A Letter
Stefano's eyes stared blood shot at a man kneeling in front of him, his hands were filled with blood and his white shirt stained.
"Who sent you?" he asked the man again for the third time.
"Please" the man pleaded as he fell to his knees, his face swollen and wounded with blood dripping down all over his body. Clear evidence of the torture he passed through.
"I promise that I'm telling the truth. I_I only received a letter and I followed the instructions in order to save my family. Please you have to believe me" he rubbed his palms together "I never meant to hurt you I was just blackmailed" he held Stefano's leg and looked up to him pleadingly.
Stefano stared down at the figure who was crouched on the floor holding unto his leg like it was his last breath. He began laughing cynically at the man, he knew he was telling the truth but he needed to send the people who sent him a warning by delivering the man's head on a platter. He'll track them, he had people to do that. Those people should know who and who not to mess with.
"I'm not some punk kid that's easy to handle" Stefano smiled mischievously, his tone dark and cold. He kicked him off and went out of the room.
"PLEASE!, PLEASE!!" the man screamed out whimpering like a child.
_ _ _ _
Stefano came out of the building after he had changed his clothes and washed his hands. He had told the guards to lock the man up before he could decide what to do with him.
Stef got in his car and drove off only for his engine to develop a fault making him stop in the middle of the road.
"Shit" he cussed. He came out and dialed his engineer's number as the scorching sun beat him. The number was switched off making him more frustrated. Could his day get any better?.
Stefano shielded his eyes and looked for a nearby store. Gladly, he found a restaurant making him realize that he hadn't eaten throughout the day.
He sat at the window side. A waitress came up to him to take his order, but when she saw his face, she stood still. Wasn't that Stefano Mancini?, the next heir to the Mancini business Company?. She asked herself.
She was sure it was him, his pictures were all over the internet and he was young and goodlooking.
"Good day sir" she bowed her head a little.
"Uh I'll have Baked eggs and sausage" Stefano said looking at the food menu not minding whether she was the one to take his order or not.
"Okay" she said and left.
He watched her leave and saw her whispering to a lady, probably about him. The lady titled her head to his side, nodded at the waitress, and went through a door leading to the kitchen. She came out after a few minutes with a tray of what he ordered for.
"Here you go sir" she said posing provocatively in front of him.
Many women wanted him, he knew that; old or young but his heart wasn't open to anyone. He was the cold son of Pedro Mancini, the next successor of the Mancini Drug Empire and Business Company. He wasn't meant to be the next heir, it was meant to be his Elder brother, Alessandro.
Alessandro couldn't be the one all because he didn't want to partake in the Drug Business, he wanted something legit. Stefano was the preferred son of Pedro and the toughest. Pedro would always favor him before anyone else. Alessandro didn't care much since he had a company he was managing.
"Can I fix you a drink?" the lady asked, gazing at Stefano adoringly.
"No" he dismissed her with a look "You have orders to attend to".
"Ah, no. Those orders can wait" she giggled.
"I'll ring if I need you" he glared at her, it was more of a snarl than a glare.
"Sorry" she bowed her head apologetically. He wasn't easy to get.
Stefano sighed and parted his mouth to eat only for his gaze to meet with another person's, someone he didn't expect to see, a friend whom he now loathed. Francesco.
Francesco had walked into the building not too long ago and he only roamed his eyes round the place involuntarily then his gaze fell on Stefano. As fate had it, Stefano looked up that very moment.
They stared at each other for awhile, different emotions displaying in their eyes. Especially that of hatred. Instinctively, Francesco walked up to his table and sat on the only available chair which was opposite him.
"Happy our friend's gone now er?" Francesco chuckled painfully.
"What do you want?" Stefano asked.
"You know what I want?" Francesco toyed with with a fork laid beside Stef's plate "Is for you to pay for what you did" he landed his legs on the table crossing it. It made a banging sound earning them some lookers.
********
Emma Colombo stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, and what stared back at her was a haggard looking woman in her fifties. She now looked older than her age when she was only Forty-five.
Emma turned the tap on and splashed water on her face continuously, until a little boy's voice was heard.
"Mommy" a chubby little boy of about nine years came into the bathroom rubbing on his eyes as he just woke up from sleep.
"Yes honey" she answered abruptly and turned off the tap.
"What'd you doing here?" he asked and stared at her with those cute blue eyes of his.
"Nothing. Just doing some workout" she put up a smile on her face.
"Okay" he said slurry and wobbled out through the door.
Emma sighed and stared at herself again in the mirror. She had to do this, she told herself.
She had to do it for her son, her loved ones, and she herself.
Recently, she had gotten a letter, a threat. With instructions written all over and if she didn't oblige then she and her son were dead. They knew her address, the places she works in. And even if she tried to run they would still find her, she knew they weren't ordinary people even if she's never seen them. They threatened to create a scandal as she was a public personality.
She just had to do it, it wouldn't kill her and her son.