IN LOVE FOR A GANGSTER

CHAPTER 3

HENRY

I spent the whole weekend sorting out the company's affairs and some of the problems that debtors still dare to cause me. And yes, as well as being a rich and powerful family involved in the criminal world, we have a place to run with dirty money.

The days out of town were exhausting, and as well as personally collecting from the debtors who weren't paying me as they should, I went to visit the neighboring company's branch to check that everything was going as it should.

And to make my f*****g day worse, I got a call from my father telling me that the plan to bring in that bastard Eduardo Johnson had gone wrong. He's a poor man who took a lot of money from me when he said his wife was very ill. That's what I do, and I lent him all the money the son of a b***h asked for. I expected to receive it all in a short time, but that's not what happened. He started telling me he couldn't pay me back, but I didn't care about lying explanations; I just wanted to receive everything I lent him.

I've never been a good man; I inherited that from my Italian family, and I can say with total pride that I'm the worst member. I don't forgive anyone; I don't do justice; I'm just me, a respected man in the criminal world, one who hates being disrespected or cheated by anyone. There's no such thing as mercy in my work or my life.

With one more problem to solve when I returned home, I asked my father to take care of everything until I got back, but everything didn't go according to plan again. I just wanted to get home, drink a good shot of my best bourbon, and rest, but that couldn't happen either.

I asked my father for an explanation, and he replied that it would be better if we talked in person. Furthermore, I could tell by his tone that the situation was serious, and I tried to find out why there was so much mystery, but he didn't say anything.

When early afternoon began to arrive, I was forced to return to the city to allow myself to rest in the back seat of the car while my security guard and driver drove through the darkened streets. I can and do defend myself very well, whether fighting or armed, but I am a man hated by many. I have destroyed families, humiliated those who shouldn't have, and even killed some with my bare hands, but I didn't like killing; I just used whatever means I could to destroy people so that they would remember that they were involved with dangerous people.

Furthermore, I sighed with relief when the car was parked inside the estate, which was surrounded by security guards 24 hours a day. As Jacob, my security guard, turned off the car, I didn't wait for him and got out of the car without patience.

I walked to the entrance of the mansion but stopped when I heard small sighs that were soon muffled. I looked around, but there was nothing. It was at that moment that I looked up and saw a person hanging from fabric, and I thought that was very crazy.

I walked a few more steps, trying to figure out what the hell it was. I focused my vision and realized that the person hanging was a woman with long hair flying gently in the breeze.

Likewise, I heard the sound of something tearing, and the woman became distressed, still holding on tightly to the fabric rope, trying to reach the ground.

Was that an escape attempt? And why on earth was a woman fleeing from the guest room of my mansion?

I gathered what little information I had and thought that if she was the "problem" my father had mentioned earlier, I still couldn't understand why she was there; she was trying to escape, and that was obvious.

My thoughts were drowned out when I realized that the woman was about to fall; it was a considerable height, and she would surely be seriously injured by falling to the ground.

"Please don't!" I heard her cry out in fear as the clothes came loose, and she grabbed onto the edge of the roof below to keep from falling.

"Jump!", I shouted in surprise at myself. If she falls, she could seriously injure herself or even hit her head and die.

And if she's involved in the mystery I soon intend to uncover, and if she dies, I'll never know or find a way to solve this nonsense.

"No, it's too high; I'm going to fall!" she shouted again, realizing my presence down here.

"Just jump!" I ordered it and almost lost my temper when she denied it again.

"I'll hold you; just jump!" I tried to show a little confidence in my voice.

I had to get her down; I had to know who she was and not let her escape without anyone seeing her, but if she knew who I was, she would never come down or accept my help.

She let go of the roof she was holding on to and screamed before falling into my arms. Through the light coming from inside the house, I could see part of her face; her eyes were still closed, but I could see her blonde hair spread over her shoulders as she clasped her small body in my arms.

She opened her eyes to reveal a pair of light blue eyes. Her expression was still frightened, but her eyes watched me with pure attention.

She noticed that her hands were gripped tightly around my shoulders, but soon stopped touching me.

"Where did you think you were going, amore mio?", I said in my husky Italian, trying to seduce her before she found out who I was and tried to run away again.

Hearing footsteps approaching, the girl tried to break free of my arms, but she failed miserably.

"Let me go, please; I need to get out of here; they're going to...", she pleads fearfully, but Jacob and another security guard reach us.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Vitalle?" When she heard my last name, the girl's blue eyes widened, and seconds later she began to struggle in my arms again.

"The girl was trying to escape and almost succeeded. Be more useful and sort this out; keep an eye on her; I'm going to rest, and I don't want any more distractions tonight." I let go of the girl's body, and she stared at me with a mixture of anger and fear.

She struggles as the other security guard grabs her and tries to take her back into the house.

"If she tries to run away again, lock her in the dungeon!" I use my harsh tone, and when she hears my words, she finally stops struggling and walks inside with the security guard.