The Mistress of the Mafia

Chapter Four- The Set Up

“He kills people, Sel!”

“Nobody is perfect.” Selene commented upon removing her heels and placing them onto the floor beside the door as Gia shut the door behind her.

“What if he’s in the Mafia.”

“You are being so dramatic.”

“I am the only person looking out for you. He is just trying to get into your panties...if he hasn’t already.” She gave a judgemental look to the disheveled Selene whose hair was a mess from Lyle’s fingers and her shirt had been stretched out from where he had pulled on it.

“You were the one who told me I needed to get laid.”

“So you DID sleep with him?”

“No, but what if I did? He’s complicated, sure..but…”

“I know it’s been a while, Sel...but he’s dangerous-”

“No, he’s protective.”

“How can you know that?”

“He sent me in the back of the diner to get ice because he knew that those guys would try to kill him.”

“And so that makes him shooting up the diner okay?”

“It’s not like we hold the diner close to our hearts anyway. I just...I feel like my life finally has excitement, Gia. He isn’t like most guys…”

“Of course not...they never are.”

“No. I mean it. He was a complete gentleman and gave me his jacket...took me dancing and playing darts...can’t you just give him a chance?”

Gia glared at her. “I saw him kill people, Sel…”

“I know. I would be just as skeptical as you if things were reversed...truly. I am asking you, though, as your best friend…” Selene began to speak with puppy dog eyes as Gia glared to her. “Who has been through everything with you...please give him a chance….”

“That’s not fair.”

“Pweeease….” She spoke in a low plead as she took the tone of a child and replacing the “L” in please with a “w”. Due to this, Gia shook her head. “I feel like I’m going to regret this.” She was then embraced by Selene who was desperate to share the events of her night with her best friend as she listened attentively upon sitting beside Selene on the couch. She suffered through each s****l detail as she began to grow envious of her, desiring to feel special since she had been without a boyfriend in nearly two years-dating only losers from Tinder.

“Just promise me that if he pulls out a gun or anything that you’ll use your sense and not your s*x?”

“I promise.” Selene assured Gia as they both moved their separate ways to bed. Gia fell asleep after watching an episode of her Real Housewives while Selene fell asleep instantly, having been exhausted from the events of the last twelve hours. When she awoke the next morning, however, she felt the same loathing feeling as always to approach her as she knew she had to walk into the diner. Selene and Gia both had to wake up rather early; 3 in the morning, to make it to their 5 a.m. shifts. Gia was always late however as she took every last second she could until having to force herself onto the subway.

When they made it into the diner however, they were not welcomed by Sam’s s****l glare towards their uniforms or even his aroma of sweat, cheap cologne, and sausage. Instead, they were met by police officers who were following up on the shooting a few days prior. Two officers stood near the bar, one standing just taller than Gia and the other standing the same height as Lyle would, maybe an inch or two taller. The shorter of the officers introduced himself as Officer Lonelly and immediately drew Gia’s eye as he was her typical blonde hair, blue eyed type. The taller of the officers introduced himself as Officer Eston, eventually giving his first name to be Ford, followed by wanting to have the girls come to trust him with information. Both men had been incredibly attractive in their own ways, including their impressive professions and the way they carried themselves. But Selene’s mind was stuck on Lyle as she could not get the feeling of his kiss from her body.

The officers spoke to each worker in the establishment before offering them counseling if necessary. They then handed out their cards and asked if anything could be remembered that either of them or the precinct would be contacted. They were assured by the workers that this would be done before being sent on their way.

Despite the deaths that occured forty eight hours ago, the diner’s reputation appeared unphased by this as the same amount of customers made their way inside. Selene then carried herself as normal with a happy smile, fueled by the fact that Sam was nowhere in sight. However, due to this, she felt somewhat on edge as she noticed a man sitting in Gia’s section who never seemed to order anything but refills on coffee. He continuously looked up to Selene and acted as if he was reading the newspaper which page he had not flipped in the two hours he had been there. This wasn’t suspect to Selene as all types of people came into the diner through her time there; some meeting others on blind dates, others waiting for their drunkenness to fade with attempted pots of coffee, and others just manically depressed. But this man struck a cord in Selene that was more than a “normal” client.

She was hoping it was not Gia’s warning coming true so she kept her fears to herself and continued on with her shift. When it came to an end, she moved to the time clock to punch out and was now armed with mace in the situation that Sam would attempt to corner her again. Instead, she found the area clear and finally the chance to leave from a normal eight hour shift. As she went to leave the diner, she could hear wincing from Sam’s office. Although she came to develop a deep hatred for him, she still held close to her humanity that made the painful winces peak her pity for him. She knocked on the door and came to open it, only to see him completely bashed in the face. The upper right side of his face had been bruised so badly that it appeared almost as burns instead of bruising. Aside from this, his lip had been split and his eye was sealed shut from swelling. When he saw that it was Selene who entered, he kept his gaze at the surface of the desk and shook upon seeing her.

“You don’t need anything, Sam, do you?” She asked him as he shook his head no and didn’t speak a word as she left for the night. She took a slight confidence in his fear of her as for so long, she had known of him to be dominant and cruel but he was now humbled. She took this thought with a smile as she left towards the subway without Gia as she was asked to do a double shift. This made for a relaxing walk for Selene as she thought of Lyle and the next time she would see him. She became nervous however, as she felt as though she was being watched. It wasn’t until making it down the steps of the subway that she noticed the man who was eyeing her earlier in the diner had been following her. She tested this theory however as she walked back up the steps of the subway and sitting in the local park in the public view.

She then returned to the subway and into the car as it began to head across town and towards her apartment building. She was foolish in this moment however as she placed herself underground, with no cell service and in a nearly abandoned car with only two people-none of which were the match for the guy following her. Selene took herself towards the back of the subway, preparing to pull the emergency alarm if necessary. Before it came to this however, she found the subway to stop and the door to open quite quickly, she tore herself through without a second thought and ran towards her apartment. Out of pure nerves, she had dropped her cell phone from her tremulous touch which led for her survival being based on her getting into her apartment safely. She went towards the street that the building was located on before finding Lyle standing outside, lingering and pacing.

She threw herself into him as she was out of breath and tears almost blinding her vision.

“What is it?” He asked as he saw the man behind her.

“He was following me.”

As she pointed towards him, the man came near them as Selene looked to Lyle in terror.

“I said watch over her, not terrify her.” He spoke to the man as he looked to Selene with an apologetic look. The man was scary indeed as he had at least two hundred pounds of pure muscle with a 1940s gangster feel complete with a thick trench coat and a boiler hat. Upon realizing his mistake, he tipped his hat off to Selene and exposed his bald head that he had attempted to conceal beneath his cap.

“Selene, this is Mariano Violante.”

“You know him?” She asked to make sure she understood the situation.

Lyle nodded. “He is a sort of bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard? Are you like the president or something?”

“I told you, Selene...I have enemies.” He quickly began to lengthen his speech as he saw worry cross her face. “But with Mariano, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Is he going to follow me around all the time?”

“I just wanted to make sure you would be alright...I don’t like the idea of you being at that diner...with those lowlifes…”

“Are you responsible for Sam? His face?” She asked, worried for either answer.

“Someone had to put him in his place.” He spoke upon revealing his torn knuckles that would be consistent with the beating that Sam had taken. “Women are to be respected and cherished not used and abused.”

“I don’t know if I should thank you or run from you.” She said upon glaring at him as Mariano had now left them and was across the street beside a black sports car.

“How about no thank you but running with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to take you out tonight.”

She winced at the thought, knowing she already had plans with Gia. “I can’t.” He looked to her in surprise. “Saying “no” to me, again?” He playfully glared at her a she let out a nervous chuckle.

“Once a month, Gia and I go to this club as a sort of “girls night”...” Selene paused as she saw Lyle get a mischievous expression upon his face. “What?” She asked cautiously.

“What if you keep your plans and I happen to be there?”

“I feel bad about just leaving her…”

“I will have my brother take good care of her.”

“I don’t know…”

As they went to part, she found Lyle move his lips to her ear. “I thought you and I could continue what we started last night.” He spoke as these words had driven her to gain goosebumps on her arms. “I have to apologize.”

“For what?” She asked, finding his lips still against her ear. He smirked as he spoke his response.

“I never make a woman wet without following through.” She found her breath to cease momentarily as she found his words unexpected. He then pulled back from her with a wicked grin as he was well aware of his effect that he had upon her.

“Is it a date?” He asked with a continued grin. She hesitated for a moment before looking up to the apartment and thinking of Gia and how she would respond. But she put her friend’s feelings aside for a moment as she thought of her own desires for once. She had left the apartment on several occasions in order for Gia to “entertain” her male guests and even helped lie to get rid of them, she hoped that Gia would understand.

So with this in mind, she prepared herself for the night while choosing an outfit more s****l than what she would have chosen before. With her safe options such as her little black dress complete with high heels, she then opted for something far more s****l. It had been a skin tight dress with a cut out diamond over the chest that revealed a mass amount of cleavage. She then stood in front of the mirror to decide between hair up or hair down and upon remembering Lyle’s request for it to be down, she left it down and simply gave a slight curl to it. For makeup, she chose the darker shades as it was a nightclub that they were going to and focused on a dark purple with specks of glitter and thick eyeliner. When she moved out of the room, she found Gia to look at her with an agape mouth.

“I would do you.” She teased as Selene playfully twirled to show the extent of her entire ensemble. “I am glad to finally see you take charge of your sexuality! Maybe now you won’t scare guys away at the club.” She spoke with a cautious tone, knowing a glare was coming her way.

“Maybe being modest was the key and you being s****l scared them off.”

“Regardless, we have been single for at least two years combined...we need to find some meat!”

“You sound just as bad as a guy going through a dry spell.”

“Guys are not the only ones who thing about s*x…We as women should be able to embrace ourselves-” Gia stopped herself. “Sorry, I sometimes forget that I’m not talking to feminists.” She commented upon referring to her online blog where she spoke of the unfair comparison between men and women, by the name of “Gender Divided”. She rarely spoke of it as it was the one thing she did not have in common with her more modest friend, Selene. However, they both agreed on this club tonight, unaware that there was a hidden agenda.

Gia fixed her little pink dress that had lines every few inches that fit to her slender physique. Of the two girls, Gia was better fit for the world’s idea of beauty as she was appear similar to that of a toothpick, while Selene came with curves-thankful of her spanish descent.

“I am going to start at the bar.” Gia spoke as she eyed a blonde guy sitting at the end of the bar. Selene then took this as a chance to spy for Lyle as she was anxious to see him. She felt like a young girl back in junior high as she looked through the classroom for her crush-but only now, more s****l thoughts were in her mind. Her gaze filtered through the crowd before falling to him. He was sitting in the VIP section with a younger man by his side as they were invested in a serious conversation. It ceased however, when Lyle caught a glimpse of Selene as he took a double take and leaned forward, showing his approval. He then used his pointer finger and middle finger together to motion her towards him.

“This is my brother, Nico.” He spoke as Nico stood up and shook Selene’s hand. Selene then felt nervous as she knew Nico was not Gia’s type. Her type was the young Leonardo Dicaprio and not Pete Wentz. She knew that he would not hold her attention but hoped that perhaps she would be proven wrong. Her introduction to Nico was short lived as he was interrupted by Lyle who spoke several compliments to Selene as he placed his arm around her. While he spoke to her, Selene felt an arm pull her as she saw it to be Gia.

“Hell no.” She said to her friend as she stood with crossed arms.