Chapter 0004

BELLA

Fluttering my eyes open, the white ceiling was the first thing I noticed. My heart skipped a beat. I blinked several times, hoping the ceiling to somehow fade into the colour of that in my apartment—a light greyish.

James’s disgusting grin flashed before my eyes and I squealed, covering my face with the blanket and throwing my legs on the bed.

“You did not,” I said to myself.

“You didn’t,” a male voice answered.

I peered out of the blanket and my eyes paused on a pair of turquoise blue eyes standing near the doorframe of the room. I pulled myself upright on the bed, my cheeks heating.

This man was definitely a treat for my sore eyes with a long face, pointed nose, a sharp jawline and a perfect V waist stressed by his tight t-shirt. The fringes of his dark-brown hair were dyed light-brown at the front. I felt a flush of relief overcome me.

“And I am your handsome saviour. Your knight in shining armour.”

“It’s irritating how guys find those words so satisfying to utter.”

“Because girls love it.”

“Oh, trust me. We don’t,” I said with a snigger. “Neither do we prefer men like James, who think they can just swoon in and kidnap a girl.”

“It was pretty clear from the blow you landed on his job.”

“Blow on his job?” My brows rose. “Was that supposed to be funny?”

He shrugged. “A little?” An aura of arrogance cocooned him. He certainly had his reasons for that.

“Where am I?” I kneaded my eyes. My eyes widened with one look at my clothes. A white shirt had replaced the black mini dress I wore to the club. At least my bra and panties were still untouched. “Where are my clothes?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“Do I look like I do?”

“You had a rough night. Your clothes smelt of vomit and you deliberately took your dress off halfway to this room. So I had to be a gentleman and cover you up with that,” he said. “I’m Eros, by the way. Just thought you should know, since you’re in my house.”

“You changed my clothes?”

“Yeah, no. Gina did.” Seeing my lips press into a fine line, he added, “She’s sort of a governess of this place.”

“Oh, okay. So we didn’t,” I tried to contain the awkwardness in my voice, “do anything, right?”

“As much as I love to be with women as beautiful as you, I’m not really into drunken women who swear in their sleep. Especially not those who puke on me.”

My eyes widened in shock, more in shame. “I puked on you?”

As soon as he bobbed his head, I burst out laughing with a loud snort. Not at him, but at me. What an embarrassing sight it must’ve been.

His eyes drifted to the porcelain blue dress with floral print designs lying on the edge of the bed and he added, “I brought you something to wear from my sister’s wardrobe. You two seem the same size.”

“Thanks.”

“That guy put roofies in some of the girls’ drinks. You know, bars like that have a lot going on inside—”

I stopped paying attention to what he said the moment he uttered the word ‘roofies.’ My mind rewound all the incidents from last night: the drinks, James, Eros, and my roommate.

I squeaked, “Harley.” Eros paused and stared at me with his head tilted. “My roommate was there with me, and she had the drinks, too.”

“Then I suggest you call her and make sure she’s home. If not...” His voice trailed off.

He didn’t need to complete his sentence for me to know what he meant. He pointed at the bedside table where my phone and purse were. Wasting no time, I dialled her number. My breath hitched as the call went to voicemail. I called again. Luckily, she picked up.

“B, oh my god! Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Where are you?” I tried not to have a freakout episode in front of this handsome stranger.

“Back home, but where the hell are you?”

“Our drinks were spiked, H. I told you I didn’t feel good about it.”

“Well, it was a classic case of the shepherd and the wolf, you see.” She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry you got into trouble because of me.”

“Not at all.”

“But where are you? Are you okay?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll talk then, okay?”

“Okay.”

I disconnected the call and turned back to Eros, his eyes focused on my features. Pressing my brows together, I questioned, “So, that bar? What the hell was its name?”

“Mambo’s Bar.”

I didn’t care. “A month and it’s already a clip zone?”

“Clip would be one word, but I wouldn’t use that. It’s a racketeering zone.”

I arched a brow at him. “What were you doing there?”

“To check what the fuss was all about.” He shrugged. “I guess I was in the wrong place at the right time.” He was. I couldn’t have left that place if it hadn’t been for him. Partially. “I’ll leave you to get ready, then.”

He left the room, receiving a curt nod from me. I slipped into the dress, my nerves ticking with worry. There had been many teenagers back at the club. I had to help them, for which I had to leave this place as quickly as possible.

I walked out with my purse. The polished marble floors were too slippery to walk in heels, so I took them in my free hand and made it down the stairs that opened to a spacious living room. I would’ve stayed and admired the place if my head weren’t buzzing with memories of last night.

“I thought you’d stay for breakfast,” he voiced from the kitchen next to the living room.

This giant mansion made me question who Eros was, but I didn’t ask. I didn’t need to know. I was sure I wouldn’t meet him again.

“Thank you for everything, but I have to get going now.” I dashed toward the door. “I’ll have these clothes laundered and delivered back to you.”

He followed to the door. “Keep them. They look good on you. Besides, it hurts my eyes to see them lay waste in the closet.”

“Why? Your sister doesn’t wear them?”

His smile dropped, and he shook his head. “She passed away many years ago.”

My lips thinned. “I’m sorry.”

“What the hell are you sorry for? You,” he inched closer, leaving only a palm space between us, “can thank me over lunch or dinner sometime, both for saving your life and gifting you this dress.”

I took a step back. “Fine. I’ll let you know.”

“Also, don’t forget my costly shoes.” I couldn’t contain my laughter anymore. He handed me his phone, and I quickly typed my number. “You haven’t told me your name yet.”

“Shit, I haven’t?” Seeing him shake his head, I extended a hand and said, “Bella Di Falco.”

“Italian?”

“Not by choice.”

“Me neither.”

Nodding, I whipped around, wore my heels, and moved my legs as fast as I could. The pain in my body remained, but I had to go away. I didn’t look back, because I didn’t want to give myself false hope that he would call me back.

***

“Tell me what happened last night. How did you get out?”

Harley jumped up from her favourite bean bag by the stone fireplace and sat next to me on the couch with her legs folded, prepared for the gossip session. She began, “It’s all a little blurry and, yeah, about the spiking you said, it’s true. And ours wasn’t the only ones spiked. Almost everyone was dropping unconscious.”

“What?”

“There was Rophynol in every soda, vodka, whiskey, and so on.”

“Why?”

“Trafficking, duh! It was like a full-blown Mafia business,” Harley said. “But before these assholes could execute their plan, some men in suits barged in and stormed everyone out of there.”

“What men?”

She rubbed her nape. “They had guns and this broach over their pockets in the shape of a spade.”

Spade? “Why do I feel like I’ve heard about the spade broach before?”

“It’s obviously Mafia business, B. It seemed like one gang was interrupting the work of another. But I wonder which mob is so decent.” She huffed. “They literally stopped human trafficking.”

“I don’t think that’s what happened. No gang can intervene in another’s work unless absolutely necessary,” I explained. “It has to be some inner conflict. Plus, as far as I know, the Commission prohibits human trafficking.”

Harley eyed me suspiciously. “What’s the Commission?”

“A constitutional body that oversees the American Mafia. It’s ruled by the heads of the five most powerful syndicates and—”

“How the fuck do you know so much?” Harley said, cutting me off.

I cursed myself in my mind. My habit of speaking too much had become a curse for me. Something would slip out one way or another. “It's public info.” Before she could argue, I asked, “So they just took everyone home?”

“Yeah, keep trying to change the topic.”

“I’m not changing the topic.”

“Yes, you are. You always do this. Now I’m suspicious about your reluctance to take on any Mafia-related project. You literally are a Mafia encyclopaedia.”

I took a deep breath. Some things about my life were better buried. “I like to know about that world. That’s it. There’s no other reason. I don’t involve myself in that world because coming out of it is horrifying and dangerous, and I have a family, too.”

“I think there’s more to it than you let on.”

There was. It was all in the past.