Mafia Connections

Five

We pull up in front of the house and I sigh. The blood had started to dry on my hands and arms and was becoming itchy. I resist the urge to scratch as I get out of the car and walk towards the house. The door opens immediately as I reach it and I step inside.

"Uhhh" I hear Artie say.

I frown at him "What? Did I get blood on my face?" My expression drops as I wipe at my face "Is it in my hair?" He continues to stare and I sigh "It's just the blood in general. Right?"

"Did you get the file?" Viktor asks as he walks in, his eyes are trained to his phone and he doesn't even look at me until he is right in front of me. "Santo merda" he scowls as he looks at me. "Did he hurt you again?"

I smile "It's not my blood"

He frowns "You killed someone?"

I shake my head and he relaxes slightly "I killed four someones" he tenses up again and glares at me.

"What were you thinking? You could have been killed" He hisses.

I raise an eyebrow and fold my arms "But you got your file. I thought you'd be happy"

He stares at me "Happy! I didn't think you'd kill someone!"

I frown "Oh shit. Don't call the police!" I grab his arm "I'll leave. Take your file. Just don't call the police"

His expression changes and he starts to laugh "Call the police? Dear Bella, you're in a mafia house and you're worried about us ratting you out?"

My eyes widened "You're in the fucking mafia!" I scream "And you didn't think to tell me?"

He glares at me "You came in covered in blood and then give me shit about not telling you things. How about you tell me how you managed to kill four people and never thought to tell me even though I was giving you self-defense lessons!" He roared.

"Am I done? Will you help us now or do I have to put up with you for longer?" I am starting to hate this man. From his arrogance to the fact that he acts all high and mighty when he's barely older than me.

From the expression on his face I can tell that he's not used to people who aren't afraid of him. I'm not even sure he knows how to handle me. His fists are clenching at either side of his tense body and I glare at him, tempting him to hit me. I know he wants to.

Suddenly and surprisingly he relaxes and smiles. "Not yet princessa. A few more things. I have a perfect idea for you" he grins. "Follow me. We have to talk"

He walks off and I stare after him. Most people when I disrespect them freak out. They scream or they lash out. He seemed almost pleased with my attitude. Maybe he was different. Just a little.

I followed him out and ignored the steady stare from Artie who was still just watching. Was he part of the mafia too?

The mafia never scared me. I had spent a lot of time with men in gangs and even a few from mafia. They scared me as much as guns did. I had grown to hide my emotions. To put on a facade. I could look terrifying while wanting to crawl into a hole and die.

He leads me back into his office and I sit down. He sits in his own chair and grins at me. "I'm getting married" he says suddenly.

I shrug "Good for you. Does this have a point?"

He chuckles "The woman I'm marrying is a stuck up bitch. I've met her once and it is enough to see that I can't stand being in her presence. Nevertheless my father is making me marry her. What's your excuse?"

I grin "For what?"

He smiles "You're a young girl. I've done my research and I will comfortably say that you surround yourself with wealthy, good looking guys. But yet your sitting here, in my office, with no one else to turn to"

My smile fades "How do you know that I didn't ask them first?"

He laughs again "I told you. I've done my research" He leans back and crosses his arms "You're angry. At someone I'm guessing. Something holding you back though so you take it out on someone else. Anyone else. It's the reason why you don't care about the blood coating your skin. It's just a temporary release for the anger"

I go to cut in but he continues "It must be someone you see often if you are always so angry. I would suggest Sean but I don't see who would hold you back from that. It's someone else. You force yourself to tolerate them but it kills you to do so. You put on a show for others to see so they don't worry. They worry anyway. Am I right?" He doesn't give me a chance to reply "I've went through all possible candidates and I narrowed it down to four. Isaac, Rob, Gus and Freddie. But you called out for Isaac when you were scared, leading me to believe that you trust him. You're here to help Rob and his baby so that rules him out. So that leaves Gus and Freddie. What one is it?"

I stare at him. How had he managed to pick apart my life in a matter of seconds. "Gus is my friend"

"So it's Freddie. The oldest. Eighteen years old, is never seen out with the rest of you. I'm guessing he took the opportunity to stay away with Angelica. What I want to know is what he did? What drove you to the edge?" He leaned forward now. He looks intrigued to hear my story.

I realise that there really isn't any point holding back. He'll find out anyway.

"He's my ex. It sounds stupid but when I was first taken and met him, I needed someone to hold on to at night when it got dark and I got scared. It was fun at first and then after Elliott died he became different. He didn't like me talking to the other guys and wouldn't leave me alone for a second. I thought he was just being protective after what happened to Elliot, Kat and Chris, so I let it slide. It just got worse and I had to tell him that I was fourteen years old. He was my boyfriend, not my husband"

I took a deep breath "He used to joke and say 'not for much longer'. I used to laugh it off and we'd leave it at that. Then I made a mistake. I told him I loved him. I didn't mean it but it came back to bite me a few days later. I'd had a really shitty day one day, I can't remember why but I was in a really bad mood when I got back to our room. As soon as I got in, he took my hand and took me back out into the hall and shut the door behind him. Then he got down in one knee and asked me to marry him. He was- is insane. I immediately said no and then he grabbed me. He asked me if it was because of someone else. He was bruising my arms he was holding me so tightly. I tried to push him away and when I finally did, I darted into a room. It was the weapons room. He grabbed my by the throat and pinned me to the wall. I bet you can guess what he said. 'If I can't have you, no one can'"

I started to laugh. "I was terrified. My hands gripped onto the table beside us and I could feel something on the table. I grabbed it and registered that there was a gun in my hand. Next thing and he was on the floor. I shot three times. I missed the first, hit his shoulder the second and scraped his arm the next. I raised it to shoot him in the head when Angelica grabbed my arm. She ripped the gun from my hands and threw it across the room. I lunged for him instead but Gus caught me and half carried, half dragged me away. They wouldn't leave us alone in the same room together for weeks. Of course I tried to kill him again. Each time I was caught and he was saved. I was so angry that they were stopping me. He fucking deserved it! But then I realised that killing him wouldn't solve anything. I would still be angry and it would only make my only friends hate me. So I stopped and they grew to trust me again"

Viktor scowls at the table "I expected you to say that he cheated on you"

I laugh "No, I was nearly engaged at fourteen"

"We'll talk more tomorrow. I better get you back. Will you be okay?" He asks. I nod my head "Have fun with him. He sounds like a handfull"

I bite my lip "Yeah. Something like that"