When The Mafia Cries

Chapter 2: Breakfast In Jail

Andre sat in an armchair across the bed where the strange woman with the tattoo on her wrist was sleeping. It was morning now and he was waiting for her to wake up so he could interrogate her about her ties with the King’s Gold Mafia. He had waited for her to regain consciousness the previous night but she never did. Now, he would make sure to get the answers he needed.

He had his hand under his chin and was stroking his jaw, deep in thought. He was thinking of the best way to handle the situation so he could get results. He didn’t know who she was or what part she had to play in all of it but he knew not to underestimate her importance in the bigger picture.

The King’s Gold were a deadly mafia family, almost equal in strength and numbers with the Red Cobras and they had been rivals for generations, except for one or two instances when their interests align and they collaborate. Other than that, the King’s Gold hated the Red Cobras. Their matriarch, Carolina Rossi had a reputation of being the deadliest woman alive and she wasn’t known to brand her mark on just anyone. Andre figured that if this girl had the King’s Gold symbol tattooed on her, then she must be a valuable asset to Carolina Rossi and a potential weapon for him to finally bring her and her empire crumbling down.

Should he go hard on this young woman and scare the truth out of her OR should he be courteous and treat her nicely to gain her trust and extract the information she possesses? He wasn’t sure what to do but nevertheless, he would get his answers.

The woman began to groan as she rolled around on the bed, finally waking up from her sleep. She opened her eyes and it took her a few seconds to remember what had happened to her the previous night and where she was. She quickly sat upright and noticed Andre staring at her from his seat like a hawk stalking its dinner.

“Good morning. You’ve been asleep for quite a while. You must have been very exhausted,” Andre said, deciding to go for courtesy rather than fear.

She didn’t respond to his greetings and was switching her focus back and forth from her captor and the door. Andre noticed and proceeded to dispel whatever thoughts she was having about making a run for it.

“You wouldn’t get very far before my men would catch you and bring you back. I would suggest that you stay put,” He said plainly and stood up.

His sudden movement scared her a little and she backed further away from him to the corner of the large room.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me or anyone here. No one will hurt you, I promise. You are a guest here in my home and you’ll be treated as such,” Andre said, maintaining strong eye-contact with her.

“So as your guest, I can leave whenever the f**k I want?” She asked.

These were the very first words she had spoken since Andre found her in the warehouse and it was the first time he was hearing her voice. It wasn’t exactly what he was expecting her to sound like and neither did he expect her to be so bad-mouthed because she looked so innocent. He could tell from her looks that she wasn’t American but he didn’t expect her to be Italian…or at least that was what he got from her accent.

“No! You can’t leave whenever you want,” he answered.

“Then I am your prisoner,” she said angrily.

“I wouldn’t use that word but yes, your movement privileges are limited to anywhere in my home…No further. Your total freedom could be yours, but that would depend entirely on you,”

Andre slowly moved closer to her and the further he came, the harder her heart pounded. To her, this man could not be trusted. There was something about the way he was staring at her that made her feel like she was being stalked. There was a devilish look in his eyes and although he was handsome, his face only invoked her with more fear.

She backed away until she met the wall and could move no more. He reached her, standing at such close proximity that she could feel his warm breath against her forehead as he stared down at her. His eyes were on her face and they trailed down into the open top of her dress. She felt very self-conscious that his eyes had access to her body like this but she didn’t try to cover herself. She knew he was trying to frighten her and although she was, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was making her so uneasy.

Andre slowly raised his hand and brought it toward her face. Her heart was beating. She didn’t know what he was about to do. What was he going to do to her? She wondered.

“What are you doing?” She asked, almost like a whisper as her words constrained in her throat.

“Shh…” He shushed her.

“What the f**k are you doing?” She asked again.

“I said, shut up!” Andre replied softly and yet, it carried venom.

His fingers softly brushed her hair and he wrapped them around the spider nestling on her hair. He brought the bug to her eyeline and showed it to her, causing her to gasp in realization.

“What is your name?” He finally asked as he tossed the dead spider away.

“I’m not telling you anything so if you’re going to torture me, you’d better get to it, asshole,” she said defiantly.

Andre had a foul tongue as well but because he was in the presence of a lady, he had chosen to speak like a gentleman. She, on the other hand, didn't seem to have a filter and there was nothing lady-like about the way she was speaking to him and he didn’t like it.

She was wild and needed to be tamed and he knew just how to do it.

Andre grabbed her chin with one hand rather forcefully and pulled her closer to him so she could stare directly into his eyes. His fingers were pinching into her face and try as she did to pry his hands off, she wasn’t strong enough to.

“I will not be disrespected in my home, woman. If I treat you with respect, I expect respect back. You don’t want to piss me off so I suggest you act like a civilized adult and tell me your f*****g name,” he snarled.

“Gab…Gabriella,” she said.

He let go of her face and she let out a loud gasp and was breathing quite heavily. He loosened his posture and forced out a courteous smile.

“Nice to meet you, Gabriella. My name is Andreas…Andreas Cimaro,” he introduced himself.

Her eyes widened in recognition after she heard his last name; Cimaro.

She seemed to know exactly who the Cimaros were and how dangerous they could be. Whoever this Andre was, she was certain that he was a heartless killer and it made her decide to be less insolent so she wouldn’t invoke his wrath on her.

“It seems you’re in desperate need of a bath,Gabriella,” he said before turning away from her, “The bathroom is just over there and I already had one of my maids prepare a dress for you to wear. It’s in the closet over there,” he pointed.

“A dress? For what?” She asked.

He turned around and faced her.

“Breakfast! You must be hungry and you certainly can’t eat in those filthy rags you’re wearing. When you’re ready, knock on the door and my guard will escort you to the dining area,” he said before walking out of the room.

Alone now, Gabriella slid to the floor and looked like she was about to cry but she held back her tears. She stared at the tattoo on her wrist; her curse, the anchor weighing her down, the symbol of her imprisonment. All she wanted was her freedom but destiny was not in her favour. Being trapped was all she had ever known since she was born into this deadly world of mafias, cartels and drug lords; first at the hands of Carolina Rossi and now, Andreas Cimaro.

.

.

.

Andre was seated in his outdoor dining area by the second storey balcony with a large assortment of food on the table in front of him. He had prepared a magnificent breakfast for himself and Gabriella, wanting her to eat her fill and enjoy herself.

He heard the door to the balcony open and when he looked up, he saw Gabriella walking toward him in the beautiful black dress that he had given to her. She looked divine and for a moment, Andre forgot about his serious desire to find out who she was and could only think about what her body must look like underneath the fabric. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, the dress wasn’t anything overly fancy and neither was the way she made her hair. She clearly wasn’t trying to impress him but despite her lack of trying, she was a stunning sight to behold and Andre was impressed by her god-given features.

He stood up from his seat and went over to her, giving her his hand so he could assist her into her chair. She took his hand and after he pulled out her seat, she sat in it. Andre returned to his chair and spread his arms out at the table.

“Please, help yourself to whatever you like,” he said to her.

Gabriella knew that he wasn’t asking but ordering so she grabbed the cutlery so she could begin. Even if she wanted to be defiant, now wasn’t the best time because she was hungry and despite her situation, she had to eat.

“You clean up quite nicely, I must say,” he complimented.

“Thank you,” she replied, returning the respect he was showing her.

“Is the food to your liking?” He asked.

“Yes, it’s delicious,” she responded.

“Good, very good. I’m glad that you like it,” he said.

They continued eating and as they ate, Gabriella was heavily anticipating when he would start interrogating her about her ties to the King’s Gold Mafia. She wasn’t sure how she would reply to his questions because she wanted to keep her mouth shut and also, she wanted to live. Saying nothing to his questions would surely reduce her chances of accomplishing the latter and it was truly a conundrum for her.

“So…” Andre began to say when the door opened again and his head maid walked onto the balcony.

“Martha, I made it very clear that I didn’t want to be disturbed,” he said to her.

“Forgive me, sir, but something happened last night while the house was asleep and I felt it necessary to tell you immediately you woke up today,” the older woman replied.

“What happened?” He asked with a raised brow.

“Jane, a laundry maid, was harassed by one of your guards last night. I felt you had to know so you can make sure it doesn’t happen again. The girls here all agreed to be loyal and work for you in exchange for guaranteeing their safety and frankly, this wasn’t safe for her,” Martha said.

“The guards flirt with the maids all the time, Martha. I don’t see what the big deal is,” he tried to ward off her complaint as nothing serious.

“He didn’t just flirt, sir,” she cut him off, “he touched her inappropriately. He kissed her forcefully without her consent and ran his hands all over her body. He touched her and would have gone further if I hadn’t walked in on him, ”

Andre immediately stopped eating and looked directly at Martha. Something had just changed in him! Gabriella noticed it in his eyes and she wondered what he was going to do next.

“Are you sure it wasn’t consensual?” He asked in a low growl.

“I’m certain, sir. When I walked in on them, I noticed that she was crying and her clothes had been torn up,” Martha replied.

“Which guard did this?” Andre asked angrily and slammed his hands on the table.

“The one called Ricon,” Martha answered.

“Have him brought to me. Now!” Andre ordered.