NATASHAI groaned as the hot water poured out of the shower, running through my hair and then down my body. The water warmed and massaged my sore muscles, and my shoulders sagged in relief. “Okay, that feels good,” I whispered. “At least this place has hot water,” I hadn't used hot water in years. They certainly didn't provide it to the mafia. And my ratty old apartment barely had water, not to mention hot. It didn't bother me much. I had lived a long time without hot water, I was sure I could definitely live without it. But damn, I had to admit, it felt good. I could feel the tension in my muscles slowly sifting out. The ache diffused out gently, and I let out a steam filled breath. My mind drifted to the flashback I had when I had blacked out. Memories. I had kept them at bay for a long time. I hadn't thought about my mother in a while. What would she say if she saw me now? Would she hate me like Alisa did? Would she think I had a
NATASHA“Which one do you think suits me better?” I asked Olivia, walking out of the closet in just a towel while holding two dresses up. I needed her thoughts on what to wear. Oh! I knew what this looked like. I had never been fussy about what I wore. But for some reason, I wanted to care, just a teeny tiny bit, about how I looked. I was going to fucking Italy! I would be leaving the continent and flying my ass all the way to Europe on a mission that could very well get me killed. Who could blame me for wanting to enjoy just a bit of luxury?Olivia laid on my bed, throwing popcorn into her mouth as she studied the dresses in my hands. She had spent the night in my room after dinner. We stayed up until two in the morning, talking shit about people. She had worked with Luca for five years. Five! And yet, that jackass seemed oblivious to her feelings. At least that was what she told me. Anyone could sport Olivia's crush on him from a mile
NATASHA The ride to the airport was long as hell. Luca kept grumbling about Olivia's dress in the back seat, pointing at it like a petulant child who saw his toy in a new light and couldn't bear to look at it. “You can't wear that, prancing round fucking Italy!” He hissed, and I chuckled…“Oh, quit being a ninny,” I laughed from the front seat. Oh, it was amusing to hear. The Jackass was flustered, and I enjoyed every second of it. “I am not a ninny!” He bellowed. “You put her up to this, didn't you?!” I rolled my eyes at his words and closed them, trying to breathe through the jumble in my head. I had to think this through. Infiltrating some mafia hotel, trying to ferret out the identity of a mafia lord who gid better than a mole in holes. I didn't like the idea of it. What if it took longer than I expected? What if he found out who we were the minute we stepped into Italy?Hell, so many fucking what ifs! I was in danger. This was literally goi
NATASHAThe airplane we were on slowly lowered to the ground. We were clear for landing. I looked at Olivia to find her looking right at me. “Ready?” The minute we stepped on Italian soil, our mission began. Hell, I was sure it began the minute we stepped on the plane anyway. Hell probably knew how many passengers were on the plane, and just how many were after his life. Okay, perhaps that was exaggerating a bit too much, but who could blame me? I wasn't scared. I was just worried that he would get to me first. If he is half as good as the reports I have heard, He had all the resources to fish me out… I didn't. It was like walking around waving a pistol to kill him, and he was in some overhead building, with a sniper, ready to blow my brain out. My brows shot up. Guns! Fuck that was true, Luca had said nothing about guns. We were infiltrating a fucking mafia house. Suspected or not, he didn't think to give us guns? I leaned closer to Olivia.
NATASHA We waited outside for quite a while. Ten minutes? Fifteen? Perhaps half an hour. Either way, I was so close to losing my shit and bailing. It was hard to know whom to trust, even among your people. What if Luca trusted this Luigi ma, but Luigi had sworn fealty to Hell? The man literally lived and worked in the Sole Dorato. If he was caught sniffing around, his life was over. “Quit looking like you swallowed a lemon, Nat,” Olivia grumbled, and I blinked, barely believing what I had just heard. What on earth? Has something happened to stiff and Stoic Natasha? “What? Why are you staring at me like that?” “What did you just call me?” I asked, chuckling when she blushed slightly and diverted her gaze away from mine. “Natasha seems like a handful to call. Nat was short and better,” she said quietly, her voice barely audible. “Isn't that cute?” I teased. If she was drafting up nicknames for me, then it could only mean one thing - the cold Oliv
NATASHA “I'll place a call to the human resource manager of the hotel,” Luigi informed us. “He's a friend, but that does not mean he can be trusted. “ Olivia and I nodded at his words. It was best not to think we should count on anyone. Trust was a double-edged sword. It could very well be our end. I watched him speak as he continued on and on about the dos and don'ts of the hotel. “Answer all their questions without hesitation,” he urged. “A prolonged pause can only mean you have something to hide. And the minute the mafia suspects you, they'll dig further into your records and, well, shit could happen. “ “Noted,” I mumbled, making mental notes. “I'm guessing with how tight they are with whomever they employ and all, it'll be quite hard to secure a spot, wouldn't it?” “Of course not,” Olivia disputed. “Our entire mission depends on us getting into Sole Dorato.”Luigi sighed and shook his head. “I did promise Luca that I would try to get y
NATASHA “Ah, come on,” I told her, closing the door behind me. “I had expected worse.”The room wasn't too small, but it wasn't exactly a bug either. There were two students sized beds on either side of the room. A closet adjoined the rooms, containing four maid uniforms. There was a window, but it was so high up, it would seem impossible to climb through. “They really do not want their maids spilling secrets about them,” Olivia said, eyeing the window. “True,” I responded, making my way to a bed and flopped on it. The mattress was surprisingly soft, and my eyes closed tiredly. “Think I could manage a nap?” “I'm pretty sure he said something about the head maid coming,” Olivia replied, and I groaned. I needed to sleep. Hell, even if it was just for an hour. I felt so damned tired. Flashes of the events of the past twenty-four hours ran through my mind. The meeting with Luigi lasted almost all night. We needed to iron a lot of things out. I wou
NATASHA I turned around to see another maid, a petite, pretty thing with huge gray eyes and fine black hair tied in a ponytail. She had a basket of towels in her hands and smiled rather prettily at me. “Yeah,” I laughed lightly. “It's pretty obvious, yeah?” She chuckled too. It was soft and cute, and it made me wonder what the hell she was doing here. She couldn't be older than Alisa and looked every bit as innocent as her, too. Why on earth was someone like her in a place like this? Why was she here? “Yeah, it is,” she replied. “I'm Isabella, you can call me Bella,” “Natasha,” I told her simply. “Do you by any chance know where rooms thirty-five to forty are? I'm supposed to clean them, and if we're being quite honest, Agatha is terrifying.”Isabella chuckled. “Oh, she's always like that at first. She tried to instill discipline and all that. But if you're pretty humble, she can be the sweetest human,” I glanced at where Agatha had disappeare