The Mafia's Contracted Bride

Chapter Five - Nightmare

Chapter Five – Nightmare

Emma’s eyes opened wide with shock, her body trembling as she pulled the bed covers from her body and sat on the side of her bed her head in her hands.

“It was just a dream” she blew out, taking deep breaths to calm herself

She had not been subjected to her nightmares for five years, since the day she read an online Italian newspaper, that informed her of how Enzo Dovizioso had been killed whilst eating with friends, but last night, her dreams were haunted once more. She was no longer Dr Emma Stone, but once again Eva Marini, running for her life from men dressed in black with no faces.

Stretching Emma placed her feet on the cold grey laminate flooring that covered the floors of her small apartment in Felling, an area of Gateshead just outside of Newcastle. Emma had rented the apartment two years ago when she graduated medical school, it was within easy distance for the Queen Elizabeth hospital where she now worked as a junior doctor. Looking at the clock on her mobile phone it flashed 1 PM Emma sighed, her days and nights all rolled into one with the crazy shifts she worked.  She had just over an hour before she had to go start her 72 hour on call shift. Emma walked to her small bathroom, and climbed into the tub with overhead shower, and stood under the hot streams of water, allowing them to ease the tension in her shoulders and back.

The dream had unsettled her, more than she would ever admit to, it felt somehow real, and after being free of the nightmares for so long this one had taken its toll on her tensed up body.

Emma tied her long red curls onto the top of her head in a messy bun, then pulled on her blue jeans, and red V necked jumper, slipping her feet into a pair of black ankle boots, and pulled on a black leather Jacket, the long winter days were finally coming to an end, and the sun began to peak through the early spring fluffy clouds.

 Emma decided the weather was good enough for her to walk to the hospital, it took around half an hour, and as she would be locked inside the hospital for three days, she longed to have some fresh air in her lungs. Emma made her coffee in her thermos cup, placed the lid on, so she could drink it on her way to work, grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter, and picking up her Fendi bag, that contained fresh underwear and deodorant, the only thing she had left from Italy, she had kept it as a reminder of the country of her birth, after she had escaped the Italian mob. As Emma walked the long road towards the hospital, she headed into the Tesco Express, buying a croissant for her brunch. As she stood in line waiting to pay, she had an uneasy feeling, like she was being watched. Emma looked around but could not see anyone and gave her head an internal shake. Obviously, she was still feeling paranoid from the effects of her nightmare. As Emma left the shop, she began to sip on the hot black liquid, allowing it to ignite her brain and prepare her for the long days ahead, she took a bite of the still warm croissant, enjoying the buttery flavour. But still she felt uneasy, like somehow, she was being followed.  Looking over her shoulder once more, she could not see anyone watching or following, the dream really had unsettled her.

Entering the hospital, she walked to the on call room, and placed her bag down, then headed to the Scrubs dispensing machine, punched in her code, and took the protective clothing from the tray at the bottom. Emma stripped out of her clothes, and pulled on the light green scrubs, and black crocks, before heading down the corridor into the Accident and Emergency department.

“You back already Dr Smith?” Jack one of the male nurses and constant flirt smiled and winked at her whilst reaching over behind the desk and hanging up a clipboard.

“Yeah, the three days off shift goes a lot quicker than the three days on shift” Emma chuckled back at him.

“I start my off days after tonight’s shift, cannot wait, going to go home, sleep, then tomorrow I am hitting the town, and all bets are off” Jack winked

Emma shook her head, Jack was a good guy, a great nurse, but had an eye for the ladies, and his time off was spent getting down and dirty with many an unsuspecting female who fell for his bedside manner.

“Hey Emma, here we are again” Doctor Dawn Porter laughed.

Dawn was another junior doctor, she had joined the hospital the same time as Emma, when they had graduated medical school.

“So, what have we got?” Emma sighed, picking up her stethoscope and hanging it around her neck

“Not a lot really, we have been quiet” Dawn smiled

“Oi, do not say that word, you know it is like a curse, whenever you say the Q word all hell lets loose” Jack shouted over to Dawn.

Emma smiled, and shook her head at Jacks superstitions

“Don’t know what you are shaking your head at beautiful, you know I am right” Jack shouted over to Emma as he jumped down off the bench and walked out to check on his patients.

Emma smiled and looked at the board, they had two patients that were waiting to be seen, one a lady having an asthma attack, and one a 16 year old who had fallen off his bike and had possibly broken both his wrists.

“I will take the asthmatic; you are better with the teenagers than me” Dawn said to Emma

“Okay” Emma smiled picking up the notes for the boy and headed into the bay.

Jack rounded the doctors and nurses’ area

“Yeah, those wrists are busted alright, I booked him in, have to admit to feeling sorry for the lad, sixteen with two broken wrists, he is going to be one frustrated boy by the time the casts come off” he quipped.

Emma shook her head and walked over to the bay pulled back the curtain.

“Hi there I am Doctor Smith” she smiled.

………………….

Marco sat on his private jet looking out of the window as it came into land at Newcastle airport. He did not like to leave Italy, but this deal required his full attention. He had been approached by the Sanchez Cartel, who were setting up operations in the UK, and they needed weapons. Something Marco had plenty of, thanks to his deal with the Russians.

Rumour had it, that the Sanchez operations had been somewhat halted due to a raid on a shipment of their narcotics, and word had got out that they were struggling to get product, so other dealers in the UK were putting pressure on the head of their UK operations Marcus Sanchez, or Mad Dog as he liked to be known.

“Tony, run though what we have on Sanchez again” Marco asked.

Antonio Fenarti was Marco’s right hand man, and closest thing his had to a real friend, they had grown up together, Tony being the eldest son of Luca Fenarti who worked closely with his father in the early days.

“Boss, he is a bit of and oddball, from what we can gather, but the money is good, and he has the backing out of Mexico, so the deal should be easy” Tony said

“Oddball we can control, or oddball that will cause problems for us?” Marco asked, running his hand through his short black hair

“That remains to be seen boss, hence why we have insisted on this meet up” Tony shrugged.

“He does however have contacts in high places, within MI5, another reason I thought we could do business, that could help us one day” Tony added.

Marco gave his head a quick nod, since taking over from his father Dovizioso business had boomed, he had more government officials in his pocket, build relationships not only with the Italian mob but also those in Russia and Albania, and now he was developing this new business relationship with the Mexicans. The clubs and brothels and gambling dens his father had relied on, although Marco still ran them even though they were not the biggest source of income for the family now.

Marco had seen opportunities with the gun trade, and muscled his way into the market, making him one of the northern hemisphere’s biggest players. He was also pulling away from the narcotics side of the business, given product was coming direct from Mexico into various counties around the world, the profit margins had slipped in recent years, and selling drugs to kids was not really something Marco wanted involvement with, although he had no issue weaponizing those gangs who operated in that field.

There was of course the constant threat of war with the Petrucci family, but since Paulo’s death, things had remained relatively quiet, however, Marco understood only too well that could change at any given moment.

“Where is the meet set up?” Marco asked, something in his gut was telling his to be extra cautious and over the years he had learned to always trust his gut.

“Given there is not a pysical transaction happening, Sanchez has suggested some fields, around an area called Windy Nook, in Gateshead just south of the city” Tony answered pointing out the area on a map.

“We will need to scout out the grounds, I want every inch of that place checked and double checked” Marco instructed

Marco and Tony were busy walking the streets surrounding the meet up point, the place was a built up area, and not easy to get out of the public eye if things did not go to plan.

“This may or may not work in our favour, if we cannot get out easily neither can they” Marco sighed

“It’s either reckless or a show of faith that they are not going to try any funny business and trusting us” Tony mused out loud, not sure himself if he was happy with the meet up point.

As Marco looked up the street, he stopped in his tracks, a girl was walking towards them on the opposite side of the street, her red curls piled on her head, a coffee cup in hand. Marco did a double take, and he watched intently as she headed into the Tesco Express.

“Stay here, I need to check something out” he ordered,

Crossing the street, Marco headed into the shop, the girl could not be Eva, but if it was, she had filled out in all the right places since he last saw her ten years ago.  Marco entered into the shop, then stood behind one of the aisles and watched as the woman paid for her items. She looked around as if to check he was not being watched she looked nervous, her face was beautiful, not like the girl he had met, yet still she was vaguely familiar, and bore a resemblance to Sarah Marini. As the women left, Marco headed back over to Tony.

“That woman, she has a look of Sarah Marini, it could be Eva” Marco growled to Tony

“Woah boss, are you sure? You said Eva was ugly, and that woman is hot.” Tony asked shocked

“No I am not sure, I need a picture of her, send it to the guys at home, and double check if it is her” Marco ordered, the hairs on his neck standing on end.

If it was her, he did not know what he would do, should he just let sleeping dogs lie, or should he enforce the marriage contract?  He did not have time to worry about it now, he needed to prepare for the met with Sanchez, but pulled out his mobile phone as the girl looked over her shoulder once more, and snapped a picture zooming in on her face, and sent it to his team in Italy.

Take this picture to the Marini’s, I want confirmation if it is their daughter ASAP

Marco hit send, then turned on his heal, and continued to scout out the area for the late night meeting.