Chapter 30

I let Aubrey move me to the couch, away from her furious sister.

Jessie made space for me and Aubrey sat beside me.

Anabelle walked up to us and crossed her arms across her chest.

"So, spill, what's your name? Your full name?" She said, trying to intimidate me with a feet wide apart stance.

I laughed. If she thought she could intimidate a Mafia heir, she was sadly mistaken.

"You're not playing fair, Anabelle, how can I tell you my full name when I don't even know yours?"

"Fine, I'll tell you mine."

If she really wanted to be intimidating, she should have stood her ground and not offered information about herself before I gave out mine.

"Anabelle O'Leary."

"No middle name?" I asked.

"None whatsoever."

"Ophelia Diamanté Antonio."

"Antonio?" She asked surprised, obviously thinking of the Empire Enterprises.

I winced when she made the connection.

"Not the Antonio you know." I lied, trying not to link myself to my father and my rich lifestyle. The last thing I needed was to have my cover blown.

"Where are you from?" She asked, obviously satisfied with my first answer.

"Rome. Where are you from, Anabelle?"

"You know very well I don't know that, but I was born here, in Tuscany."

"Ti rendi conto di quello che to appena detto? {Do you understand what I just said?}" I asked.

"What?"

Her parents were definitely not Italian.

"You're not Italian." I explained to her.

We stared at each other for a while.

"When did you start....You know....Doing what you do?" She asked, her face flushed in embarrassment.

I sighed deeply. How do I explain this while keeping my identity and the Mafia a secret?

"Anabelle, I'm not a p..." I paused, remembered the kids sitting beside me and I racked my brain for a subtle word to replace the word 'prostitute'.

Whore, bitch, slut? None of those words were actually child friendly.

"I'm not a ... a... what you think I am." I continued, hoping she would understand.

She snorted. "You expect me to believe that, how dumb do you think I am?" She said, obviously considering the factors that pointed out to what I actually was.

"No, I don't expect you to believe it but give me a chance to explain myself then you can decide if you want to believe me or not."

She moved to sit on the couch, lifting Aubrey up so she could carry her on her lap. Stubborn as always, Aubrey refused but one stern look from Anabelle was all it took for her to oblige.

"Things weren't always like this. I was very happy, very content until a few months ago when things got out of hand and beyond my control, I ran away from home."

Aubrey gasped. "You ran away from home?" She asked, her television show not so important anymore.

"Why?" Jessie asked the question her two sisters wanted to ask.

"I got into a fight with my father because I didn't want to get married."

"Why didn't you want to get married?" Aubrey asked.

I smiled and cupped her cheek. "You're too young to understand, Aubrey. I wanted to enjoy life a little longer, I'm a young woman and I don't want to be tied up in marriage. Besides, I didn't like the man I was marrying. I wanted my own Prince Charming."

"Was he ugly?" Aubrey asked.

"Not really, but he's as disgusting as a pig." I answered.

"So, you have a Prince Charming?" Anabelle asked.

"Not yet, but I know he'll come along someday."

"So, you ran away from home and the Piacere house took you in?"

"No. I stayed at my friend's place for a couple of weeks, hiding from my father."

"She must be a really good friend." Aubrey said.

"He. My friend is a ‘he’. Luke. He has been my friend since we were babies."

"He?" Anabelle asked in surprise.

"Yes, a ‘he’. Luke hid me in his house for a few weeks before my father started suspecting him. He was the one who brought me to the Piacere house to stay, he visits occasionally to see me and makes sure my stay at the Piacere house is just to have a roof over my head and nothing else." I said to Anabelle.

She bit her lip, thinking things over. We all sat in an awkward silence, the only sounds in the room were the sounds coming from the television.

"Do you have a picture of him?" Aubrey asked, clapping her hands.

Her excitement is infectious and I smiled as I replied.

"Yes, I do." Luke and I shared a couple of pictures through MMS.

I got my phone out of my purse and unlocked it. I went to my gallery where Luke's pictures were stored. Luke took a lot of pictures because he knew he was hot.

I stared at the last picture he sent to me before we went incommunicado.

He was sitting on the hood of his beloved Lamborghini, his dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves, showing off his well-developed muscles and a few of his shirt buttons were open, giving a peek at what he had underneath. His head was cocked to the side in a bad boy posture and he smiled, revealing his dimpled cheek, his immaculate teeth gave off that panty dropping vibe.

I passed the phone to Aubrey. She looked at it and showed Anabelle the picture.

"Come take a look, Jessie." I took the phone and passed it to Jessie.

"He's so cute, Ophelia." Aubrey giggled.

Anabelle blushed.

I rolled my eyes. Even through pictures, Luke still had an effect on girls.

I took the phone and swiped it from left to right, showing them other pictures, occasionally explaining what he was doing or what room he was in.

Then we came to one particular picture that had Anabelle questioning my relationship with Luke.

"Are you sure he's your friend?"

For the umpteenth time. "Yes, Anabelle."

"I mean friend-friend, not boyfriend."

I looked at the picture again. Luke was in the gym, doing sit-ups shirtless. He was giving us the full package of what he had underneath, everything he hid under his shirt.

"Well not exactly friend-friend, more like a brother. Luke is like a brother to me." I've never really felt anything romantic towards Luke, I've never had any jealous tingles whenever his girls were around. I loved him the same way I loved my father.

"Will you bring him over?" Aubrey asked.

"I'll talk to him about it, I'm sure he'll love to come over."

"Okay."

I checked the time. It was 8:54pm.

"I think it’s time I get back to the Piacere house so I don't get in trouble, like last time."

"Goodbye, Ophelia." Jessie said.

"Bye, Jessie."

Aubrey hugged me. "You owe me a bedtime story."

"Sure sweetie."

I waved Anabelle goodbye and walked out the front door.

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When I got to the piacere house, I went upstairs, straight to Arabella's room.

Her room door was open and I heard giggles. I peeked in just to be sure I wasn't about to walk in on something that would haunt me forever.

Rose, Grace and Ginevra were sitting on her bed, facing Arabella while she faced the doorway.

I made my presence known by clearing my throat.

"And the prodigal daughter returns." Arabella said, causing the other girls to turn around and look at me.

"Hello." I waved at everyone and made my way to the bed.

"Where are you coming from?" Arabella asked, when I was comfortably seated.

"Somewhere." I answered.

"The place doesn't have a name?" Ginevra questioned.

I looked down, refusing to answer.

When I finally looked up, Arabella and the girls were sharing a look.

"She's wearing a short and a tank top, they're pretty easy to discard and put back on." Ginevra said.

"Emilia also hinted at it." Grace said.

"The purse might also carry some incriminating evidence, if she was stupid enough not to discard it." Rose finalized, talking like I wasn't in front of them. "Anyone thinking what I'm thinking?"

Arabella nodded. "She's coming back from a guy's place or their meeting point."

Wait! What?

"Come on guys, you know that's not true." I laughed it off but no one laughed along.

"There's only one way to find out." Arabella said.

I swallowed hard. "How?"

"Oh, don't worry, it won't hurt much. Ready girls?" Arabella stared, before she grabbed me.

I tried to escape but I was a second late. The girls worked together like coordinated parts of a super machine, handling me roughly. Before I knew it, I was pinned to the bed.

Rose was straddling my stomach, pinning my hands above my head. Grace pulled at my right leg, while Ginevra pulled at my left, prying my legs apart. I couldn't see what Arabella was doing.

My reflex action was to switch self-preservation mode. I could take the four of them down with one arm tied behind my back. My body switched to defensive mode, scanning the girls, locating their weak points, before I could follow my instincts, a fleeting thought passed through my head.

I was undercover, I was supposed to be a small, weak girl who was the Empire underboss's plaything. If I bucked Rose off me and gave Grace and Ginevra the beating of their lives, my cover would be blown.

If the roof caved in and the truth came out, I don't think they would want to associate with me anymore.

So, I switched off my defense system, screamed and pleaded like the little, weak girl I was supposed to be.

"No! Please! Come on guys, stop! I'll do whatever you want!" I thrashed around.

"Hold still and we'll be done with you in a moment." Rose said.

She studied my face for a moment, then she lifted my chin up with one hand and turned my face left and right. After that, she pulled my top down, exposing my breasts. "Her lips aren't swollen and I can't find any hickeys on her neck, her boobs are clean too, no sign of squeezing or kneading, no bruises, no hickeys."

"Her purse is empty too, nothing's in it, not even a single cent! What girl goes out without money or makeup in her purse? If you weren't going to carry anything why did you pick the purse in the first place?!" Arabella half screamed.

When someone touched my short, my mind went into overdrive. I kicked widely.

"Stop! I swear I'm innocent! Besides, why would I go to another man when I have someone as hot as the Empire's underboss?!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

"She has a point." Rose said.

She got off me while Ginevra and Grace let go of my legs.

As soon as I was free, I adjusted my clothing, pulling my top up to cover my chest and straightening out the rumples on my short.

They didn't even apologise for harassing and manhandling me.

"You're right. With the skills he's got, no one else can compare." Arabella said.

I face palmed myself, groaning. No. God please no. "You've had an experience?" I asked, expecting the worst.

She huffed. "No. I can only dream of having one but Carlotta does."

For Pete's sake Luke! I thought you had taste! Everything made sense now, her infinite hatred towards me.

"She talked endlessly about it." Arabella continued. "Slapping the juicy details in everyone's face but that was a long time ago, when she was still a brunette. He dumped her like a hot potato when she changed her hair colour back to its original form, red. He's never looked at any of us before and now he's brought you over. I'm beginning to think he likes curvy brunettes." She sighed wistfully. "What do you girls think? Should I change my hair colour?"

I thought back to when I had seen girls around Luke back at the mansion. Arabella was right, Luke liked girls with brown hair.

I thought about Carlotta and smiled, he must have dumped her really hard, that it hurt so much whenever she saw him around me. Maybe I could talk him into telling me the details so I could rub it in her face.

"No babe, the guys like you with your purple hair, it fits your wild nature." Ginevra said, fluffing Arabella’s hair.

"You really think so?"

"Totally." I said.

"So, how did you meet the Empire's underboss? I'm really curious." Arabella asked.

Oh no, what should I say? In a business meeting? In a club?

"Err....err... By the roadside." I flinched at my own lie.

The truth was, I didn't even know where I met Luke, I opened my eyes one day and he was just there. I had no idea where he came from but my father would know.

"The Roadside?" The girls asked, simultaneously. Surprise etched on their features.

"What were you doing by the roadside?" Arabella asked.

I swallowed, I remembered my father's warning about telling lies. I sighed deeply, I would tell them the truth but in a very twisted way.

"I ran away from home, I hitched a ride with him after walking for a few hours. He helped me out by offering food, water and a change of clothes."

Lie stat: I did run away from home, Luke did offer me a ride, food, water and a change of clothes. So technically, I wasn't lying, right?

I looked at the girls to see if they were buying my story. They weren't but Rose was. She opened her mouth to say something and I crossed my fingers behind my back, praying she didn't ask me why I ran away from home.

"Well, the day he brought you here, it really looked like he picked you up from somewhere. I mean he literally pushed you and threw your things away like trash and you're telling us, you stayed with him for a while?" She said, trying to piece things together.

"We had an argument, a terrible fight one day and he just drove here straight, maybe to teach me a lesson."

Lie stat: we did have a terrible fight, he drove to the piacere house immediately and I think he did it to teach me lesson, a lesson about the consequences of stupid decisions. So, I wasn't lying.

The girls were nodding their heads in understanding.

"So, you know about his involvement in the Mafia?" Grace asked.

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Not really, I only hear people calling him the Empire's underboss. I don't really know what that is."

Lie stat: lie detected!

"So, you've not met his ruthless boss, Antonio?" Ginevra asked.

Ruthless?

My cute teddy bear hugging father, ruthless?

If they only knew.

"No...."

Lie stat: lie!

"...he has never introduced me to anyone."

Lie stat: anyone that's dangerous.

"Whoa, I thought you'd be lucky. No one has ever seen Antonio, no one here knows what he looks like."

If they only knew that the billionaire owner of the Empire Enterprise was the same one that ran the Empire cartel.

No one said anything for a long time.

"You know there's something missing from her story." Arabella said, eyebrows connected.

I panicked. Arabella behaved like a bubble head most times, but she was very smart and observant when she wanted to be. What lie did she pick out from my story?

"What?" Rose asked.

"She didn't tell us the part where she became his..." Wink, wink "...toy."

I blushed and the girls giggled.

"So, tell us, how did it happen?" Rose nudged me.

Oh boy.

"I don't know, it just happened."

"Come on, killjoy. That's not what we want to hear, we want details. I'm sure Carlotta lied about a lot of things, so tell us what really went down."

I buried my face in Arabella's pillow. There's no way I could lie in this area. "I think I've told you guys enough. Tell me about your day and the man that took you out."

"Right! You missed out on a lot of goodies...." Arabella said, clapping her hands in excitement.

It were times like these, I thanked the Lord that my friends had the attention span of five year olds.

She talked on and on about shopping, they gave me items that they had discreetly picked out for me. Then about lunch, about the restaurant, the expensive wine, the exquisite food, and the hotel.

Then they told me about the naughty things they did, even though I didn't want to hear it. They forced it on me, every single detail. By the time they were done, my face was a deep shade of red and my ears were bleeding but I tried to act indifferent.

We said our goodnights and went into our respective rooms to sleep.

I went on my knees to ask God for forgiveness for all the lies I'd told today.

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