bullets and bouquets

2

"Morning!" Gianna cheers, bursting into Isla's room. The girl groans, obviously exhausted from the time difference, "I let you sleep in, but if you sleep any longer you'll never get adjusted."

"Okay... okay.. just give me a second," the brunette mumbles. She rolls over in bed as Gianna opens the drapes.

"Shopping today! It's going to be so fun!" she cheers. Isla brushes her bedhead out of her face

"Yeah.. after I get some coffee," she yawns. Gianna nods.

"I'm going to get ready now," she says. Isla gives her a thumbs up. The brunette also begins to get ready for the day, looking at the time, it's already almost noon. Although she felt like she could sleep for another three hours.

When the girls are both ready, they head out of the apartment and to a little cafe for breakfast. Isla begins to wake up more after having a cup of coffee and some food.

A certain person comes by in a black SUV, but Isla and Gianna don't even notice. The infamous redhead sits in the passenger seat inside the SUV.

"I want her, Denmar," the redhead says

"The brunette?"

"Yes," she answers

"Alive?"

"Yes."

"I'll prepare cars. Two days' time," the driver answers.

"Very good."

"Ready to go?" Gianna asks. Isla nods and they leave the cafe. The local girl shows Isla all of her favorite shops. The two girls spend the day shopping, with Gianna showing Isla all the things she loves about her town.

***

The next day is Isla's first day of classes in Sicily. The two girls go to campus together. They meet up at the library to study after all their classes.

"So, what do you think?" Gianna asks

"I like it here and so far, the classes haven't been too hard," she explains

"That's good," Gianna smiles. The two continue to work on homework late into the night. They eat dinner there and talk about their days.

As they walk back, a black SUV passes them again.

"There she is," the redhead says

"Yes, ma'am but it's not time yet."

"It would be so easy to grab her now though, Denmar," she angrily says

"Yes, ma'am, but you have other business to attend to first," he explains. The SUV stops just a couple of yards away as the girls walk. Two men get out and begin to pummel a man on the street.

"Ah! Help!"

Isla turns around.

"Isla!" Gianna grabs the girl by the arm, "Don't look, keep walking!"

The girl is horrified by a couple of seconds she witnesses. The man gets pulled into the SUV and it speeds away. Gianna holds the girl's arm closely as they walk quickly through the streets.

"What was that?" Isla asks when they finally get back to her apartment.

"Gangs, Isla, like I told you," she explains, "If you're not careful, they'll hurt you too."

"Right, right," the girl nods, "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay, I just don't want anything bad to happen to you," she says. Isla nods.

"I'm going to head to bed," the brunette says, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

***

"Come on! Come on, please! Don't do this!" the man taken by the SUV pleads as he sits tied up in a chair in an abandoned warehouse.

"Should've thought about that before trying to blackmail me," the redhead says, circling him like a shark.

"I know, I know! I won't do it again, I swear! Please, just let me go!" the man pleads, "I won't go to the police, nothing ever happened! I swear!"

"Mmm, I don't know about that. You already tried to fool me once, Jacque," she smirks, loving seeing the man beg.

"Sadie, please, my wife... don't you have someone you love? Someone who would miss you if you didn't come back?" he asks. She scrunches her nose and lifts her gun.

"No," she shoots him, "No, I don't."

She lowers the gun and looks at Denmar. He walks over and begins to clean up the mess.

"Trent, take Miss Sink back to the Estate," he orders. Another man, who was standing at ease, snaps out of his position.

"Yes, sir," he answers. The redhead grabs ahold of his arm, allowing him to walk her out, "Right this way."

He gets into the SUV and drives the redhead back to a giant mansion out on the coast. There's plenty of land surrounding the mansion that belongs to her. And the area is secluded and guarded by cameras.

He opens the door for her and she gets out.

"Dispose of this immediately," she orders, giving her .9mm pistol to Trent.

"Yes, ma'am," he answers. She walks into her mansion and goes to her room. She gets out of her work attire and gets in bed. She thinks back on what Jacque said to her.

Don't you have someone you love? Someone who would miss you if you didn't come back?

It was true though. There was no one she loved. No partner or family member, not even a dog or cat. She felt lonely for once but quickly shook those feelings away. If she had someone to love, it would make her more vulnerable. Or would it?