Black Death And White Roses (1) Mafia Romance

8. Uninvited

Roxana

I am waiting for shit to happen. I can smell it in the air after the performance from yesterday.

When I told Damien and the guys that I met the big boss and embarrassed myself in front of him again he made fun of me the whole day.

When Christian called me around ten I could barely bring myself to answer out of sheer anxiety. He wasn't angry, and neither did he have anything to say except to ask me about how things were going and let me know that they still hadn't found a replacement for Peter, meaning I had to stay in Italy for a few days, maybe weeks, more.

I told him about Tomaso, that we are getting along quite well and that relieved him.

"Ok, Rox. I just wanted to tell you that you are doing a great job. I am proud of you and I can't wait to see you," he says through the phone.

I swear I stopped breathing for a minute. What did my ears just hear?

"Christian I, I like ... working for you... and Walter... very much. It is an honor."

"Aww, I am happy to hear that. I rely on you. Just keep things on track. In two weeks I will come to Sicily to meet the client and after that, the two of us will have breakfast in town. What do you say?"

That I am dead and reached Nirvana.

"No. You don't have to."

"Come on. I know I don't 'have' to, I just want to get to know you a bit. You have been working for me for how many years now? Two? And we never had a meal together. Prepare yourself, it's going to be fun. Later, Rox!" he says, hanging up.

Christian taking me out for breakfast, and Bogdan apologizes after five years; is Mercury retrograde or something? Now only Ivan has to call to tell me the rest of my debt is forgiven.

The rest of the week goes by peacefully. I don't see the Italian hunk nor the roof coffee lover though on Wednesday I climb the scaffolding at five thirty before working hours on purpose to see if he is going to be there, but he isn't. 

I must admit this guy intrigues me. As far as I could gasp it, Tomaso is like an adviser, he has authority over the staff and it looked like coffee guy is in charge of the security of the boss. So Tomaso should be his boss too. In addition, there are several maids and gardeners on the domain. These people speak only Italian and we don't interact much.

Me and Tomaso get along pretty well so far. He is a practical guy and has a good sense of humor. It appears like we are meeting every two days for a little status update. Today he brings me a fifty-page-long NDA to read and sign till the end of the day. I will have a blast reading it.

Dani also texts me, telling me that Dad didn't come home last night... again. This is not so unusual. Our father has a drinking problem and he sometimes gets wasted and falls asleep somewhere, gets into a fight, or you name it. There are no AA meetings in my country and Dad was very reluctant to go to therapy, not that we can afford it, so here we are, not knowing if he will be coming home every evening.

I feel so sad for Dani and his destroyed innocence. I try to protect him as much as possible but he is a smart kid and knows what's going on most of the time.

A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. It must be Tomaso who came for the documents. Shit. I forgot to read them. There is no way I can do that in a few seconds so I just hastily sign the last page. It is what it is. I have no penny on my name and my soul is not worth anything either so there is nothing to take.

I grin and hand Tomaso the files.

"No objections, signorina?"

"None. And we agreed you can call me Roxana, remember?"