PERNICIOUS // JOHN WICK & SANTINO D'ANTONIO

chapter six;

CURSE Santino D'Antonio.

All she could ever think about was how to face him and ask for answers.

Belle needed to see him. It was beginning to affect her work, even Winston, who had advised Belle to be weary of him had agreed that she needed to get this all over with before it got to her head.

During one particular morning, she promised herself to confront him. To finally get to see what was going on for herself. So she drifted through her shift. From all the pent up frustration at Santino, she found herself wanting to get through her shift as quickly as possible. She was accurate, and quick, and had some of her patients bewildered at the precision and speed. But even at such pace, she never put her patients in any harm. She made sure that it was all safe.

Thankfully, today she only had just a few patients, nothing too serious, and nothing that would make her tired. Her shift ended at twelve exactly. Which was perfect. It gave her enough time to find Santino.

It would've been more plausible to take this time to rest, to finally give herself a break from all the chaos. But she couldn't rest. At least not whilst knowing something was wrong. Belle showered, got dressed, and left the continental. Having gotten her next payment just a little over a week ago, she bought out a car. A Mazda Miata. Granted, it was a low car that wouldn't do her well for New York streets, but it was still a very good car. The handling was superb, and the gas milage was extraordinary. The only problem was that it was just a very small vehicle.

She had parked just down the road from the continental, and as soon as she had gotten in and started the car, she called Santino. As it rung in her ear, Belle backed out and headed out onto the streets. It rung for a while before it went to voicemail. To anybody else, this wouldn't have been very concerning. But in her years of knowing Santino, he never once dismissed her calls. This was the first time.

The list of suspicions only grew and grew.

Convincing herself she was to find answers when she arrived at his penthouse, Belle forced herself to relax. It didn't take long for her to arrive, and she wasted no time on knocking at the front door. Distantly, she could hear small murmurs before Cesare opened the door. Belle smiled at him sweetly, feeling a part of herself relax. If something had happened to Santino, Cesare wouldn't be casually lounging in his penthouse.

"Cesare, how are you?" Belle questioned, and when she focused on him again, she realized just how panicked his expression was. Did .. something really happen to Santino? Was he in danger? Was he hurt? Because the expression on Cesare's face certainly made her believe so. "Belle. I thought your shift didn't finish until late at night?" Cesare questioned, and Belle's smile dropped breathing growing slightly heavier.

"No .. that's on Fridays. It's  Thursday, I finish at twelve. — Hey, is everything alright?" Belle questioned, and in a way, she was testing him. If she wanted to know, she didn't have to ask Cesare. But Cesare has a trait Belle personally loved. He was the worst liar earth could possibly muster up.

He got uncomfortable when he had to lie, his face twists, he shifts around nervously and gets red .. and he did just that. Cesare got pinkish, and his lips quirked, and before Belle could force the truth out of him, Ares took his place at the door. Ares was someone Belle couldn't read easily. It would take a lot of pressure on Ares and a load of concentration from Belle for her to even catch the slightest bit of information from her expressions.

'We're in a business meeting. Santino doesn't any want distractions.'

Business this, business that. If they wanted to lie, they could've at least made up a better excuse rather than this shitty, overused one.