Kidnapped By The Italian Mafia

"I'm so glad you called." Finley and Hector looked at me with pleasant expressions, both looking equally as handsome as they sat in front of me. "It has added some spark to my day."

"We were going to wait for a while before contacting you," Hector said amicably.

"So we wouldn't seem too desperate." Finley finished, a little more intensely than his brother.

"Well two days seems pretty fair to me." I smiled, glancing once around the quaint café to catch sights of the agents Claudette had demanded should accompany me on this little date. "Although a coffee date is not what I imagined you meant by dinner."

"Our apologies," they said in tandem, shooting me identical apologetic looks. "We didn't want to come on too strong."

"Has your passion taken you down some questionable paths before?" I teased, fluttering my eyelashes shyly. "You rascals."

They chuckled at me, probably thinking I'm an idiot. I certainly thought I was an idiot, but that was nobody's business except mine own.

"So how are you enjoying Paris in the daylight?" Finley asked curiously.

"It's beautiful. The architecture is stunning, of course. I went to visit Le Arc de Triomphe and was blown away." The hypocrisy of small pleasantries was beginning to make me physically ill. I wanted to get down to business. "And how about you? How are you two finding Paris?"

"It's very busy." Hector noted, looking around the café. "It reminds me of London."

"The European vibe truly stretches across countries. Have you two worked in London very much?"

"We're there for visits, mostly." Finley stated in a tone that told me it was very much a no-questions-asked topic.

"I don't like it very much. I prefer the sun." Was the off handed comment that came from me as I daintily picked up my passionfruit peach green tea. The taste was subtle and utterly pleasant on my tongue, just like Isabella.

Katarina was a coffee guzzler.

"Like Paris?" Hector asked. "This city has always been sunny, every time I've been here."

"And polluted." Finley muttered bitterly. I definitely didn't hide my surprise at his comment, directing my gaze to him with raised eyebrows.

"You are an environmentalist?"

"He tries to be." Hector cut in before his brother could speak. "Recycles everything but really, how much of an environmentalist can you be when you're cooking drugs four days out of the week? It's a release of chemicals into the environment."

"And we have to compensate in other ways." Finley rolled his eyes. I looked between the both of them tentatively, wondering whether I should put in my own two cents on their back and forth. The brothers were truly bickering like.. well… brothers.

To be honest they looked like childish idiots, and I wasn't a fan. I had to remind myself that this wasn't a total waste of my time. There was something to gain from all of this.

"What do you think, Is?" Finley addressed me, snapping me out of the daze where I was looking at my tea wistfully, wishing it were coffee, or even better, vodka. "Is it hypocritical to think about preserving the environment in our line of work?"

"I can't really answer that." I started truthfully, because I really didn't have an answer to that question. "I'm a distributor so I cannot really say that my choice in transport is exactly eco friendly, but I don't litter and reduce my use of plastic bags, in consideration for the turtles, of course."

"Do you recycle?" Finley asked as if that was a deal breaker. God, the one time I go on a date after getting kidnapped and look who I'm stuck with.

"I'm not going to say that I do because I forget most of the time." I rolled my eyes at myself. "But I care about sea creatures. I care about all creatures, actually. I don't wear leather, skins, or any furs, and I don't participate in animal trades. Actually, I rather hate animal cruelty. I think it's ghastly. And I always donate to those tree planting charities, so you could say I care about the environment."

I caught my breath at the end of my rant and inhaled deeply, looking up from my tea to catch both of them grinning at me. I felt nervous for the first time.

"What?"

"You were listing off your good deeds on your fingers." Hector began. "It was cute." They both finished.

A frown of confusion pulled my face together and threatened to reveal my usage of botox at a prem.a.t.u.r.e age. What were they talking about?

I looked down at my tea cup to find that I was indeed holding my fingers like when a child lists off things on their hands to keep track of them. A blush of embarrassment threatened to stain my face. What was I, a toddler?

"Désolée, I don't even know what came over me for that." I quickly hid my hand under the table. "How embarrassing."

The two men looked at each other like they were planning something and then back at me. The butterflies in my stomach put on steel-toed boots and prepared to march.

My phone chose that exact moment to ring, and the caller ID popping up on the screen revealed it was Dominico reaching out.

"Please excuse me for a moment, I have to take this call." I quickly picked up the phone and left the table to answer it, rounding a corner behind a decorative wall for privacy. "What is it, Dom?"

"Miss VanBurren, I've just received a call from someone notifying me about some special shipment…? What special shipment?"

I tried to frown, but my forehead felt stuck in time. What special shipment? "Who was the caller?"

"They didn't identify themselves with a name, they just gave me a number." Some ruffling was heard in the background. "3499XX7. It looks like an item number, kind of."

"But it's not." I sighed, placing a hand on my forehead. "When will it get there? Did they say anything?"

"No. Do you want me to investigate?"

"No. Don't do anything if the shipment arrives before I get back. If it comes in nautically, leave it at the port. If it reaches you at the club, put it somewhere far away." I sighed. "That's it. Anything else?"

"No, just that."

"Dominico, are you going to therapy?"

"I never miss an appointment."

"Good. Keep me posted, I'll talk to you later."

I hung up and frowned down at the ground internally because Botox wouldn't let me express my feelings of confusion and concern.

"Everything okay?" Finley came up behind me to ask. One glance at the table revealed that it was empty. "You look distressed."

"Oui, just work things. Where is votre frère?"

"Paying. We got a call too so we're going to have to cut this short before we really got the chance to know each other." He smiled softly, an expression that strangely enhanced his eyes.

"Oui, a real shame." I tried to seem disappointed, but how could I when this date was dreadfully boring to begin with?

"We'll make it up to you." He leaned in startlingly close until my nose was almost touching his shoulder. God, he smelled good. "Next time it'll be a proper date."

"Should I dress up?"

"Yes." He drew back a bit and looked into my contact lensed eyeballs. "Your eyes are so intense."

What the hell was I supposed to say? I felt like a dumb struck middle schooler talking to her high school crush for the first time. My mind was scoffing at this scenario but my raging hormones were begging this man to take me against the wall like he was paying me.

My inner s.u.c.c.u.b.u.s had no morals.

"Brother, stop scaring away our cute little business partner." Hector strolled up casually, hands in his pockets, big body completely shielding me from any passerby's view.

"I couldn't resist." Finley smiled, full set of white teeth on display. "She's so adorable."

These motherf.u.c.kers were cannibals.

"Ahahahaha." High pitched laughter left my mouth as I tried to extradite myself from the situation before I did something I'd regret. Experience hadn't taught me how to deal with this. "Right. Well. Call me when you— call me so we can make plans for next time. Goodbye, gentlemen."

Finley let me wriggle out from beneath his arms, only to bump into Hector's c.h.e.s.t. The man peered down at me from above with curiosity in his expression. He was looking at me the way children looked at puppies.

"Oh, excuse me." I awkwardly tried to get around him, side stepping his big form and finally breaking free from his stare. "Thank you so much for the tea, it was lovely while it lasted. Bye!"

And then I booked it.