Him (A mafia story)

Chapter 18

I slept in my old room that night in my own bed because Nikolai got a call and had to leave halfway through dinner. I slept surprisingly well and didn't wake up until Nikolai busted into my room at seven in the morning. The door slammed against the wall, making a loud noise.

"Destiny, wake up." He said.

I sat up quickly, alarmed. "I'm up, what's wrong? What's happening?" I asked frantically as Nikolai walked into my closet.

"Get dressed, quickly." He said, coming out of the closet and throwing clothes onto the bed.

I got up and started changing, too confused to care that he was openly staring. It took me a second to realize that something bad might have happened and that we had to leave before anything else could happen. "Nikolai, is everything okay? Are we under attack?"

He looked at me impatiently as I finished putting on the clothes he'd all but thrown at me. "Follow me."

He walked out the door and I hurried after him. "We're leaving? Where are we going?" I asked, following him down the stairs.

I was certain we were leaving because he seemed to be in such a big rush, but he surprised me by turning down a hallway. Now I was wondering what he'd dragged me out of bed for this early in the morning. He opened a door to a room I'd never been in and gestured for me to go inside.

I walked in and before I could process anything, he slammed the door shut behind me and I heard it lock. "Hey!" I yelled, slamming my hand against the door. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Buongiorno." Someone said from behind me. I turned around and found a man standing next to a table with two chairs. He had sandy blond hair and he looked rather lanky. The thing that surprised me the most was that he wasn't wearing a suit, he was wearing jeans and a shirt. The man smiled, holding his hand out to me in greeting. "Mi chiamo Leo. Sono qui per insegnarti Italiano."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't speak Italian." I am very confused now.

"I know." He said with another smile. This guy was way too happy to be awake this morning. "My name is Leo. Mr. Alexios hired me to teach you Italian."

"Motherfucker!" I cursed. "Excuse me for a moment." I said with a fake smile. I turned around and started pounding on the door. "Let me out, you bastard! I'm not learning your stupid language!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Miss, but he told me he wouldn't let us out until you could hold a small conversation in Italian." Leo said timidly.

I turned around and glared at him. "I don't want to learn Italian. I want to go back to sleep."

"Miss, I don't think either of us really has a choice in the matter. Mr. Alexios seemed pretty adamant about you learning." For the first time, I noticed that Leo looked nervous and his smile looked forced.

I sighed and sat down at the table. "He threatened you didn't he?" I asked as Leo sat down across from me.

"He hired me because I have the best ratings on Yelp! and -"

"Cut the crap, what'd he threaten to do if I didn't learn anything."

Leo pressed his lips together. "He'd rip off my finger nails."

I sighed again. I couldn't let this guy lose his finger nails because I was being petty and stubborn. "Okay, I'll let you teach me on one condition."

"What's the condition, Miss?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, two conditions. One, stop calling me Miss, my name is Destiny."

He nodded. "Okay, Destiny."