His Mafia Queen

Chapter 1

I stepped out of my hotel building I was staying in. I've been in Rome for a week already and so far, my adventures have been awesome. The Colosseum was fantastic, the brickwork and the arena. It felt like stepping into history. The St Peter's Basilica was fascinating, the arches, the detailed paintings. Fantastic.

I did plenty of sightseeing and today I was moving on. I pulled my sunglasses down over my dark green eyes and pulled back my brunette hair into a ponytail before fixing up my bag. I half ran down the hotel stairs, excited for my next adventure. I dreamt to travel Europe ever since I understood the concept of getting away and that was at a tender age alone, an age no kid should fantasize about leaving their family to escape their normal reality.

I didn't have to be at the next hotel till 5pm this evening and the day is so young, only hitting 7am. With a wide smile, I headed to the bus station, ready for the long drive to Moraro, near the border to Slovenia. That was my next stop, a good night's rest then more solo adventuring. Backpacking, hiking and rowing my way through Europe. I was into week five of my European experience and I have been loving every minute of it.

The bus ride was long and I didn't mind, I watched the scenery around me. I was a bit sad I didn't get to see Venice, but next time, hopefully. The bus ride was bearable but only because I took my tablet for motion sickness. Once that got into me, I was all good, being the stereotypical tourist, staring out the windows of the bus, taking in the views.

Making myself comfortable, the towns and cities I passed, the open fields and historic buildings, it was all amazing and the bus driver stopped every two hours for fifteen minutes as we stretched our legs, went to the toilets and grabbed a snack or two as we overloaded our cameras and smartphones with photos of ourselves and the landscapes before us.

But it was when the bus stopped just outside of Verona for lunch, my life changed forever.

There were a few shops around and like some of the other tourists, I wasn't the best on Italian. So, I didn't exactly listen to the bus driver. I heard snippets of what he said. So going to my English to Italian dictionary didn't help for translating, I looked up what I could, trying to remember what was said and find the words, but I came up with basically nothing. Groaning. I slipped my dictionary in my bag as I gripped at it, throwing it over my shoulder, heading to the shops nearby.

I checked myself over, making sure I had my phone in my pocket and pulled it out and opened the case to find my visa card. Content on that sight, I slipped my phone back in my pocket and then checked my passport was on me in my jacket pocket. I always make sure this is directly on me at all times. I was famished and wanted something to peck on and a water, stretching my legs as I walked, I saw the little store in front of me and quickened my pace.

After a few metres, I noticed I was the only tourist in my bus load heading this way and I was getting a sinking feeling. Biting the inside of my gum, I carried forward, heading into the small shop, looking around for a fridge. Anything that houses cold water. I took out a cold water and went to the shelves, finding food and deciding what I wanted when I heard voices. I couldn't understand a word that was being said but the tone sounded aggressive, the voice harsh and demanding.

Slowly going to the end of the aisle, I snuck a peek as two tall men looked at the shopkeeper. They were talking in Italian and I didn't even know where to start since they were talking so fast. I couldn't make sense when one word finished and the other begun. With wide eyes, I realised that I might be in the middle of a robbery as one of the men pulled out a gun, pointing it to the shopkeeper. I jumped back then froze. My body was telling me to run, but I didn't want to make a noise in fear of them hearing me and worse, seeing me.