Kidnapped By The Italian Mafia

"If you don't mind, could we find somewhere more private to talk? I don't want to divulge information to prying ears…"

"Of course!" Marco quickly gathered his things and stood up from the table along with me, holding a hand out to signal I should lead the way.

I gathered my coat and pulled my dress further down where it had started riding up on my t.h.i.g.hs. Usually it was fitted pant suits for Isabella, but Moira insisted that if I was going to see him, my best chance of escaping any attempted murders on his part would be via distraction, and what better distraction than my killer legs?

Marco had a temper, that much had been drilled into my brains during my time as his hostage and working with him, but I'd never actually seen him around women, so I wasn't sure how responsive he would be if I tried to catch his eye.

Maybe I should give it a test run? For science…

We walked out of the dining room without saying a word, his goons following after him and him following after me. Henri joined our group by my side as soon as we crossed the threshold, and I stopped to let him press the top button.

"Seventh floor," Marco let us know, proceeding to spend the elevator ride in silence after Henri pressed the button for the seventh floor.

The lack of conversation wasn't a bother, considering how deep in thought I was about my dress choices. Figure hugging bodycon dresses weren't an Isabella thing, they were a Katarina thing. Wearing this dress didn't put me at risk of crossing my wires, but it f.u.c.k.e.d up my signature dress codes.

The elevator dinged on the seventh floor and we piled out of the elevator, this time letting Marco take the lead. Henri and I fell into step behind him silently. I already knew what he was doing when he fell behind me and placed a hand on my back to direct me to his right side.

My butler, always the careful one, was assessing his possibilities should things go awry. I admired him so much.

Upon entering the hotel room, I discreetly instructed Henri while handing him my coat to acquaint himself with the goons while I had a private talk with Marco. My butler nodded and watched me enter the office adjacent to the living room where I'd be having a talk alone with my biggest enemy for who knew how long.

"Now, what did you want to tell me?" Marco asked after he closed the door to the office. I watched him closely while he rounded the desk with his big body, squinting when I couldn't tell whether he had a gun on him or close to him in the room. If this situation c.o.c.ked up, how could I get out of it alive? I had full faith that Henri could take the goons outside himself, but what about me against Marco?

The man had a body carved from steel, there was no way I could take him fairly. Not without getting knocked out, at least.

"I want to expand our business."

He chuckled, taking a seat and motioning for me to do the same. I didn't miss the way his eyes trailed my movement when I crossed my legs. "Already? We've barely started in Europe."

"Monsieur DiBiancci, is this your first time branching out on your own?" Even though I waited patiently, he said nothing, so I took it as a sign to continue. "This is not my first time starting an endeavour alone, so I know how worrisome it must be for you that something will go wrong. What reservations do you have about expanding?"

"When you say expanding, what exactly do you mean?"

Here it was, there was no going back after this.

"I understand you have a network for human trafficking?" I searched his face even as he avoided my eyes, using a rocks glass from the portable mini bar beside his desk as an excuse to not look at me.

"Where did you hear that?" He poured himself a drink then picked up a second glass. "Would you like one?"

"Yes, please." I needed to create a sense of comfort with him. "Now, as to where I heard that," I took the glass from him and took a sip. "It's everywhere. The news, gossip, dealers… the DiBiancci name is stained with a dark reputation."

"Do you believe these conspiracy theories?" He glanced at me with a questioning gaze, like he wanted to know what my honest opinion was.

"Every conspiracy theory has a grain of truth to it." Setting my glass down, I gave him a once over and paused at the watch on his wrist. The time on it was wrong.

"Perceptive. Perhaps I didn't give you enough credit." Marco's hazel eyes bore into me and his face took on an expression of interest that made me panic. "Isabella…" he leaned forward and entwined his fingers in the table. "What do you need?"

"I want to use mules." He raised his eyebrows at me in surprise. "It's an old fashioned method, I know it doesn't work very well, but I have an idea to make it untraceable."

"What's that?"

"We rent them from someone. If they get caught, all blame falls on the owner."

"That's cute, but it's not so simple. If the owner gets caught, we all go down."

"I have a plan for that too, but I can't reveal my secrets." Placing my hands on my knees again, we looked at each other intently, like we were trying to figure something out. "With these mules, we can sneak our product onto all enemy territory and steal customers without ever having to set foot in the place. I'll make sure nobody can trace it back to us."

"How would you do that?" Marco looked intrigued, but not conceding.

"Blank canvas."

"Blank canvas?"

"We don't mention where the product is from. It would have to be from word of mouth only and only our suppliers know. It would be a Julius Caesar situation." He hummed in response, not mentioning anything that he thought about the plan. I needed to get his approval on this. "I suppose by now you've figured out what my goal is."

"Your goal?"

"I'm going to become your right hand woman, and then, I'm going to take your place." I looked out the window thoughtfully, sounding out different names in my head. "My nickname should be Duchesse de la Mort."

Marco chuckled, as expected, shaking his head and crossing his arms at me. "You yourself said you're just a novice at this, with no background. I was raised for this life. It's not easy for me, much less someone like you." He took a pause after speaking, and I tried not to smile. "No offense."

Oh Marco… The Emperor Lynx. He was so smart, but such a man. His ego would be his downfall, I would make sure of it.

"Are we talking about becoming your right hand or replacing you?"

"Replacing me. Nobody would ever accept it." He took a deep breath. "Becoming my right hand is a different matter."

"Would everyone accept that?"

"Maybe."

"Would you accept that?"

"I wouldn't have much of a choice, would I?" He smirked at me. "Unless you gave me one."

"Do you f.u.c.k your right hand, Marco?" He blinked at me, all traces of his smirk wiped from his face in a second. Now it was my turn to smirk at him, and with a graceful swoop, I stood up from my chair, turning to leave. "Thank you for this meeting, Monsieur DiBiancci."