Ciao, Amore [Carlos Sainz]

Cinco

There was the city called Imola. It was small, placed in northern part of Italy. A place where she met Romain Grosjean. Young Alessandra was just an ordinary stripper without any perspective or goal for the future. Abandoned as Emmanuela Butera by her parents on the street, she was found by Mattia Binotto. A man who made all of his daughters work for him as soon as their female curves started to be visible. Alessandra started almost immediately. She was young, vurnerable, innocent, so she's soon became client's favourite. She worked hard every night without breaks and slept the whole day. The money she earned went straight to Mattia's pocket, but she was rewarded with a warm place to sleep and two meals per day. One night Alesssandra was preparing with other girls for going out to the club and make money for Mattia, when Mr. Binotto payed them a visit in their changing room. He informed them about special guest in a club, business man from United States. Mattia wanted them all to be perfect in order to make a good impression. She wondered then what kind of a business man could do business with owner of the strip club. Once they were realised from the changing room, the girls spread all over the place looking for the guest from United States. Such visits were the only chance for them to escape this place, but Alessandra lost her hope for it a long time ago. While her colleagues continued their searching, she approached the scene and started doing the only thing she was good at. She moved her body to the music, amusing the gathered and potential clients for later. From where she was standing Alessandra could see the VIP longue, her boss inside as well as mysterious man from across the ocean. He caught her vision from upstairs for a slight second, before turning back to Mr. Binotto.

After some time one of Mattia's bodyguards approached the stage and asked her to go with him. Alessandra followed him all the way to VIP longue. When the door was opened before her, her hearts started to beat a little bit faster. Binotto and the man were sitting on the opposite sides of glass table. As soon as she entered the room, the businessman's blue eyes locked on her. He was handsome, but too old for her. His expensive tuxedo only confirmed her suspicions about Mattia doing business with the mobsters around the world. The man was observing her for a long time, studying every detal of her almost naked body. She was waiting for him to say "turn around for me", but it didn't happened. "You're a very lucky guy, Mattia". He spoke with hearable accent, but not American one. "What's your name, darling?". He smiled to her, though Alessandra found it disgusting in such situation. If he wanted to have sex with her, he could just ask. "Emma". She answered with no emotion in her voice. "Short from Emmanuela". Mattia immediately added. "I don't like it". The man scratched his beard, turning towards Mr. Binotto. "But we can change that. How much?". Mattia scoffed and shook his head. "She's not for sale. She has too much value for me. My clients like her. I'm sorry, but you have to pick someone else". The man nodded, pursing his lips together. "I'm not surprised. How much?". Alessandra swallowed hard as the man seemed to not take "no" as answer. "Mr. Grosjean, she's not for sale". Mattia repeated, his voice turning into a growl. "How much?". Mr. Binotto special guest bent over the table, asking the same question again, only slower this time. "Are you having fun, Mr. Grosjean? Would it be fun for you if you came back to New York with empty hands? Because, I'm afraid I'll have to tell Mr. Webber about your shameful behaviour".

Suddenly, the man pulled the gun from under his jacket and pointed it at Mattia. The Italian didn't have time to alarm anybody as three bullets pierced through his body. Alessandra covered her mouth to trap the screams inside her. Mattia's white shirt turned red in the blink of an eye. His body went numb and slid on the couch. Mr. Grosjean hide his gun into the inside pocket of his jacket, stood up and knock on the window of VIP longue. Shivers ran down Alessandra's spine as she heard another shots downstairs in the club, screams of girls she knew half of her life and the glass smashing. Romain observed the show, enjoying watching all those people die. Then he approached her, lay his hands on her shoulders. She became his property. From one filthy hands to another. That night Emmanuela died too and Alessandra was born. Romain gave her that name, before his private jet touched the American soil. The defender of men. He said she'll be their secret weapon, the remedy for all Mr. Webber's problems. She didn't dare to ask or speak. She wondered what was so special in one stripper and why some mob was so focused on getting one for themselves. Staright from the airport, they travelled to the house outside the city. From the street it looked normal, but inside it resembled school. While Romain was guiding her through the halls, she noticed girls like her sitting in a room. Guns spread on a table before them.