CHAPTER 9

Aleara’s POV.

Oh, my goodness. Have you ever woken up with the shittiest hangover after a big night out? Well, right now, that was me. Except I hadn’t been out at all, I had been crying over the death of Rosa, and attacking Atlas Drakov.

Fuck. I had attacked Atlas Drakov.

I opened my eyes, it was bright as hell, how long had I been out for? The smell of marijuana filled my nostrils and burned the back of my throat, making my eyes water.

Snoop Dogg?

I sat up quickly, too quickly. My head span and the world reeled in circles around me before my eyes found and focused on him.

The fucking devil himself sat there sitting on a leather chair in front of a sheer curtain window smoking a joint. He had lost his suit jacket and only wore the white, collared and buttoned up shirt, neatly tucked into his pants. His leg was again tucked over the over, just like he sat when he killed Rosa, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he addressed me in a cold and harsh tone, puffing out another cloud of smoke from his joint. The smell made my nose crinkle, it was absolutely foul.

“What do you want?” I asked in a hushed and defeated tone, there was no point in trying to stand against him when I was locked in a room, all alone with the man who could see through any kind of a plan, the greatest mafia leader in Europe.

“To talk,” he started, adjusting his position and stamping out the joint, “Do you know why you’re not with the other whores down in the holding cells?” he asked curiously. He was so composed and calculated it set my teeth on edge. No one could be this perfect, and it annoyed me that he seemed to be so.

“Because I’m not a whore,” I replied obnoxiously with a venomous hint in my tone.

My comment must have been entertaining because it earned a slight laugh and the shake of a head from Drakov as he smirked down at me.

“Say what you will now, but believe me, you’re not going to leave here with the same train of thought,” he laughed a sickening and sinister laugh, making my stomach churn and almost do a backflip on itself. I fiddled with my fingers and tried to take in slow calm breaths to remind myself that I was too young to die from a heart attack.

“If you haven’t got any smart remarks to say back to me then I’d like to continue my conversation with you,” His glare turned rock hard again, serious and icy, “You’re here because I need someone slightly pretty to stand next to me,”

To hell with him.

“No, even I know I’m too good for that,” I argued. This murderer thought that I was going to stand next to him and watch as he murdered and ordered the murders of hundreds of people. Fuck that shit.

He let out a scoff and brought his gaze to me, looking me straight in the eyes and down into my soul.

“You see little one, the Italian Mafia is all about stability. It sets a good grounding for us and paints us in an intimidating light for other mafias around the globe. Recently though, I have been a little reckless with my actions and missions. After talking to my advisors, they recommended that I try to represent some stability within the mafia, to show some settlement, to set the minds of my men and women here at ease,” my jaw dropped at his words.

“What the fuck?” I frowned, a disapproving and confused look plastered onto my face, “I thought you kidnapped me for… other reasons,” I broke our stare, awkwardly glancing down towards the window. God this was humiliating.

He flashed a sickeningly evil smile in my direction, “don’t let that thought out of your mind just yet, that was one of the many reasons you’re here, and guess what,” he cocked his head to the side a little, studying my terrified face, testing how long it would be before I snapped.

I raised my eyes up to look at him again, my hands were clammy and shaking, I hated this entire encounter.

“There’s no where you can go and nothing you can do to stop me and my plans; I own the largest criminal organization in the country. If you run, I will find you, if you sell us out, I’ll kill you,” he promised in a cold hearted and careless voice, I knew he was serious.

His eyes stayed on mine, and we were again locked in an uneasy stare, he then broke the gaze, his eyes trailing down my body. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat there uncomfortably, giving him a ‘back off asshole’ kind of look.

He sent me an amused smile and stood up from his chair, tucking his tattooed and ringed hands into his pockets.

“we’ll discuss this later, we’re going out to dinner, I’ll send Jay up here to help you get ready,” He took out another joint from his pocket and lit it, taking a puff. I screwed up my nose again in disgust.

“I can get ready myself thank you,” I sneered up at him, the last thing I wanted right was to be monitored whilst I got ready by a man with a gun from the Italian Mafia.

“I know you’re a runner Aleara, I also know you can throw a punch, don’t think I’m taking any chances. And by the way, it’s either Jay or I who’s going to be making sure you don’t try any kind of shit, but if it’s me up here princess, I guarantee that you are going to be a lot less happy with the room service,” he let out a sickening laugh, shaking his head from side to side and giving me a side glance as if to see my reaction.

I just sat frozen on the bed, arms still crossed over my body and shit scared.

With a slam of the door and a last side glance given by Drakov, I was left with my thoughts all alone. I began to shake and whimper; my life was over.

I glanced left and right across the room.

That’s when I saw that he had left the joint.