Mafia Kings: Adriano: Chapter 11

I was not having a good night.

Don Agrella’s lateness was a transparent power play. He was trying to get a psychological ‘one-up’ on us.

I’M the important one around here – and I’ll keep you waiting as long as I want.

Stupid schoolyard shit. It pissed me off.

Then there was Carmine’s annoying bowing and scraping, acting like his family wasn’t just jerking me around. I had no idea how a spineless worm like him had ever survived in the Cosa Nostra.

And then…

The Hot Bitch strolled over.

I’d seen her when I’d walked in earlier.

She was gorgeous.

Not in a supermodel way like the other two whores, though.

More like a beautiful ‘girl next door’ type.

Except her body…

Madonn.

She had curves for days.

Too bad she was a whore.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the BDSM outfit she was wearing, although I had to admit it showed off her rack incredibly well.

I liked the thigh-high boots, too.

But most of all, I liked the hair.

It was a wig, obviously… but the whole blue color?

Who the fuck wears THAT to a mafia thing?

Somebody who doesn’t give a shit, that’s who.

I liked it.

I liked it a lot.

But it bothered me that I liked it.

I didn’t want to give in to the Agrellas’ little power play – their hookers and cocaine. It was disrespectful of them. Like they thought we were shitheads who could be bought off with a blowjob and a few lines of coke.

Which is what made me lose my temper.

Carmine panicked and had his guys move the drugs to the other room – and then I had Carmine order them to leave.

After they were gone, the Hot Bitch came strolling over.

“What’s your name?” she asked in the fakest ‘nice voice’ I’d ever heard.

I’d been watching her out of the corner of my eye. She so obviously didn’t want to be here, so the friendly tone of voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

But… she was hot. VERY hot.

Which I didn’t like.

I had a job to do. A negotiation to run.

She was a distraction – and a dangerous one at that.

So I looked away. “I’m not interested.”

That’s when she dropped all pretenses.

“That makes two of us,” she said in a snotty voice. “But would it kill you to tell me your name?”

I looked over in surprise – and irritation.

Nobody talked to me like that.

Not in my family, and sure as hell not anybody else.

And yet, here she was, giving me lip.

Sort of like that blue hair:

I don’t give a FUCK who you are.

I took a second to look her up and down.

Madonn…

What I’d do to you if I got you into bed…

I decided to play along, just to amuse myself.

And by ‘amuse myself,’ I meant ‘get her goat.’

“Adriano,” I said.

“Bianca,” she replied like she was doing me a favor.

“Women like you are usually better mannered. Or at least pretend to be.”

“And what type of women are those?” she asked tartly.

“Whores.”

Then she surprised me again.

“Well, I’m not a whore, so I guess I don’t have to pretend.”

That didn’t make any sense.

“If you’re not a whore, why are you here?”

She gave me a look of pure contempt. “Do you really have to ask that question?”

“Since I have no idea – yeah, I guess I do,” I said sarcastically.

“Because I’m being paid.”

“For what? To annoy me?”

“What are YOU here for, then?” she asked.

She was pushing me.

She knew why I was here.

She knew what was up…

And yet she was trying to goad me.

Saying you were in the Cosa Nostra – or trying to get someone else to admit it – wasn’t something that was done. Especially not with strangers. It was an invitation to wind up in a dark alley with a bullet in the back of your head.

For the briefest second, I wondered if she was wearing a wire –

And if my family had lost control of the cops in Florence.

Then I remembered that the Agrellas had hired her.

No way would they let a cop into their organization – even if she could take my family down.

I looked over at Carmine – and also remembered how Don Agrella had let the Turk try to kill Massimo, Valentino, and Alessandra.

“To settle some scores,” I muttered.

“I thought your type did that with guns.”

She was getting on my nerves. “And what type is that?”

From the tone of my voice, she figured out she’d overstepped…

But she played it cool.

“People in your line of business.”

“And what line of business is that?”

“The kind that settles scores with guns,” she answered.

Clever.

I looked her up and down again – I couldn’t help myself. But I wasn’t about to admit how much I liked what I saw. “You’re an odd choice for this sort of thing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked haughtily.

“If the Agrellas are looking to butter me up, they should’ve gotten somebody better at this part of the job.”

“And what job is that?”

I decided to quote her from earlier. “Do you really have to ask that question?”

She stood up straight, like I’d offended her. “I told you, I’m not a whore.”

“What are you, then?”

Then she got this look in her eye – this Fuck off and die look.

“Somebody who just got tired of this conversation,” she said, and turned to walk away.

I reached out and grabbed her arm.

I don’t know why.

Yeah – okay, I do know why.

She was hot, for one…

And that attitude?

It pissed me off…

But it also kind of turned me on.

No woman had ever talked to me like that –

And some of the men who had were dead.

I admired her balls.

Plus, I didn’t want her to walk away.

But she didn’t exactly like me putting a hand on her.

“Let GO of me!” she snapped.

So I did.

But she’d piqued my curiosity… and I wanted to know more.

So I decided to play a game with her.

“You’re here for the money – right?”

“Aren’t you?” she sneered.

She was being such a bitch that I couldn’t help but be a dick in return. “No, to settle a score. Keep up.”

She gave me a sarcastic look. “Uh-huh… and this score you’re going to settle – it has nothing to do with business, or money, or whatever it is you do for a job – right?”

Okay, she was a bitch –

But she was smart as a whip, too.

Until that exact second, I hadn’t realized that was one of the reasons I was into her, too.

She was a challenge…

Something I didn’t get a lot of with women. Most of the chicks I’d been with had tried to ingratiate themselves with me so I’d buy them shit.

“Alright, so we’re both here for the money,” I agreed. “How’d you like a little bonus?”

“I’m not sleeping with you,” she said coldly, like I was some douchebag propositioning her.

I couldn’t help but clap back at her.

“Good, I don’t want to catch anything.”

…maybe that was a little much.

She gave me a look of pure hatred and turned away a second time.

I grabbed her again –

And she turned around like a pissed-off alley cat. “Let GO!”

“Hold on,” I said, trying to smooth things over.

Suddenly Carmine was right there beside us.

“Hey – hey – ” he barked –

But he wasn’t pissed at me for manhandling his worker.

He was mad at her.

Made sense. He’d hired her to screw me – and here she was, screwing up his plans instead.

“What’s your problem?!” Carmine snarled at her.

Bianca froze like a deer in headlights.

I wanted to keep talking with her, so I covered for her.

“No problem,” I told Carmine.

He addressed me but kept glaring at her. “You want me to throw her out, Signore?”

“No.” I paused, then added, “I like it rough.”

Carmine looked shocked, like he’d just heard his grandma say she liked to take it up the ass.

He scurried away a second later.

While Bianca was recovering her composure, I said, “Answer a few questions and I’ll give you a tip. No sex required.”

She gave me a distrustful look. “…how much of a tip?”

Ah.

So she could be bought.

My attraction immediately plummeted.

“How does 300 euros sound?”

She thought it over for a second.

Finally she muttered, “What do you want to know.”

“Are you one of the Agrellas’ girls?”

She glared at me. “I’m assuming you mean a prostitute.”

I’d pissed her off again.

Not gonna lie:

I kind of liked making her mad.

“Yes.”

“NO,” she seethed. “I’m NOT.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

She looked conflicted for a second –

And then she said, “My father owes them money.”

Her answer threw me for a loop.

She was being honest. I could see it from a mile away.

But Jesus –

What a shit stain of a father – to pimp out his daughter just to settle some debts.

In my shock, I accidentally revealed my thoughts. “So he whored you out?”

She looked like she was about to punch me. “I swear to God, you make another crack like that, I’ll slap your goddamn face.”

I liked this chick.

I hated her, yeah…

And I wanted her…

But I liked her attitude.

When she wasn’t driving me crazy, that is.

“I’ll remember that for when I wanna get slapped. Why’d your father send you here, then?”

She looked sullen. “He didn’t. I can’t reach him, and they’re gonna break his legs, so I’m doing this to buy him a little more time.”

None of this added up.

The more details I heard, the fishier it sounded.

“That’s a pretty good story,” I said facetiously.

She got pissed off again. “It’s the truth.”

I’d heard a lot of guys swear the exact same thing over the years–

It’s the truth!

Of course, they had no idea I already knew they’d betrayed my family…

Or ripped us off for money…

Or tried to sell us out to our enemies.

It was always the last mistake they ever made.

“The ‘truth’ is just a story people want you to believe until the facts come out.”

“Ooh, that’s deep,” she sneered. “You a philosopher?”

“Philosophers don’t settle scores with guns. Who hired you? Carmine?”

She mentioned some low-level foot soldier for the Agrellas named Pasquarelli.

“Never heard of him,” I said.

“I wish I could say the same,” she muttered under her breath.

I asked if he’d brought her here.

“He took me to some modeling agency, and they got me ready for tonight.”

“Modeling agency?”

That was interesting.

Was it part of the Agrellas’ operation?

Did they recruit girls off the street to be models – and then force them into prostitution?

Of course, Bianca wasn’t privy to any of my thoughts…

So she reacted like I was an idiot. “Did I stutter?”

I let her reply slide. I was in information-gathering mode and I wouldn’t be deterred.

Instead, I gestured to the two supermodels hanging all over Massimo and Lars. My boys knew the girls were just an attempt by the Agrellas to play us.

“What about them?” I asked.

“What about them?”

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease her. “Are they ‘not whores,’ too? Do they have relatives who owe money to the Agrellas?”

She was not happy with me poking fun at her. “No. They just give blowjobs.”

I almost laughed. She was definitely quick on her feet.

“At least somebody’s honest about their profession.”

“That would be me being honest about their profession,” she snarled.

“Uh-huh. And what do you do, exactly?”

She was a student at some fashion design school.

I couldn’t help but look at her clothes, which looked better suited for a BDSM club.

The outfit was expensive… but it made her look cheap. Like she could be bought.

I didn’t like it.

No matter how good her tits looked in it.

“Did you design this?” I asked.

“No. The modeling agency provided it.”

I felt relieved, which surprised me.

Why would I care whether she made clothes like that or not?

“Good,” I said.

“Why ‘good’?”

“Because you may not give blowjobs for money, but you’re sure as hell dressed like it.”

“Blowjob couture,” she said in a sarcastic voice.

God damn she was fast with a quip.

“Pretty much,” I said with a smile.

Then she said the modeling agency had dressed her that way. “They wanted me to look like a high-class escort.”

Again, I couldn’t help myself.

“I don’t know about the ‘high-class’ part.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why dress high-class when there’s nobody with class around?”

Okay. THAT’S enough.

I’d let her push back a little too much, and she was getting a little too full of herself.

“Careful,” I said.

“I’d say the same to you, but you ignore almost everything I say.”

That piqued my interest. What hadn’t I ignored?

“‘Almost’?”

“You haven’t made another crack about me being a whore.”

“The night is still young. So let me get this straight: your father owes money to the Agrellas. They said you could work off some of it if you came here and… did what, exactly?”

She shrugged. “Talk.”

What the hell?

The Agrellas had just let this chick come in here and were going to pay her to – what – irritate the shit out of me?

“Talk?” I said in shock.

“Yeah.”

“Talk is cheap.”

“Not that cheap, apparently.”

I frowned. “How much did they say they’d knock off your father’s debt?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she said snottily.

Bitch –

I’m the one PAYING your ass for information.

“It is if you want to get your tip,” I said coolly.

She looked at me like she hated me.

Too bad it made her look even hotter.

“…3000 euros,” she finally said.

Now NOTHING made sense.

This chick’s father owed money to the Agrellas…

And now they were basically paying her three grand to talk?

Something was way, way off.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“No,” she snapped.

I didn’t say anything because I was running through all the possible reasons the Agrellas could be doing something so stupid.

When I didn’t answer, she got defensive. “What?”

“They’re vastly overpaying,” I said.

It was sort of a joke – but mostly the truth.

“Maybe if I enjoyed talking to you more, it’d be a bit more entertaining,” she snapped.

I was this close to throwing her over my knee and spanking her ass.

“So you have to enjoy a job to be any good at it?” I asked, setting her up.

“It helps.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy giving blowjobs, then.”

That’s when she slapped me.

Did not see THAT one coming.

And she did not pull her punches.

“Fuck around and find out, asshole!” she yelled as she stomped off.

Five things went through my head at the same time.

One: I wanted to kill her.

Two: it made me want to fuck her even more. Not gonna lie, it kind of turned me on.

Three: I was mad I hadn’t seen it coming. Dominatrix Barbie had basically just sucker-punched me. What the hell did that say about me?

Four: My respect for her went up a ton.

Bitch had balls of steel, that was for sure.

Either that, or she was stupid – or insane.

Nobody in their right mind would slap a made man of the Cosa Nostra. It was a one-way ticket to a shallow grave.

It reminded me of something I might have done: crazy, stupid, and ballsy as hell.

And five: I remembered why she’d been talking to me in the first place…

So I decided to put her in her place.

After all, I was still pissed.

I reached into my pocket and ripped a couple of bills off my bankroll. “Hey – you forgot your tip.”

She stopped and looked around at me.

She hated me – that much was clear from the look on her face.

But there was also this desperation in her eyes.

I knew she was fighting the urge to come back for the money.

Part of me hoped she wouldn’t…

…but then she disappointed me.

She sold out – just like they all do.

Doesn’t matter if they’re a whore or a hitman –

They all sell themselves out for a little bit of money in the end.

She walked over with a pathetic look on her face…

And her hand reached out for the cash.

I could’ve been a dick and jerked it back, but I decided not to.

Giving it to her would be a nice Fuck you, princess.

And then…

…she surprised me again.

Hatred flooded back into her eyes and she thrust her middle finger in my face.

“Stick it up your ass,” she hissed, then turned and walked away.

I stood there in shock.

In 28 years of my life –

And over 12 years in the family business –

Nobody had ever done that.

Nobody had ever turned down money and told me to go fuck myself.

Especially somebody who really needed it.

She valued herself.

That was rare.

I’ll admit, what she’d done had pissed me off –

But it also made me respect the hell out of her, too.

Madonn…

What a woman.

As she stormed off into another room, Carmine came running over.

He played at being outraged on my behalf, but he couldn’t quite hide his glee underneath the anger.

“Signore – I am SO sorry – I will have her removed and punished at once!”

I knew I should be mad at her.

After all, she’d just bitch-slapped me in front of one of my enemies.

Made me look like a fool.

And I was sure Carmine was going to tell his boss, which would make the negotiations that much harder.

He’s weak!

He let a WOMAN hit him!

But I wasn’t mad.

Well –

Okay, yeah, I was.

Pretty damn pissed, actually.

But I also had the deepest respect for what she’d done.

I didn’t have any enemies I respected – certainly not Carmine or the Agrellas.

She was worth a thousand of those spineless worms.

“No… don’t,” I said to Carmine. Then I smiled the tiniest bit. “I kind of like her.”