Altered (An Italian Mafia Story)

Chapter Six

The stupid door to the room was locked and no one had come to check on me since they tossed me in here last night. While the bedroom was nice and clean, it felt more like a hotel room than a personal room. No one had stopped by to give me any food, so I woke up this morning starving. Thankfully, there was a bathroom so I had been drinking water from the faucet.

A quiet knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hello?" I called out, my voice cracking slightly from the lack of use.

The door cracked open and a beautiful woman with black hair and green eyes poked her head in. "Good morning." She smiled, pushing the door open further and stepping inside. "I'm Diana. Stefano sent me to welcome you and show you around. How are you feeling?"

I studied her face for a moment. She seemed kind and her smile showed nothing but concern, but I kept my guard up. I didn't know who I could and couldn't trust here. I was also exhausted from everything that had happened in the last few days and I didn't feel like talking to anyone.

"I'll step out for a moment so you can get dressed before we start." She said after I didn't answer.

"Right now?" I asked, perplexed. That man expected me to start working for him right away?

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I promise it's not as bad here as you think it is. This will be your room while you stay here and the clothes in the closet are for you. I'll be right outside the door, just come out when you're ready." With that being said, Diana gave me one last smile and stepped out of the room.

While I didn't believe her about it not being bad around here, I decided that I liked her. She seemed like a nice person and she was the only one who'd made any attempt at being kind to me here. With a sigh, I decided to just do as she said. Throwing open the closet door, I was surprised that it's huge. All of the shelves were empty except for one and I foundd myself annoyed that the clothes on the shelf is all in the correct sizes. From my shirt size to my bra cup, everything was eerily accurate and I found myself wondering how these people knew so much about me.

I mean, sure, it was their thing to dig up dirt about people and to know as much about them as possible once they were one their radar, but I'd barely been involved with the mafia for a week. It dawned on me then that they probably sent someone to my apartment. The invasion of privacy was starting to piss me off. I quickly pulled on the only option I had: a loose white button up and a black skirt that felt uncomfortably revealing.

I tugged at the hem of the skirt as I finally opened the door to join Diana in the hallway. She looked me up and down, here eyes lingering at my blouse. "Tuck the blouse in, it looks better that way."

I tucked it in and realized that my outfit was identical to hers. They had put me in a god damn uniform. "So is this the only thing I'll be wearing for the rest pf my life?" I asked bitterly.

Diana smiled and we started down the hallway. "No, you'll get more clothes added to your closet eventually. If you catch anyone's eyes, you'll start getting gifts and stuff. These men love to spend their money on you if you give them just enough attention. It's kind of like a game."

For the first time, I returned her smile. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For being nice to me. Everyone else here is so..." I trailed off, trying to find the right word.

Diana laughed. "I promise most of the men aren't that bad. There are some really funny and cool people here. You probably have that impression because you've only seen the way they interact around Stefano."

"Yeah, well Stefano needs to take the stick out of his ass." I grumbled.

Diana and I talked more as she showed me around the house and I decided that I wouldn't mind having her as a friend. She was funny and seemed to know her way around this life and how to get what she wanted.