Russian Doll

Chapter 5

Since that night things have not been the same. All that fantasy of working side by side with the man who gave the sperm to make me is over. I thought we were building a relationship, not that of a father and daughter, but of partners, however, he made it very clear that this was just my imagination. When both of us are present, the environment becomes heavy and cold, exchanges of words are brief and we send messages through subordinates whenever possible.

Meanwhile, we received a package in the mail with no return address, inside was the head of our undercover man. It came in a flimsy shoebox and underneath was a sheet with a message written in blood "You will be next". More cliché was impossible, however, this "gift" is not to be taken lightly. He isn't an asshole who has nothing, he is an asshole with power and who has already proven himself to be daring. In a certain way, I admire his courage, he took control not even a year ago and already makes the lower layers of my mafia shudder, but not me. I have more than enough guts to deal with him.

I sit at the dressing table and I start researching which make-up products are suitable for disguising bruises. Luckily, many results appear and also some tutorials. I still have a few hours before I start getting ready for the event, so I'm going to practice applying it so that it's perfect afterward. I only know how to apply makeup in a basic way: BB cream, mascara, lipstick, sometimes I apply concealer, other times highlighter, in short, not very sophisticated things. When I was at school some girls mastered the makeup technique, they managed to contour, apply eyeshadow without looking like clowns, use eyeliner correctly (it's still my Achilles' heel today), even managed to thin their noses, and create optical illusions only with creams and powders. I've never been very good at this and my luck is that the most prominent black ones are on the arms, that is, the gloves will be my salvation, but for the rest, it's necessary to disguise it.

I am quite anxious because this will be the first meeting of mafias in which I will accompany my father. I will see the face of my target for the first time and although I know that there are still many things to do to reach the main objective, I feel that I am closer to getting there. A knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts and after I give permission, it opens and I hear my brother's voice asking where I am.

- Closet.

- Is it safe to go in or will I see an alien inside in a human suit?

- Your jokes are getting boring, please don't choose to be a comedian.

- Is this the dress you're taking? - He runs his hand over the piece of fabric.

- Yes, do you like it?

- It will look really good on you, maybe I better go too to protect you from the drooling suckers - His tone shows he's joking but deep down he's protective of me.

- Don't worry, I'm carrying two daggers, one on each leg - I wink and he shows a sly smile. He was the perfect person to help me with this crap since he knows how to paint. I suppose he can do something similar on the skin, but if he saw it he would ask questions that I couldn't answer. He knows parts of it but he doesn't know everything - Don't forget to feed my babies and make sure they sleep warm.

- Yes ma'am, they will be treated like kings. I'm going to my room, I just came here to disturb you.

- Failed mission.

- Who knows - He closes the door pointing to my lap, where there is a disgusting cockroach. I scream because I hate this kind of animal but then I realize it's just plastic and meanwhile Nikolai is laughing a lot. I run after him but he manages to escape and when he enters his room he closes the door in my face.

- I just want you to know that you're going to live today because my dogs need to be fed but your time will come.