Chapter 8

• A few days have gone by since I started living in Stefano’s apartment. My dad feels it’s not safe for me to travel for now. I am in the kitchen eating when Stefano walks in.
• “I have a party we need to attend to find out important information about who attacked us a few days ago. Do you have an evening gown?”
• “No, I don’t. What leads do you have so far?”
• “The only leads I have come from the bullets that were shot at us that night. Unfortunately, my car, was shot that night, fortunately for our investigation, I was able to get this,” he says, placing a bullet in front of me.
• “I have never seen this type of bullet.” I say examining the bullet.
• “I have, it’s a special type of bullet. The man who sells them is hosting a party tonight. I have been trying to set up a meeting with him for days now, he has avoided me. Hopefully, If I can catch him alone at his party tonight, I will be able to get something out of him.”
• “Alright, that seems like a good plan, why am I coming?”
• “Aurora felt that you might need some fresh air, she asked me to take you along.”
• “Oh, but I don’t have a dress.”
• “Don’t worry about that; I will have someone bring a dress for you in a few minutes, we leave in an hour.”
• “Ok.”
• An hour later, I am ready for the party. The dress Stefano gave me is beautiful. It’s a one-shoulder asymmetric Organza cloque dress, white and gold beads on the bodice, ending in a cascading slit. I wonder if he picked it out himself or someone else did because the dress is lovely. If he did then he has good taste.
• I step out of my room, and walk to the living room to join Stefano so that we can be on our way. I find him standing in front of the elevator, looking at his wristwatch, I am awed at how amazing he looks. He is dressed in a navy tuxedo. He really looks handsome tonight.
• We arrived at the party a few minutes ago, this party is even worse than the last one I attended in Italy. At least in Italy, I had my family and Aurora to talk to, but here the only person I know is Stefano.
• He is not someone who likes to talk a lot, but even if he was, I wouldn’t know what to talk to him about. He excused himself a few seconds ago to say “Hi” to a few friends and acquaintances of his. I am scrolling through my phone when someone taps me on the shoulder, as I turn around and I see a familiar face.
• “Thomas is that really you?” I ask, smiling, standing up to say “Hi” to Stefano’s younger brother, an older brother to Aurora and Melissa. He is the second child of Lorenzo and Katherine.
• “In the flesh,” he says, smiling back, as he pulls me into a hug. Besides Aurora, I was also close to Thomas.
• “I have missed you all these years,” I say, hugging him back. He wasn’t in Sicily the time I visited.
• “And I have missed you too, Darling,” he says with his signature smirk, causing me to roll my eyes. Thomas is known to be a playboy and a sweet talker.
• “You have not changed a bit,” I say shaking my head.
• “There is nothing to change, Love.”
• “Whatever, how are you? How is everything? I can’t remember the last time we spoke”
• “I can’t remember either. I am doing wonderful, everything is fine. I heard you are living with my brother. I can imagine how boring your life is, knowing him.”
• “I am happy everything is fine with you, I can’t wait for it to be safe again for me to fly back to Florida, and go back to my normal life.”
• The thought of going back home makes me happy but it saddens me. Stefano and I live far away from each other, if I go back home, I don’t know when I will see him again. He might have the attitude of a rotten tomato, but something in me wants to stay close to him.
• “Hopefully soon, would you care to dance with me,” Thomas says, offering his hand.
• “Not at all,” I say, putting my palm in his.
• We walk to the dance floor; Thomas puts his arm around my waist. It startles me a little, but I get comfortable with it once we spend more time dancing. I am dancing when I spot Stefano a few feet away from us. He is in a seriously deep conversation with the person in front of him. He takes his eyes away from the man in front of him and looks at me. He says goodbye to the man and walks towards Thomas and me.
• He taps his brother’s shoulder to get his attention.
• “Mind if I take over, Brother?” Stefano asks.
• I am surprised he even wants to dance with me.
• “Not at all, see you later, Amore,” Thomas says, pecking my cheeks goodbye before he walks away.
• “Bye Thomas,” I say, pecking him back on his cheeks.
• Stefano takes my right hand and laces it with his while he wraps his other arm around my waist. At first, I am startled with the sudden contact of his hand with my back but once the warmth from his palm passes into my body, I relax, and get comfortable.
• It is different from the way I was comfortable in Thomas’s arms. He pulls me closer to him, and rests his head on my shoulder. Causing my heart rate to speed up from having him this close to me. I am confused as to why he pulled me closer to him, understanding once he begins to whisper in my ear. He probably felt it would be safer to talk to me while dancing so no one could listen to our conversation.
• “There has been a change of plans, I need your help,” Stefano whispers into my ears. His breath fans my neck with every word, causing shivers down my spine.
• “What can I help you with?”
• “I tried asking Mr. Carter about the bullet, but he refuses to give me any details on the person who bought the bullets. I plan to go into his office and look through his records to find out who did, and that’s where I need you.”
• “How can I help?”
• “I need you to keep Mr. Carter occupied so I can sneak into his office without him finding out.”
• “Do you have a plan on how I will keep him occupied? And I don’t know who Mr. Carter is.”
• “I heard you guys went to the same university, maybe you could use that as a topic of discussion, and I will introduce you to him.”
• “Alright, I can do that.”
• “Ok, let’s go. Please, make sure to keep him busy till I give you a signal to leave his side,” he says, releasing his hold on my hand but still has his other hand on my waist as we walk towards a group of people.
• “No problem, I will make sure of that.”
• “Hello, Mr. Carter, I would like to introduce you to my date, Miss Andrea Lopez,” Stefano says, as we reached a group of four people.
• “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter,” I say, putting my hand forward to shake his hand. He is fair skinned with a few grey hairs on his head. He looks to be fifty or sixty if I am guessing right. He is handsome for his age with his striking brown eyes that look like a pool of caramel. He is fit, adding to his great looks.
• “The pleasure is also mine Miss Andrea, if you don’t mind me asking, Dear, what is a beautiful woman like you doing with a man like Stefano?” He says, smiling, taking my hand in his, bringing his lips to my hand and puts a small kiss on it.
• “What’s that supposed to mean, old man,” Stefano says, pretending to be hurt by his words.
• “You know what I meant, Boy, and shh, I would like to talk to the lady, not you.”
• I can tell Stefano and Mr. Carter are friends, why won’t he tell Stefano who he sold the bullets to?
• “We are business partners, nothing more,” I say, coming up with the best explanation for our relationship.
• “That makes sense, why a beautiful lady like you would have something to do with Stefano. Where are you from, my Dear?”
• “I am from Miami.”
• Feeling something vibrating close to my side I turn around to find it’s Stefano’s phone.
• “Sorry, excuse me while I take this call,” Stefano says, walking away from us. After he leaves, Mr. Carter and I engage in conversations of mutual interest.
• I do not know how long Mr. Carter and I were talking, when Stefano returns having completed his search. I had a lovely time chatting with Mr. Carter losing track of time. Stefano and I part ways again. I can’t seem to find Thomas. I walk to the gardens to rest a little till Stefano says it’s time to leave.
• I am reading a book on my phone in the beautiful garden when a voice behind me interrupts me.
• “What is a beautiful lady like you doing here all alone?” The mystery man asks.
• “I could ask the same of you,” I say, looking behind to see who’s talking but can’t because he is in the dark.
• “Why would you say that Beautiful,” he says, coming up beside me.
• “Because only someone who wants to be away from the party would be found here,” I say, taking in his looks. I must say, he is one handsome man, not as attractive as Stefano. I don’t even know why I compared him to Stefano. He is tanned with raven black hair, piercing blue eyes, full red lips, a jawline as sharp as a blade, and a muscular body to die for.
• “You are right about that; can I ask the name of such a beautiful lady as yourself?”
• “I am Andrea Lopez, and you are?”
• “Ivan Yurin. I couldn’t help but notice you are reading. You must love reading for you to be doing that at such an event”
• “Your right, I do, but why do you ask?”
• “I love reading myself, it’s nice to find someone you share a hobby with.”
• “I wouldn’t call it sharing a hobby, what type of books do you like?”
• “Historical books.”
• “You are kidding me, that’s my favorite genre too,” I say, smiling.
• “You see, what are the odds that would happen?” He asks, smiling too.
• Ivan and I engage in a conversation like I have never had before. We have a lot of things in common. I find it hard to believe that you can have almost the same opinion and likes as someone else. We talked about a lot of different topics other than books. We talked about movies we like, food, cities, and a lot more. I have never connected with a stranger the way I did this evening.
• Stefano and I are on our way back to his apartment. I didn’t want to end my conversation with Ivan, but I had to. We plan to see each other during the week. I gave him my number, hoping to hear from him soon. I ask Stefano if he was able to get all the information he needed tonight.
• “Did you find out who bought the bullets from Mr. Carter?”
• “I did, I don’t know exactly who, but I have an idea.”
• “What do you mean?” I ask
• “I was able to find out the bullets were purchased by a Russian gang, but the records did not specify which gang, but I have an idea which gang it might be”
• “Which gang do you think it is?”
• “The stamp on the deal is a lion eating his cub, there is only one Russian gang I know that uses that seal. The Kazan gang, but it’s not possible.”
• “Why is that?”
• “I wiped out that gang a few years ago.”