Romano sipped a glass of whisky before speaking, "What is the status of things?”A tall, muscular man stood to his feet, dressed in a fine Italian suit. He was in his mid-twenties, with short brown hair. “Our shipments arrived at the docks…” he announced, “As usual, we encountered no difficulties in clearing the goods. Lorenzo and Faustino have picked up the goods from the docks and they will be dispatched by midnight at the latest.”“Luca Moretti,” Romano called out, a grin plastered on his face. “Good work.” He shifted his gaze to the big, burly man. “Colombano? my money?”“A hundred grand has been sent to the clubs. Zanetti picked it up this afternoon, and it should be squeaky clean before the end of the week.”“So it was good business, huh?” Romano asked in a cheerful voice. “Yes,” they answered in unison.“Anything else?”Orlando cleared his throat. Ricci rolled his eyes. Luca scoffed.“Orlando.”He leaned closer to Romano and whispered inaudibly in his ears. A sly smile played
Orlando tapped his fingers along the steering wheel in a rhythmic pattern. He was parked on one side of the road, overlooking the tall apartment building. Watching the people go inside and out, as time passed, fewer people showed up at the entrance.He was all too familiar with this routine. After all, he had been Romano’s errand boy for only a few years. Romano, in a rare act of kindness, had picked him off the streets and offered him shelter and food, more than he had been offered all his life.At first, he had done all of Romano’s dirty work. Even then, they might not have agreed with him, but he did it anyway. He owed it to Romano for practically saving his life. So, on most nights, he was sitting in a car outside an apartment building, or he was taking a smoke, inconspicuously blending into the sea of people. Other times, he was sipping a coffee in the park, or reading a book. It did not matter what he was doing; his hawk-like eyes were always trained on his prize. He was observ
“Did you see the look on his face, Imani?” Elena threw her head backwards and burst into laughter, “It was hilarious…” Her voice trailed off when she spotted him.Even Imani had stopped giggling. She leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “You should see the look on your face right now.”“Hello, Elena,” Luca stood to his feet, a pleasant smile on his face.Mr. Richardson turned around. “Hello, girls,” his voice was solemn.“What are you…” Imani lightly nudged her from behind. “It is really nice to see you,” she said and began playing with her fingers.The room became awkwardly silent until Richardson broke it. “Come and have dinner with us, girls.”“Thank you very much, Mr. Richardson, but I think I will have to decline,” Imani responded with a polite smile.“Why is that?” he asked.Elena turned to look at her pleadingly. “I have dinner plans of my own with my boyfriend…”“Wow, I had no…” Elena interrupted.Imani waved her phone in her hands. “And he just called.”Elena rolled her e
Elena noisily descended the stairs. She was clad in a tank top, and her hair was tied atop her head in a messy bun. She spotted her father at the dining table, a cup of coffee in her hands as he typed away on his laptop.He looked up at her when he heard her walk in. Their eyes met; she spun around and stomped up the stairs. “Are you going to continue ignoring me, Elena?” He queried.“As long as it takes!” she yelled back.He heaved a deep sigh. Elena stopped in her tracks and turned around and walked down the staircase.Richardson took a long sip of his coffee before speaking. “I am glad you’re joining me.”She let out a huge sigh before plopping down on a chair far away from him. He pushed his laptop to the side and focused his attention on her, “I am all ears, Elena.”She sighed. “I just want to have a quiet breakfast, dad.”“Tell me, you cannot be that upset about this, are you? If he really cares…”She massaged her temples and let out short spurts of air. “Why do you always have
Camila hummed Elena’s favorite tune as she rearranged the picture frames. Elena would play it for her almost every time as a child. It was a habit of hers to reminisce about all the memories she had shared with this family. What else could an old woman do except think about all her experiences? If she was honest with herself, there was almost nothing to do around. There were a lot of other maids who cleaned and cooked meals. Doing this was helpful, however, it helped her not to worry about anything. It took her mind off her worries, and it was much needed as she was slowly losing her mind every passing day, wondering where Mr. Richardson was… She picked up a picture frame and smiled at it. It was one with Elena in it, posing with a guitar in her hand. She was a...The doors to the mansion pulled open with a very strong force, startling Camila and causing her to let go of the frame in her hand, shattering it into many pieces. She gasped in fright when she saw the m
The last few hours had passed by in a blur. Elena was almost tempted to think it had not happened at all. It did not help that she had passed out for most of it.She struggled to open her eyes as she slowly adjusted to the bright lighting in the room. She had a banging headache that wouldn’t go away. She could hardly collect any sensible thought, let alone explain why she was here and what she was doing here.She sat up with a start. Her eager eyes scanned the unfamiliar room. She stared at the unfamiliar silk sheets. As comfy as they were, this was not her bed, or any bed she had been on for that matter. She stared at the large television opposite her. Silent images showed up on the screen. She stared at her clothes. She still had on the boring t-shirt and grey sweatpants she had put on that morning. She ran her fingers desperately through her head. “What is happening?” She muttered to herself.She leaned toward the side cupboard and began to search for her ph
“No”There was a sudden stillness that filled the room. It was such a simple word yet it meant a lot. Someone had dared challenged Romano’s authority, in open. When Luca heard the word, he was shocked. Even more so when he heard who it came from. He looked up at him, then back at Elena. What in the devil’s name was going on here?Romano was halfway towards his seat when he heard the word. He did not have to turn around to know who it came from. He could feel the sparks flying around the tense room. He was livid with anger and that was putting it lightly. Someone had openly challenged his decision, that someone was Orlando. Regardless of who it was he couldn’t let it go, not when he had done it in front of anyone. His reputation was on the line...Elena spun around to stare at the man who had led her to this dungeon. The man who had plucked her from the safety of her home and had handed her on a platter to this blood-hungry men who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. For a moment there, she
Flashback Scene:Elena stared at the art piece in front of her, her eyes traced every intricate brush stroke, she remembered every single one of it. She looked behind her, it was a slow day at the gallery, there were only a few people around. They were all too preoccupied with the “symphony of light”. She couldn’t blame them, it was a beautiful piece of art from a renowned artist.From the corner of her eyes, she could spot a man walk towards her. She was surprised, he was a good looking man, looking dapper in black silk shirt with a few top buttons opened revealing hard chest. His black hair was slightly overgrown but it only added to his sex appeal. His skin was a bit tan. Looking at his grey eyes were like staring at the sky in a stormy night. She tried to look away hoping he would just pass by. He couldn’t possibly be walking towards her.“Hello” She spun around too sharply, almost bumping into him. He put a hand around her arm to steady her. She looked down on her arm where his f