Debt to the Mafia Prince

Chapter 15

Ezio was sitting down with his feet on the desk. He had changed into an identical outfit as before; black shirt, black jeans and black trainers. He was talking to someone in Italian on the phone, he sounded like he was getting wound up. I caught the majority of his conversation as I waited for him to finish. 

“If he isn’t here by 4pm tomorrow then tell him to forget our deal!”. 

He hung up the phone and slammed it onto the desk, removing his feet in the process. Without turning his head to face me, he ordered me to sit down. My hair was still wet from the pool and was dripping down my back, dampening the dark blue shirt I had recently put on. I placed Ezio’s shirt that he let me borrow onto the table and sat down. It was quiet for a second whilst Ezio tried to calm down a bit before anyone spoke.

“Is everything okay?” I asked him cautiously.

“Your boyfriend seems to have a s**t sense of humour” he replied darkly. I flashed him a look of confusion.

“One of my guys found a package whilst they were out on patrol, a package with my name on it... a packaged from your boyfriend” he started to sharpen his tone.

“When I gave them permission to open the package, they found Tony’s body inside” he explained. 

I was a little shocked at the heartlessness of Michele’s actions. He actually murdered Tony? Not only that but he has gone a step further to send Ezio his body as a gift. I didn’t realise how brutal he could be, especially when he gets angry. I looked up at Ezio who was dismissing the conversation with his hand. 

“I don’t give a f**k about that at the moment, I’ve got more important things to address” he stated, as if Tony’s death meant nothing.

“How much did Michele pay for you?” He asked out of the blue in a dull manner. 

I was silent with confusion as to why he was randomly interested in the transaction between my dad and Michele. I didn’t even know he that he had found out about it.

“How do you know about that?” I countered.

“I’ve known for a long time Amelia” he said impatiently.

“How much?!” Ezio’s tone sharpened.

“8 million”. He didn’t seem shocked to the amount, instead he just laughed sarcastically.

“Who did he buy you from?”

He seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on which only confused me further as to why he was asking me all these questions. I could see in his eyes he already knew the answers so why did he want to hear me say it?

“I think you already know wh...”

“Who needed the money?!” He repeated sharply.

“My dad”

“Why?”. I hesitated to answer that question as it filled me with shame and disappointment. 

“Because he was in debt” I replied, trailing the last word into a whisper with disgrace. 

Ezio finally made eye contact with me and loosened his fists. He seemed to already know that my dad was in debt and he was beginning to test my patience. It’s like he was trying to confirm everything he already knew. 

“How do you know about it?” I repeated.

“Do you know who he was in debt to?” He ignored me. 

“How do you know?!” I yelled and Ezio jumped up from his chair with rage. 

“I’m the one asking the f*****g questions Amelia, not you!”. I braced myself to be struck but he sat back down and repeated his question.

“I don’t know” 

“Don’t f*****g lie to me Amelia!” 

“I’m not lying!” I defended. He let out a deep sigh and sat back in his chair. He placed his elbow onto the arm rest and rubbed his temple. 

“Why does it matter?” I asked him. He didn’t answer, instead he pulled out his phone and started typing out a message to someone. I sat there tapping my foot against the floor quietly, waiting for him to finish. 

“Why do you care about my fathers debt? How did you find out about the payment to Michele?” I interrogated and he sent the messaged he’d typed out. 

“That’s none of your f*****g business” he barked without looking up. 

“Well it is if it has to do with my family”. Ezio raised his eyes at me and then lifted the corner of his mouth in amusement. 

“The family that disowned you when they sold you to the mafia?” He commented. 

His words were like a knife in my chest, reminding me of how little my dad actually cared for me. It was confusing how we could be like best friends one minute and then the next he’s signing my life away.

“He didn’t really have the right to sell me though did he? I’m 24, I am legally an adult. He didn’t have authority over me” I argued. 

“But you went anyway” he stated. I scoffed at his reply and shook my head.

“They needed the money, my dad is never like that. He seemed... scared and if you knew my dad you’d understand the only time he’s like that is when it’s serious” I explained. 

I saw the disbelief in Ezio’s eyes without him having to say anything. I didn’t actually know at the time what Michele was going to do or anyone else for that matter if my dad didn’t pay his debt. But what I did know was that I was preventing anything bad happening to them at the time. 

“Why do you care about all of this anyway? You don’t even know my father” I asked but he ignored me once again. I groaned with frustration and stood up from my seat to leave. 

“Sit back down!” He yelled and I turned to him. 

“Why? You’re just going to ignore my questions!” I concluded. He stood up and walked over to me with a poisonous glint in his eye.

“I don’t have to answer any of your f*****g questions” he spat. 

“Now I’m going to tell you again, sit... down” he growled in my face. I narrowed my eyes at him, challenging his demand. He grabbed my hair and forced me to sit in my seat, gripping my throat once my arse connected with the fabric. 

“Rule number five” he snarled, expecting me to repeat the rule back to him. When I remained quiet, he let go of my throat and smacked me across the face with the palm of his hand. I let out a gasp as my head snapped sideways from his force.

“Rule number five!” He yelled. 

“Never disobey you!” I cried out. 

He gripped my face in his hand to force me to look at him. The anger in his expression frightened me, he looked like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. He hits me without any remorse and seems to actually enjoy it. When Michele has hit in the past, I always saw the guilt he felt in his eyes but not with Ezio, he was proud of hitting a woman. One minute Ezio is protecting me from his brother and is fuming over his men beating me, the next he’s slapping me without a second thought. I couldn’t work him out. What was his problem?

“Punish room, 15 minutes” he ordered.