bullets and bouquets

19

"Get Atlas in here," Sadie says into her walkie.

"Yes Ma'am," Denmar answers. A minute or two later, the man comes back into the conference room.

"Picked a name?" he asks.

"Bella. Bella Aurelia," Isla tells him.

"Beautiful," he comments, sitting down at the table, "Madame, what are we thinking? Birth certificate of course. Passport? Driver's license?"

"Passport," the redhead says, "I don't think we'll need a driver's license. We have drivers. And you don't know how to drive the right-hand side?"

"I don't," Isla confirms.

"Okay, just a birth certificate and passport then," Sadie says. He pulls out the paperwork from his briefcase.

"Birthdate?" he asks.

"September 13, 2002," she answers.

"And where shall you be born?" he asks. Isla becomes confused and turns to the mafia boss.

"Milan," the redhead answers.

"Okay. Now we just need a photo for the passport. Would you stand against that wall, Miss?" he asks, taking a camera out of his bag.

"Uh, yeah," she stands up and walks to one of the tan walls that surround them. He snaps a picture of her.

"Is that everything?" Sadie asks.

"Yes. When are you dumping the body?" he asks.

"Tomorrow," the mafia boss answers.

"Okay, I'll have these done in a month's time," Atlas says.

"Thank you," Sadie says. He stands up and leaves.

"A month?" Isla questions.

"If he files fake documentation too soon after the body is dumped, it might cause suspicion," the redhead explains.

"Oh, okay," the girl says slightly disappointed.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just... excited to maybe see more of Italy. But even if the documents came, you said it would be two years," she explains. Sadie looks down, knowing Isla has barely been around Italy, "but it's okay. It's part of the deal right?"

"Well... what if I showed you some of Italy? It won't be anywhere fancy, but it's something..." Sadie suggests. The girl perks up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, would that be okay?" the redhead asks. Isla nods, "Denmar, prepare a car."

"How many men?" he asks, thinking she means to prepare a car for business.

"Just the driver and you. We're going on a trip," she explains.

"Right away, Ma'am," he answers. Sadie stands up and pulls Isla's chair away so she can stand up.

"Where are we going?" the brunette asks excitedly.

"It's a surprise," she tells her. She grabs Isla's hand and they walk out of the conference room. Sadie leads her to the garage, where all the cars are lined up.

Denmar stands next to the first one, waiting for the two. He opens the back door and Sadie lets Isla in first.

"Where to, Madame?" the driver asks.

"4," she answers. Isla furrows her eyebrows, not knowing what it means. The driver nods and backs out of the garage. 4 is a code word for 'beach', a secluded one that no one knows about. It's only ten minutes from the Estate.