"I am fine." Madelaine assures me over the phone. She started her first day at college and I wanted to know how she was fitting in. She was staying with my mother for the time being as Mia and I were in New York, but I didn't want her to think that I forgot her so I called her on her new smartphone. She answered on the second ring. Probably staring at the screen like teenagers do, when the phone rang. "Achille is taking me shopping today. He said that I could choose whatever I liked, but I don't want you to spend any more money on me. I can never repay what you have already done for me." "Madelaine, listen to me. I know we haven't had the chance to get to know each other the way we should have and I know that you have never had the chance to be a child, which breaks my heart, but I want you not to worry about being so accountable anymore. I promise that I will not put you through anything like that again. You are now my responsibility. My family, my daughter. I want you to have every
"Good morning Sleepyhead." Achilles sings and the sound pierce through my ears, I am awake, but actually letting them know that I am awake seems to be impossible. "Here is some coffee." He continues and I can hear movement surrounding me, there must be another person in the room, Mia?"No changes?" I hear Angela's voice when I try once more to force open my heavy eye lids. Failing at another attempt, again. Why does opening my eyes seem so impossible?"He hasn't woken yet, but according to the physician, it won't be long. There is no long-term damage and, to be honest, I prefer him like this for now.." Achille admits to her. "You know if he wakes up he won't rest or even attempt to take it easy and that is what he needs. He needs to recover completely." His voice sounds almost breaking. I am not that fragile, but he quickly recovers. "How are you doing with the list of files? There have been a lot of clients and with everything going on these past weeks we fell behind. He is not going
"Ciao," Achille speaks into his phone after the second ring. "Are you sure?" His worried eyes fall on me as he questions the unknown person on the other end of the call. "Keep your presence low, we need you in there now more than ever. Keep me updated if anything transitions. I will call you back later." He ends the call."Brother, I need you to stay calm and listen to me first. If you as much as look in the direction of the door I swear to God, I will shoot your shanks full of wholes. "One of my men found Mia." "Okay, where is she?" I frown. The fact that she is found is music to my ears, why would Achille be so worried? I mean the fact that she didn't even bother to visit or make contact to hear if I was fine hurt and what hurts the most is that she was so scared of me that she didn't even visit her mother in fear that I would find her but, I was not planning on tracking her down now. Maybe this is for the best. Nothing I did or tried to do for her will ever be enough for her to l
"I am glad everything is working out then." A wave of relief passes through me. I was one step closer to getting Mia back."Benvenuto..." Theo speaks my name like we are friends. "If you see something I would like don't hold back my friend." He adds. I am going there with one objective only and that is to get Mia back. I won't be hanging around to see the show. I can't even think about wasting my time when Mia needs me."Hello dear. A small familiar voice follows two soft knocks on the car window, almost causing my heart to skip a beat. Mia?"Gracie, Theo. I need to go." I end the call turning my head towards the side that the voice was coming from, surprised by the face that follows. "Giorgia," I say her name in a manner of greeting Mia's mother while I lower the window. She looked ten years younger and I was surprised. It was a mere two weeks ago that she had heart surgery and here she stood in the street which I am sure she wasn't supposed to be doing. "I thought it was you." She s
"Bring your entire workforce; we are going to need it. Infiltrate some positions, waiters, critics, I don't care how you do it, but get us some men on the floor. If this thing doesn't pan out it is going to turn into a bloodbath." My fists form around the steering wheel. I am not storming in guns blazing and bomb exploding, I will try to do this like gentleman, but a man can dream right."Do you want to start a war? We have not established our feet in New York yet. They will wipe the floor with us." Achille seems worried, but I was in a mood for a fight. "They don't know that." I bark swiping across the large screen in the centre of the dash until the blue marker falls on Angela's name. I press onto the call button letting Achille inform her about the night's arrangements, which she happily accepts and even sound a little excited about."So now what brother?" He questions after setting up all the arrangements with Angela and ending the call. Achille never spooked easily, but this whol
We had a lot of eyes on us while we entered the Gala where tables decorated in a sort of gatsby theme titivated the big space and art pieces covered the white walls all around only leaving spaces between the pieces to compliment the next sale. This was just the front. An eyeblind for the few clean players on the slate. The real auction and money to be made was behind the closed doors. In one of these private rooms that they kept guarded and I was eager to enter, but I needed to stick to the plan to ensure Angela's safety as well as Mia's and everyone else putting their lives on the line to assure this mission goes down perfectly."The two of you must be new around her, because I have been attending this prestigious event since it was first hosted in 1987 and I have never before seen the two of you here." A tall older man with salt and pepper hair extend his hand giving mine a solid shake before he moves over to Angela taking her hand in his and then plant a soft kiss on the dorsal part
If ever I or anyone for that matter doubted that I had a heart it was to be proven now at this very moment, because I could verbatim feel my heart crack the moment my eyes fell on Mia who sat on the chair next to the bed where I spent the last two weeks. Her head hung low and the curls that used to bounce around her head hung with the same desertedness. She was dressed in some scrubs that I guess someone from the hospital provided her with and her feet bare. I can't believe that it was so long since the last time I held her in my arms, I can still remember her sort skin and the sweet minty smell she always carry on her breath. If ever I wondered how I felt about her this moment right here locks it in. This is the woman I love and I want her to be part of my life forever. I will never ever let anything separate us ever again, even if I had to pay with my life for it. She was seated on the chair next to the hospital bed with her back towards the door, enabling her to see me as I stood at
"I need to..." I try to explain, but honestly I just needed to put some space between me and Mia. "I am just going to make a call." I hold up my hand in a manner of keeping her from getting of the bed and nearing me. I remove my phone from my dress shirt's pocket with my other hand keeping my eyes on a pissed and moody Mia who sits glaring at me through her long lashes. God, even in her condition she was beautiful. I scroll through the conatcts on my phone in search for Sofia's number and once her name appears i press down on the call icon and place the phone to my ear. The lines rings to no avail. i needed her to see Mia, why was she not answering the phone? Itold her that she needed to be here when Mia comes. "Fuck." I blurt out a little too hard making Mia's body jerk in reaction. She was so jumpy and it scared me. The mere thought of the trauma she must have adhered to scares me. Was she ever going to be my Mia again? "She is probably with Angela." Mia frowns moving her eyes from