Eight

Diane sat up in the bed as she surveyed her environment, it was a new day and she was Ricardo Alvarez's prisoner. She had surprisingly had a good night rest, the bed was comfy and the pillows were very fluffy. The women that brought her to the room had returned a few hours later to help run a bath for her and to give her food along with a change of clothes for the night. Ricardo Alvarez was a demon but at least he made sure she was well taken care of. The bath had soothed her aches and almost as soon as she had finished eating, she laid on the bed and wad asleep in minutes.

Diane took a proper look at the room in the morning light, she had noticed the room was big, very big, so much bigger than her room back home. The walls were painted black, the bed she was on was queen sized, and almost everything in the room looked like an extract from Lucifer's domain. Diane had never seen black look so beautiful in a room before, she had heard about Ricardo's obsession with black but she wasn't expecting it to be this intense.

The room was a perfect blend of black and a knock on the door took her attention from the curtains she was admiring. Two women strolled in with bags in their hands and as they settled it down on the dresser, Diane wondered what Ricardo Alvarez was up to this time around. The women started bringing out the contents of the bags and Diane was surprised to see Ricardo had gotten her clothes and other accessories. One of the women had cooed about how lucky she was to be receiving such attention from Ricardo and Diane had to stop herself from giving an hour long hate speech. Prisoner was a better word.

Ricardo had practically taken her against her will, out of her house with just the jean and shirt she was wearing, gagged her, blindfolded her and even went as far as binding her hands cause she was trying to stop his stupid goons from touching her. She didn't know how anyone could fail to see Ricardo Alvarez for the heartless mafian he so obviously was. Diane was trying to not go in search of Ricardo and demand her release. The man had a whole lot of money, a million dollars wasn't anything to him, it felt like he had an ulterior motive for wanting the money back and Diane was hellbent on finding out what his intentions were.

It was still early in the morning but Ricardo had requested for Eric's presence, Eric was apprehensive. Ricardo never played with his mornings and everyone who worked under him knew that the boss wasn't really a morning person and he hated being disturbed before 10am.

Eric was having a fit, he wondered what had prompted the boss to call for him as early as 7am and not just that, he couldn't shake M.I.T off his mind, it had been over two months since he submitted the application and even if he wasn't positive about getting in, he was yet to receive any response from them and that bothered him more. The wait period usually didn't last up to two months, it would have been better if he saw that he had been rejected than for him to not have received anything at all.

The whole issue with Luiz Sanchez and his daughter was both surprising and confusing but noone could question the boss. All through Eric's years with Ricardo, he had never seen the boss make a decision without thinking about it first but it was obvious he had done that with Diane. Eric knew very well that the boss had other plans for Diane and he had a feeling she wasn't going to like it at all.

It was around 7:00am when Luiz drove into the Alvarez mansion, he had read the note and spent the rest of the night dreading what Ricardo would have done to his daughter. The boss hadn't dropped any other information other than the note but Luiz knew immediately that his daughter was with Ricardo Alvarez.

As the head of a Spanish Mafia group, Ricardo could have anyone and anything he wanted without objections. He had most definitely gotten his share of women and Luiz was scared of what would happen to his innocent daughter in the hands of the boss.

"Luiz Sanchez" Ricardo said in greeting as soon as Luiz walked into the sitting room where he was seated with his usual pipe in mouth and tequila in hand.

Luiz went on his knees instantly, "Please Jefe, I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with the deadline. Don't harm my daughter. Please" he pleaded.

"I can't make any promises, she's a feisty one and you know how I like them feisty" Ricardo answered dropping the drink on the table in front of him and giving Luiz a half smile.

"Please, Jefe. I'll definitely pay up the money, give me more time" he pleaded.

Ricardo smiled, "Then you'll get your daughter back when you pay"

Luiz couldn't hide the fear in his voice, "Jefe, you can't keep Diane here for that long"

"You don't intend to pay me back anytime soon?" Ricardo said with amusement in his voice.

"I do, I do Jefe. That's not what I was trying to say" Luiz hurried on, "Please Jefe, try to reconsider" he said pleadingly but Ricardo had concluded and there wasn't any going back.

"It's a fair trade, Sanchez" his mind involuntarily went to Diane and what she had said earlier and his eyes darkened.

"Besides, your daughter is a very interesting woman" Ricardo said with another one of his famous smiles and Luiz's heart sank. Paying back the money wouldn't make Ricardo release Diane once he starts to get a likeness for her and that scared Luiz more than anything. He knew how strong willed his daughter was and she wouldn't bow to the boss, that's if she hadn't insulted him already.

As Eric was walking into the mansion lost in thoughts, Luiz was walking out lost in deeper thoughts. He saw resignation in the man's eyes along with tears, Luiz Sanchez was a very jovial person but Eric had watched him slowly turn into a sad and scared person. The man was one of the bravest men he had ever encountered in the Mafia but Eric knew he was right to be scared. Ricardo Alvarez was a force to be reckoned with.

Just as Eric strolled into the sitting room, Diane walked out of the hallway and into the room. She had a killer expression on her face and Eric silently prayed she wasn't going to make the same mistake she had made the previous day.

"Ah, Miss Luiz, you're awake" Ricardo said as soon as he caught a glimpse of her and bowed his head in mock courtesy.

"Yes, I can see that" Diane replied with no intentions of playing along with him. "Where's my father?"

Ricardo feigned ignorance, "Your father?"

Diane was losing patience, "What did you do to him?" She asked again drawing closer to him.

"I haven't done anything to him, yet, Hermosa"

"If you touch a hair on his head, I'll.."

"You'll do what, little bunny?" Diane was ready to erupt like a full blown volcano when he stood up and headed straight for her. With his face only a few inches away from hers and with the devil's grin, he whispered. "You should be worried about what I'm going to do to you instead"