The Don's Kitten | PAUSED

Eleven

Ava

The dark-wooded bookcases that carried endless amounts of books and folders stood tall and proud along the walls. It was clean and neatly organized on every surface. More or less. Stacks of papers lay on the dark wood board, hopefully those whose information was not confidential. James' laptop, the one he didn't bring to Las Vegas, stood next to an expensive bottle of whisky. Who has two laptops? This man is too rich for his own good, I mumbled while lazily dragging my fingers along the cold surface of the desk.

While ambling towards the window on the backside of his desk, my hands clutched my waist carefully. The window overlooked the entire garden and driveway, as well as the guards patrolling it.  I preferred the back of the mansion since it was much richer and beautiful. The backyard had an enormous pool, a hot tub, and flowers of every color. It was breathtaking. There was a table painted a creamy white color on the stone slabs where we ate breakfast this morning.

And when I say we, I mean James' mother and me. Along with Ben and Matt, she had been the only person I'd talked to for two days. The guards weren't that talkative or social. I get why, of course. Their job was to protect us with their lives, not make conversation.

I kept good contact with James since he left for Vegas the day before. I felt the urge to know that everything was going according to plan and that he was safe. Even though he was the one protecting me and not the other way around, I absolutely hated being apart from him. I always had this feeling that-

"Ava?"

I slightly jumped at the voice that disturbed the quiet calm and turned away from the window. I was met with Ben peeking in from the half-opened door, an anxious look on his face.

"Ben, is something wrong?" I asked, not really having a reason to. He let out a slight chuckle and shook his head.

"No, not at all. But Ms. De Luca was looking for you, she would like you to help her with dinner if that's alright." He replied.

We had talked about doing a very special dinner tonight, an Italian dish. I couldn't remember the name of it, but I knew that it had Risotto included. Ms. De Luca wanted to do it herself, so I had offered to help. I found it interesting to learn more about the country my boyfriend was born in. It was still a big part of him even if he didn't live there at the moment.

When I reached the kitchen there was a brief but melodious tune filling the room. I didn't recognize it, but I could clearly hear it being a female singing in Italian.

"Ava! Perfect, you're just in time." Ms. De Luca exclaimed, ladle in hand and a smile painted on her face. A white apron was tightly wrapped around her waist, with a dark red color along the rim. Before I had the chance to answer, she handed me a similar one for me to wear.