Mafia Kings: Adriano: Chapter 37

It didn’t get any better when we left the house.

I took a shower and dressed in a skirt and black lace top I’d gotten from a thrift store. I figured we would be doing a lot of walking, so I went with a pair of sandals.

I would have liked to have put on some makeup, but Adriano was hovering over me from the moment I got dressed.

“C’mon, let’s go, let’s go,” he said impatiently.

Like I was one of his little minions.

Asshole.

He was wearing his suit from last night. It was rumpled all to hell… but he still looked hot.

I hated him for that.

We were already in the car and driving when he asked, “Did you call your father again?”

“I was kind of busy for the last hour,” I snapped.

“Well do it now,” he snarled.

I cursed him silently and pulled out my phone. It was dead.

“I need to charge it.”

He opened up the center console, fished around, and handed me a cord. I plugged it into a port in the dash and heard the ding as it started charging.

I started up my phone after a few seconds.

My heart immediately soared when I saw the little red numbers on my text and phone apps:

17 texts and 5 calls.

“Oh my god!” I said joyfully.

“What?” he asked.

I ignored him and opened up my texts –

And immediately my heart sank when I saw that none of them were from my father.

They were all from my roommate Emma.

…who I was supposed to help with her fashion project today.

I glanced at the time: 1:22.

I was supposed to have been there three hours ago.

“Oh shit,” I whispered.

“What?!” Adriano snapped.

I still ignored him and opened up my phone app, hoping that maybe one had been a call from my father –

But no. They were all from my roommate.

Shit, shit, SHIT –

I hit my roommate’s name on the contact list and lifted the phone to my ear.

“Did you dad call?!” Adriano shouted angrily.

“No!” I snapped at him.

“Then who are you fucking calling?!”

“I forgot I was supposed to help my roommate do something this morning!”

“You have a roommate?!”

“Yeah, I – ”

“Bianca, are you okay?!” Emma said into my ear.

Oh no…

She sounded sick to death with worry.

I’d been prepared for her to chew me out, and she was only worried about my safety.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said.

“Thank God – when you didn’t come home last night and you didn’t answer my calls, I thought you might be hurt! What happened?!”

I hesitated.

I really didn’t want to say, Oh, I met this really hot asshole and had mind-blowing sex.

Partially because it would have made me sound like a bitch who blew off her friend…

But also because the hot asshole was sitting right next to me, and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

So I went with the version of the story that would get me more sympathy.

“Something happened with my dad. I’m sorry I didn’t call – ”

“Is he okay?!”

Emma had heard all about my father’s problems with gambling.

She didn’t know the ugly details, but she knew enough: that he was always getting into debt with bad people and making me and my mother miserable.

“I… I think so – ”

Suddenly Adriano butted in. “You have to tell her to get out of there now.”

I looked at him. “What?”

“…who’s that?” Emma asked.

Adriano’s expression was a mixture of anger and fear. “Tell her to leave the apartment NOW.”

“Why?!”

“Biancaaaaa,” Emma said in a slightly pissed voice, “why does it sound like you’re with a guy?”

Adriano’s eyes bored a hole into me. “You left your ID at the modeling agency, right? Which means they know where you live.”

Ice water rushed into my guts.

“N-no – ”

“They know where your parents live, too. Once they find Sergio, they’re gonna send someone to your apartment.”

Oh fuck…

“Emma,” I said, my voice frantic, “you have to get out of there. LEAVE. NOW.”

“…what?”

“My dad disappeared and the mafia’s after him and they came after my mom last night and they’re coming after me,” I babbled. “So they’re coming to the apartment. YOU HAVE TO GET OUT NOW.”

There was silence on the other end. Then –

“Bianca, you’re SCARING me.”

“Please, Emma, I’m so sorry I dragged you into this, but you HAVE TO GO NOW – please!”

“Okay, okay – ”

“Tell her to grab her keys and walk out NOW,” Adriano ordered. “Not in two minutes –NOW.”

“Emma – ”

“I heard him – who is he?!”

“Put her on speakerphone,” Adriano ordered.

I did.

“Look, there are killers coming to your apartment as we speak,” he said. “Get your keys and leave and don’t come back until you hear from Bianca, okay?”

“O-okay…”

“GET OUT – NOW!” Adriano shouted.

“I’m going, I’m going,” she said in a terrified voice.

I could hear a door close over the phone.

“Good,” Adriano said. “Now go someplace they can’t find out – not your parents’ place, not your boyfriend’s, not any other friends’ – ”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, and my parents are in Naples.”

“Good – don’t go there. Go to a hotel someplace you’ve never been before.”

Emma gave an incredulous laugh. “Uhhh, I do NOT have the money for that.”

“Do you and Bianca use the same cash app? Something like Wise or Revolut?”

“Yeah, she pays me her half of the rent that way, but – ”

“Good. Bianca will send you the money.”

Now I was the one looking at Adriano like he was an alien.

Did this guy not know how poor I was?

“I don’t – ”

He shushed me, which pissed me off, and went back to talking to Emma. “Are you out of the building?”

“Yes, but – ”

“Just go and hang out in a café until the money comes through, alright?”

“O-okay…” she stuttered, frightened.

“And STAY there. Definitely don’t go back to the apartment.”

“What about school?”

“Fuck school,” Adriano snapped. “This is life and death, you understand?”

“O-okay…”

“We gotta go.”

“I’ll call you, Emma,” I promised.

“Please be safe, Bianca!”

“I will. You too,” I said, then hung up.

I looked over at Adriano. “Did you really need to scare the shit out of her like that?”

“Would you rather her get shot in the head?” he snarled.

“No, but – ”

“Those guys who shot up the hotel last night? They’re the ones looking for you right now.”

I felt all the blood drain out of my face. “Then shouldn’t we be getting the hell out of Florence?”

“No. We have to find your father.”

“Yeah – but what’s going to stop them from hurting us?”

Adriano got a savage look on his face that chilled me to the bone…

…and yet somehow made me feel safer.

“Me,” he said coldly. “I’m going to stop them from hurting you.”

I swallowed hard. Then I thought of Emma going to a hotel –

“I don’t have any money to send her,” I said.

He pulled over to the side of the road and opened his phone. “What app do you use with her?”

“Wise.” It was basically the European version of Venmo.

“What’s your name on the app?”

I gave it to him.

He tapped the screen a couple of times, and I got a notification ping.

I opened Wise and my eyes bugged out.

You have 5000 euros from A. Rosolini.

It was the equivalent of $5000 US.

“What the fuck?!” I exclaimed.

“What, that’s not enough?” he asked, confused.

“No, it’s – I can’t accept this!”

“It’s not for you, it’s for your roommate. Send it to her.”

“She doesn’t have to stay at the Four Seasons!”

“She can stay wherever the fuck she wants just as long as she stays out of your apartment. Send it.”

“But – ”

“Do you want her to end up dead?”

“No – ”

“This is the price to keep her safe. So send her the goddamn money.”

I shook my head in bewilderment, then sent the full 5000 to Emma.

About 15 seconds later, a text message came in from her.

WTF?????!!!!!!

I know, I texted back. Just be careful.

B, wtf is going on????!!!!

Tell you later. I promise.

Adriano pulled the car up to a small café next to a string of shops.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Gotta go, I texted, and unplugged my phone.