My Mafia Madness

Chapter 16 - Dessert

Alexa frowned as she continued to hold her phone up against the side of her head. She’d just divulged to her best friend Willow where it was that Dante had taken her for dinner.

“Willow, what is it? What’s wrong?” Alexa asked, the sound of concern apparent in her voice.

“You’re at Il Luogo right now? As in this very second?”

“Yeah, but I only found out about it when we first arrived here. I swear.” Alexa explained.

“But oh my god, this place is incredible Willow, you’ve gotta see it! And I’ve been drinking one of the most amazing Merlots I’ve ever tasted, seriously. We totally have to buy it for later.”

“Do you remember what it’s called?” Willow asked.

Alexa thought for a moment, but she struggled to recall the exact name.

“Um, I think it was a 1990 Petros… er, Petrum? No, that’s not it…”

Suddenly it clicked.

“Oh yeah, it was Petrus! That’s right, a 1990 Petrus Pomerol or something along those lines. Dante was the one who ordered it, I have no idea.”

“Yeah, hang on a sec. I’ll look it up.”

Willow’s end went silent and Alexa heard the sound of laptop keys tapping away. Her friend must have been searching for the wine using her laptop.

Alexa heard Willow pick up the phone again but the sound of her friend’s voice had suddenly changed entirely.

She sounded frantic, panicked even.

“Um, Alexa… you said 1990 Petrus Pomerol, right?”

Nodding, Alexa replied. “Yeah. Why?”

“Oh nothing…” Willow paused for effect before continuing.

“…except for the fact that a single bottle of it costs like over five f*****g grand! Are you kidding me right now with this?”

Willow’s voice raised to shout at the end of her sentence as she spoke with obvious excitement.

“Oh my god, that’s crazy!” Alexa replied.

“Why on earth would he spend that much money on a single bottle of wine?”

“Because girl, he’s a bloody billionaire, remember?”

Willow sounded suddenly upbeat.

“Still, that’s… well, it’s insane.”

Alexa suddenly felt guilty for having sculled so much of it throughout their little drinking game.

She had probably just wasted like two grand on a couple of glasses of merlot! The idea of such a thing was beyond ridiculous to someone like her.

“Speaking of mister rich pants, how is he?” Willow teased.

Furrowing her brows and closing her eyes, Alexa began to give details.

“Oh my god Will, he’s really handsome. I’m nothing but a walking mess when I’m around him, it’s actually kinda silly. Now I know why he has women practically falling at his feet all the time.”

“He’s that hot huh?” Willow queried.

“f**k yes! Honestly, if given the chance, I’d do him in a second. But… well, you know I’m not here for that kind of thing. This is purely about the job and nothing else.”

“Maybe... for now, but keep your options open girl. Play your cards right and who knows, you might end up with a billion-dollar d**k in your mouth.”

“Oh my god, Willow! Seriously?”

Alexa seemed shocked by her friend’s potty mouth and by the assumption that she would ever do something like that.

Though if she were completely honest with herself, a part of her deep down had wished such things were possible.

She wondered for a moment what a man like Dante would be like in bed...

Shaking the thought aside, she knew that a catch like Dante Romano wouldn’t be interested in pursuing anything meaningful with someone as lowly and plain as her.

She was considered a nobody in the world of the rich and famous.

He would probably only date super models or maybe even porn stars.

And let’s face it, she was no Victoria’s Secret model.

“Right, so here’s what you’re gonna do.”

Willow chose this as her moment to take control and do what her friend needed her to do. To push her in the right direction.

“You’re gonna go back in there, strut your stuff like the hot little b***h that you are, and take that job! You got it?”

With a deep breath in and out, Alexa nodded her head as she replied.

“Ok.”

She knew it had to be the right decision for her to make.

If Willow hadn’t seen anything dangerous about the position, maybe it was all in her head after all.

Maybe this was nothing but her dream job, calling out for her to simply come and take it...

-

Dante had his head down and was busily typing away at his phone when Alexa returned to the table and sat back down into her chair opposite him.

Without lifting his eyes from his screen, he spoke to her from across the table.

“Is everything… alright?”

She smiled, nodding as she replied. “Yes, all good.”

He smiled as he lifted his head up and met her gaze.

“Excellent. Then I believe it’s time for our dessert.”

Alexa frowned with confusion.

“It’s already ten pm. I know you own the place and all, but isn’t it a little late to be ordering dessert?”

He waved his hand dismissively at the idea.

“Not at all. The night is young. Besides…”

Pausing, he suddenly stood up and held his hand out for her to take, before adding one final part to his comment.

“The kind of dessert I’m talking about is located… elsewhere.”

Now she was intrigued.

-

After agreeing to go along with his sudden idea to go for dessert, Alexa walked alongside Dante as they exited their private dining area.

She had no idea whatsoever of where they were even headed.

The two were now arm in arm with one another as they casually strolled along through the middle of the public dining area, earning countless glances and stares from the other patrons in attendance there that night.

Alexa could hear several voices as they passed by table after table, each whispering in shock and bewilderment.

“It’s him!”

“Who’s the girl?”

“Who is she?”

“Do you think they’re together?”

“He’s even handsomer in person...”

“She’s probably just one of his latest floosies.”

“What a slut.”

She had to admit, the last comment really hurt Alexa. But she wouldn’t allow some other jealous stranger’s words to ruin such an amazing evening.

Dante had been nothing but a complete gentleman to her so far and she was really interested in the job he had offered her.

Not that she would sleep with someone to land a job.

Even the idea of it disgusted her.

Alexa was a proud woman, believing that everyone should work to earn what they have.

If Dante’s plan was to ask her to sleep with him for the position, she would blatantly turn it down and go straight to the authorities with a case of s****l harassment.

But that wasn’t the feeling she was getting from him right now.

No, instead she felt a strange and unexplainable kind of safety when she was with him. As if she were well protected from all her circulating fears and concerns.

Why she felt that way, she still had no idea.

-

Once they exited the restaurant through the main entrance and stepped out into the chilly evening air, they were met with a wall of paparazzi who began firing off snapshots, one after the other.

The blinding lights from the sea of cameras caused Alexa to squint, lifting her arm up to cover her face.

Voices called out from each directions, asking Dante an array of questions. It was as if they were in some sort of an interview as they strolled along the pavement.

“Mr. Romano, how was your evening?”

“Is this your girlfriend?”

“Mr. Romano please, you must tell us, who is this lovely lady?”

All of this sudden attention was not what Alexa was used to.

It was a little overwhelming for her to say the least and she continued to shield her eyes.

Dante on the other hand, held a dazzling smile for them, curtly nodding his head towards various members of the press as the two of them passed through and came to stand at the edge of the curb.

He appeared to completely ignore the various questions as they were thrown at him, one over the other.

The same black limousine that had dropped Alexa off earlier on pulled up beside them as they arrived, and the driver quickly came around the front of the car.

He promptly opened the door for them to get in as the flashes continued all around.

“Good evening Mr. Romano…” he greeted them one by one with a curt nod, “Miss Myers.”

Alexa forced a smile as she wasted little time climbing into the limo.

Dante gave one final smile and a wave for the crowd before he too climbed in beside Alexa and the driver closed the car door behind them.

Soon after, the limo took off and entered into the evening traffic.

-

As they drove along, Alexa decided to get right to the point.

She needed to know that she had the job, regardless of whatever happened this evening.

Like everyone else in the world, she had bills to pay and a rent that needed to be met.

Gathering up all of her courage, she opened her mouth and went to speak but was interrupted.

‘Ring, ring… ring, ring...’

The sound of Dante’s ringtone began playing and he let out a long sigh before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling it out.

Glancing down at the screen he quickly turned to face her.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

She nodded.

“Go ahead.”

He then swiped at the screen, answering the call and lifting the phone up against his opposite ear.

“Yeah?”

Alexa sat back against the seat and looked out through the window as Dante’s conversation went on, though she could only hear his side of it.

“Yeah, what about it?” Dante queried.

A murmured reply.

“What?”

Alexa turned her attention towards Dante at the sound of his voice. It had hardened substantially for some unknown reason.

Something was wrong.

“When did that happen?” he demanded.

He pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a moment.

She could tell it wasn’t good news from the manner of his overall posture. He’d suddenly become rather rigid and tense.

She could even see a slightly bulging vein standing out from the side of his neck as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

It was only now that she noticed that he had a tattoo going up that side of his neck. Though whatever it was appeared to be mostly covered by his collar and jacket.

Now the identity of this mystery tattoo was all she could think of.

She wanted to know what it was now hidden from her view, the tattoo’s history and meaning. This guy was nothing but mysterious and she loved the thrilling pull she was getting from him.

“Look, I’ll be there soon. Just keep things under control until I get there, si?” (yeah?)

A murmured voice replied before he spoke again, “Ciao.” and then hung up the phone.

He then proceeded to dial another number and held it to his ear. Now he was calling someone else.

“Aberto, I’m afraid there’s been a change of plans this evening. We need to make a quick stop at the warehouse first, right now.”

Alexa could see the wheels turning within his head as he began putting a plan into place. What it was about or what it involved; she had no clue.

From what she had overheard, it appeared that they were headed to some kind of a warehouse.

“Thanks.”

With that he hung up again and then pocketed his phone.

Suddenly he turned his attention towards Alexa and smiled smoothly. Apparently, he did not feel like sharing too much information with her of his current issue.

“My apologies, Miss Myers. I hate to temporarily put a hold on the evening’s festivities, but this will only take a moment, I can assure you.”

“It’s fine, really.” she quickly assured him. “Is something… wrong?”

“Just a small issue I need to handle in person.”

His response was purposely vague.

The less Alexa knew about his after-hour business, the better off she would be.

Particularly, the safer she would be.

-

The ride to the warehouse only took around ten minutes and Alexa was quite surprised at how close-by it actually was.

The limo slowly made its way down towards the city’s docks and eventually stopped right outside one of the larger warehouses in the area.

Glancing out through the tinted window, Alexa frowned when she noticed several men wearing black suits standing around just outside of the warehouse.

They appeared to be on watch as they scanned their surroundings with precise caution.

“What is this place exactly?” she asked, suddenly feeling a little unease.

“Just one of the many warehouses my company owns.” he replied casually, turning to face her and meeting her gaze.

“Would you prefer to accompany me, or just wait here?”

Alexa thought for a moment.

She felt somewhat safer going along with him rather than being left all on her own in such a desolate place.

She didn’t know why, but this place gave her the creeps.

“Sure, I’ll come.” she agreed nodding.

He smiled just as his car door opened beside him.

Alexa followed him out of the limousine and into the crisp, cool evening air. It was substantially colder outside, perhaps because it was so close to the ocean.

The ocean breeze wafted out across her bare flesh and gave her a sudden chill.

Noticing her shuddering, Dante immediately turned his attention to her.

“Are you cold?”

Her brows went up as she faced him.

“Uh, yeah. Maybe a little.” she admitted.

He wasted no time shrugging off his jacket and placing it over her shoulders.

Alexa froze as he did this, apparently unsure of how to react to such a kind gesture from him; her prospective boss.

“Um, thanks.” she timidly smiled.

“It can get quite cold out here.” he admitted as they started to make their way in towards the large warehouse.

“I don’t mind the cold.” she remarked.

“The whole world is a cold, dark place, Miss Myers.”

Alexa hadn’t quite understood his meaning in that moment, but she would soon learn just how true to his word Dante Romano really was…