Debt to the Mafia

Chapter 20

A few days passed and I still haven’t seen or heard from Michele. He has just disappeared and has been avoiding my calls and texts. I was passed the point of being angry with him now, I just wanted to know that he was safe. I keep asking where he is but everyone either tells me that they don’t know or that he’s away on business; which made me worry even more. I was fed up of being in this house and I couldn’t see what the problem was with me going out. Ezio hasn’t been in contact and I don’t exactly have anywhere to run off to. 

I finished getting dressed into my black skinny jeans and my red blouse and headed downstairs to find Nico. He was sitting at the dinning table speaking in Italian on the phone. He seemed agitated with whoever he was speaking to so I waited by the arch for him to finish his conversation. He slammed the phone down and let out a deep sigh.

“Umm, Nico?” I hesitantly edged forward.

“Good morning Ameal, everything okay?” He asked trying to brush off the irritation in his tone. 

“I wanted ask you something” I began. 

“Okay...” he replied placing his clasped hands onto the table. 

“Could I go out somewhere today? I’m so bored in this house and want a change in scenery” I asked. He pressed his lips together whilst he thought to himself.

“On one condition” he said. I was already jumping towards the table with excitement.

“Anything”

“Ricco and Renzo take you” he conditioned. I grunted and rolled my eyes.

“It’s for your own protection. I can’t take any risks, especially with Michele gone” he explained.

“Fine” I agreed reluctantly. 

“You are not to run off anywhere without them Amelia, I’m serious” he clarified. I nodded my head and then wrapped my arms round his neck.

“Grazie!”. He chuckled at my attempt to speak Italian and held me tightly.

The shopping mall was huge and had so many shops and restaurants. I was like a kid in a candy store. Nico said I could spend as much as I wanted and I definitely didn’t hesitate when it came to buying clothes. Renzo and Ricco were loaded with bags as they followed me into different shops, always leaving with one more bag added to their arm. I had bought dresses, casual clothes, jewellery and of course a new Apple Mac laptop. I had to have something to do when I was sitting in my room. I wanted to buy a nice dress for a special occasion; even if I never had an event to wear it to. 

We entered a shop that sold the most beautiful and elegant dresses. I scanned through the railings and picked out a bright red dress that dropped down to the floor. It was sparkly and had a slit up one leg, just my kind of style. The strapless bust had fine detailed flowers embroidered with sparkly thread. It was gorgeous and my size. I also picked out a pastel pink dress with thin straps and it stopped just above my feet. This one didn’t have a slit in it and was fairly plain but had an elegant detail trailing up one side of the dress. I rushed off to the changing rooms to try it on. The first dress I tried on was the red one. It was stunningly beautiful and showed off my hour glass figure. I actually felt tall in this dress even though I was only 5ft. 4. I tried on some matching red heels and held my hair up into a messy ponytail. I loved it and I was definitely buying it.

 Took it off and hung it back up so that it didn’t get creased. After that, I took hold of the second dress and tugged it from the hanger then stepped in from the bottom. I pulled the pink dress over my waist and slipped my arms through the straps. Zipping the back up as far as I could, I admired myself in the mirror. It was just like the first dress, stunning and elegant. I loved both of the dresses and knew that they would catch Michele’s eye should I ever get to wear them. The curtain of my dressing room flicked across and a woman was standing there with her hands full of clothes to try on. 

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realise someone was in here” she jumped. She looked about the same age as me, maybe 25 or 26, her long brown hair fell effortlessly down her back. I admired her long feminine legs and her small waist. She was beautiful. Her eyes were bright blue and she had long eye lashes; they looked like they could be fake. She had clearly just had her nailed done because they were pristine and long. She was that perfect she could be a model, I was slightly jealous.

“Oh it’s okay, I was pretty quiet” I grinned. She raised her brow at me suspiciously.

“I haven’t seen you around here before” she interrogated. 

“I’m kind of new here I guess” I replied.

“Where are you staying?”.

“In the Rossi manner, have you heard of it?” I responded. Her eyes widened and then she suddenly lost her sweet tone.

“Of course! I know the Rossi’ well” she said in a cocky tone. 

“You must know Michele then. What are you doing staying there?”. I was a bit hesitant to tell her the reason so I just told her the same story that I told Ezio.

“I met him back in England when he was doing business with my dad. We got talking and I ended up coming here with him” I lied. She looked like she could see straight through my deceit. She smiled and replied “how... out of character for him”. She clearly knew him well to make a comment like that. 

“So how do you know Michele?” I directed the questions back on to her.

“Oh me and Micky go way back...”. Micky?

“I also stayed at that gorgeous mansion for a little while but things didn’t really work out for me there” she beat around the bush. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s just say that me and Micky had a bit of a falling out. But I must admit, he was the best shag that I’ve ever had” she chuckled. I narrowed my eyes at her, assuming she was one of his whores from back in the day.

“Has he never mentioned me?” She asked.

“I don’t even know your name” I reminded her.

“Oh sorry, I’m Alexandra but call me Alex” she grinned proudly. 

“Amelia, and no he hasn’t mentioned you” I said in a dull tone.

“Hmm, I guess I must have really broken his heart” she shrugged. Broken his heart? He would have to be in love to have his heart broken.

“Anyways, I better get moving. Lovely to meet you Amelia” she said with a hint of sarcasm. 

“Oh, and by the way. I wouldn’t get that pink dress. I wore it for my 25th last year and it isn’t really in fashion anymore. Plus I don’t think it’s your style” she spitefully commented with a smirk before walking away. I stood there feeling embarrassed and furious. Did I just meet Michele’s ex?