ILARIA (book 3)

25. ILARIA

"I have feelings for someone." I sit beside Malory.

She looks up, looks down, beckons me to sit down. "Please say it's that hot Italian dude."

"It's not. It's Asahi."

She sighs. "Ilaria."

"I know it's wrong and bad but he's so perfect."

She blinks blankly before pushing books off her desk and picks up two pens. "This." She holds up the pink one. "You." Then she tips the entire pen pot out behind the pink pen. "All these are potential suitors, most of which are criminals and some of which will stop at no means to get you." She singles one yellow pen. "Your brother. The sociopath." She puts that one right beside me.

Then she grabs the other blue pen she took out and puts it opposite. "FBI agent who hunts people like..." She points to all the pens behind the pink one. "All of that."

"Mal-"

"Opposite sides. Complete opposite sides that shouldn't be clashing. Should just be fun."

"But he's so-"

"If you say sweet I'm going to murder you." She smiles sweetly. "Just because a man is nice to you once, doesn't mean he's into you. He's more than likely just trying to fuck."

I lean back, arms folded across my chest because deep down I know she's right. The only type of girl people see me for is a one night stand or a bride.

"I hate men." I look at my nails.

"Date a girl then." She stands up.

"Girls are just as bad." I stand up. "I just hate love."

She doesn't believe me for a single second, rolling her eyes with a soft smile on her lips. "Yeah, okay you hopeless romantic. Out, I'm working."

I roll my eyes properly, getting up and walking out of her little office in the strip club and up the stairs. I just sit and watch the dancers practicing for a while before getting unexplainably borsd.

Once all the girls straighten up and start fluttering their eyelids, I knew one of my two brothers walked in the room.

"Romeo." I sigh.

"Why are you out here? Where's your bodyguards?"

"On a break because about 60 of our men are here and I'm just watching them." I turn around, making eye contact with him. "Where's Leonardo?"

"Out. Let's discuss your wedding-"

"Let's not do that. You're not discussing anything about my marriage, remember. It's me, mom and dad." I stand up, following him as he walks down the stairs.

"Arturo is asking for my blessing. I gave it."

"It's not your blessing he needs, Romeo. It's my approval."

"You need to stop spending time with that agent, Ilaria. He is not going to marry you. He never will. He merely sees you as fun. There is a man willing to give up everything to be with you-"

"Mamma said i have to follow my heart, not yours." I sit on his spinny chair. "Plus, i want to wait."

"You only want to wait for baby Hamada. Reality check, sister, respectfully, he sees you as nothing more than a quick fuck."

I roll my eyes. "That was respectful?"

"No, but you never seem to listen when I speak unless I'm insulting you." He goes through his cupboards. "There is another suitor if you have Arturo so much. A Triad-"

He's cut off by a loud bang coming from upstairs. We look at each other. He throws me one of his guns and slowly, we make our way up the stairs.

A couple of the girls come running down with their hair messy and coughing. "What happened?" I grab one.

"Bomb." She coughs.

Romeo shouts orders in Italian and his men get to running around. I walk up past him, out to where the bomb exploded from.

From what I could see, there was nobody injured. "It was threw in." One of the girls say. "He was a customer. A regular. I've danced on him before."

I help her up, walking her outside to the fresh air. "What's his name?"

"He never told me." She leans forward, elbows on her knees.

I take my cardigan off and put it around her. "What does he look like?" I look up, my eyes drop to an individual in the parking lot.

An Asian guy. He had a massive scar across his face that went through his eye, he had a prosthetic in that eye. He was looking directly at me with a top hat on.

I don't break eye contact. I keep observing. On his other eye he had three tear drops.

Just like the guy from Italy.

I keep looking at him. In my peripheral I can see my bodyguards making their way over to me. But A notices my gaze elsewhere and looks there immediately.

I stand up. "Gio, take her inside." I shout.

Gio runs over and grabs her, taking her inside.

A raises his gun, at the guy, shoots him in the hand and leg so he's unable to run.

I walk up, despite my bodyguards telling me they have it handled.

I walk up to this guy. He had dropped the gun and was now just staring at me. He didn't make a sound.

I stand over him, my foot on his neck, i add pressure. "Let me guess. You'll have a number tattoo and the japanese symbol."

He smiles a pained smile.

I kick his face. "Take him where the other freak is." I walk away, calling Asahi.

"Princess. I'm-"

"If you don't give me a list of everyone you've ever met through your job in the next hor, I'm going to kill you-"

"Woah, Ilaria what's going on?"

"The same guy that threatened me. Well, there's another one that just blew up my strip club. I don't know if any girls are hurt." I choke on my words, pushing past Romeo as he tried to grab me. "I need a list of everyone you've worked with-"

"Baby, this won't be someone I have worked with-"

"Asahi let me judge of that. Send me over a list-"

"I'll come by yours tonight with one. Stop giving me attitude princess, we'll fix this." He hangs up.

I could have screamed.

"What happened?" Romeo asks.

"Same guy from Italy. They're taking him to the warehouse now."

Romeo didn't look worried, he never does, but this motherfucker looked proud. "Least I'm not the only one that don't like you with Asahi."

As he turns to walk away, I grab his big, hardback book sitting on his desk, and I smack it around his head.

"Ilaria!" He shouts.

I just run up past him and hide behind my bodyguards as they escort me to the car.

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siblings 🥰

wc: 1221