CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

"For how long have you been.. Owned.. By Aleksandr?"

"Four years.."

That same night, over at Don Fabrizio's mansion, Mercedes and Gio were cuddled up together in her bed. Don Fabrizio, having returned from the meeting with the capos, had rushed off to another appointment with a new cartel whose loyalty he was trying to win over in order to expand his organization, and when he'd gotten back from that, was so jaded that he'd gone straight to bed, retiring for the night.

And so, Gio and Mercedes could be together without any fear, seeing as the mansion was huge, consisting three buildings, and Don Fabrizio lived alone in one of the buildings, so, it was impossible for him to come over to Mercedes's room without Gio having a headstart.

Now, Gio and Mercedes were engrossed in one of their many deep, long conversations.

"Four years you've been stripping?" Gio asked, stunned.

Mercedes chuckled. "No, I haven't been stripping for four years, that started just a couple years back.. But I've be