I am on my way home after a long day at the office. My family and I got back from Sicily a few days ago. Once we got back, I decided to start working at my dad’s company. Helping Aurora at her office the other day reminded me how much I love my career.
I finished my master’s a year ago and decided to take a break before working. I am not working for the mafia business but I am working for the one we use to deceive the government where all our money comes from. My father has a construction company. We build houses, hotels, anything, you name it, and we build it. We also have a few apartment complexes we rent out all over the United States.
I park my car and walk inside the house. I take the stairs up to my room. Once I am in my room, I take off my clothes and hop into the shower. After I am done showering, I walk downstairs for dinner. I find mom and dad already seated at the dinner table; Santiago is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t live here, so I am not surprised he isn’t around.
“Hello, Honey, how was your day at the office?” Mom says as I take my seat.
“It was a bit stressful but fine.”
“Were you able to get everything done today?” Dad asks.
“Not all, but most. Hopefully, I should be done tomorrow.”
“That’s good, Dear. I need you to do something else for me.”
“How can I help Dad?”
“The company is renovating the Costanzo hotel in California. Please, I need you to go down there tomorrow and see how everything is going?”
“No problem, Dad. I can do that tomorrow.”
“Lorenzo’s boy is in town, so once you arrive in California, pay a visit to him, ask if he has any complaints or additions he wants to make to the building.”
“I will,” I say, wondering which of Mr. Costanzo’s sons is in California. I hope it is Thomas because we get along well, I also hope it’s Stefano, a little part of me wishes to see him.
The following day I took the earliest flight to California. I just finished visiting the hotel, everything seems to be going fine. I am on my way to visit Stefano at his office. I don’t know if I am happy, he is the one in town. Knowing the type of person, he is, my mood can change from being happy to planning his death.
It is a little late in the evening, I am going now because there was a lot, I had to check at the hotel site. I arrive at his office after a few minutes of driving, I pay the taxi driver and walk into the building. He knows I am coming, so he asked the receptionist to walk me to his office. Once we arrive, I thank her for bringing me and knock on his door.
“Come in,” he says.
“Hello, Stefano,” I say walking in.
“Hello to you too, Andrea,” he says, for some odd reason hearing him say my name causes a shiver to go down my spine. I like the way my name rolled off his tongue. His Italian accent made my name sound hot. I shake my head to drive away the nasty thoughts that want to start building in my head.
“How are you doing?” I say, trying to make small talk before we start with the business meeting.
“When will your brother get here?” He asks, ignoring my greeting while looking at his wristwatch, checking the time.
“He is not coming, why are you looking for him?” I ask, a little confused as to why he is looking for Santiago
“I presumed you both were attending the meeting and also in town for inspections of the renovations.”
“And why is that? You don’t believe I can do it alone because I am a woman,” I say, offended at his assumption.
“I do not believe so, Miss Andrea,” he says, putting emphasis on my name. If I did not know better, I would say he is offended by my own assumption of him.
“Then why are you asking for my brother?”
“I asked for him because he has been in the business longer than you have, and I am also familiar with his ways in making deals. I assumed you were here to learn how the business works, and you just arrived before him. It has nothing to do with the fact that you are a woman.”
“Oh, I am sorry I assumed that.” I say.
“It’s fine, please let’s get down to business.”
“Sure, let’s begin. I am here to take in any complaints or additions you would like to make to the renovation of the hotel,” I say, taking a seat in front of him.
“Unfortunately, there are quite a few complaints and additions I would like to make.”
“I am all ears, but do understand, if the additions are above the budget, we will have to increase the price.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“Alright, what are your complaints.”
“My first complaint is, I do not want you working on this project.”
“Excuse me, and why is that?” I ask, confused by his request. I am starting to feel like Stefano has something against me.
“Firstly, you are not an engineer or even an architect so speaking to you about the complaints I have will be a waste of time.”
“I might not be any of those but my main purpose here is to get information from you and pass it down to them.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier for both of us if I spoke to them directly?”
“Yes, it would if you prefer for them to stop working and take their time to listen to your complaints; I am totally fine with it, even though it won’t be necessary given my use as a middleman,” I say, wondering why he is being so difficult.
“I will decide if it is necessary or not.”
“Ok, suit yourself.”
The following day, I wake up a little late because of cramps. They kept me up all night and now I am late for my meeting with Stefano. I was able to get the architect and engineer to attend today’s meeting even with their busy schedules. I quickly get ready and take a cab to Stefano’s office. I arrive at the meeting room five minutes late.
“I am so sorry I am late,” I say while walking into the room.
“I am not surprised; please sit down let’s start the meeting,” Stefano says.
“Why are you not surprised,” I ask, feeling a little taken back by his response
“I am not surprised because you look like someone who doesn’t keep to time.”
“Excuse me, I am late to our second meeting and automatically I am someone who doesn’t keep to time. I have a valid reason for being late today,” I say, feeling myself getting angry. I am sure my period has something to do with it, I don’t care because I am offended by his answer.
“I don’t care what your reason is; it is either you are late, or you are on time. Now, sit down so that we can start the meeting.”
“Just because you don’t know the reason that I am late doesn’t mean my reason is not valid.”
“As I said, I do not care to know; sit down so that we can start,” he says, raising his voice a little while sounding frustrated.
I look around and I realize everyone is looking at both of us. I do not want to sit down, I don’t want it to seem like he is telling me what to do, but there is nothing more I can say or do in this situation. I can’t tell him the reason I am late even if he wanted to know. It would be very embarrassing for me, so I swallow my pride and sit down. I still feel a little embarrassed with the way he spoke to me in front of everyone. The meeting starts once I take my seat and I try to forget what happened earlier.
An hour later, we are done with the meeting. I am back in my hotel room and there is nothing more I would love to do than to sleep right now, that goes out the window once my phone starts ringing. I check to see who is calling and find out its mom. “Hello, Mom,” I say answering the phone. “Hello Dear, how are you doing?” “Not so good; how about you.” “I am fine; what’s wrong, Dear?” She asks, sounding worried “I have been having cramps the whole day, and Stefano has not been the easiest person to work with.” “Sorry Dear and why don’t you tell me all about it at lunch.” “How, Mom, you are in Miami? How will we have lunch together?” “You will see,” she says, and I hear a knock at the door. “What do you mean, hold on a minute, Mom? Someone is at the do
Once the doors open, I don’t have enough time to prepare for whatever we have to face before the bullets start flying. “Get back!” Stefano shouts, pushing me back inside, quickly pressing the buttons of the elevator to close. “We have to find another way out of here!” “This is the only way out of here.” “You think I don’t know that” Stefano says, annoyed with me for stating the obvious, I decide to shut my mouth. “We need to make them think we are no longer in the elevator. We are going to stand by the side, make sure when the doors open; we can’t be seen. They will most likely shoot once the elevator doors open and won’t care to make sure if we are standing there or not. When they reload, that’s our opportunity to shoot them down. Do you understand?” “Yes, I do,” I say, walking to the left side of the elevator. They won’t be
A few days have gone by since I started living in Stefano’s apartment. My dad feels it’s not safe for me to travel for now. I am in the kitchen eating when Stefano walks in. “I have a party we need to attend to find out important information about who attacked us a few days ago. Do you have an evening gown?” “No, I don’t. What leads do you have so far?” “The only leads I have come from the bullets that were shot at us that night. Unfortunately, my car, was shot that night, fortunately for our investigation, I was able to get this,” he says, placing a bullet in front of me. “I have never seen this type of bullet.” I say examining the bullet. “I have, it’s a special type of bullet. The man who sells them is hosting a party tonight. I have been trying to set up a meeting with him for days now, he has avoided me. Hopefully,
It has been a few days since we went to the party at Mr. Carter’s house. Stefano has been busy gathering information on the gang that supposedly no longer exist. It’s been very difficult, but we now know the hit was meant for him. I am planning on returning home any day now. The night we returned to his apartment, I asked him why Mr. Carter didn’t give him the information he needed since they seem like friends. He explained that if the Kazan gang is the one who purchased the bullets, Mr. Carter’s life would have been ended the minute he opened his mouth. I am in the kitchen eating breakfast when my phone rings. Checking to see who is calling me. I see an unknown number, I answer regardless. “Hello.” “Hi, am I speaking with Andrea?” “Yes, you are speaking with her. How can I help you?” &nb
I am on my way to Stefano’s office the next day, before catching my flight. After the ambush the other night, I lost my documents in the elevator, luckily, they were saved. I arrive at his office after taking the elevator to his floor. I ask his secretary to let him know I am here but he is out for lunch. I didn’t set an appointment since I just needed to collect the documents from him, so I call him to find out if his secretary can hand them over to me. “Hello,” I say once he picks up “Who is this?” he speaks harshly into the phone. “It’s Andrea, why don’t you have my number?” “I have no use for your number and that’s why I don’t have it. Why are you calling me?” “I came to your office to collect my documents.” “They are here with me,” “Where are you?” “There is no need for y
It has been a few days since the car ambush. Stefano has been working hard to come up with leads to find out why I was attacked that day. I have also been investigating myself, I haven’t come up with anything so far. We were close to getting some information from one of the guys that attacked me, but before we could question him, he killed himself. I asked my dad to think of any of his enemies that might have been behind the attack, he doesn’t feel they are responsible like the first time I asked him. Most of the people he has problems with signed a peace treaty to end the killings of both parties. It’s not been easy for Stefano with the stress from his other job and coming home late every night is always exhausting for him. I am walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water; I woke up in the middle of the night thirsty. Arriving in the kitchen I find someone standing in f
The car arrives at the clinic. I walk inside and see a lot of injured people. Some I recognize from earlier in the penthouse. Something terrible must have happened. I pray nothing serious happened to Stefano. I find a nurse who takes me to his room. I knock on the door before entering, once I set my eyes on him, some of my worries disappear, but I can still feel my eyes watering due to his injuries. “Stefano, how are you feeling?” I ask, walking over to him to stand by the bed. “I am fine, what are you doing here?” Stefano is far from fine. He has a bandage around his right arm, a nurse is bandaging his stomach and I am sure he broke a few ribs. There are a few cuts on his face, but they will heal in no time. He looks horrible, I try to keep my tears at bay because of how injured he is. I wonder what happened. “Samuel said you were at the cl
It has been a few days since Stefano has been at the clinic. Getting Stefano to rest at the clinic wasn’t easy. He can be so stubborn when it comes to his health. I am on my way to visit him and bring some documents his secretary dropped off for him to sign. I have been spending most of my days and nights taking care of him. Every day I bring him a fresh set of clothes and food that Maria prepares because he hates the clinic food. Sometimes, I stay overnight in case he needs anything. Stefano wasn’t very pleased with me taking care of him. In fact, the first day he was here, he asked me to leave, I refused because I wanted to make sure he was okay. His mother also contributed to him allowing me to take care of him. She told him if he didn’t let me take care of him, she would fly over and come and do it herself. Stefano said he rather have me than his mother worrying about him every day.