Chapter 2: The Girlfriend Interruption

"Own her?" Juan scoffed. "Don't play games with me old man. What the hell do you mean by own her?"

"Well, she's my daughter. So technically I own her."

Juan was silent as he felt rage brewing inside of him.

"Look she's beautiful. Lots of men will pay to see her. You can put her on your exclusive whore list and make millions from—"

Diego did not get to complete his statement before his head was slammed into the table. "You bastard!" Juan roared angrily.

Seeing as people watched, he reduced his voice to a calm and dangerous whisper. "Your daughter but you want to sell her off as a sex slave? You are despicable." He hissed. "What kind of father does that to their daughter?"

"Hey boss, it is—"

"I do not want to hear anything from you. I give you two weeks to pay off your debt with interest,"

Juan hissed in his ears. "Failure to do that means I harvest your organs and don't even think of running away, I will find you," "Yes boss," Diego whispered in fear.

"Now get out!" Commanded Juan.

Diego picked up his can of beer and scurried away from the bar.

Taking in a deep breath, Juan walked over to the counter where the girl stood with the bartender. He pulled out a stool and sat down, shooting her a smile.

"Boss, can I get you anything?" The bartender asked.

Juan nodded. "Two drinks, for the lady and I." He leaned forward on the counter. "Why don't you join me over here mio angelo?"

"Sorry, I'm working," Arya said, avoiding eye contact with him. She had seen how he had slammed her stepfather's head on the table. She wondered what his reaction would be if he knew she was the man's daughter. Would he want to harm her also?

"Come on, I'm sure your boss would not mind." Juan did not want to tell her he was the real boss so she would not be uncomfortable.

"You should go," the bartender, Hernandez whispered to Arya. "For your good. The boss would not mind..."

"Why?" Arya whispered back.

Hernandez shot a look at Juan and then smiled at her. "Let's say they have history. Go on."

Heaving an annoyed sigh, she untied the apron from her waist and joined him at the other side.

"What's your name my angel?"

Arya gave a small smile. The way the man spoke Italian was different from every other person she had encountered. "Arya. My name is Arya."

"You are not Italian?"

"I am. My mother is American, my father is Italian."

"I see." Juan cleared his throat. He did not know what else to ask her, or what else to say. He was not usually tongue-tied around women but Arya was different. "My name is Juan." "That is a nice name." She said softly.

Even her voice was angelic, like a sweet melody in his ears.

"I'd like to know you," Juan smiled, moving closer to her.

"There is nothing to know about me. I am plain and boring," she said curtly. She was uncomfortable with the attention he gave her. She could feel the piercing gaze of several women. Their stares were like daggers in her back. "I really should get back to work. We are short on hands."

Without waiting for a response, Arya stood up.

"Not so fast young lady."

Arya looked behind her to see the most intimidatingly beautiful woman she had ever set her eyes on. She was sure the woman would have been even more beautiful if she wiped the scowl off her face.

She was tall and well-tanned, her long black hair was in a sleek bob. She had wide-doe hazel eyes, a pointed nose and pouty lips.

"Um, how may I help you?"

"What do you think you are doing? Attempting to flirt with my man?"

"That was um," Arya swallowed, quite terrified of the woman. "That was not my intention ma'am."

"I asked her to sit with me Belle," Juan rolled his eyes. "I didn't think you'd be coming here." Belle, what a befitting name, thought Arya to herself.

"Seriously Juan?" The woman had a look of disgust on her face. "Why would you ask a lowly waitress to sit with you?"

"Watch your tone," Juan said in a cold voice.

Belle huffed and said nothing more to Juan. "Get us drinks," she smiled tightly at Arya. That's your job, is it not?"

"I won't be having any drink."

*+*+*+*+*+*

Diego was in a fix. He knew that Juan was not joking when he had said he would harvest his organs and sell them for a high price. Even if his organs were not in good working condition, Juan was going to do it just to torment him.

As he was lost in his thoughts, memories of a time when he had tried to get information out of Juan haunted him. He usually tried to record conversations the Mafia Lord had with one of his men whenever he was around them, just so he could sell it to a rival Mafia Lord. Once Juan had found out; Diego had been stripped naked and burned with a hot iron in several places.

He sat by the bus stop, smoking a joint and thinking about how he was to raise the money. Juan had rejected his offer to accept his daughter as payment and he wondered why.

If there was one thing Juan did a lot, it was to buy women to serve his VIP clients at his den. So why had the man been angry for wanting to sell her? Juan could easily make much money off his naive stepdaughter. And then it clicked, he smiled sardonically to himself.

He rubbed his nose and stood up, then scrolled through his gallery. After sending a picture to a man, he dialled a number as he walked towards the bus.

"What is it this time?" A gruff voice answered on the last ring. "I'm not interested in whatever deal or shady offer you have to make. All your attempts to record useful information have

failed."

"I have something that Juan Moreno will want," Diego grinned. "Why don't you put me through to your boss this time?"