Debt to the Mafia

Chapter 5

I walked slowly towards the large black Range Rover that was parked out the front. Every step I take in these heels is agony. I was given the choice to get dressed or one of the men would dress me themselves which would have been humiliating. Mario opened the back door and I crawled in. Michele was sitting in the front and he didn’t take any notice of me. I was pretty pissed that he did that after all the effort I had to go through.

“That was 20 minutes Amelia, I said 10” he snidely commented. I just ignored him and looked out the window. My hair was up I a neat bun and I was wearing black high heels. For the time I had, I did a pretty good job of my make up. 

“Where is your coat?” He said taking a quick look at me. 

“Don’t have one” I replied bluntly. He huffed and then indicated for the driver to go. 

We pulled up outside a posh restaurant that had someone waiting to park the car for us. The man opened the door for me and I stepped out. I wasn’t use to valets, I only saw them in movies or read about them in books. I never actually knew that rich places had their own valets. 

It was freezing outside so I crossed my arms over my body to keep in some of my body heat. Michele walked over to join me and led me into the restaurant. 

“Ahh, Mr Rossi. Your table is all set up for you in your usual place” the man said at the front desk. 

“Please follow me” he said politely leading the way through the rows of tables. 

The restaurant was packed with people eating dinner and chatting away to each other. The bar was placed in the middle of the restaurant filled with expensive glass ware and a large variety of beverages. We passed the bar and headed through the doors at the back to a private room. I sat down on the chair the man had pulled out for me and sighed with relief once I took the pressure off of my feet. Michele sat next to me and the rest of the men stood by the doors. The table was beautifully decorated with cutlery, napkins and even a few candles in the middle. 

“Would you like your usual to drink sir?” The man asked. 

“Yes, and a water for my partner”. Partner? Why is he calling me that? I’m more like his slave. 

“Very good sir” the man said and headed back to the main room. I sat there for a moment, unsure of how this evening was going to go. Whether Michele will lash out again if I speak or not. 

“You look beautiful by the way” he interrupted my thoughts. I lowered my brows at him, trying to understand how he would know that when he hasn’t even looked at me. 

“Thanks” I scoffed. A few minutes passed and I decided to do the one thing I wasn’t allowed to do.

“How is this a business dinner?” I dared to ask. 

“Because we have come here to do business” he replied. A little taken back by the fact he had answered my question, I took advantage of his generosity.

“With who?” I continued to question. 

“A client”

“Michele, there is no one here” I said stating the obvious. 

“They’re on their way” his tone flickered. 

The awkward silence returned and I started flicking through the menu to try and distract myself. Everything was so posh on the menu, all I wanted was a burger and some chips. 

“When Ezio gets here, I need you to stay quiet. Don’t answer any questions, don’t ask any questions and don’t react to anything he says; got it?” He ordered. I nodded my head. He seemed very on edge and it made me feel uneasy. 

The doors opened and a 28 year old man dressed in a white suit came in followed by another woman. Behind her were men wearing brown leather jackets and black shirts along with black trousers and shoes. They stood by the guys we came with whilst the man in white sat down opposite us with the woman. 

Her blonde hair was up in a curly posh ponytail; her dress was pink with thin straps, small jewels ran along the neckline and it dropped down to the floor. She had bright blue eyes and long fake nails. Her look was borderline slutty. 

The man had short chestnut coloured hair and his eyes were dark brown, close to being black. He had a long scar down the right side of his cheek and he too was covered in tattoos. His chin was covered in hair which was cleanly shaped to the outline of his face. He wasn’t bad looking if I was honest, he clearly had a lot of muscle as it was bulging through his suit however, it didn’t look quite as thick as Michele’s. 

“Ciao Michele, mi scuso per il ritardo, avevo un po 'di affari di cui dovevo occuparmi (Hello Michele, my apologies for being late, I had a bit of business I had to take care of).

“Se non ti dispiace Ezio, potremmo parlare in inglese dato che il mio partner non parla italiano (if you don't mind Ezio, could we speak in English as my partner doesn't speak Italian). 

The man’s gaze moved over to me and I felt a lump form in my throat. He looked just as dangerous as Michele, if not more. His eyes were extremely intimidating and made me feel uncomfortable. 

“Ahh, I do apologise my darling, I didn’t realise you couldn’t speak Italian” he smiled. I returned with a smirk and then let my gaze fall to the table. 

“I am Ezio” he continued, holding out his hand to me. I looked over at Michele who was staring at me before reaching over to grab Ezio’s hand. 

“Amelia”

He flashed me a seductive grin and took my hand in his before kissing the back slowly, all the while firmly keeping eye contact. If I wasn’t creeped out and uncomfortable before, I sure am now. 

“It’s lovely to meet you Amelia” he grinned. I hadn’t realised that I was holding onto Michele’s thigh until he released my hand. Michele cleared his throat and then interrupted Ezio’s intimidating gaze. 

“So I wanted to talk about the Casino that you currently own in the heart of the city Ezio”

“Hmm, and what about it?” He curiously asked.

“Well I was wondering if you had any plans of selling it?” Michele smoothly suggested. Ezio pressed his lips together and stared at Michele for a moment.

“And what would you want with our casino Mr Rossi?” The woman intervened, fluttering her fake eye lashes.

“Well Camille, I have a few businesses in the city that would thrive off of having that casino within a certain distance” Michele explained. 

“Well it isn’t for sale” she snapped. Ezio put his hand across her waist and pulled her gently towards him. 

“Now, now my sweet, we should at least hear Michele out before jumping to any decisions” he said through his teeth. 

“But let’s eat first, I’d like to enjoy our dinner before getting serious about business” he finished as he grabbed his glass of liquor. He raised it up and said “what is it you say in England? Cheers?” I nodded and held up my glass of water then clinked it against Ezio’s. 

After 20 minutes of chatting (I wasn’t allowed to speak) our food had arrived and I was elated, my stomach wouldn’t stop rumbling. We dug into our main courses and it was quiet. That was until Ezio started taking an interest in me again. 

“I haven’t seen you before Amelia, where did Michele get a beautiful young woman like you?”. 

I really wanted blurt out that my family sold me for money and now I’m stuck here as a slave but I didn’t know how angry that would make Michele. After all, Michele is doing ‘business’ with him and I don’t know what kind of man Ezio is yet. I opened my mouth to speak but Michele interrupted. 

“I met her in England when I was away on business there”. Ezio chuckled and waved his hand in the air. 

“I didn’t realise you were Amelia, does she not have a voice?” He joked. 

“I met him at one of my dads clubs in London, he was there doing a deal with him and I just so happened to be helping him out with a few things that night. I bumped into Michele, we got talking and well... here we are” I lied. 

It made me feel physically sick to make up a story that made Michele sounded appealing. Ezio looked shocked for a moment.

“Well aren’t you one lucky man Michele, you are absolutely gorgeous my darling” Ezio complimented. 

I flashed a quick smile and thanked him. I watched his eyes travel down my body and I felt violated, like he was touching me just using his eyes. I cleared my throat and turned to Michele. 

“Would it be okay if I used the lady’s room?”

Michele nodded and kissed my cheek gently. I felt a sudden strange feeling in the pit of my stomach when Michele made contact with my skin. I rushed off to the bathroom before I showed any sign of pleasure from his show of affection. Stop it Amelia! Snap out of it!

I leant over the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. What the f**k is going on? I feel like I’m just something to be put out there and shown off, like a car or a piece of jewellery. Ezio’s eyes were all over me and he was creeping me out, I didn’t want to be here anymore, for the first time, I actually wanted to get back to the penthouse. Even though there are Michele’s men everywhere making sure we are safe, I didn’t feel protected at all. Come on Amelia, pull yourself together! I splashed some water on my face and then dabbed it dry so that my make up didn’t run. After taking a deep breath, I stood up straight and headed towards the door.

“Oggi hai commesso un grosso errore Michele. Ti guarderei le spalle se fossi in te!” (You've made a very big mistake today Michele. I would watch your back if I were you!) Ezio growled in Michele’s face. 

The couple headed out of the door and their men followed. I narrowed my eyes and scrunched up my nose, confused as to how that seemed to turn sour all of a sudden.

“Michele? What happened?” I asked as I made my way over. I saw his breathing was quick and he was raging. I didn’t want to say anything else just in case I set him off. 

“Go to the car with Ricco Amelia” he gritted his teeth. 

“I...”

“Go!” He yelled. I jumped from the sudden volume of his voice and quickly left with Ricco to go to the car. I don’t understand how that has escalated so quickly.