Ricci stared at the hostage carefully again as he considered her request.
True, he wasn't in the habit of employing his hostages but this one would make a good and obedient employee and she said she had information.
He could always get rid of her whenever he chooses to.
Besides, she would serve as a nice distraction to his client, he noticed as he assessed her looks in the bright light illuminating the cell now.
She was a blonde beautiful girl in her early twenties with brown eyes that were too warm for his liking, her round face, pointed nose, and red pouty lips were a great distraction to unfocused men except for her glasses.
She will have to get rid of those hideous braces, he mulled over in his mind.
"What exactly will you be doing here," he asked.
"Anything you ask me to do, Sir," she answered.
"Very well, then," he nodded.
Lorez untied her immediately and she stood up to thank her new boss.
"Any games, I'll kill you myself," he threatened.
She shivered at his icy cold voice.
"Of course, Sir," she agreed.
"Lead her in, Lorez," he ordered.
***
Cassie walked into what she considered as an office, her heart still racing because she wasn't in the clear yet.
The room was semi-darkness with a large oval table in the middle surrounded by lots of chairs.
There was nothing else in the room, no design whatsoever.
Her new boss and his bodyguard, Lorez, walked in ahead of her and sat down.
"Sit," he commanded in his icy voice.
She sat down and breathed a sigh of relief unable to believe her eyes. Her heart had stopped beating earlier when she had seen his beautiful eyes but now she could ogle him all she wanted.
She knew exactly how she was going to describe him when she started her story.
He was tall, around 6ft5 with dark piercing soulful eyes that could see through one's soul. His face was well-chiseled and his lips were utter perfection, full red and kissable.
His pointed nose reminded her of a Greek god and his sharp jawline could put every sharp edge to shame.
His tanned olive skin complimented his dark silky hair that was slicked back.
His powerful muscles and broad shoulders were encased in a dark tuxedo and his long legs made her imagine things.
He had a day-old beard that she would love to run her hands on while kissing his rock-hard abs.
He was sex on walking legs. A damn fine Italian god that put other gods to shame. She would love to…
"Sign!" Lorez's voice interrupted her dirty thoughts sharply and she felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment.
Glancing at the paper from the dim light in the room she saw it was a contract stating she was his to command till further notice.
She raised an eyebrow, "There's no date for the end of the job, like when the contract will expire?" she questioned curiously.
Silence.
Icy silence.
No one responded to her question.
She glanced up and saw Lorez giving her a death glare which she ignored.
Risking a glance at her boss, she swallowed.
The intensity of his cold stare was enough to freeze her vocal cord and so without another word, she signed the contract.
"Very well," he nodded, "Now about that information."
Cassie panicked. "I was trying to get your attention. I didn't know you would take me seriously."
"Clever," he nodded, then waved her off.
Lorez left with the girl and returned with her file.
"Here's the file, Capo," Lorez bowed as he held out a file.
"Drop it on the table," Ricci ordered as he did so and left.
Picking up the file, he held it close to his face as he began reading it.
It contained information on his new employee.
Glancing at the file there was nothing suspicious about her, a small-time author who came to Italy to write about mafias probably hoping for her big break as a bestseller author. Lives in a small town in Washington DC, her parents are dead, no siblings, no relations, just a best friend who's in Paris right now.
Hmm, he mused, guess no one would miss her if she suddenly disappeared.
He wondered what job he had for her to do when suddenly he remembered something and nodded.
Pressing the small button on his desk he ordered, "Bring the girl."
***
"What kind of job do you want me to do in the middle of the fucking night?" Cassie asked for the tenth time tonight as they drove in silence.
Muttering angry words as she remembered how they had dragged her out of bed at midnight, stuffed her into a stupid dress and makeup that made her look like a bloody prostitute!
A file landed on her lap.
Uh, she wasn't expecting an answer this time.
"That's all you need to know about Mr. Baccio Giuliano," Lorez explained.
Cassie glanced at the file but couldn't understand anything except the man's picture.
An overfed baboon, that's how she would describe him with his fat checks and huge stomach.
"I don't understand shit," Cassie groaned.
"Of course not, dummy," Lorez muttered under his breath.
Cassie counted to ten so she wouldn't bite his head off for calling her a dummy.
"What did you say?" She asked sweetly.
"I said we need eyes on the inside," he explained, "we need to know how many guards are inside there."
"Why don't you guys go do it yourself?" She asked.
"Because they won't let us in without shedding blood of course and Capo likes doing his things quietly," Lorez replied, annoyed by the excess question he was getting.
"And they'll let me in because..." she let her sentence hang in the air.
"You're a prostitute," Lorez replied smugly, "Now, let's go over the plan."
***
If looks could kill Lorez would have died a thousand times, her inner mind sighed.
Well, that wasn't far from the truth, she grimaced as she watched Lorez and his friends drop her off close to Baccio's house dressed in nothing but a sexy swimsuit and a robe as they deemed it necessary to tell her that she was going for a pool party.
Quickly focusing back on her mission since she wouldn't like to lose her head here, she plastered a fake smile, hailed a cab, and alighted in front of the house.
One look at the house and she gulped all her confidence leaving her.
The gate of the house was tall with sharp, wicked spikes at their tip.
The house was tall, beautiful, and magnificent.
But it wasn't the designs and decorations of the house that scared her, it was the unseen eyes that were watching her from inside, she could feel it, she knew that from experience.
She could also see thousands of guards walking around.
If anything goes wrong today, rest assured her body will be returning home without her head but nothing could go wrong, they never do.
Gulping down in fear she hurriedly joined the next troop of girls and walked inside smiling like a sleazy bitch.
Laughing at a very horrible joke one of the naked girls made, she allowed her eyes the pleasure of observing her surroundings.
She had managed to get to the pool with her head still intact and now she was pretending to be one of the stupid girls.
Looking around, not at the beauty of nature, but at the guards, she saw one of them staring at her and blushing when he caught her eyes.
Aaha, gotcha!
She smiled triumphantly to herself as she walked out of the pool water shimmering on her body from the beautiful party light everywhere.
Walking up to him, she smiled a flirty smile.
"Could you help me with something, please?"
"What is it, miss?" he asked.
"In private," she muttered.
Checks red, he ushered her away from the others towards god-knows-where so she decided to test her charm.
"The back door," she smiled, "we wouldn't want others to know."
"Oh no, miss, you're...here for m-my Uhm..."
She watched amused as the poor man stuttered nervously, eyes and cheeks already on fire.
"Then let's get this over with," she wriggled her hips seductively.
He followed behind like a lost puppy.
No sooner had he opened up the back door, he was on her.
So much for shyness, she groaned inwardly, thinking of the many ways to murder him as his hands roamed around her body.
But before she could carry out any of her thoughts she heard a sickening crack.