Omertà

Chapter 2: Put This On and Follow Me!

Mariano di Vaio as Dimitri Esposito

Most people wake up from one night stands in the arms of a stranger, alone or extremely confused. I wish that's how I woke up. But me? No, it couldn't be that simple for me. I just needed more misfortune in my life. So I woke up abruptly to the sound of gunshots and breaking glass.

I scream as the bullets break the windows, piercing the silence of the once peaceful morning. Before I have time to process anything, a strong arm pulls me off the bed and onto the floor.

"Cazzo!" Dimitri curses as he pulls pants on. "Put this on and follow me." He says throwing me a t-shirt.

I try to move but I seem to be frozen. I can hear shouting and footsteps from the other end of the house, but I still can't move. "Get up! What are you doing?" He yells at me before yanking me up rather violently and dragging me into his closet.

I watch as he deadbolts his closet door and turns the light on. "I don't mean to be annoying, but how is hiding in a closet gonna save us?" I ask in a shaky voice. I decide to keep quiet after he gives me a deadly look.

Dimitri rips the back row of clothes from the wall revealing a small door. He opens it just as someone starts pounding on the closet door. I'm surprised to see rows of ammunition, knives, guns and another door on the other side. "Follow me." He says, as he puts two guns in his waistband and one in his hand. Obediently, I following through the second door and into a dark hallway. As soon as I pass through, he closes the door and deadbolts it just as the intruders break through the closet door.

"What the hell is going on?" I scream when the hallway is completely black, robbing me of my eyesight.

"I don't have time to explain right now. If you want to live, shut up and keep going!" He yells before grabbing my hand and leading me further down the dark, twisting hallway. Doing as I'm told, I simply follow him for what feels like an hour. When we reach the end, I'm blinded when Dimitri yanks open a door revealing the outside world.

I cover my eyes with my arm and follow him out before sitting on a rock. We were on the side of a small, gravel road in the middle of a forest. I was completely lost.

"This is a Code Blue, I went through emergency protocol, send a chopper to location B." I look up to see him talking into his phone. After his confusing sentence, he hangs up and puts his phone away and just looks at me.

I realize how bad I must look right now. I still have bed head, I'm probably flushed from running through the hallway and I'm only wearing his t-shirt.

"Are you a spy or something?" I blurt out.

"No." He answers with no emotion.

"CIA?"

He laughs bitterly at my question. "No, Bella, I'm not on the good guys' team."

"So you're a criminal?" With my luck, he probably was.

"You could say that." He says with an amused smile. Wow. I guess I really am unlucky.

"What does omertà mean?" I ask again, noticing the ink on his bare skin for the second time.

"It's Italian. It's a code of silence mafia members and witnesses take vowing to keep silent about criminal activity and a refusing to give evidence to authorities." He explains, crossing his arms in front of his bare torso.

"You're in the mafia?" I ask quietly. I was scared before, but now I was terrified.

"You don't seem too thrilled." He says with a smirk.

Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm sprinting away, further into the forest, terrified of being caught by him. I can hear his footsteps nearing closer to mine, so I know he followed me. I take a sharp left and duck behind a bush.