They arrived at the dining area, and Daphnée had to hold herself in from screaming. The dining area was so huge and there were so many people, the majority being men here!
They looked at her, who was marvelling at their home, and found it amusing. Lorenzo lead them to the kitchen that was busy, and he yelled, “Everyone, listen up!”
They all stopped what they were doing and looked at them, mostly at Daphnée. He turned to Daphnée and said, “Everyone, this is Daphnée. She will be one of our family members from today. Please introduce yourselves to her when you have the time before she leaves tomorrow.”
And just like that, they went back to what they were doing. Lorenzo smirked at her disappointed expression and said, “Let’s head into the dining area. Rush hour will begin in five minutes.”
Daphnée nodded her head and followed them. She was shown to a seat beside them and she asked, “Why aren’t you introducing me to everyone sitting here?”
“Everyone just got back from working, so just give them space and in the mafia. It’s better to make friends when you are well acquainted with the business first,” he explained.
She nodded her head and turned to Tommaso and asked, “Are you married?”
He looked at her in almost like glare and shook his head. “No, but I have a girlfriend. Why?”
“You never smile,” she huffed and sat back. She looked around at everyone, smiling at them because she had manners. Her eyes landed on Lorenzo, who was staring at her, and she asked, “Are you single?”
He shook his head. “No, I am seeing someone.”
“Oh…” she mumbled and nodded her head.
“And you Miss Daphnée?” He questioned.
“Never met the right man,” she answered, followed by a yawn. Her eyes trailed over to the servers walking in with the food and asked, “Does this place work like a restaurant?”
“Something like that. We can choose what we want to eat but not during lunchtime and dinner. If you dislike the chef’s food, you can always eat out,” he explained.
They were served seafood pasta and each server who walked past them kissed Daphnée on her cheek after they introduced themselves. After some time, the workers came over to introduce themselves and even gave her gifts, welcoming her to the family, which was very confusing.
Daphnée was stuffed when she made it back to the room and Lorenzo said, “The boss will be here at ten, so be ready by nine. Breakfast is from six to eleven and you will be having breakfast with the boss.”
“Then why should I be ready by nine if he comes at ten?” she questioned.
“He might be here by eight, we are not sure, so at nine to be safe,” he answered.
She said goodnight to him, then rushed to the toilet to empty her stomach as she complained, “The fucking water here is not agreeing with me. I might get an infection.”
*The next morning*
Daphnée was up early because of her stomach running continuously and wasn’t feeling too good. She couldn’t tell what the time was, but got dressed and made her way to the dining area.
She found out it was just after seven and went to the kitchen. “Daphnée, my dear, you do not look too well?” The chef Alonzo said, concerned.
She shook her head, “Not at all Alonzo. As much as I enjoyed your food last night, my stomach refused to accept it and I eat Italian dishes every day back home.”
His brows knitted, “How about we just drink bottled water because it’s clean and I’ll tell Lorenzo to get you some medication. For now, I can offer you a cup of tea and oatmeal.”
“Thank you, Alonzo,” she said. He took her to the tables and went to prepare the tea and oatmeal. She rested her head on her left arm while she hugged her stomach with her right, which was cramping.
She ended up falling asleep, and it was only when Lorenzo and Tommaso sat down beside her she woke up.
“You look like crap,” Lorenzo said, amused.
“You’re not funny,” she threw at him.
He placed a bottle of tablets down in front of her and said, “That will help with your homesickness. Eat your oatmeal and let’s head up to the office. The boss is here, and he is waiting for us.”
“Really? What time is it?” She asked him as she started eating.
He slipped a blue box over to her and said, “Maybe now you’ll stop asking me what the time is.”
She opened the box, and it had a diamond-encrusted silver watch in it. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw all the diamonds, then her eyes caught the time and she saw it was almost ten. She looked at Lorenzo and said, “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”
“Because we had to go get you medicine,” he said sarcastically.
“Thank you,” she said and put the watch on her left wrist. She quickly ate, drank the tea, and took the tablets.
They made it to the office and Daphnée shuddered when she saw the man sitting behind the desk having breakfast. He stopped eating and smiled at her. “Miss Daphnée, please, have a seat.”
Daphnée walked over cautiously and noticed that her two sidekicks did not follow her in. She sat opposite him in the visitor’s chair and just could not take her eyes off of his that were emerald in colour.
He smirked and said, “I’m sorry to have started eating without you, but I was informed that you were not feeling well and passed out. Since you are not feeling well, we did not prepare breakfast for you, or do you want something?”
She shook her head quickly and said, “No thank you, I had something to eat.”
“Okay, let me get to the point. You are here to repay a debt and I have found you the perfect job. I just acquired a business venture of a nightclub in Milan and you will be the face of that club and run it for me. Your payment will be fifty thousand euros and I will deduct half of it monthly to pay your debt,” he explained to her.
Daphnée licked her tongue across her bottom lip and pulled it into her mouth and bit on it as she was processing his words.
The cup in his hand faltered as he watched her do this action, and he just did not like it. He tried to grab her attention, but her eyes were unfocused. He cleared his throat and asked, “Do you understand me?”
She snapped out of it and said, “I understand, but I do not have a business degree or know how to run a club.”
“But you have people skills. I’ve watched you over the past few weeks and you know how to handle situations. This club is under the mafia so expect drugs going in and out of it and when a situation arises, Alessandro will handle it,” he stated.
“Who is that?” She asked him, annoyed.
“The bodyguard who will be at your side and teaching you Italian. He is skilled in many fields and is my right-hand man. For now, I am lending him to you until you can handle yourself,” he explained to her and continued eating.
“If I get this straight, I owe you seven and a half million and I earn fifty thousand and you take half of it away. I am basically working for you for the rest of my life?” She questioned him.
He nodded his head, and she stood up, surprising him. “Is that all?” Daphnée asked.
“Alessandro will be at your door in an hour with your new phone, laptop and family bank card. You will head to Milan with him and there you will go shopping and make yourself presentable for your clients. I will check up on you at the end of the week and Miss Daphnée. Please do not disappoint me or I will send you to visit your mother,” he said with a smile on his face.
Daphnée stood and forced a smile, “May I ask what my employer’s name is?”
He stared at her for a moment, then answered, “Dante Bardi.”
Daphnée looked at Alessandro and asked, “So, where are we going now?”Alessandro, who she met over two hours ago, frowned. He had given her all the documents on the club that were translated into English on the jet and she had read through everything.They had also been to her apartment, which overlooked Milan, and it was empty. He thought it over and said, “We need to get your shopping done as soon as possible.”She nodded her head slowly and asked, “What is bitch in Italian?”He raised a brow and said, “La Cagna or la puttana.”She pursed her lips and asked, “What about fuck you?”“Vaffanculo,” he aswered.She nodded her head and asked, “How about go kill yourself?”His brows knitted as he answered, “Vai a ucciderti.”“And I will kill you?&rdquo
Daphnée and Alessandro walked hand in hand into a woman’s shoe store. An attendant walked over to them and the first thing she thought was, ‘This fat bitch caught herself a handsome man.’“Welcome sir, how may I help you today?” She asked.Alessandro’s brows knitted, and he said in a not so pleased tone, “The customer is here and she speaks English.”She turned to Daphnée after getting a glare from Alessandro and said, “How may I help you today, madam?”Daphnée was already offended that she ignored her. She walked past her up to another attendant and took off her shoe. She handed it to her and said, “Bring me all your shoes in this size and they better be able to compensate for my weight. She already pissed me off, and I am a few seconds away from closing this place down.”
They entered Diamante Grezzo and, like at the restaurant, the workers had their heads bowed. Daphnée looked at Alessandro and said, “I think I can get used to this.”“You should, but there is the downside to this. The family members would not show respect because they receive the same treatment.” He explained to her.“You all can get back to work and thank you so much for the welcome,” Daphnée said in an unfamiliar accent, almost sounding like a French native. Alessandro looked at her oddly, but did not question her.He led her to the back where the VIP section was and all she could get over her head was that the building was cold. They entered a room, and it felt refreshing. A man walked out from the volt at the back of the room and said, “Welcome, Mrs Bardi, we have been expecting you. Would you like some champagne and truffles?”She gave him her righ
After the ceramic store, they went to buy dresses and other clothes for her at one boutique after she made a ruckus of them not having clothes that fit her.They returned to the apartment after a long day and Daphnèe was unusually silent, and it worried Alessandro.“Anything to eat?” He asked her and she looked over at him.Nodding her head, she asked, “Can you go buy groceries for me?”Alessandro smiled and suggested, “You have the best chefs in Italy at your disposal. Why not get one to move in here?”“I want to cook my own meals, Alessandro,” she said, almost demanding.Alessandro held his hands up and said, “Type out a list on the phone I have for you and send it to your assistant. He’ll make sure it is done and sent here,” he said.She picked up the phone and asked, “I have an assistant?”
Daphnée stood in a towel in front of her clothes that were set up and just couldn’t decide. She wanted to wear them all, but today was just one day. She shook her head and pulled out pale light blue jeans, a white blouse like crop top, white matching underwear and white open toe heels.As she was getting dressed, someone knocked on the door and Alessandro opened it and it was Mario. He frowned and asked, “What are you doing here?”“Queen sent me a message saying she couldn’t get all her shopping done yesterday, and she also wants me to handle the plans for the club while she goes to her hair and nail appointment, as well as the body massage I booked for her,” he answered as he walked in.He looked around the apartment and yelled, “My Queen, I’m here!”Daphnée was busy doing her hair when she heard the unfami
“You should have fucking thought about that before you forced this on me. I am your wife now and I can’t let what you build crumble because you think with your dick and not your head!” She told him.Dante’s jaw ticked and his hands clenched into fists at his side. He frightened Daphnée, but she did not let it show. She continued looking at him and said, “I know you saw it when you looked at the posters that I plan to change the name of this club and I already sent the application in this morning. Once it is approved and drugs are moved in here, your name will be linked to it and no matter how much money you have, being linked to drugs is never a good thing. If you are not happy with this, then send me elsewhere because I will not lower my standards to accommodate you.”Dante opened his mouth to speak, but Mario knocked on the door and said, “Queen, the representative from the adult store
“Dinner?” Daphnée suggested.Dante looked up at her from his phone and processed what she said. “What about dinner?” He asked her after thinking it through.“Weren’t you listening? I asked if we are still going out to dinner,” she repeated herself.He nodded his head while he texted someone, “Yes, is it time already?”“I wouldn’t have asked,” she said and turned around. Dante had been sitting in her chair since he arrived and been on his phone with a mischievous smile. She figured he was dirty texting someone he fucked and left him to do his thing while she sorted things out.She held out her hand when she reached Alessandro and he took it, interlocking their fingers, which made Raffael frown. Dante soon stepped out of the office and walked ahead of Raffael behind Daphnée and, as they were walking down the steps, he sa
Daphnée needed to use the toilet, but when she got to the female toilets, all of them were occupied. She went into the men’s toilet and heard a familiar voice in one stall and silently crept into one of the free stalls.She quickly used the toilet and went to the sink to wash her hands. Out came Dante, placing his phone into his pocket and it surprised him to see her in here. She didn’t even bother to look up at him, but he said, “I thought this was the men’s toilet.”Daphnée looked at him through the mirror and could not focus on his face. She turned around after switching the faucet off as she replied, “The ladies’ toilet was full and I can’t hold it in. What’s that on your neck? It looks like it hurts.”Dante frowned and looked at himself in the mirror. He walked over to wash his hands as Daphnée disappeared and saw that it was Emilia’s