Mafia Collateral: A Deal With The Devil

Bunker

Soooo what do you think?! Poor Olivia :/ Luca is an asshole.....
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Luca

I watched as Olivia cried silently the remainder of the car ride to the bunker. Part of me, a huge part felt awful. My heart clenched knowing that I was the reason she was so upset and then she muttered 'I hate you' it's not the first time I've heard those words and it won't be the last. Yet when she said them I know she meant them with every fiber of her being. Such negative words coming from her pouty lips sounded wrong, foreign almost.

"Pulling in sir." Francos voice came barreling through the intercom speaker. The car came to a stop so I opened the back door and climbed out. I reached my hand offering to help Olivia out but she shot daggers at me and got out without my hand.

"Where are we?" She gasped looking around taking in her surroundings. We were parked in the underground garage. Being that this is a bunker it's all underground hidden from everyone, not on the maps.

"That defeats the purpose of the blacked out windows don't ya think?" I arch an eyebrow at her and she rolls her eyes at me before huffing in annoyance.

"Smartass." She mumbled looking around before I led us to the keypad outside the door and strummed my fingers along its cold steel before the door unsealed and Pierre opened the door.

"Good evening Mr. Marino. Franco. Miss. Carozza." He dipped his head greeting each of us professionally.

Inside the bunker is a long concrete hallway which twists and turns. There are doors along the walls that go to some of the bedrooms or living quarters. We keep walking through dimly lit hallway and I notice Olivia shiver, this place is a lot to take in if you've never been in this kind of atmosphere. It's dark and cold down here being that everything underground it's unusually colder than it is above.

I lead her to my office and gesture for her to sit down and she does but not without staring around the room taking everything in.

"Franco, please take Olivia's clothes to her room." I dismissed him he muttered right away before he left the room with her box of clothes in hand shutting the door behind him.

"Before I let you go to your room there are pressing matters that need to be settled before then. Your contract." I pull open the top left drawer of my desk and pull out a Manila folder with her name on it and pull out a contract I had typed up.

"You're serious? I already agreed to move down here, temporarily that is. What more do you want from me?" She snaps frowning when she sees the paperwork in my hand.

"I'm always serious. Now there is no set time frame for your contract. You will stay until I know every single detail about the undercover operation the feds have going against me, until I know who slipped in through the cracks, who is working for the feds while double crossing me. It could be days, it could be months, it could even be years."

"Years?" She all but shouts and jumps up from her chair chewing on the inside of her cheek nervously. I'm very observant, I notice everything which is why I'm floored that there are rats under my command without me knowing.

"That depends on you. Your cooperation and dedication will depend on the duration of your stay."

"What am I supposed to do? Just be like 'hey dad who is working undercover in the mafia?' It doesn't work like that! How am I supposed to find out anything?!" She snaps and starts pacing back and forth pulling her lip between her teeth and biting down hard causing it to turn bright red drawing my attention to it like a moth to a flame.

"Not right away and not so bluntly. Just start by paying attention to his conservations with your uncle during family dinners. I'm sure they talk about work during dinners, cops love that shit. Bring the operation up casually. You're smart I'm sure you'll figure it out without giving it away." I rise to my feet and pour myself a glass of whiskey and look over at Olivia before pouring her a glass as well hoping it will calm her nerves even just a little. I offer her the glass and she stares at it blankly before taking the glass and placing her lips on it before she took a small sip. Her face turned into a look of disgust but instead of putting the glass down she takes another sip.

"You think he will just outright tell me who is in on the operation? If you think that, you're wrong. A lot of that is confidential, and for a good reason." She plops herself right back into the same chair she was sitting in moments before.

"Definitely not. Which is why you'll learn all the men at the police station, pop in during lunch bring desserts after dinners get to know the faces there. Ask questions during dinner at home, the more involved you become the more you'll help me narrow down my search for the rats."

"Don't you do background checks on these guys?" She arches her perfectly shaped brown eyebrow at me questionably.

"Do you know how many men I have that work for me? How many women?" I fold my hands and rest them on my desk staring her down which makes her squirm uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hundreds maybe even a thousand when you count all the employees I have. So it's not uncommon that something falls through the cracks, that's why you're here."

"But why? Why me? Because my dad and uncle work for the police?" She chugs the rest of the whiskey before slamming the glass down on my desk and I shot her a warning glare.

"Because they are the police and you being the closest thing to them and my employee makes you an important asset or else I'd have kicked you to the curb like I did Mrs. Gonzalez. Now shall we go over the rules?" I ask moving on to the next part of the contract.

"Rule number one, honesty. I expect you to come to me with any and every piece of intel you get. No detail is too small. If you're honest with me it works out better in your favor but if you lie and keep stuff from me well let's just say you don't want to do that, the last person who was in your position isn't around to tell her story." I lean back in my chair reminiscing on the night as if it was yesterday.

"You killed her?!" Olivia gasps, her honey colored eyes widened in shock. Her family is on the other side of the fence here, the good side. They don't have people fighting against them, threatening them, invading their space, stealing from them, betraying them, and when people do these things sometimes death is the only answer.

"I had no other choice."

"There are always other choices Luca!" She is back on her feet mumbling incoherent things so I give her a while to collect herself. In less than twenty four hours her entire world has flipped inside out and upside down, she needs a little bit to adjust. See I can be understanding...

"You'll learn that that's not always true."

"Rule number two, listen, always do as I say. If I give you an order I expect it to be done and without backlash from you. I know who I am and what people say about me but there's a reason for everything I do."

"Rule number three, loyalty, don't betray me. If you do right by me, I'll do right by you. While I'm a heartless asshole, I also am a man of my word. Got it?" I ask and she simply nods understanding the three rules I have.

"Repeat them back to me." I nod signaling her to do so. I need to know she knows and understands what I'm expecting from her. She looks up at me through her thick full lashes before taking a deep breath in and starts talking.

"Rule number one, be honest. Rule number two, listen. Rule number three, be loyal." She gives me a shortened version which is more than enough confirmation that she understands so I hand her a pen for her to sign the dotted line of the contract.

She glides the pen around the bottom of the paper and then pushes it back to me.

"When can I get my phone back?" She asks looking up at me through her thick long and full eyelashes again.

"Marco, my computer tech has it. He is installing the tracker on it. Olivia I have been very kind and understanding haven't I?" She looks at me like I've lost my mind. No doubt to her I have but she doesn't answer she just stares at me.

"I am usually not this generous with people but I'm giving it a shot with you since you agreed to work with me but the second I get resistance from you in any way it will be revoked, and bye bye Mr. Nice Guy got it?"

"Got it." She lets out a breath of air nodding rapidly. She actually took our little meeting better than I expected. This girl is going to give me trouble I can already see it. There's a fire burning inside of her aiming right at me but I'm ready to fight fire with fire but she will be the only one burned.

"Let me show you to your room."