The Mafia's Angel

Chapter Three- A Dinner For Two

Although she had an immaculate display of designer brands at her fingertips to choose from, Gabriella could not stomach slipping onto any of them as she believed they would sign an invisible contract of her unwilling participation for whatever was to come. To make matters worse, she was temporarily blinded by the luxuries offered to her and thought for just a brief moment that perhaps the words he had spoken to her had been correct...that maybe she would like to remain here as opposed to going back home to New York. But as she was summoned for dinner, she decided she would not make things easier for him in any sense...and so she moved her pride in place of her determination and slipped within the closet and to the solid black dresses in the far left corner; wanting him to envy what he would never come to know.

Fingering through Versace, she decided upon a fifty thousand dollar solid black evening dress that appeared more as lingerie than decent attire. Yet slipping it over her breasts and pulling the tight fabric behind her waist and allowing it to fall to her feet, she believed she had been aesthetically pleasing. However, not wishing to grant her captor any sense of hope of her submission, she remained steadfast in her own sense of torture as she was made aware of his interest in her and intended to use this for everything it was worth.

But first, she had to conceal the bags under her eyes caused by an abrupt yet lengthy slumber by the use of an unknown narcotic and manage her thick unkempt hair forced wild by the lack of product and deserting it when it was wet. But when she moved to the vanity to begin glamorizing herself, she became distracted by the exorbitant products before her yet again. Only now, it was not because she was enamored with the glitz that surrounded her. Instead, it was because she was finally offered a sense of hope; a sense that she slipped beneath her breast before continuing to rummage through the drawers to find items to complete her look.

Applying a thin layer of foundation, a dramatic liner upon her top lid only, and a single swipe of blush on either cheek, she was given an edge on her confidence that only cosmetics could grant her. Finally, she was left with only her hair to finish. Her chocolate tresses that hung halfway down her back had been given a slight wave as she collected sections from her temples to bring them into a ponytail in the center behind her cranium and leaving the majority loose beyond her shoulders. Taking one final look at the reflection looking back at her, she stabilized the weapon within her bra one final time as the door came open to reveal a man with kind eyes and a boyish face with thick black curls left styled loose at his ears as be led his hand in front of him to offer her a direction.

Deciding to wait and use her attempt to escape upon the man who had kidnapped her himself, she remained complacent during her trip from her bedroom to the dining room left vacant for her. Twelve unmanned seats outlined a lengthy rectangle table with perfectly arranged place settings for each chair and a wine glass that caught the light of the thick chandelier overhead. Aside from the table, she was left in a rather empty room made up into a larger rectangle and a single wall of windows that looked out over a fountain and the remaining unseen landscape of the house's west wing.

Bougainvillaea flowers at the center of her gaze while she daydreamed of alternate and safe circumstances, a figure suddenly made his way into the space, dressed in a posh black suit unbuttoned enough to see the tattoo on his right pectoral but covered enough to be impossible to note.

"I trust that you found everything you needed." He broke the silence between them as she gave a single apprehensive nod before looking to the man who had led her down the steps now returning into the room to bring an unopened bottle of wine.

"What are your father's symptoms?" She diverted focus to this topic in which he broke many laws to obtain her for as his eyes illuminated with appreciation despite his lips remaining in a fine line of an otherwise deadpanned expression.

"He becomes violently ill following sets of blisters and has difficulty breathing. They say whatever it is has taken hold of his heart with a vengeance...as if it has been chosen by the devil himself as a toy of torment." Her captor lowered his eyes before he returned them to her, dissolving all humanity and bringing them back to their brazen dominance.

"I know once you become entwined with the mystery of his health, you will be unable to leave until the diagnosis is made and the care has shown promising signs of success." He explained as he brought his wine glass to his lips before injecting a small amount of the crimson beverage and returning the glass to the table.

"You don't know anything about me." She responded from across the table as his lips curved into a smile before he rested his elbows upon the surface of the sable table and folded his fingers until they traced the corners of his own lips until joining at his cupid's bow and dropping back down to the table before he spoke.

“I know as much as I need to.”

“Enlighten me then.” She challenged him as she made herself comfortable in the chair across from him, glaring at him over her own wine glass as she took a dainty sip of her own violet liquid that managed to soothe her uneven nerves.

“You were born at the very hospital you have worked for during the last fourteen months...You drive a silver 2016 Toyota Civic with a single decal sticker on your back left window for breast cancer awareness. You graduated NYU Rory Meyers College For Nursing second in your class by a fraction of a point, and share an apartment with your boyfriend, although...you spend as little time home as possible because you are bored with the expected and Alec Keating is the encompassment of predictable.” Her eyes narrowed at him even more dramatically as she scoffed. “Have I been incorrect?”

“Anything you told me was something that was common knowledge from any newspaper or social media outlet. And about Alec...that’s your own assumptions…”

The man dressed as stygian as night moved from his seat, rebuttoning a disc onto his Armani suit top before cresting the table and standing behind her.

“You became a nurse to try and fix your father’s mistakes...But you couldn’t afford to be a doctor so you became the next best thing.” She turned to face him, to now find him bent at her side-exactly eye level with her as he was pressing his weight onto his knees.

“You prefer cappuccinos to coffee with Irish Cream and a single sprinkle of cinnamon. You listen to Ava Max when you go for your daily runs but have recently changed to MGK because it gets your heartrate up…” His fingers now moved to her arm, forcing chills to develop on her skin as he moved closer to her.

“And you are afraid of commitment-which is why you haven’t asked one single time if your boyfriend is okay.” Her eyes suddenly darted to this man.

“Is that all? You don’t have my blood type? The last dream I had?”

“O negative...and for your dreams...I intend to make at least a few come true…” His fingertips continued to rise on her skin as she now kept herself upwards from his fingerprints as he moved effortlessly to his own height which was nearly a foot over her own.

“I will never let you touch me. And just because you know how to intimidate people into giving you information or happen to own a f*******: does not mean that you know me.”

“But I do...Because before I return you to New York…” He kicked the chair she sat in recently away from the table until it fell abandoned onto the floor and he now had her pushed against the table with the back of her thighs meeting with the sharp edge of the surface. “You will be begging me to keep you here because I will make you feel more alive than he has in the entire five years you’ve fooled yourself with being happy with him.”

“I thought you brought me here to save your father...not to fail at seducing me…”

He shrugged off her comment physically before leading his lisp to her ear, a closeness she allowed as it seemed to work perfectly for her attempt to get him into this close proximity. “I didn’t intend to...but I can see within your eyes how badly you want someone to possess you...You are tired of always having to please others...and sometimes...when your precious Alec can’t...even yourself…”

“You...cannot keep me here!’ She cried to him before removing a Londontown solid black nail file from beneath her breast and attempting to strike him before she was suddenly seized by his hands forcing her against the wall. The glass object shattered at her feet as she was left fearful of what his next act against her would be; not for her own life as she had come to accept that death is inevitable; but instead, she feared what would become of people she cared for, such as Mae. Suddenly his hand was around her neck, firm yet non-fatal as she had her eyes turned away from him and his nose and his breath pushed onto her cheek and her neck.

“I have had men three times your size with guns try to take my life...what makes you believe YOU will succeed?” She slowly turned to face him to find him pull away enough to feel her breath on his lips but far enough to not have her lips meet with his.

Suddenly the same man who led her down the steps previously now entered back in the dining room, a look of desperation within his face. “Meglio che venga subito, signore Arcangeli.” He spoke in Italian as Gabriella was left theorizing the words spoke as she had only known American and a handful of Spanish due to high school.

“Arrivo tra un minuto, Luca.” He spoke back to him as the intimidating man returned his glare and clenched jaw back to her.

“È l'anello di tuo padre, Maximus.” Having now been allowed a name to call him, Gabriella watched as the man withdrew his hold from her and left her thankful for breath as he had applied just enough pressure to make her inhales and exhales troublesome. But just before leaving the room, he spoke a final sentence to her that forced her to develop chills.

“You are already starting to crack, Bella...You enjoy the excitement that I awaken in you and I can personally guarantee that before your feet leave this Italian soil, I will have made you mine…More than once...” On these words, he turned and left with Luca as she remained in shock at his words. Not for the subtle vulgarity, but for the fact that he had been correct. She did find a thrill in this excitement-an excitement she found addicting but forbidden…