My Mafia Madness 3

Chapter 18 - What a Strange Coincidence

Two more months passed by in a chaotic blur for both Dante and Alexa and before they knew it, Christmas day was only a matter of days away.

By now the young mother-to-be was five months into her pregnancy and beginning to feel a sudden need to busy herself with something that she enjoyed; not only that, but something that would give her a sense of being and purpose.

Living with a Mafia Don had its perks obviously, but it also gave Alexa a lot of free time, now that she had not been at work since becoming Dante’s assistant.

Not that she didn’t want to work.

Alexa had always believed that with hard work came the earned rewards. That you get what you give out of life.

Having been brought up with hard working parents of her own who struggled to give her everything that they could afford, Alexa did not like things handed to her on a silver platter, even when they came from Dante.

Though that didn’t seem to stop the wealthy Don from spoiling his fiancé rotten whenever he got the chance.

Especially around this time of the year.

Christmas had always been Alexa’s favourite holiday to celebrate, ever since she was a little girl.

The glittering decorations, the cheerful music, the wonderful food and of course, the company. Family and friends… it was a time to be thankful for the things you had.

But even with the exciting holiday just around the corner, Alexa had been entirely focused on finding herself that dream job; one that she would enjoy and one that would also allow her dreams to come true.

And now she had the chance to do it for real!

With Dante’s support, Alexa could finally follow her dreams and dip her toe into the exciting world of singing professionally, in front of hundreds of people.

And with an impressive work portfolio as outstanding as hers, the young beauty would have no difficulty finding herself a suitable job in no time, especially in a city as big as New York.

After already meeting up with Sandra Holland, the Manager and person in charge of hiring new acts for Dante’s most popular nightclub, ‘High Stakes’, Alexa had somehow managed to blow the woman away with her incredible vocals and obvious talent.

Alexa was hired right there on the spot!

And not just because she was Dante’s fiancé.

That important fact had been wisely left out during her interview and audition.

Alexa wanted to ensure that she got the job based on her talent alone, and not on Dante’s popularity and wealth.

At that very moment, the excited mother-to-be was eagerly signing her new contract as she and Sandra both stood in the Manager’s Office of the nightclub.

Alexa had agreed to sing at the prestigious nightclub on a part-time basis to begin with, with the possibility of increasing her hours should she do well.

With a large, proud smile spread wide across her face, Alexa handed her signed contract over to Sandra and shook her hand to officially seal the deal.

“Congratulations, Miss Myers-” Sandra beamed happily, but Alexa quickly cut her off.

“-Oh, please, call me Alexa.” Alexa insisted warmly.

Sandra nodded.

“Of course. I’ll have this copied for you before you leave. I’m sure that Mr. Romano will be very happy to hear the good news.” the middle-aged woman spoke over her shoulder as she began heading towards the large printer located in the corner of the room.

Having only heard the last part of what Sandra had just said, Alexa now thought about how Dante might react to such news and suddenly felt somewhat concerned.

An uneasy sensation rose from the pit of her stomach the more she thought about it.

Would her fiancé be happy about her new job?

Or would he be furious that she had gone and done something this big without his say so?

After all, it was originally Dante who had suggested that Alexa take the job as singer in his nightclub a while ago, before their trip to Italy. So, therefore it was his idea in the first place.

And the man didn’t exactly own her in any way, shape or form.

Alexa rightfully felt that she should be free to make her own choices in life, even while carrying Dante’s first child.

And this was ultimately her dream come to life; to sing professionally in front of others

After all this time, she would finally get to start living her dream…

So why was she feeling such terrible guilt and fear about having to tell Dante?

“Alexa?”

The sound of Sandra’s concerned voice broke her concentration and pulled Alexa from her apparent daze as she blinked several times, shaking her head before voicing a reply.

“Oh… sorry, what were you saying?”

“I asked if you needed a lift back home?” Sandra queried with a smile as she handed the copied contract over to Alexa.

“It’s quite late.”

“Oh, thanks but I already have a ride waiting for me.” she assured her new employer, tucking the contract away into her purse.

“I can not thank you enough for this opportunity, Ms. Holland-”

This time it was Alexa who was cut off.

“-Please, it’s only fair for you to call me Sandra.” the excited club’s Manager insisted with a smile.

“I’ll be working with you very closely until you feel comfortable enough here in High Stakes, Alexa. Our first scheduled practice session will be Monday morning at eleven.”

“Will we meet here at the club?” Alexa queried to confirm.

Sandra nodded her head as she spoke.

“Yes. You don’t need to bring anything, just that wonderful voice of yours.”

Alexa blushed, though she fought to try and hide it.

“And if there is anything else you can think of to ask, or anything you might need, you have my number. Make sure you use it. I’m available twenty-four-seven, night and day.” Sandra continued to explain.

“Once again, congratulations! I look forward to working with you.”

With one last handshake, the two women parted ways and Alexa headed back out through the office doors and into the adjoining hallway which would lead her back out into the heavily packed nightclub.

The moment she stepped out into the hallway the thumping bass sound of the music coming from the main area of the nightclub filled her ears as she closed the door behind her.

Turning around, Alexa’s chocolate brown eyes immediately locked onto both Luca and Nicola who were leaning up against the wall opposite her, each with smug smirks on their faces as they turned to her.

“Well, piccollo? How did it go?” Nicola asked, pushing off the wall and making his way over towards where she stood.

Luca walked along with him, stopping just beside Alexa as she spoke.

“I got the job.”

Both men’s smiles suddenly spread wide as Luca leaned in and gave her a congratulatory hug.

“I knew it!” Luca admitted with excitement.

“You have the voice of an angel, piccollo.” Nicola added as Luca and Alexa parted to turn to him.

“They would have been fools not to hire you.”

Alexa frowned, suddenly finding herself confused by what Nicola had just admitted.

“Wait, when have you heard me sing?” she queried.

Suddenly realising his mistake, that he had just admitted to having spied on her along with several others months ago in the private jet when she was alone and singing to herself, Nicola pursed his lips tightly together and turned as he spoke over his shoulder.

“Come on, it’s late. We need to get you back home or the boss will have a fit...”

Still frowning, Alexa turned to look at Luca, but he too held a guilty expression on his face as he began ushering her forwards to follow along behind the underboss.

Alexa knew right then and there that they were keeping something from her.

And of course, she would do whatever it took to find out what it was.

-

Following along behind Nicola, Alexa walked with Luca just behind her as the trio began making their way towards the main entrance up ahead.

As the large second-in-command parted the crowd in front of him, Alexa had her head down as she moved along on auto pilot.

She was trying not to meet anyone’s gaze, for fear of being recoignised by someone.

For fear of becoming a target in such an open and public place. And with only Nicola and Luca there to protect her.

But tonight, someone would recoignise her…

“Alexa? Alexa Myers? Is that you?” a somewhat familiar husky voice spoke aloud, somehow able to cut through the loud noise of the thumping music and clubbers surrounding them.

Upon hearing the voice, Alexa immediately halted in her place and lifted her head up to meet with the familiarly unforgettable eyes of none other than Nicholas Valentino himself!

She couldn’t believe the chances as her mouth fell open and her eyes widened.

“Nicholas?” she found herself querying aloud.

He smiled, a dazzlingly captivating smile as he moved in closer from where he had been standing by the bar, waiting for a drink just as she happened to pass by.

“Wow! Talk about a crazy coincidence.” he mused.

“Actually, I was just thinking about you.”

Her brows furrowed inwards in disbelief as she spoke her reply.

“You… you were?”

“Of course.” he admitted with a single nod.

“How could I forget such a beautiful woman?”

Sensing the obvious attempts at flirting Nicholas was making towards her, Alexa began to feel a little uneasy about being complimented by another man.

A man other than Dante, that is.

“Well, I was just heading off-” Alexa spoke to try and bid him farewell, but it seemed that this dashing stranger was having none of it.

“-Nonsense, have one drink with me before you go, hmm? Just one?” he urged, gesturing towards the bar with a nod of his head in its direction.

“I promise I’ll leave you alone after that.”

She immediately frowned at the idea of consuming alcohol whilst being pregnant.

“You know that I’m pregnant, right?”

“Yes, I am well aware.” he turned and reached out for one of the cocktail menus stored on the surface of the bar.

Alexa watched as he held it out for her to see as he spoke, looking her deep in the eyes while explaining his apparently innocent intentions.

“They have some incredible virgin cocktails here, cara mia. (my dear).” Nicholas spoke with a playful smirk curving the corners of his mouth.

Alexa suddenly felt rather foolish as she pursed her lips tightly together and lowered her gaze.

“Come on, just one drink. It’s my treat.” he prompted with both his brows raised in question.

Still feeling uneasy, Alexa turned her head and looked towards both Nicola and Luca.

Both men had expressions of unease regarding this man, and it was obvious from their current expressions as they met her gaze.

They were not happy about this.

This was a man that they knew very little about and one who was clearly interested in Alexa, in more ways than one. It was rather obvious.

“I… I should probably just go.” she spoke, apparently unconvincingly.

And Nicholas saw his opening in the brief moment of her weakness, swooping in like a hungry vulture to claim its meal.

Stepping in closer he confidently lifted his hand up, positioning it right behind her, at the small of her back as if he were cutting off her exit and instead guiding her back towards the bar.

Alexa rolled her eyes in defeat as he did.

Having been alerted and with their hands steadily gripping at the handles of their guns, both Nicola and Luca watched carefully, waiting for this scumbag to place a single finger on her and give them a reason to use force on him.

But Alexa seemed to willingly follow along with Nicholas’ suggestion as she moved in closer towards the bar.

After all, what was one drink?

It seemed innocent enough... right?

Both men paused in surprise as Nicholas suddenly lowered his hand from its position behind Alexa’s back and instead of touching her, Nicholas handed her a drink from the bar.

It appeared to be a mocktail, just as he had promised.

“Here’s to rescuing beautiful women…” he mused, lifting his alcoholic drink up slightly to make a toast between the two of them.

She couldn’t ignore the feeling coming from within; it was telling her to get the hell out of there right now, but her more logical side pointed out the fact that it was just one drink.

Nothing more and certainly nothing dangerous at this point in time.

Besides, this man already saved her life once before. Why would he have done that if only to harm her now? That just didn’t make any sense.

Sighing, Alexa did the same as Nicholas had, lifting her non-alcoholic drink up too as she spoke her toast, with a smirk of her own.

“To my brave rescuer.”

With that, the two each drank from their glasses, while Nicola and Luca stood close by, watching their every move.

One wrong move made by this dashingly confident stranger, and Nicola was adamant that, crowd or no crowd around them, it would be the last move he ever made.

Swallowing her fruity mocktail down, Alexa cleared her throat before she tried to speak.

Something had been welling in the back of her mind since the day she met Nicholas, back at her birthday concert. And right now seemed as good-a-time as any to get answers.

“Speaking of my rescue… I’ve been meaning to ask about your apparent skill with knives...” she announced with sudden interest.

“How you fought all three of those men off so quickly. And your fighting style… it’s so vicious…” she explained with unease.

“How did you learn to wield weapons in such a way?”

Nicholas chuckled, stirring his drink around in the glass a bit as he began to try and explain.

The key was being as vague as possible. The less she knew, the better off she would be in this whole Mafia war.

And Vincenzo had no intention of harming Alexa whatsoever.

When this plan was all said and done, when Dante and his entire family were dead and Alexa was finally his, Vincenzo planned to give her the entire world should she want it.

But right now, it was all a matter of woeing the beauty with his well-created web of lies.

“I was once in the armed forces… long ago.” he told his lie confidently and with a small smile. It was partially true.

“Were you?” she queried, somewhat baffled by this.

“So you’re telling me you went from working in the armed forces to… corporate business?”

There was obvious confusion and disbelief in her tone, but Nicholas already had an explanation for this.

He had basically prepared an entire backstory for himself, should anyone working for Dante, Alexa included, want to look into his background history.

“That is correct.” he grinned.

“I guess you could say that I needed a break from such a chaotic way of life. Something a little more... predictable.”

Her eyes narrowing, Alexa hummed a response, matching her smile.

“Hmmm… you’re very secretive, aren’t you Mr. Valentino?” she taunted, her left brow lifting in challenge as she took another drink from her virgin cocktail and swallowed.

“Oh, cara mia (my dear), you have no idea...” he spoke with a wide grin.