Beyond What Meets The Eye

Chapter Nine

Her body was still shaking with adrenaline as they pulled into an apartment complex on the outskirts of the city. It was just as stunning as the one she lived in, if not even more exquisite.

Adrian grabbed her duffel bag and she grabbed Pickles crate, following him wordlessly as they walked inside.

The two security guards standing at the door gave Adrian a slight nod as he walked in and made way towards the elevator.

They rode up to the third floor in silence, Mira padding behind him as Adrian lead her to his apartment, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Make yourself at home," he said as he pulled off has blazer and tossed it onto the chair. It was gorgeously modern, the furniture made of fine materials, the appliances state of the art.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she sat Pickles crate down and let him out. Unlike her, Pickles was thrilled by the change in scenery, sniffing around.

"That thing doesn't shed, does it?" Adrian asked with a groan.

"Sadly, Pickles leaves a trail of love wherever he goes," she managed a strained, soft laugh, watching the pug hop up onto the couch and make himself comfortable.

She barely noticed when Adrian walked over to her, his thumb gently rubbing the skin around the gash on her head, examining it tenderly.

His touch sent sparks through her body, his hands surprisingly soft.

"Come here, let's clean this up." He lead her to the couch and she sat down as he instructed. He disappeared for a moment, returning with a first aid kit.

He knelt down next to her, cleaning the area with a alcohol swab.

Mira sucked in a sharp breath as the alcohol sent a burning pain shooting through the wound.

"Ah, sorry, I should have warned you," Adrian pulled his hand back, grimacing.

Mira shook her head.

"No it's fine, it just caught me off guard," she let him continue. One he finished cleaning it, he want ahead and attached butterfly stitches, finally covering it up with a larger waterproof bandaid.

"That should be good for now," he closed the first aid kit and stood up.

"Thank you," she replied, and he gave her a soft smile.

"Of course." He lingered in front of her for a moment, eyes examining her face before he tore his gaze away and went to put the first aid kit away.

She would have never thought her might would have ended with her inside of the apartment of some stranger she barely knew. The more she thought about it, the more careless it seemed. She shouldn't have trusted him as much as she did, especially not when a boy who had her wrapped around his finger turned a gun against her.

Adrian walked back into the living room, walking over to the kitchen counter and pulling something from a drawer. He made his way back over and sat in a chair opposite from her, a pack of cigarettes and lighter in hand. He placed the bud of one against his lips and lit the opposite end, inhaling the smoke.

"Who is the Lucchese family?" Mira asked suddenly, Adrian lifting his brows in response. He pulled the cigarette from his lips, blowing out a thin trail of smoke into the air in front of him.

"Alright, so we're going to have this conversation," he sighed. "Mira the Lucchese family is one of the five families of the Sicilian Mafia."

She wasn't sure what answer she was hoping for, but it most certainly wasn't that.

"You mean like the 1920s drug dealing mafia?" She questioned, vaguely remembering learning about it in 9th grade history.

"Oh sweetheart, it's a lot more than drug dealing, but yes, that one." He exclaimed.

"I thought the mafia was disbanded years ago though?" She fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Yeah, well they were getting a lot more attention from the authorities than they wanted. The best way to escape the governments prying eyes was to slow operations down a bit and increase secrecy." He kicked his legs onto the coffee table in front of her, smoke drifting up from the cigarette resting between his fingertips.

"Today the five big families heading the operations are the Lucchese, Gambino, Genovese, Bonnano and Colombo families. The Lucchese family works under strict uniform, using Smith and Wessens 9mm pistols, and always in their left hand."

He spoke like it was straight textbook material, common knowledge. Mira narrowed her eyes at him.

"How do you know so much about all this?"

"Do you really want to know?" His gaze locked onto hers.

"I don't know, blindly trusting a guy who seems to know a little too much about the people who've been chasing me sounds a bit naive if you ask me." She replied boldly. His lips curved upwards into a grin.

"Fair enough. I lead the operations for the Genovese family, directly under my father Luciano Genovese himself." He watched her, clearly waiting for a reaction.

Mira's mouth went dry.

"If that was your way of earning my trust, you did horrible." She clenched her jaw. It was dumb of her to blindly follow him in the first place, but in that instance, she'd been so desperate to escape whoever'd been chasing her, she didn't even stop to think about Adrian's intentions.

"Even if I was working with the Lucchese family, what would you do? You wouldn't get one step out the door before one of my men press the barrel of a gun against your head." He smirked. "And that's if you were to get past me."

Fuck. He was right, she'd walked right into the palms of his hand.

"Jesus, breath, I already told you, I work for the Genovese family, and quite honestly I don't give two shits about the Lucchese's affairs." He raised the cigarette to his lips.

Mira let out a long breath, embarrassed by how easily he sensed her rising tension.

"But don't you all work together?" She asked, lifting a brow.

He shrugged.

"Together, but separate. Every family has its own jurisdiction, we rarely ever get involved in one another."

She let his words sink in, her thoughts bouncing back and forth on whether she should trust his word. Still, even if she wanted to leave, he made it very clear that she wouldn't make it very far.

"Alright, then what would the Lucchese family want to do with me?" She asked, allowing her body to relax a bit.

"Isn't that the question of the night?" He mused. "I'll have one of my guys fluent in Italian come and look at those documents we found in your fathers room. I have a feeling if they want anything from you specifically, it's as leverage against someone else."

She thought about her dad, the head accountant at one of the most successful accounting firms in the country, always away on business trips. If he had somehow gotten involved with the mafia, it wasn't very hard to hide from her.

She rubbed her temples wearily.

"Of course, as if he couldn't fuck up my life anymore."

"Hey," Adrian's expression softened. "We'll figure it out. Plus, I'm not a big fan of those Lucchese guys anyways. We'll get you off their radar." He stated firmly.

His words put Mira somewhat at ease.

"Why did you help me after the crash?" She asked softly.

He hesitated for a moment.

"In my line of work, I don't get a chance to do something good very often. When I saw you bleeding out in that car, I couldn't just leave you. From the moment you looked at me with that scared look in your eyes, I made a decision to help you, and I plan on seeing it through" His lip twitched, like he hadn't expected those to be the words that left his mouth. Even Mira was surprised by the sincerity of his response. She paused for a moment before replying.

"Thank you, Adrian."