HER ATTRACTION

NINE: THE WARNING

ITALY

"Boss, Don Leonardo is here, he is in the driveway. What should we do? Shall we open fire?" Roberto asked.

Vincenzo, still in his night robe, dropped the mug of coffee in his hand. "I have been expecting this visit for a long time now. Let him come here and vent."

Roberto bowed and left. Vincenzo gestured for a man to come over. The man came and bent and he whispered something in his ears, the man nodded and stood up. Vincenzo stood up and started going towards the stairs.

"Keep him in the living room until I'm done freshening up," he said to his men.

"Yes, sir!" the men chorused.

Their car pulled up in front of Vincenzo's mansion and Pietro rushed out of the car and held the door open for Don Leonardo. He stepped out of the car, looking proud and tall, he looked around the villa and Roberto came forward.

"Don Leonardo, good to see you."

"Well, I won't say the same for you," Leonardo said and put his e-cigar in his mouth. "I want to see your boss."

"This way please," Roberto said and gestured for them to follow him.

Leonardo looked around the house. This was not his first time coming to this villa, he had been here as a kid more than he was in his father's house. He looked at the field where he had played soccer with Riccardo and where they had played cops and criminals. Their memories were still there, vivid as if they were only yesterday. He puffed out smoke from his mouth and took his eyes away from the field. He looked upstairs, Ilaria was staring down at him from the balcony. She was a beautiful woman whom Leonardo has never seen without makeup. He removed his eyes from her and recalled the day Riccardo had run away from home when his father had brought back his mistress.

They were ushered into Vincenzo's vast and antique living room. Leonardo looked around the house, nothing has changed. The floors were still polished to flawless mahogany, and the antique golden chairs and tables and the flower vases remained the same. The fire in the hearth was on, keeping the room warm. Roberto motioned for them to a seat.

"What shall I offer you?"

"I have not come here to eat nor drink. I want to see your boss. I'm not a very patient man."

Roberto smirked and left them there. Leonardo paced the living room for a while, waiting for the older man to appear, while Pietro and two other of his soldier stood still by the side door, facing De Rossi's soldiers.

It was a full thirty minutes before another soldier came down to the living room. Leonardo was getting impatient. He turned sharply, and the man cowered.

"Don Vincenzo will see you now, please follow me."

Leonardo's hand tightened on his staff and his jaw tightened. The man started going up the stairs slowly, waiting for Leonardo to come up. Leonardo signaled his men with his head and they followed him and the soldier up the stairs. The soldier led them through a dimly lit corridor and opened a door at the end of the corridor. he held the door open for Leonardo and his men to enter, but the young boss gave him a leery look.

"Don Vincenzo would see you now," Vincenzo's man said.

Leonardo went into the room. Pietro and the other men followed him. Vincenzo was seated at his desk, neatly dressed in a black blazer and white button-down shirt. he puffed his cigar and smiled when Leonardo entered. Leonardo looked around at Vincenzo's men that were standing around the room.

"The youngest don is here."

"Where is your son?" Leonardo asked slowly.

"Good morning to you too, Leonardo." Vincenzo put out his cigar. "What brings you here? have a sit and drink with me."

"I will drop a warning. Tell that son of yours to bring my sister back to Sicily first thing tomorrow morning or else, he would be meeting your dead body..."

Vincenzo's men quickly pulled out their guns and some aimed at Leonardo while the others aimed at Pietro and the other Leonardo's men, Leonardo's men pulled out theirs too, Pietro aimed at Don Vincenzo while the other two aimed at Vincenzo's men. The men stayed like that for a while, then Don Vincenzo chuckled and stood up.

"Abbassa le armi!" [lower your weapons] he instructed his men. His men slowly took down their weapons, while he and Leonardo stared at each other eyeball to eyeball. "Our families have come a long way for this," he said finally. "Now, about your sister, I don't know anything about her and I don't know how they met in New York, I was as shocked as you were."

"Bullshit! Do you hear me?! I said that's bullshit. Now, listen very carefully, Isabella is my little sister, and if anything ever happens to her..."

"Leonardo, you are so young and full of energy. Do I need to remind you that I am looking for Riccardo too? He is nowhere to be found and your sister, it was just a coincidence, you can just bring her back to Italy and watch over her. it's not a big deal." He picked up his cigar again. "I should be the one in grief, my only son and surviving heir is nowhere to be found. The police are looking for him in America and those bastards are also after him."

"Isabella has been kidnapped."

Don Vincenzo stared at him, incredibility was written all over his face. His cigar hung in his hand.

"Just pray to whatever it is you believe in to keep her alive and safe. There is no war between us yet until I know what becomes of Isabella," Leonardo said in a slow, cold voice.

Don Vincenzo just stood there staring at him.

NEW YORK

Isabella sat staring out of the window, looking at the pay phone outside the coffee shop, thinking of how she was going to escape from this man. She had thought he was a good man for saving her life, but now, she didn't know what to think anymore. He had collected her phone so that she won't be able to communicate with anyone and yet he said he did not kidnap her. If she could just find out where they were, she would escape.

He came back to the table with two cups of coffee and set them down with a smile. He went and brought the toasts and set them in front of her. She eyed the plates in front of her and said nothing. He took his seat in front of her.

"You need to eat, bellissima, you need strength."

If she needed to escape, she would need to gain his trust. "Where are we?" she asked lifting her coffee and putting it to her lips.

"Bronxville."

She sipped her coffee and nodded. "Mmh."

"I have some money that would get us some decent clothes and a lodge, we've been on the road since the previous night and you need to rest."

"And then what?"

"What?"

"We get an inn and stay and do what next?"

"I will figure out how we would go back to Italy."

Isabella dropped her mug. "Are you kidding me right now? You are planning my life already?!"

"That's the safest option available."

"No, the safest option is that you let me go!"

"Bellissima, don't shout. We have been over this a couple of times since we met, I don't know why you keep talking about it and refuse to listen. It's dangerous for you out there and I don't want to talk about this anymore, it's beginning to piss me off. Just follow my lead and keep calm for a while."

Isabella held her face in her palms and exhaled deeply. "I am screwed."

"Where are you from?" Riccardo asked.

She raised her face and looked at him. "Don't ask me anything."

"Listen, bellissima..."

"I said not to call me that!"

"But you never told me your name." He got nothing from her but a glare. "You still don't believe that I don't know you before? None of this is planned or staged, fate just brought us together."

"You must be a psycho," came her cold reply.

"Mmh mmh." He shook his head. "You don't call me names."

"And you don't ask me irrelevant questions. If I must stay with you, you must not speak to me, unless when necessary until you get me back safely to where I belong."

Riccardo sipped his coffee. "Drink up, we have a lot to do."

The cop dropped the picture in front of Adrian. "We were able to finally get footage of the man from the hotel. He is Italian, about 6 ft 2, with dark hair, and grey eyes. That is the description the hotel receptionist gave us. Do you know if this was the man you saw?"

Adrian stared at the picture for a while. "I didn't see him, alright? It was dark and he was like a shadow and everything happened so fast, I wasn't considering his appearance, all I thought about was that Bella was inside that car."

"It's alright. My team is working on it. Meanwhile, if you should notice anything strange or suspicious, you should contact us or even if you remember anything."

Adrian did not answer, he sat there, placed his elbow on the desk, and supported his head with his hand. The cop held his shoulder and squeezed it before leaving him.

They ended up in a thrift shop and Isabella watched the man with dismay as he picked out stupid thrift dresses for her and expected her to say something. He had already chosen two t-shirts, jeans and a pair of chinos pants. She didn't try to pick up anything, she stood there, arms folded.

"Will you choose something to wear or will you stand there glaring at me?" he asked, becoming irritated again. "We need changes of clothes, we need to survive, so don't be stubborn, I don't really want to show you the other side of me."

She scoffed. "Other side of you?"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her with him outside the clothes store, dragging her to the back. He pushed her to the wall and pinned her hands above her head, his face a few inches away from hers.

"You are really provoking me, bellissima, and I am not a gentleman at all. I am using up all the gentleness I know about here, so stop...stop provoking me."

"Or what?" she asked in a low, daring voice that came off to him as sexy.

He stared into her eyes for a while, breathing heavily. She was feeling hot under him and his face very closer to her churned up flutters in her abdomen.

"When we get a lodge, I will tell you who I am, so until then, get your f*cking act together." He left her and started moving away.

She glared at him as he went away for a while and took to her heels. "Someone help! He kidnapped me! Call the cops!" she yelled as she ran.

He turned back and was taken aback when he saw her running and screaming. "s**t!" he exclaimed and followed her. She wasn't running fast enough and he had trained himself so well that he was a fast runner. He caught up with her in no time and grabbed her from behind.

She kept screaming and kicking her legs. Passersby thought it was a lover's quarrel, so no one paid heed to what she was yelling.

He started carrying her back to the clothes store. "Can you keep quiet, bellissima!"

"He kidnapped me! Somebody help!"

He set her down to face him and she made to run away again but he held her arm. "You asked for it," he said and hit the side of her neck, she yelped and went still. Falling forward, he brought his body closer and she fell on his shoulder, he lifted her and carried her to the car, pushed her inside, and locked the doors. He started back to the clothes store to pick up any suitable clothes for her to change. He glanced back at the car.

"What a stubborn woman?" he muttered to himself.