t deny that, others would have been overlooked but not her, she was trained to decipher any threat no matter how unsuspecting. It was clear that he was up to something. He must be one of those agents Leonardo blabbed to.

When she had spotted him, she called a ring girl over to her at the bar, pointed out the man and told her to get him over to her. The girl nodded without hesitation.

A few moments later, the ring girl approached the seating area with a slight sway in her strides. Suddenly, she lumbered into the man’s table and the glass he was drinking from turned over, whatever he was drinking soaked one of his legs. She began apologizing profusely when the man stood, he must have said something else to her because she pointed to the bar. 

This girl was clever. 

She looked over to Alice anxiously as if for approval, Alice nodded and turned to face the bar and waited for the man to mount the metal platform the bar was on.

When she felt his presence behind her, she rested her elbow on the counter and propped her chin up with her palm..

“Vodka.” she ordered, the bartender eyed her warily before he quickly nodded.

“Another please, put hers on my tab.” The man spoke up from behind before he got to the bar. He was wearing a white button up shirt underneath a navy blue jacket and a navy blue dress pants to match. She gazed up at him keenly. He was standing close to her but he didn’t meet her eyes. She took note of the smoky scent he gave off, it wasn’t hard to miss and it was delicious. He sat on the free stool and slid a fifty dollar bill on the table. 

“Thank you,” Alice took the liberty to speak up as the bartender placed a glass of vodka in front of her and another in front of the man and stalked off. “This area isn’t for first timers.” She pointed out to the stranger next to her. 

“It's the only spot that isn’t taken it seems.” He replied, glancing back at the area where he was with a frown. Alice smiles slightly. She had requested this space by the bar for her use only every week for minimum interference from people and it was kept that way until now. 

“Oh it isn't?” She raised an eyebrow.

His mouth hung open. “I can always go away if you’d like.” He finally met her eyes, it was a perfect pair of honey brown that held a compelling glaze but it wasn’t his eyes that had her staring at him, it was what was in them. He was wearing clear contacts with a digital print. It would appear like nothing to the untrained eye but she used contacts like those to take pictures of specific items. 

“I only came here to not be bothered.” He spoke again as he took up his drink and began walking off.

“Business man?” She called after him, he froze in his tracks and turned to face her. Her sudden question posed as a sign of invitation.

And he took the bait. “Something like that,” He originally had a vacant look in his eyes but now, from his angle he could see every part of her clearly. His lips parted slightly as he took in her long legs. It was the exact reaction she was looking for. He didn’t let his eyes linger on her body for too long, instead, he brought them back to her face. He was seeing a pale blonde woman wearing sunglasses with a dragon tattoo on her neck and hearing an Irish accent. 

“Here for work actually.” He added distantly as he sat down beside her. 

“In a fight club?” She gasped and he chuckled lightly and his laugh brightened up his already perfect features. Alice almost forgot her mission, almost. They fell into silence for a while. The man was twirling around a watch on his hand as he watched the hands ticked, he was waiting for someone or something she noted. And she’d love to find out who that was.