The Mafia Boss's Rose

Chapter 6

     I lay awake staring up at my ceiling, there's a cool breeze from one of the open windows ruffling the cream coloured curtains. I keep replaying the night over and over again. He never took the cash, why does he care so damn much? Why not just leave me out there unprotected? Why does he have to show up and tell me how to live my life? I can't stand it!
I roll over and bury my face in my pillow. I don't usually sleep well at night, the nightmares make me dread sleeping and the little sleep I do get, isn't much. I eventually fall asleep at 3am and the sun shining through the windows wakes me up 7.
I get up and walk over to my yoga mat. I do some difficult poses and after my regular morning I take Rosco out for a walk. As we're walking I feel someone's eyes on me. I decide to turn it into a run but the attention on my back never stops. I run down to the bridge over a river, quite a distance but I'm in shape so it isn't too bad.
The bridge is massive and a crowd of tourists are on either side, taking pictures of the river. I slip into the crowd and someone asks me to take their picture. Handing me their camera, I take the photo and hand it back. I can still feel someone's attention on me, I know I'm being followed but I don't know who it is. I slip further into the crowd and once I'm surrounded by people, I swing over the side and climb down the pillar holding it up. The bridge has many intricate designs so it's not to difficult. I look back up and realize that Rosco has no way down. All of a sudden I see fur flying through the air and a splash a few feet away from me. Rosco climbs up and stands next to me at the bottom of the pillar. I get quite a few curious glances but everyone's too busy with their own lives.
I hide on the one side as a boat passes through and we jump onto the back when I'm certain no one will notice. The boat isn't going very fast for right now and I walk towards the front of the yacht so that no one on the bridge will see me. I look towards the bridge and am certain I was just being paranoid until I see someone frantically looking around on the bridge. I saw him in the pub last night. Grateful I found a way out I decide to find out who's yacht I'm on.
"Hello?" Nobody answers,
"Hello?" I say a little louder. I walk around the boat and decide to stay on top so I don't walk into any more trouble.
The boat pulls up to a dock and a guy in his late 70's walks out. Startled to see me, his eyes widen and he says,
"Who are you?!?"
"Sorry, I jumped on from under the bridge." He looks at his watch and says,
"That was in Berlin! That was over two hours ago!" I shrug a shoulder,
"Well I'm not in a hurry to get back anyways, I have a day and a half to burn." He looks shocked and appears to be nice so he waves his hand at me to follow him off the boat. Rosco and I follow him and we walk into what appears to be a forest. As we follow a rock path, I glance up and see a clearing up ahead.
"This isn't the part where you turn out to be a serial killer and I just happened to walk my way into death is it?" He laughs and says,
"Definitely not but it could have been! You should be more careful!"
"Yeah I've been told that a lot lately."
We walk out of the forest and I'm standing in front of one of the most beautiful places on earth I've ever seen. I'm not sure I'm in Germany as I stare at rolling hills, a massive red barn with horses covering the landscape. There is a giant mansion near the barn that would be a rich mans fantasy. I'm so speechless, my jaw hangs open.
Two beautiful friesian horses run up to him and he pets them both. He talks softly to them and calls them each by name.
"Wow," I whisper.
"Do you like it?"
"It's breathtaking,"
"Ah, that it is. It was left to me by my father, just like his father before him. It's stayed in my family for nearly a millennium."
One of the horses prances in place, jittering and happy to see him come home. One thing my mom used to say was that animals are the best judge of character.
"They like you,"
"Yes," he seemed to understand what I was saying and nods his head. Somehow I knew deep down he wouldn't hurt me.
"So why'd you jump on my boat?" He asks as we start to walk down a stone path towards the mansion. The horses follow behind and I realize than that there isn't any fences, he seems to understand my silent question,
"We've had a tradition for training the horses for a long time." I nod and answer his question.
"I was being followed,"
"Do you know who?" I took a deep breath of fresh green grass, the sound of birds chirping in the distance.
"Yeah, I just wish I didn't walk into so much trouble all the time." He chuckles softly and says,
"I figured that out as soon as I saw you." I give him a side glance, what is that supposed to mean? He laughed at my response.
"Come on, my wife and I will have some food cooked up for you."
I follow and a decent time later we walk into the mansion. The ceilings are impossibly high. The architecture is exquisite, causing me to lose my breath. The ceiling is covered in designs and art, I spin trying trying to take it all in. There is an archway to the left, as tall as a two story house, that leads into a dining room that has a long oak table and a massive fire place. To my right there is a mirroring archway but it leads into a sitting room. I'm certain there are more rooms branched off of that but they are out of my line of sight. Standing in front of me is two marble staircases that go up to a second floor. A fountain between them and large oak doors directly beneath them.
     The quiet sound of the water is so relaxing. Of course a poodle comes bounding down the stairs and rushes the man. I'm worried for a second but he has good balance and takes it in stride. Rosco is sitting next me and he wags his tail in an excited motion. The two dogs run off to play.
"It's amazing!" I say, spinning again.
"Teresa, we have company!" The man yells and then an elegant woman about the same age as him walks out in a gorgeous ball gown.
"Oh hun you look famished! Follow me, we'll go to the kitchen and get you some food!" She walks towards the dining room, expecting me to follow. I start to follow and when I notice that he isn't following I turn back around.
"Thank you, for all of this. I would have understood if you called the police or something." He smiled and replied,
"No, no, you are nice and polite. That was unnecessary. We always welcome guests."
I smile and nod.
"Well thank you." I turn around and follow the woman who has disappeared into the other room. She takes me to get some food and than we go into the sitting room where the man is reading a newspaper. The kind lady walks over to the bookshelf and grabs a book before sitting down. They probably have there own library somewhere.
"Feel free to pick out a book if you'd like." I smile in thanks to her and look at the books on the book shelf. Almost out of reach is a massive red book covered in dust. It catches my eye so I reach up on my tippy toes and manage to pull it down. I look for a title but find none.
"You may have to blow the dust off that one," the man chuckles.
"What is it?"
"Mhm, I used to read that when I was still in the military." I glance at him for a moment before turning back to the well worn pages.
"You served?"
"Yes, many years ago." I look at the first page and notice it is of a map. I try to decipher it and realize it's of Italy. The Italian words standing out. I flip the pages and realize it's all about Italy, images of farmland and cities like Rome and Venice. There are articles about the country and it's people. The book is ancient but it talks about everything from mafias to vineyards.
"It's all about Italy."
"Yes it was my dream to visit." And when I get three quarters of the way through the book a picture falls to the floor, I close the book and glance down. As I take in the picture, he speaks,
"When we finally did go," he reaches over and puts his hand on his wife's, "we took my daughter." He smiles at the memory of her.
"Ah, but I should have known better. She was too pretty and kind, bound to have men fall for her. I didn't want to keep her trapped here though. I wanted her to explore. She had such a darling heart." The love and fondness is so inspiring but the way he talks as if she is dead is saddening.
"She fell for a man and he fell for her. They were so in love. You could see it in her eyes. They left together and I haven't seen her since. I've done everything to try and find her. Maybe she forgot her way back home." He says it so quietly. I take in the picture, her smiling and young. She's wearing a gold necklace that has intricate designs and swirls in it. It's a locket in the shape of a small heart. It's small but beautiful in its own way.
I reach up and touch the necklace around my neck, subconsciously. It draws the attention of the man and he smiles.
"She never took it off, it was a gift from me." The lady tells me. She looks me in the eye as she says,
"She told me she'd only take it off when she had a daughter, so that it would be passed down from generation to generation." My breath catches in my throat, she walks up to me and curls my hair behind my ear. She ever so gently presses on the locket and opens up. Words in Italian scribbled inside instead of pictures. She smiles and pulls me into a hug.