𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

Chapter 2. Bianca

With the ding we both get out, him behind me and walk past a desk with an elderly man behind it.

"Buon giorno miss, buon giorno Barnes." He said, and I turned to smile.

"Buon giorno to you too, Francesco."

Francesco, the CEO's secretary. A lovely old guy, very kind. I don't even know how he got into the business. He pressed a button on his desk, letting who's inside the office know of our arrival. I walk up to the big, dark oak doors in front of me and push them open freely, walking in while Barnes follows me.

There, at a big desk in front of the window sits the CEO, my nonna, Natalia Perez. Her hair is gray, she has the exactly the same hairstyle like Marilyn Monroe, and I might say it suits nonna better. Her cheekbones are defined, and her cheeks have wrinkles from smiling so much in her life. I walk straight past the desk and straight into her arms, sighing, feeling content.

Nonna gives the best hugs in the world, they are warm and full of love. You wouldn't even know that she was one of the most powerful people in Italy, such a lovely old lady.

"Oh mia cara, Bia, how are you?" She asks, her voice sweet and gentle.

"I'm good nonna." I say with a soft smile, nuzzling her shoulder a bit.

"I would hope so."

...An awkward silence falls and I feel a chilk run down my spine. Just before I can pull away she manages to grab my ear and pull on it lightly, just enough for it to sting.

"I told you to stop partying so much, you scoundrel, the whole media is filled with your pictures!" And there she goes off nagging.

Ugh, Isaac was too late at deleting then and she saw. Next time I see him I'll give him a good beating. Nonna might sound and look like she was angry, but her callused fingers were barely holding me, being careful as to not tug on my earring.

I could easily break away, but I don't want to. She lets go soon herself, and I stand up straight again, rubbing my ear slightly. I can see the worry in her eyes, something doesn't seem right...

I walk over to the other side of the desk and sit down, leaning closer to nonna, my arms leaning on her desk.

"I think that you have something more important to tell me than that I am being a scoundrel." I say as I look at her, a little worried. Nonna sights and stands up, walks over to the window and looks out at the city.

"Our deal in the states didn't go as planned, we have four packages missing and I don't trust anyone other than you to go there and check them out." She turns to look at me, her face stern. "There are also some problems in our state branch and I need you to deal with it."

Deal with it. That means we probably have a rat somewhere. And what better way to deal with a rat than to send a cat over there to kill it. I stand up and walk over to nonna, taking her hands in mine, a soft smile on my face.

"I will deal with it, no need to worry."

"Thank you, mia cara." The worry in her eyes eases and she goes back to sit down at her desk, taking out an envelope from the top drawer. "This is everything you need to know. The plane is leaving in an hour. Viaggi sicuri, Bia."

"Thank you." I take the envelope and turn for the door. "Let's go Barnes." He nods and starts following me

"Oh no, Bia, Barnes is staying." Nonna interrupts. "You're going alone, there are people I trust that will help you in the states." She says with a light tilt of her head.

"Ah, okay." I mumble, a little bummed, but it wasn't a big thing. It means that the job was going to be harder, and probably dangerous. Then I don't want Barnes to come with me, either.

I don't even need to go home to pack my stuff, because everything was already arranged. Nonna liked to do everything quickly and efficiently, she is just that kind of person.

While driving to the airport, I open the envelope to find documents and pictures. The documents are basic information about the branch and their earnings and other things involving money, but something isn't right. The numbers aren't adding up. Someone was pocketing our investments and the earnings. Someone up high in the branch.

I look at the other papers and find the prime suspect list. The manager, the group leaders and their pictures. My reason for going there is just an annual check up that we sent people who were responsible for it before. As for the missing packages, they were all guns that were supposed to be sold on the black market, but ended up getting lost after crossing the ocean. The branch reported that they never got the packages. Everything just reeks of suspiciousness. 

I keep thinking about it on my flight until I pass out, and keep thinking about it when the flight attendant wakes me up for landing. After getting out of the airport, I catch a taxi and give the driver my hotel address.

While driving, I get the chance to look out the window. We're in Washington, and the longer we drive, the deeper into the city we go. It's late spring, the weather is good for jackets, but a lot of people on the streets are already wearing t-shirts, we finally get to the hotel.

It's a high end place, with light cream colored walls, gold accents and even five chandeliers in the lobby, and nonna got me a high end room. I carry my luggage into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.

It's refreshing to not have anyone tailing me so obviously, no bodyguards. But from what I know about nonna, I have to add a 'yet' to the end of that sentence. The door beeps and I put the keycard back into my pocket before opening the door. The room is dark, but I could feel that it's spacious. Spacious and has someone already in it.