The Italian Dons Bargain

Chapter 4

Nadia soaked her body in the bathtub of her motel room, it was slightly bigger than the bathroom back at home, it had more walking space. Aside from the bathtub it also had a sink with a mirror and a toilet, the walls were gray and so were the floor tiles.

Though the motel room was more stylish than her whole apartment it was noisier. It was a lively night, voices echoed through the walls of people chatting, arguing, and singing, Nadia didn't mind the noise until some specific sounds made it through making her uncomfortable, the sounds also made her laugh to some degree.

Not wanting to hear more than she should, Nadia wrapped herself in a towel and ran out of the bathroom. She only had clothes for the next day which meant she had to sleep in the robes provided.

Putting on the robe Nadia laid on the bed and looked at the ceiling until she fell asleep.

***

Just like back at home, loud noises were her alarm, the wall by her head was consistently banged on causing Nadia to open her eyes and jump out of bed.

"For goodness sake, what the hell?"

The banging sounds continued, Nadia rolled her eyes and marched into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she attempted to brush her hair back with her fingers because she didn't have a comb, a futile attempt as the hairs kept coming back.

Realizing her attempts were doing nothing but messing her hair more she got under the shower and wet it as she showered, a quick ten minutes and she was done.

Setting the extra clothes she carried on the bed, Nadia took her phone and tried her luck by calling Alex. The first few times the phone had just rung until he finally answered.

"Nadia"

"What the hell Alex, where are you and why are sending me on a wild goose chase looking for you?!", Nadia paced the floor

"I-I can't really explain it to you on the phone", his voice trembled

"What have you done this time?"

"I'll explain everything to you once we meet...where are you?"

"I'm in Manhattan, in a shitty motel not too far from the Dionysus casino, that is where you are right?"

"Oh thank God you're already here, I don't think I will be able to live for another day"

"Alex! What's going on? You better-"

"I'll explain it all in due time...for now", he spoke away from the speaker to an anonymous person, "please make it to the casino at 12 on the dot, not a second before or later"

"Why can't I just come no-?"

"12 Nadia, 12, I'll see you then"

"Alex-"

He cut the call, Nadia threw her phone at the wall in anger, and for a moment the banging sounds that woke her up stopped. Pacing the floor back and forth, Nadia looked at the clock on the wall, it was only 9 a.m, she ran her fingers through her hair and took deep breaths.

"I swear I'll kill you when all of this is over", she breathed out.

It took a while but she finally realized what she did to her phone, rushing to the wall she picked it up and whined as she swiped her finger across a large crack on the screen;

"No, no, no, I worked so hard to get you, how could you crack like that?"

Pressing the on button she sighed in relief as the phone lit up

"At least you're still working"

Nadia looked at the clock again, she spent 10 minutes alone, cursing her father and crying over for her now broken phone. This time placing her phone gently on the bed she shook her head and began getting dressed.

***

Tying the shoelaces of her boots, Nadia packed all her belongings and threw her bag over her shoulders. Making sure she didn't miss anything, she exited the room and headed to the lobby.

The receptionist from the night before wasn't at the desk, it was a man in glasses who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. Nadia approached the desk to check out;

"Excuse me", Nadia spoke to the man as he was filing his long pinky nail

"Hmm?", he responded without looking at her

"I'm checking out"

"Thank you for staying with us", he spoke with no enthusiasm whatsoever, "leave your key on the desk please"

"Love the service", Nadia mocked as she put the key on the desk

Her stomach growled

"Is there a place here where I can get something to eat?"

"They're everywhere sweety, look around"

Nadia let out a low growl, spinning around she pushed the entrance doors violently and left the motel.

"I hope he breaks his pinky nail", she fumed, "he didn't even look at my charges"

The streets were busy, men, women, and children walked across the roads, street performers sang loudly and photographers took pictures of random pedestrians. Nadia walked slowly, looking at the stores as she passed by, not too far from the motel she found a small cafe.

Its exterior was plain white, with a sign at the top saying "Cher's place", two tables and four chairs sat outside under lace umbrellas, it looked quite fancy in Nadia's eyes.

Nadia reached the cafe and sat at one of the tables, not a second later a waitress attended to her;

"Good morning, what can I get you?", she was plump with raven hair and a beauty spot on her right cheek, flashing a friendly smile at Nadia she couldn't help but smile back

"Morning, um, I haven't gone through the menu but I kinda just want a light breakfast"

"Would you be interested in some waffles?"

"How much are those?"

"4.05 for double"

"Sounds amazing"

"Plain or with chocolate chips and syrups?"

"How much if you add?"

"That's just an extra 25 cents"

"Yeah I guess I'll have that"

"Okey-dokey"

Nadia looked at the streets while she waited for her breakfast, as beautiful as everything was she missed home already, it was the longest she spent away from it.

***

Enough time had passed, Nadia was growing impatient of stalling to buy time for Alex for whatever reason he had, she resulted to walking to the casino to buy extra time, it wasn't a long-distance but it was hell pushing through crowds of bystanders and paparazzi.

Nadia gazed at the Dionysus casino in awe, its largeness intimidated her, she had a strange pain in her chest all of a sudden, it was almost as if she was scared. With everything going on outside and inside she wondered how exactly she'd be able to get through. 

From the sidewalk Nadia looked at the men and women who entered and exited the casino, they all wore dresses and suits she had only seen on fashion channels and, quite recently, pricey boutiques and malls, it made her conscious of the ripped jeans and tank top she was wearing.

"How the hell did he manage to get in?", Nadia asked herself as she looked on, "how the hell will I get in?"

Nadia took her phone out of her bag and called Alex;

"Here?", he answered immediately

"Yes, now how do you expect me to get inside, it looks pretty exclusive"

"Hold on"

Alex got off the line for a moment, Nadia looked at the casino again while she waited, its dazzling appearance swept her off her feet

"What are you wearing?"

"Seriously?"

"Please dear"

"Ugh, a white tank top and ripped jeans...and don't call me dear"

Alex went off the line again for a moment then returned with instructions

"Go to one of the guards at the entrance, tell him your name and he'll take you to where I am"

"This sounds shady Alex, I don't like it one bit"

"I know, I know, just go to the guard...please"

"...okay"

Nadia straightened her back, and walked proudly through the gates of the casino, she could feel the eyes on her but she visibly made it known she didn't give a damn. Coming to a stop in front of the guards at the door she raised her head to show she wasn't intimidated by their height

"I'm Nadia Weston", she choked as she said her last name, she didn't want any connection to Alex whatsoever, "I'm here for my father"

The guards shared a look before turning back to look at Nadia, her heart was pounding but she stood firm with her fists clenched beside her

"Follow us please"

The guards turned and entered the casino, Nadia followed closely behind them so she didn't look completely out of place. As they walked through the elegantly decorated casino, Nadia looked around, each hall was more extravagant than the last.

After a few more halls and rooms the two guards stopped at two large doors, each guard opened one door and stood to the side while Nadia walked in, as if automatically, the doors closed behind her, she walked forward into a room.

Walking down a dimly lit hallway with red velvet carpeting which led her into a large room, a long diamond chandelier hang from the ceiling, the walls had paintings of renaissance art and the floor was glossy. There was a balcony right in front of Nadia and on it two chairs and a glass coffee table sat, four large men, stood in place like statues in suits and armed.

On those two chairs were two men, one was Alex, Nadia knew his fat,  almost bold head from anywhere and on the other the most dazzling man she had ever set her eyes upon. Alex's back was faced at Nadia, he couldn't see that she arrived, the one who saw her was the man and he stared into her soul as she stood in place.

Sitting majestically on his seat with one leg over the other and both his arms on the armrests, the mysterious man's eyes glistened like jewels as they looked at Nadia from head to toe, her body temperature began to rise as she became conscious of where his eyes were lingering to.

"A-Alex", her breath was heavy as she spoke

Alex turned his head and saw Nadia, scrambling to his feet he rushed to her side and embraced her awkwardly

"You don't know how happy I am you came"

Nadia loosened his arms around her and stood back, trying to focus her attention on her father and not the man she couldn't look away from.

"Alex, what's going on?", she whispered

Looking back at the man her heartbeat quickened as he suddenly smiled at her, his bright teeth adding even more to his beauty

"Who is that man?"

"Patience Nadia, come"

Without warning, Alex took Nadia's bag and pulled her towards the balcony, she dragged her feet as she was being pulled.

"Sit", Alex offered his seat to her

"No, tell me what's wrong, now", Nadia demanded

"Nadia don't be rude, please sit", Alex urged through whispering

Nadia took a deep breath, it wasn't because Alex told her to, she sat down because of the man before her, his eyes traced her body up and down, garnering a reaction from her she never experienced

"Now what?"

"Now introductions"

Alex stood beside Nadia, Nadia tried her best to not be intimidated by a man she had only just met but his eyes and strong presence made it hard for her. Her gaze constantly shifted from the man to several other objects around the room to avoid his intense blue eyes.

"Sir, this is my one and only daughter, Nadia"

Nadia met his eyes only for the introduction, she shifted in her seat as she tried to keep eye contact, something about the man put her in a mood she had never been in.

"Nadia...this is Donnatielo Larcetosa, he's a friend"

Even his name sounded intimidating, the man still said nothing, he quietly nodded as he continued to eye Nadia as if she were a priceless jewel he was ready to spend all his money on.

"Donnatiello"

His name sang in Nadia's head like a sweet temptation, she was unsure of what she was feeling, she hadn't even heard the man speak yet her body was reacting to him as if she had taken an aphrodisiac.