Dinner with the Mafia ✔

Chapter 20

It was the wrong day to wear a baggy sweater. I wanted to conceal my scar from everyone here because I did not want to get into details about who caused it, but sometimes minor setbacks could ruin a whole plan. 

"No one gave me this scar." I gave this pathetic reply, knowing that no one here would buy it, especially not Dario. After all, I could not inflict this type of self-harm even if I wanted to... my hands would not reach.

Dario slammed his hand on the table, grabbing his men's attention. "Tutti, uscite. Lascia la mia dannata casa adesso!" he roared, making me flinch, and the men rushed outside like their pants were on fire. Even Basilio's absence made me more anxious to escape this raging beast.

"Come here," he demanded as he gently grabbed my arm and dragged me to his room. No one was in the house, and it felt colder than usual. After tugging me along, Dario made me sit on his bed. He sat on a chair in front of me, giving me no space to move without my legs touching his. 

It feels like the villain from the underworld is interrogating and judging his trapped victim. Me.

"Why are we here?" I asked when he did not speak for a few minutes. The silence was suffocating, and I wanted to flee from this room as soon as possible. "Dario, say something!" His gaze killed me, but what bothered me the most was that he kept sending daggers at my shoulder.

His gaze softened once he made eye contact. "Who hurt you, Bambi?" he asked softly.

I stared at him in astonishment.

I titled my head, slightly confused since I never mentioned this nickname to him... unless Enola told him. "Why are you calling me Bambi? Only dad calls me that," I stated with crossed arms. I was slightly relieved that my scar topic was delayed for a bit, yet I could not entirely settle my wild thoughts. 

I knew my worth, but I feared he would see me as an incompetent and fragile businesswoman if he heard my story. I did not need pity.

"His Bambi and my Bambi have two different connotations. Look it up after you tell me who did this to you." His smirk made me nervous yet excited for some reason. These feelings were foreign to me, like everything else in this country. 

"Now, answer me before I call Dante and threaten him with your life to tell me the truth. I would never hurt you, but your dad does not know that. He would believe I might hurt you if he did not give me what I need. So, let's save the struggle and give me a name."

I sighed, feeling defeated because he knew he had got me. I did not want to bother my dad with my affairs. "Atlas Ford." I looked at his eyes to see if that name meant anything to him, and surprisingly his darkened with what I assumed to be fury. "He saved me once from a car crash, and I was grateful for his help, but his actions became bewildering over time. I almost died three times in the last few months, and he was there each time as my hero. The car crash was an accident, so I did not think much about his sudden presence in my life. Then I was pushed into a frozen lake one morning, and Atlas happened to be around the block and saved me again. Third time was the charm because someone stabbed me in broad daylight when I was in a bazaar with dad and Phoebe. Conveniently, Atlas was there and offered us a ride to the hospital; we accepted it since the ambulance was late due to snow and there was poison on the knife. I was literally dying."

"Posso vedere dove sta andando," Dario commented but his eyes were closed. I did not understand and did not bother to ask. Flashbacks knocked me off course, and I pinched my thigh to focus.

"Anyway, when I got to the hospital, I reflected on the events and had my suspicions. I suspected that Atlas had something to do with my mishaps, but I was unsure. I was not that unlucky to die three times in the span of three or four months. I knew something was wrong, so we dug deeper and found that he was the one who pushed me into the lake and pretended to be there by chance. He was a fucking obsessed stalker. Atlas threatened dad with my intimate photos that he got when I was showering with my phone. He hacked our devices, and I took specific measures and managed the issue. Long story short, I am here in Sicily working on building a new branch because dad thought I would be safer with you when he's out there, walking freely, looking for a way to own me." My story sounded absurd when I heard myself saying it, but that was what happened because of a lunatic.