Mafia Parade

7| A foe or an ally?

"You?" He sneered at me after a few seconds, "make a deal? With me?" And then, he let out a laughter, which made me scowl at him.

"And may I know what made you laugh?" I said calmly covering my anger with a fake smile.

"What could you possibly offer to make a decent deal with me? Your body?" He said mockingly with a smirk twitching at the corner of his lips.

I kept my expression neutral and answered deliberately, "Excuse me Mr. Brandellili-- or whatever your last name is; I'd rather die than offer my body to someone in this damn filthy world." I finished my statement raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well,.." he was about to talk when James interrupted us.

"I see that the two of you are having a good chat." He stated mockingly, approaching us with an envelope in his hand.

"No we are not!" We said in unison, surprisingly, making us turn to each other and frown.

"Well all what I've heard was 'offer' and 'body', what do you expect me to conclude?" He chuckled, then continued," Emilia, go fetch Anna and have lunch,..Umm, the kitchen is on your left just when you descend the stairs, clear?"

"Yes" I said as I walked off, but then I heard Eric's husky voice from behind.

"We still need to talk." He stated sternly, then turned to James, who was wearing a worried expression, and made Eric do the same, "let's go to my office."

I waved my hand at him and continued walking, while they went in the opposite way, I stopped for a second, contemplating about what could possibly be in that envelope, but soon I shook my head to get rid of these thoughts, I don't need any more trouble anyways.

I was hungry indeed. I quickened my steps to reach the room where Anna was, and I found her damping her blazing-gold hair with a towel.

"Lia! Where have you been?" She asked me anxiously, dropping the towel.

"Was wondering around the house,.... not house actually,.. more like a place, dulzura." I said honestly, "let's go eat now or I will pass out." I added while pulling her out of the room. She looked lovely in that summer white dress that seemed as if it was made only for her.

"You look stunning." Anna said, as I was about to compliment her.

"You mean I look like a human again right?" I said chuckling.

She just rolled her eyes at me and walked in silence, doing the same thing I do-- admiring every single corner of the house, we soon reached the stairs so I did as I was told, and turned to my left after descending them, and then Anna and me stood in awe, the kitchen was indescribable, it was well equipped and everything was neat, the grey and white cabinets looked elegantly attractive, as if they came out of a design magazine, I was lost in my thoughts when a sweet aroma entered my nostrils.

We looked at each other and murmured, "Food", then we rushed towards the table that was in the middle of the kitchen, we stared at the pasta plate for a few good minutes, then started eating until nothing was left. I washed the plate and sat on one of the table's chairs, and suddenly James entered.

"Hey ladies." He greeted us putting on a smile, but still I sensed a bit of uneasiness behind it.

And before I could greet him back, Anna asked me "who is this old guy?"

I exchanged looks James then burst out laughing. Anna frowned at the both of us, then we ceased putting on a serious face.

"Well little lady, I'm only 34, I don't think that I'm old enough to be called an old man." He answered her chuckling.