"We need to talk before you see the others." He shrugs nonchalantly. "And you have a very boring sense of style, Cerise, how old are you? In your late sixties?" He shuts the wardrobe's door and goes to the bed, plopping down in the middle as I gape at him.

His eyes drop from my face to my chest and sweep over my exposed legs. I resist the urge to squirm away as my body grows ridiculously hot. At the next beat, his entire attention fixates on my face.

"What the hell!" I'm about to throw my hands up in exasperation but stop myself in time and grip my towel tighter, fixing him with a hard stare. "Get out."

He snorts. "Don't flatter yourself, I'm not here to watch you get dressed. We're on an imminent deadline and we need to work quickly." He leans to the nightstand and takes a piece off of the pastry on the small tray, placed next to a cup of coffee.

My breakfast. I glare at him as he pops it in his mouth and quirks his eyebrows as if saying, well what are you waiting for?

"Can you please get out of the room?" I mutter through gritted teeth.

"No, I just told you, we need to talk, I'll do the talking, while you... change." Once again, his gaze fleets over my frame.

I inhale sharply, and clutch the towel harder. "I'll file a harassment case against you if you don't leave in five seconds."

He snorts, "By all means, go ahead." Elio waves his hand towards the door. "Although, the last time I checked you were only allowed to practice law in the United States of America which is only eight hours away by plane. Surely that's a minor hiccup for a great prosecutor like you."

"So, I am in Italy?"

He nods, answering in a thick Italian accent, "Sicilia." Elio smirks at me.

I'm tempted to ask how they brought me here, but I'm only in a towel that barely reaches my mid-thigh. Even though he's been decent enough to not ogle me constantly, it doesn't make the situation any more comfortable. 

His deep chestnut eyes bore into me as he leans back, planting his palms behind himself wide apart on the bed.

"I want to pick up my clothes," I grumble.

"Are there invisible obstacles? Go ahead."

I clench my jaw and purse my lips. Asshole.

A smirk lifts his lips. "I can assure you I've seen enough naked women, much more agreeable than you, to not lose my head if you accidentally dropped your towel."

I glower at him. "You're an asshole."

"Weren't we already settled on that?" He arches a brow, still smirking.

With a huff, I march to the wardrobe and open its door.

"So tell me, Cerise, do you have any close friends?"

I pull out the nearest white shirt and scowl. "That's none of your business."

"Believe me, I wouldn't ask you anything that has nothing to do with my business. So, is there anyone who might have noticed you're gone?"

The first name that pops into my head is Ruby, but I can't say that. In case things go sideways, I don't want her life to be in danger. I shake my head no as I pick up my jeans. I really need more clothes if I'm going to stay here for a while.

"I won't hurt this friend of yours... I'm not asking so I can have a means of blackmailing you, I'm just curious... there's no missing file report on you, it's a little concerning."

My brows furrow. No one noticed I've been gone? Today's the third morning I'm here.

It stings though I swallow against the tightness in the back of my throat. "And why is it concerning?" The way his unwavering gaze burns holes into my back worries me I might haven't sounded confident.

"Someone reported you missing, but it was taken down about two hours later... don't you find that suspicious? It's as if someone wants you to stay here... a woman named Ruby filed the missing report, do you know her?"

My breath hitches. A sudden flare of fear spikes and I spin around. "If you hurt her, I will ensure you're executed. I will kill you if you so much as consider harming her. Legally or not, I will kill you, so stay the hell away from her and do not ever utter her name again."

His eyebrows jump up with surprise as he holds my gaze. For a long moment, we stare at each other before he smirks. "Looks like we're affecting you way sooner than expected. Hanging around us has been a bad influence on you."

I blink with confusion. Why the fuck he seems delighted to hear my warning? Because he's fucking crazy, that's why.

"Don't worry, unlike you attorneys, I don't lie. When I told you I'm not going to use your friend as a source for future blackmailing, I meant that."

I look away. "We don't lie," I mutter but he doesn't answer and only glares at the door.

"Your father was the one who told the police to take it down," he adds.

I immediately face the wardrobe, clutching its door for support as I hide my horror-stricken face.

Dad wants me to stay with the mafia? He can't possibly be scared they'd kill me if the investigation goes on... then why stop the federal force from looking for me?

I bite my bottom lip to stop it from quivering. Carefully, I bend down, making sure to not let the towel slide from the back of my thighs too high up as I pick up my underwear from the leather bag on the floor of the wardrobe and place it between my white shirt and jeans.

"Any guesses why your father did that?" Elio gruffly asks from behind me, his voice an octave lower than usual.

My heart starts to pound harder, my skin tingling under his scrutiny. The bed creaks slightly and I'm sure he's on his feet.

What if he assumes, I'm in on Dad's plans and he decides to kill me? Or harm Ruby?

I try to shrug. "No idea... maybe he has hired private investigators?" I suggest, facing him.

His eyes have darkened as he treads toward me in slow but firm strides. I gulp noisily as I hold his hooded gaze.

"Do you think your father knows you're with us?" he questions, stopping in front of me.

I crane my neck to meet his eyes and struggle to keep my breathing even. "Depends on which flash drive he has found," I answer in a small voice and he leans down to me.

Feeling like being swallowed whole by his dark eyes, I hug my clothes to my chest and babble on weakly, "I-I mean, if it contains the folder with your mafia's information... then he might assume that, but if he has the other drive, then why would he think I'm with you guys?"

"Sometimes, it's too easy to believe your words... it's almost frightening," he thickly says and my breath hitches in my throat.

His deep voice seeps into me, warming me and freezing me at the same time. I can't tell if I'm nervous, scared, or feeling something else entirely.

He moves his hand to my face, I stop breathing and my eyes widen in alarm. But his fingers furl around a lock of my wet hair. "Are you afraid of me?" he whispers in a rough voice.

"No," I breathe out, holding his burning gaze.

A corner of his lips lifts upwards. "But you do hate me."

It's not a question, just a statement but I nod anyway.

"You know, Cerise." He leans closer to me, his breathing heavy and warm, fanning my face as his fingers glide down my wet hair. "Your eyes remind me of the green light at the end of the other dock Gatsby was so obsessed with... the one he got so close to, but never reached," he huskily says.

I stare at him with wide eyes and my mouth slightly parted. My heart hammers away in my chest as I struggle to breathe evenly and understand the meaning behind his words.

"Each time I'm convinced I've figured you out, you surprise me yet again, proving me wrong." His features harden abruptly and he pulls away. "And I hate being surprised."

Dumbstruck, I gawk at him.

"The Mexicans who broke into your house were Salazar's men," he announces and takes another step back. My jaw slacks. Salazar! The Francisco Salazar's men. The most powerful Mexican mafia in human trafficking.

If killing and kidnapping is an easy task for all mafias, for Salazar is easier than pulling a trigger of a pistol.

Shitshitshit.

Even if I get out of here, I won't be able to stay out of their reach and I don't dare to even imagine what they'd do if they find me.

Elio notices my horror-stricken face and grimly nods. "I don't know how much you're aware of our relations... but if the flash drive containing my family's data is in their hands, we have to prepare ourselves for an ugly blood bath." He runs his hand through his hair.

"My mother told her men to hack into their server, they're still on that... but about two hours ago Francisco invited Hector Rodríguez to his house... which can't be a good sign."

I blink a few times and straighten myself. "Mariano, Rodríguez, Salazar..." I mumble and he cocks his head with confusion. "And Reyes... you four are in one flash drive." I ignore the uncomfortable chill that particular name sends down my spine and continue, "While the Cruz, Esposito, Bianchi, and Antonov mafias will be in the other one."

Elio purses his lips and furrows his brows.

"Now that Salazar has taken Rodríguez to his side, he either has the drive with that mafia's information or he has figured out there's a second drive with his and Rodríguez's information, so he's combining forces."

Rubbing his chin, he gazes at the wall across from him. "If that's the case, we can join forces with Reyes." Satisfied with himself, a small smile curls his full lips.

The name pours a bucket of iced water over my head. Reyes. That dreadful name. I blink away the leader's face before it takes form in my head, crawling out from the depths of my dark and locked-aside memories. I never should have listened to Dad.

Unfortunately, Elio instantly catches on to my discomfort. "Fuck, don't tell me you were the prosecutor of that case."

I avert my gaze, fidgeting with the hem of the jeans I'm pressing to my chest, I nod. It was my first case as a prosecutor... the one Dad guided me and led me to believe if I work hard enough, I might be able to earn his love.

He curses again. "Why the fuck did you change the State from New York to Ohio, just to get the death penalty for the vice president of the Reyes' Cosa Nostra?"

"It was my dad's idea," I defend myself in a high-pitched voice and he throws an incredulous look at me.

"He'd want you dead," Elio says and I feel his gaze burn the side of my head, but I refuse to meet his eyes.

A long moment of silence stretches between us. "You're going to kill me," I flatly voice out.

When he doesn't reply, I turn to him. Elio stares at the window while leaning at the wall near the door. Even though he looks conflicted, it doesn't hinder his handsome appearance. Not that I'm supposed to acknowledge his good looks.

He sighs and straightens himself. "I don't want to kill you," he slowly starts, shoving his hand into his pocket. "But I'm not going to deny it's an option... which I hope we don't get to act upon."

I bite my bottom lip and nod, scrutinizing the patterns on the floor's wooden panels as my heart sinks. "I understand. I knew this might happen the moment I stepped into this line of work... a lot of prosecutors lose their lives. It's okay." With a deep shaky breath, I meet his dark eyes bravely and offer a tight-lipped smile.

An undecipherable emotion burns in them. "It'd be a shame to lose you- uh, I mean, this world needs as many honest and smart individuals as it can get, and losing you would be a real waste of good, working brain."

I snort and roll my eyes. 'Good working brain'.

"I'm serious, Cerise."

My head snaps to him, purely because of the way he said my name. A mixture of firmness and promise, sending tendrils of tingling sensations over my body. I overlook it, convincing myself my affection-starved brain is making up stuff as a form of survival mechanism.

"I won't kill you. Not until and unless you betray me, and make a move that would put my family and Cosa Nostra at risk. As long as you abide by Omertà, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll try my best to stop anyone from killing you. So long as you possess no harm to any of the Marianos and the Fenice business, no one from Fenice will ever harm you, as the capo, I promise."

I blankly stare at him. For my sanity's sake, I desperately want to believe him, but I can't. I will not subject myself to that sort of hurt and humiliation of trusting the wrong person.

Especially a capo's word. Nothing comes beyond money and power for them.

With a sardonic smile, I nod. "Sure."

He expels a sharp exhale as he's about to turn to the door but midway halts and turns back to me. "You have extreme trust issues." Studying my face, he tilts his head. "I wonder why? Or better said who caused it? A shitty ex perhaps?"

I gape at him, "I don-"

He cuts me off, "I'll be in my office, Marco, Pietro, and my mother are waiting too... don't take forever to get ready."

Elio strides out of the room, gently shutting the door behind himself as he leaves.

What the hell!

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I love Gatsby ngl XD so... what do you think that line about Cerise's eyes and the green light of Gatsby meant... do you think it might have implied something... or at least what did Elio mean?

At long last, I have joined TikTok! (My username is: elmirafh_w) =) I'm still figuring out how to use it :') but since I've made it specifically for my stories on WP, follow me there, I'll be posting sneak peeks of the coming chapters.

Also, I've returned to my Instagram too =) I'll be posting this story's aesthetics, mood boards, and stuff like that on there. So follow me if you want. Again it's: elmirafh_w

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote if you did and comment your thoughts, I'd love to hear your opinion about Elio and Cerise and their forming relationship =)

Thanks for reading <3 I hope you're enjoying this story so far.

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading ♡♡♡