Chapter 4 - When wrong questions are asked

"Come on, brother." I wake Achille just as his head falls to the side. He lost a lot of blood. I pull up the hand break causing the car to slightly glide sideward before coming to a complete halt on the tar. The location was perfect, there was nothing insight for miles. Miles of open field surrounded the forgotten landing streak. "Let's go." The doors of the car unlock automatically when I pull the handle to open my door. Gian and two of his men stood ready waiting for our arrival, but came running towards us the moment I climbed out and rounded the car towards the passenger's side. They knew something was wrong.

"Get the girls." Gian ordered his men after assessing the car's occupants and before lifting Achille's other arm into the air and let it drape over his shoulder on the opposite side of where I was doing the same. We mostly carried him like that, his feet dragging more than often as he couldn't keep up. "Let Stefano know to come get the car." Gian orders Donato when we softly place Achille down on the gurney inside the plane. "Pupo." He calls after another man who seems to be on his way to the front causing him to turn to us. "Tell Pippa we are ready to go." The man known as Pupo nods his head before disappearing into what I assume was the cockpit.

"Ciao." A dark haired woman greets us when she steps through the door separating the plane back from front. "Please take a seat and strap in yourself for takeoff." She instructs us when she passes me and strap Achille to the bed he was laying on.

"Is he going to be okay?" Mia whispers softly into my ear the moment I take in the first seat I felt behind me which just happen to be right next to my hostage although it seemed impossible for me to not take my eyes of my brother.

"He is fine." I assure her. In my heart I also knew this was true, but seeing Achille like this and knowing that this was all because of me made the bob wire that surrounded my heart pull uncomfortably tight. "He just needs a little blood and he will be his old self again. How are you feeling?" I question her curiously, trying to find comfort in distraction. She seems to recover quickly or at least she seems to be more in control of her own than a few minutes ago.

"Scared." She admits just as we start to move, for the first time today it felt like everything around me settled down and I could breathe again. I gaze over the plane watching everyone calmly waiting for the plane to become airborne. The blonde nurse was strapped into the seat next to Achille, Gian fled to the back where the other passengers on this flight were kept safely and most importantly hidden and Madelaine sat on the other side of Mia who closes her eyes when a slight bump occur, but opens them when I rest my palm on her leg in a manner to console her.

"We will be up in the air in a second, and then it won't even feel like you're flying." I promise her and she moves her head up and down, but her body doesn't move. Her sudden demeanor wasn't because of the flying, but due to my touch and I remove my hand from her thigh when realization settles in. Thank god for the seatbelt light that stops glowing, I clip myself loose to check on Achille and mostly put some space between Mia and myself.

"With all due respect sir, there is no need for you to check up on me. I know what I am doing." The blonde rasp as she removes a bag of saline from a container underneath the bed. Her almost white hair fling pass her shoulder as she moves.

"I never thought otherwise." I chuckle. She was nervous, she knew who I was. "What makes me curious is why work for me? When you can have a vacancy with so much less stress and not even to mention the safety."

"The money, the excitement..." She shrugs. "I can tell you whatever I wanted to, to impress you, but I believe that you know everything about me already." She spit pushing the needle into Achille's vain. She was right, of course I knew about her getting fired from the hospital she used to work at for breaking the fingers of a man who was touching her inappropriately. Gian might be giving her the orders, but I was the one paying her salary. I had files on all my employees, but it didn't mean I knew them. I just knew about them.

"Mister Damian." Cino, also known as Pupo extends his hand to me in a manner of greetings. "It is an honor, sir." He says as he let go of my hand. Cino was co-pilot for his twin brother Dino. The two of them came to work for me straight out of university.

"Call me Ben." I instruct him. "How is your brother?"

"He is good, sir. If later you get a chance you should come by the cockpit. I know he would love to see you." He nods. His eyes scanning over Madelaine and Mia and before I could say anything he walks straight towards them. "Ciao." He greets them in his home language. "Would the two of you like anything to drink? I make a hell of a margarita." He offers Mia before turning his attention to Madelaine. "You look sixteen-ish…"

"No, Pupo. No alcohol." Allessandra interjects. "I gave him some painkillers; he would be sleeping for most of the flight, but should be awake when we reach Milan." She informs me before taking a stand next to Cino. "Hello ladies. My name is Allessandra, I am the in-house nurse, and if you need me I will be in the back. Just ask this fool to come get me." She says as she starts to walk off, but stops placing her hand on Madelaine's shoulder. "Let me see that." She tilt Madelaine's head to the side inspecting the swollen area of where Achille hit her before she looks over at me, accusingly. But she doesn't say anything.

"As you can see this is our Debbie-downer." Cino chuckles, but Allessandra doesn't give him any attention as she opens the small bag against her hip and remove some disinfectant and start doing her magic on Madelaine's head. "What about coffee, then?" He offers to no avail. "I also have flavored milkshakes, tea, iced coffee, wine, whiskey…"

"Water is fine." Mia finally gives in to Cino's moaning.

"Awesome, I will be right back." He disappears into the back for what felt like two seconds before returning with three bottles of water, handing them out as he passes, Madelaine, Mia and finally me. I take the bottle from his hand thanking him before opening it and drinking it halfway when the neck touches my lips. I wasn't thirsty until now, maybe I just didn't notice but the liquid was godsend as it flows through my body, hydrating my scratchy throat as it passes.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." Gian apologizes once he returns from whatever he was doing in the back with two glasses in his hands. "Whiskey?" He offers handing the one glass to me.

"Grazie." I thank him, taking the glass and immediately taking a small sip. Old Armour, I confirm before taking another gulp. "Allessandra seems like a peach."

"She is a diamond in the rough, you shouldn't take her seriously. She is great in what she does, loves children dearly and mostly speaks her mind, just a little rough around the edges." His pupils dilate when he turn his attention to her. He is either already fucking her or interested to start fucking her. "Will you be driving to Palermo?" He diverts the attention back at me.

"Yes." I curtly answer before taking my phone out from my shirt, sending Tomasso instruction to arrange that a car was ready when we arrive in Milan. "Is there some place I can clean up?"

"Of course." He points towards the back, fuck. I comb my fingers through my tangling hair. I couldn't take these two to the back. They just calmed down. I did not want them knowing what shit they were in the middle off. "There is a basin by the toilet on your way to the cockpit." He points out reading my thoughts.

"That will have to do." I finish the drink in my hand before handing him the empty glass, before I go check it out myself. There was not much space to move around in, but it would do, I open the tap and let the water run over my palms, seeping through my finger, I watch as the liquid goes from clear to red. After cleaning my hands I splashed some cold water onto my face, unbuttoning my shirt as I go trying to get all the blood from my skin. I drape my jacket over the closed toilet and throw the shirt into the trash, continuing on my mission.

"Here." Allessandra appear in the doorway handing me a white T-shirt. "I know it isn't perfect, but I keep a few of these on the plane for the guys." She smiles. "It should fit." Her eyes size me up from top to bottom. "Don't use all the water, I gave those two each one as well and I they would probably appreciate a little water." She snaps before turning on her heels and giving me some privacy. If she wasn't so tall she might not have come forwards so severely intense, but I could see Gian's infatuation with her.

"Dino." I greet our pilot. We have met before; he flew the jet a few times when my usual pilot couldn't make it. "How are you?" I take in the chair next to him where his brother was supposed to be sitting.

"I am good. It is nice to see you again. It has been a long time since I saw you." He chuckles. I use to fly more back in the day, but life got too busy and video conferences saved a lot of time.

"Do you still have that contact that does private loads?" I know some friend of his that went to University with him had a courier company known for black market deliveries. He mentioned it when we discussed how he came about working for Gian, who he apparently knew for most of his life.

"He is actually doing really well." He informs me as his eyes move over the dashboard, checking all the gauges. "The last time we got together he mentioned new routes. Are you looking to transport?" The expression on his face was bleak, almost. I never used anybody outside of my own people to do anything for me.

"Five ton of Cocaine." I grind through my teeth, almost choking on my own words. Doing this was going against every fiber of my being, not to even mention breaking my own ethics, but his reaction caught me a little off-guard.

"Don't tell me you finally gave into Tommasso's constant nagging." He chuckles. "I swear if you didn't give in soon he probably would have started trading on his own. Have he told you about Vegas? That was some fucked-up shit…"

"Get your friend in touch with Gian, he will fill him in on all the details." I interject his one-sided gossip session, rising to my feet to go check on Mia and Madelaine.

"Yes, Boss." He refrains from his chatter, remembering his place. I always try to keep good relationships with my employees, sometimes even so, that they forget who I am. I knew about Tommasso's trip to Vegas, he told me himself and for the most part I couldn't care any less about what they were up to, as long as he could be trusted. In fact; I expected it of him to do weird shit. If he didn't then I would have become worried, he was kind off a fucked-up guy.

"Oh, my god." Mia gasped the moment I entered the seated area in the middle of the plane, immediately drawing my attention towards what she was gushing about when suddenly my veins contracted and my blood ran cold. Mia jumps from her seat and lifts the running and giggling two year old up in her arms. "Where did you come from?" Her soft voice carry concern while she playfully investigate the toddlers small frame, searching for god-knows what? Bruises, Cuts, anything that she could probably proof that her initial thought of me was true. Her fingers slowly glide over the kid's smooth and well taken care of skin when another woman appears from the compartment in the back of the plane giving me an apologetic smile before diverting her attention to Mia.

"I am so sorry." She smiles awkwardly at Mia before attempting to take the child out of Mia's arms, but Mia was not letting this go and as much as I wanted to make her listen I couldn't. My body was cemented to the spot. "I need to take her…" The woman tried again, but was quickly shut down by Mia, again.

"What you need is to back down." Mia warns calmly pulling the small body of the little blonde girl against her chest in a manner of protection, wrapping her arms around the girl. "There you go, baby." She whispers loud enough for me to hear against the child's ear, keeping her eyes focused on the women as she slowly sway her body from side to side. Mia got herself in this fucked-up position because of her empathy for Madelaine, who is a teen. The ripples she is going to make now will not even be anything to compare. If there was something I knew it was that Mia would much rather let this plane crash than give up the child to us ruthless men, like she believed we were.

"Mam…" She tries again. My name is Concetta and I promise you that I would never hurt her. You saw her when she ran in here; she was laughing." Something seem to stir inside Mia's mind as she looked at the girl's face and then back at Concetta, the child wasn't laughing anymore, but Mia doesn't let go. "Please give her back to me?"

"What is her name?" Mia ignores Concetta's request, her voice harsh as she tries hard to fight back the tears and it wasn't too hard to imagine what she was probably thinking. Or what she thought she knew and I could not blame her. After what Madelaine told her, how we reacted towards her and after being kidnapped by us herself, who would believe us if we told them the truth.

"Isabelle." I answer her, catching the attention of both of the women as they turn their heads to face me in disbelief? Both of them definitely surprised, neither of them thought that I would know her name. 'Of course I knew her name. I handpick each child accordingly.' Was what I wanted to say, but I knew better. Mia already assumed the worse and was scared shitless and I couldn't confirm her suspicions. "Just give her the child." I nod my head in Concetta's direction, urging Mia to comply.

"What is wrong with you?" Water breaks the barrier as she couldn't fight her tears anymore. "What type of human does this to people, to children?" Her breaking voice gets interrupted with sobs, which also alarms the little one. "It is okay, baby." She tries to sooth her, but the child was now also sobbing uncontrollably. Madelaine also tried to persuade Mia to hand over the child, but even she couldn't succeed, Mia cut her short with a quick; "Shut-up." My patience were wearing thin and I believe that I was slightly sleep deprived, if she wasn't going to use her listening skills in the next few seconds I would not be held responsible for what I did. "The only way you take her is to kill me." She dared and of course she would give her life for this unknown and innocent girl, because that seems to be what her sole mission in life is since I met her.

"I swear; if you do not hand over the child to Concetta so she can stop crying, she will soon be prying her from your dead body." My words were soft and meaningful and they came from my lips way too easily, I didn't even really think them through, but they did make Mia hesitate for a moment, although they weren't enough. Not even when I withdrew my firearm from its usual position and pointed it at her did she budge, but she quickly reconsidered and almost immediately handed her over when I slightly shift the gun so that the dangerous end was now pointed to the back of the small child's head. I could feel everybody's eyes boring onto me, watching with intend at what I was about to do, but no one dared to speak, they were mute and one would be able to hear a pin drop in the utter silence, after all the only person with the balls to intervene at this moment was laying unconsciously on the fucking gurney. "Good girl." I lower my weapon as I take in a deep breath before I take two big strides and grab onto Mia's elbow with intend. I almost drag her through the door, past the back of the plane until we reach a small compartment, occupied with only a double bed; surprisingly she kept quiet as she tried to stay on her feet.

"Sit down." I command harshly, pushing her onto the bed with force and she quickly quiver to the head of the bed, trying to get away from me as far possible. She sways her legs to the side as she curls into a ball, dragging her legs to her chest she leans against the headboard with her right shoulder. I watch closely as flashes of emotions cross her face each working their way through every muscle on her forehead and after a few minutes she settles in a frown. I take a seat on the edge of the bed when I was mostly certain she wasn't going to do anything stupid. I run my hands through my damp hair taking in a deep breath. My back was facing her, but I could feel her eyes burning into me. "I know you are scared and you ought to be, but do you really think behaving like a little girl was going to make things any easier for you?" I question her without turning around to face her and let the air out from my lungs.

"You do seem to like little girls."

"It is not like that." I fall back onto the bed with my hands now resting above my head on either side of her scrunched-up body. To my surprise she didn't even try to get away, instead she just sat in the exact same spot on the heather of the bed tightening her arms around her legs.

"Do you know what I don't get?" Her voice's tempo picks-up again and my eyes snap open for only long enough to see her slightly laying to her left side so her face hovers over mine. Her eyes a dark mesmerizing green beneath her curious frown, her hair curling beautifully around her face. "You seem to have it all; hotels, cars, a freaking private airplane, your looks, basically everything money can buy and even what money cannot be you seem to have. I bet women practically throw themselves at you when you go places." She pauses for a moment getting her breathing under control. "Why us? Why didn't you just leave me and Madelaine in those bushes? If it is because you thought that we were going to sell you out to the police, you could have just killed us. Wouldn't that have been less of a hassle for you?"

"You are of much more value alive." I try to push a warm smile onto my face, but the pull from darkness was too strong as sleep grabbed me into a chokehold and tiredness dragged me in.

"Is this where you live?" Madelaine's voice break through the awkward and painful silence as I turn the car left onto the estate causing my brother to open his heavy eyes. I could see that his arm was still painful, but thankfully I employ good medical staff on my planes. Besides we were not that hurt anyway and for the first time in a long while I actually got more than three hours' worth of sleep on the plane. I suppose we are all rest-up now. Ready to face all the new challenges staring us in the face, like getting Madelaine a permanent placement, getting the cocaine order set-up, making sure that Adamo is found and clean, sorting out the dealing issues at the clubs, keeping Mia from running away, keeping her smart mouth shut when it needs be, keeping her frustrating witty comments to herself… She alone was going to be hard work.

"You alright, brother?" I question Achille, ignoring Madelaine's question. I wasn't sure how to answer it anyway. If this wasn't where I lived then I would not have turned in nor would the heavy guarded security have opened the gate for me.

"I am fine." He answers, his voice husky from sleep. "It is the fucking painkillers that are messing with me." He explains pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and his thumb.

"Good, because we still have work to do." I nod my head as I bring the car to a halt and turning the key in the ignition to switch off the engine.

"Do you not have an end?" Achille groans as he slams the car door shut. "Can we just take a fucking breather, brother? I need a shower and a good night's rest and so do they." He nudges his head towards the back of the car where both the girls were still seated, quietly. What the fuck were they waiting for? For someone to open the door for them, I head their way and pull on the door handle.

"Two days." I agree before turning my back on everyone, heading directly for my office to set up the payment from the offshore account to pay the Gambino's. I do not want those fuckers connected to me in anyway.

"Fuck!" I slam both my fists onto my desk. I couldn't care less about the money; I had more than enough of that. Even the time I spend setting all of this shit up I am making more money than the money that I am spending on them, but I hated just the mere fact that they were now pleased with themselves. Nobody controlled me... nobody. I rest my head on my hands. Maybe Achille is right I need a breather… and a haircut. I push my chair away from my desk.

Insert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually had to quickly catch my breath the moment my eyes caught the scene in my once perfectly decorated living room when I arrived at home. I slowly take a step back to absorb the full picture. The black leather couches, which by the way I never knew were recliners were all now, kicked back with the bottom parts in the air. They were also covered with three warm bodies.

One of them my brother, Achille's limbs were spread out across the couch, his sore arm resting on his torso, while the other arm created a half moon above his head and his legs stretched out onto the rest of the black structure supporting his weight. I cannot remember him ever sleeping over at my house. He rarely came over for personal reasons. When we wanted to hang out we did it at one of the clubs and the only other times we were together except for working was when we were at Madre's house. He calls my house 'The Damian headquarters', according to him only work gets done in-between these walls. It was everything, but homey. I didn't care, to me it was home. I like my house clean, safe and neat.

I could only see Madelaine's feet peaking from under a dark blue blanket at the edge of the three-seated couch. My eyes scroll over the small frame to her head which was located on Mia's lap, Mia's hand slightly entangled in Madelaine's hair. She was probably trying to sooth the poor girl, trying to make her feel save. Although, if I was reading the situation correctly; Madelaine was probably much more equipped than Mia in handling these type of situations.

I slowly make my way around the coffee table covered with Chinese take-away containers and empty bottles as I near Mia, whose head is hanging very low, afraid that her neck might get stiff. I softly take one of the silver scatter cushions and place it between the edge of the head rest and where I lifted Mia's head. I pause when she starts to mumble something unintelligent, but luckily she doesn't wake. I quickly make my way to my bedroom where I get rid of any trace of exercise and put on a clean pair of navy suit pants and a white dress shirt before returning to my office.

I barely opened my laptop when there was a faint knock on my door. "Come in." I order not intending for my voice to sound so dominant, but I didn't give it a second thought, since when do, I care what I sound like to other people. I was surprised to see the beautiful Mia appearing from behind the door and that was when it struck me; the moment I started to care how I sounded. It was meeting her that these moments of self-doubt occurred. She was wearing one of Achille's T-shirt's. The Shirt was so big on her small body that one could mistake it for a dress and I couldn't help but wonder if she was wearing a pair of shorts underneath... I didn't like this. I didn't like that she was wearing Achille's shirt when she would look much better in one of mine. "What can I do for you?" Again my voice betrays me. I need to work on that.

"If I am bothering... I mean if you are busy... I can come back later." She questions fumbling with her fingers against her stomach, drawing my attention to her lower body wondering what her warm body would feel like pushed up against my own. I need to get Mia her own clothes, I should have done it while we were in Milan, but it didn't feel right, besides I couldn't hang around there for too long, so instead I decided to drive home directly. The drive was also astonishingly long, my three occupants were mostly sleeping and when they woke they kept quiet.

"Take a seat." I point to the seat opposite me; I gesture for her to sit, before I retract my hand and sit back in my seat, forgetting about the laptop or files on my desk for a moment. She does what she is told carefully taking a seat on the brown leather chair, she quickly tuck the material in-between her thighs to cover her dignity and I had to bite hard on my teeth to keep my eyes focused on her face. Dark circles surround her green Iris's, blue-blackish stains support her eyes. She was tired and if that wasn't an indication the redness in her eyes definitely was. Guilt settled deep in my stomach as the realization sets in; this was what I was doing to her. I am destroying her, like I usually do with things I keep dear, I destroy them. I needed to get her away from me, physically and mentally. If this was what she looked like after only two days with me then I will most probably kill her in two weeks' time.

"Thank you." She breathes after she takes in the offered seat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything?" What was wrong with me? Anything? This could open up a can of worms that nobody wanted open.

"Are you going to hurt Madelaine?"

"No." I cross my arms over my chest. At least that was an honest answer.

"Me?"

"No." Yet another one, but I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to answer her truthfully.

"What are we to you?"

"Nothing." My answer starts to dwell from the truth. They weren't nothing, but they weren't something.

"Then why are we here?"

"You said 'a' question…" I emphasize the words 'a question', "that is singular; you are at four questions now."

"I am sorry." She apologizes as her blood floods her cheeks turning them a reddish color. "I am scared all the time..."

"Don't be." I interject. "I can make you this promise; No one will lay a hand on either of you while you are under my roof. You are welcome to make this place your temporary home. You are to do as you please, but do not leave the premises, try to see this as a vacation and not that I am keeping you against your will. I mean I know that this is not ideal, but this is what I can offer for the time being. Where I can protect the two of you for now. This will not become forever." My eyes lock with Mia's for a few seconds before I break the contact. "Take a walk with me." I rise to my feet and round the table extending my hand to her when I pause in front of her.

"You promise?" She questions lifting her head to face me, her eyes drilling into mine.

"I give you my word." I assure her, again and she raises her hand slowly until she places it into mine. "Let me give you a tour of the house." I lead her out of my office. I do not need any preying eyes becoming aware of matters that could get them killed... or even worse.

"Mia?" Madelaine's voice echo through the hallway, coming from the living room, causing the both of us to stop in our tracts. She sounded worried.

"I am fine." Mia assures her. "Go back to sleep. I will be there shortly." Mia sounded assured at least sure enough for Madelaine to believe her. We stood like that; closely beside one another with her soft hand safely covered in mine, for a further minute to be certain before we continued.

"Come on." I extend my arm forward as I lead her further into the house.

"Do you live here alone?" She pauses on our way back to the living area after a successful tour of the house or at least it seems to be successful, I haven't given anyone a tour before and Mia gasped at each room we entered. Except for now, she sounds a little disappointed?

"Yes." I turn to face her trying to figure out what was troubling her. "There are more houses on the Estate, but no one else lives in this house." I wasn't sure what she meant so I explained my answer.

"Don't you have a family?" She frowns.

"Everyone around us is my family."

"I don't mean like… them." She carefully structures her sentence. "Do you have parents?"

"Everyone has parents, topolino." I chuckle. "I do not live with my parents, no."

"Brothers? Sisters?" She question as she slowly makes a 360 degree turn. "I mean one's that you do not have to pay."

"Yes, Achille, but I do not think he will appreciate your suggestion to not get paid."

"I didn't say that." She corrects me. "Why is there no photos of them on the walls?"

"This is what is bothering you?"

"No." She frowns denying it, but I could tell she was lying, I just wasn't sure why. "The house is… a masterpiece." She says as she starts to walk away.

"Wait." I find myself calling after her, forcing her to stop and turn on her heels. As much as I wanted to deny it, spending time with Mia was something I was actually interested in doing. Not fucking her, although I might not be able to say no if the opportunity represented itself, but answering her questions was enough for now. "There is one more room I haven't shown you."

Her eyes grow wide when I flip the switch and electricity starts to burst in the form of lights illuminating the cellar where all the bottles of wine rested in a certain order, different daily wines to enjoy with food or without, some collections and some collectables. I was a man with a variety of good taste. "Wow." She pauses as her eyes scan over the hundreds of bottles, she seems fascinated. Her fingers lightly traces over each bottle she passes as her feet start to follow the direction of her eyes. She reads the names of some of the wines from the collectables as she slightly pulls them halfway from their habitat before she carefully slides them back into place. Her movements are slow, soft and timeless.

"Do you like wine?" My curious mind wanders, she has to like wine, everyone does, don't they? But did she appreciate a good wine or did she just chuck down a bottle for the same reason many people do? 'For the buzz.' I think Tomasso called it the other day.

"Some of these bottles are really expensive." She ignores me… or answers me? I couldn't be sure if she was telling me or asking me. She was confusing and I hated it.

"Yes." I nod, not exactly sure how I was to respond to her statement.

"Do you know what only one of these bottles could mean to somebody like me?" She faces me in what seems like disbelief, but quickly her demeanor shifts smoothly turning softer and she softly whisper something only loud enough for her to hear. She seemed astonished by the sight, but her mind was now far away, distracted even. This was a weird way of asking for a glass of wine, but I was never going to be able to say no to her. I hate what she is doing to me, but when I am near her I couldn't fight it.

"Choose one."

"Any one?" Her eyes gape into mine.

"Any one." I repeat.

"This one." She slowly withdraw the most expensive bottle of wine from its safe environment causing me to gulp down my own disappointment against the blob in my throat. "1947 French Cheval – Blanc." She pours more fat with her sweet voice on my internal fire, but the burning sensation didn't last long. Her smile was much more captivating and without any hesitation I walk towards her, taking the bottle smoothly from her hands as I pass her and stop when I reach the corkscrew on the cabinet behind her. I turn the screw into the neck of the bottle, biting slightly onto the inside of my cheek as I drill the silver tool through the stopper. It was torture, but maybe Achille had a point; he always bugs me about the money I spend on these wines, but not enjoying them.

"Here you go." I finally turn to face Mia handing her one of the glasses after pouring the dark red liquid into two wineglasses and most importantly; getting a grip on my emotions.

"Thank you." She half heartily plasters a wry smile onto her face as she takes the stem of the glass between her fingers. Something felt strange about the way she acted, but I didn't want to push. "It is thick." She says surprised as her eyebrows fuse together and she presses the glass against her lips once more. "It tastes like fruitcake." She closes her eyes and her smile now seems more genuine, but I couldn't yield my eyes away from her. She is the most exquisite woman I have ever seen a goddess, dressed in nothing, but my brother's oversized shirt and she couldn't look any more like the queen she was born to be. She deserves only the best there is. "All the sweet fruity flavors are strong, but there is a hint of… a chocolaty… and coffee flavor." Mia continues to describe the dark nectar sticking to her soft lips. "I will never be able to get enough." She whispers as she suck her lip into her mouth trying to clear any traces of wine from her red stained lips.

"I know." My loud thought slither through my lips and her eyes snap open at my voice. Her eyes told me that she knew I wasn't talking about the wine, I haven't even tasted the fucking vino, but I also didn't need to. From watching Mia enjoy the taste I couldn't imagine it being bad.

"I am sorry." She apologizes gulping down the rest of the liquid from her glass before she places the glass down on the wooden cabinet next to her. "I shouldn't have…" She pauses. I believe she was trying to come up with a sane reason for her to be apologizing and I wasn't exactly sure why. She didn't do anything remotely worthy of an apology, except maybe for making me open the most expensive bottle of wine, but I am certain that she wasn't even aware of that tit-bit of information. "What is it that you wanted to show me?"

"Oh, yes." I remember the reason for bringing Mia here and I turn away from her walking towards the wall on the left side of the cellar, where a safe is hidden in the concrete, behind a small cupboard that hung on the wall organizing some goblets, flutes and more wine glasses. I carefully shift the cupboard to the side on its rail revealing the safe before I quickly punch in the code and the door clicks open. "I have never before shown this to anybody." My loud thoughts mention to nobody in particular as I remove the small black box from the corner of the safe and close it again. "I…" I start to speak turning around to see where she was and to my surprise she was now standing right in front of me, invading my personal space holding up her refilled glass of wine in her one hand and the bottle in the other.

"What is it?" She slightly bends her knee quickly lowering the wine bottle to the floor and then carefully follows its direction with her bum, holding the glass above her head and the material hanging loosely around her tucked in-between her thighs as she takes a seat on the cold tiles. "Gimme." She giggles after placing the glass next to her and throwing her hands up in the air, wiggling her fingers like a toddler wanting the unpronounceable and I hand the box over to her, which she accepts without further invitation. The wine seems to be making her greedy; I smirk inwards taking a seat on the ground next to her. Something I won't usually do; I had too much respect for my clothing, but it didn't seem to matter when she was around. Many things didn't seem to matter when she was around. Never-the-less, towering above her wasn't an option; I wanted to be able to observe every addictive smile, drink in every witty word her mouth spew and relish in each of her reactions. I wanted to study her, get to know her.

"Open it." I encourage her as she sits knocking back yet another glass of wine like it was a spirits before refilling the glass halfway, placing it next to her and she slowly opens the box which sat in front of her crossed legs staring at us.

"Aw…" She coo's as her eyes leave the picture she is holding between her thumbs for a quick second when she turns to face me and slightly move a little closer to me so that the picture was now in the line of sight to the both of us. "This is Achille, right?" She was referring to the small, blonde child with his big smile lightning up the photo.

"Yes." I curtly answer betting all my wealth that it was those bright blue eyes that gave it away and I mentally felt like rolling mine. Nobody had eyes like him, they are icy, but never made you feel cold unless, of course it was his intention to do so. Women usually tend to fall in love with him the second their eyes meets his and Mia now doesn't seem like the exception. The thought made me shift uncomfortably and I try to remove the burning imagine of my imagination from my mind. "There is much more to him than his eyes." I say trying not to sound bitter, but I couldn't help it. I was never before jealous of my brother, but if Mia… No! I clear my throat and loosen the tie around my neck that suddenly felt like it was choking me.

"I bet there is." She picks up the glass and takes a sip before handing it to me from across her shoulder. "Brown is more my color." She croaks moving on to the next photo as I take the glass and have a taste of the fine red Cheval-Blanc. The explosion of sweetness sits me a bit back, but the second and third gulps came naturally, maybe from the sudden flooding of blood that stirred in my pants at her words or the mere thought of my lips placed on exactly the same place hers was not even a minute ago. I slowly pull away the empty glass from my lips handing it back to her to divert her attention as I pull my dress shirt out of my pants letting it cover whatever evidence there was of what she was doing to me, while she sets the glass to the side and places the baby photo at the back of the pile in her hands revealing another memory of two boys around eight and eleven years old, training to become boxing champions.

"Achille and I loved boxing." I smile at the memory. We still do. "My parents couldn't keep us far away from each other for long enough to stop us from hitting each other, we weren't fighting though, we were merely practicing what we saw on TV." I chuckle. They did finally let us join a gym so we could get the proper training." I watch as she reveals another photo and then another, both of me and my brother training in the gym, our ages growing.

"Is this your parents?" She questions taking the empty glass and holding it up in front of me to refill and I swiftly take care of it, pouring the sweet liquid into the glass. We spent the following half an hour in that position. I was refilling her glass and giving her a quick history about the photos she enquired about and informing her who the people on them was while she listened to every word I spoke and drank almost the entire bottle of wine and got comfortable leaning onto my chest with her back. I was very aware of every move she made; intentional or unintentional, I couldn't be sure, but I tried not to make a sudden move only to spare us both the embarrassment of knowing what was growing in my groin.

"Why do you keep these hidden?" She questions when Achille's baby face appears again and the warmth of where her head was resting against my chest get replaced by the coolness of the room when she moves forward to put back the photos into their box, but to my surprise she sets the box down on the floor next to my leg the furthest away from her causing her to brush against me before she sits back against me again.

"Where else was I to keep them?" I frown. People keep their most priceless belongings in a safe. Those are some of mine. There are also other important items in there like spare keys to the cars, wrist watches that belonged to my dad and a very old emerald that is a family heirloom… Normal stuff… I lift the almost empty bottle around her and once more top up her empty glass.

"Sitting like this is nice." She whispers, her attention span getting shorter with every glass of alcohol. "It is the thing closest to normal that we have done since we met." She lifts her head up slightly turning it backwards revealing her glimmering emeralds to me.

"You mean except for; pointing a gun against your back, taking you hostage, kidnapping, threatening and murdering we did so well?" I grin keeping my eyes locked on every feature of her face when she smiles; her eyes squinting slightly as the corners of her lips pull upwards.

"That reminds me…" She giggles and my body becomes aware of the vibrations echoing from her almost instantly. She was killing me, but I hid it well, I think. "Do you think that I would have gotten the vacancy at the Hotel if everything went down the way I imagined it?" She reminds me of the reason she was at the hotel; it was like they said; wrong time, wrong place. Except for me it was precisely at the right time at the exact location.

"I would like to believe that you would have, yes. Your boss would have been very injudicious not to have appointed you." I smile down at her. I wasn't even sure what position she was planning to apply for and it wouldn't and shan't ever matter, because I don't do the interviews or really have an opinion on such low ranking employees. I was their boss's, boss's boss.

"Here is to me drinking my new Boss's wine and to what I believe will go down as the weirdest job interview in history." She makes a toast and cheers her glass into the air. "Even this beats my old job" Her words are soft as she lowers the glass.

"How come?" I question intrigued at hoe any of this could be better than her previous work situation. I can remember when we met she was balbbing on about how her life was an inconvenience and at this moment I wished that I listened to her at the time. I might have known a little more about her, but unfortunately I had more pressing matters at the time.

"You know how you at least try to hide being a dick? Let's just say my previous boss didn't. To him I was only as good as the men employee's worst." She rolls her eyes to her memory. "Besides he and some jerk I use to know was somehow friends and the both of them made my life hell." Mia tried to fight back the tears as she told me about how she had to accompany them to functions and how they used her to flirt with other men for them to advance in their own fields and it made me want to break their necks at the mere thought. The idea of them using her like a fucking whore… I couldn't even stand it. "The sick part was that I did all of it, you know? I didn't say no. I just did what I was told, because I needed the money. Now look at me." She sits up crossing her legs and covering her face.

"I am." I remind her. I couldn't even phantom the idea of not looking at her. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.

"No, I mean… A few weeks ago I was struggling to make ends meet and here I am… without any say in it…" She lifts her right hand and points her finger accusingly into the air. "Drinking expensive wine in an expensively fancy ass house with an expensive guy who doesn't even care that I messed up his expensive shirt." She shrug as her eyes is kept fixated on the red smear on my shirt and my eyes follow. I didn't even notice the smudge of wine before and I didn't care. The only thing that I cared about right now was the two grownup men that were still walking while Mia suffered their actions. "I don't feel so good." Mia giggles before suddenly handing the glass to me and jumping up from the ground, covering her mouth with both her hands as she jets off to the bathroom, I presume.