He brought me up to the fourth floor—my room was on the third—and then we walked down to where Gio’s office was. I tried to memorize the path again, but I could have sworn it was different from the last time we were there. Either I was so distressed the first time that I didn’t see the pathing clearly, or Milli led me a different way on purpose.
Both were believable possibilities.
Casually lifting a hand, Milli knocked lightly on the door with the knuckle of his pointer finger. He had a smirk on his face and when Gio called out asking who was there, he applied with a humor-filled, “Come see for yourself.”
My entire body was burning with rage and embarrassment. I hated the kick he was apparently getting out of my request to speak with Gio. Did he believe that firmly that I wouldn’t get what I was seeking or was there some sort of underlying joke that I was unaware of?
The door opened and Gio’s eyes immediately fell to me. His hair was back to being swept behind his head, and he was wearing suit pants and a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled slightly up. Any warmth that he’d shown me in the past was totally gone and he now just seemed bothered. Milli had made a comment that he’d be upset with us wasting his time, maybe that concept held more weight than I thought.
“It was demanded I bring her to speak with you,” Milli said. “So here we are.”
“Very well. Come in,” he said, turning around and heading back into his office. “Milli, you can go.”
Milli snickered. “Yes sir.”
Though I found Milli’s presence deeply unsettling, when he turned to leave, I found myself watching after him wishing he’d stay. Maybe it was just about having another person in the room, but it wasn’t like if Gio decided to kill me that Milli would stop him.
Gio’s back was to me, but he must have been able to tell I hadn’t moved from just outside the office doors because he called out, “Hurry up. Shut the doors behind you.”
I jumped a little and scuttled inside, shutting the doors behind me before padding over to one of the chairs that faced Gio’s desk. I slowly lowered myself into one as Gio sat down in his office chair and went back to work. He had a few rather large stacks of paper scattered around, and his laptop was open. He was flipping back and forth between reviewing the paperwork, then he’d type some things on his computer and go back again. I waited for about five minutes for him to take a break and look up at me, but he never did.
“Um,” I started, thinking he’d look at me, but he just kept working, so I kept going, “the conditions I’m living in are horrible. I’m not going to run, and I told you already, my father probably isn’t going to come for me. I think I should at least have a decent place to sleep.” Gio appeared as if he was barely listening to me. If he heard me, he didn’t acknowledge it and just kept flipping his papers and working as if I wasn’t there at all.
“It’s really quiet in there. Maybe something that makes noise. I feel like I’m going to go insane.” Again, Gio didn’t respond to me at all. My skin prickled with frustration. If he had no intention of listening to anything I had to say, then he should have just sent me back to my closet. My tone was a little harsher when I barked, “Can you please look at me?”
That made Gio stop. His eyes drifted up to me immediately, and after watching me for a few seconds, he stopped the work he was doing, setting down his pen, closing his laptop, and giving me his undivided attention. It was so strange after having him treat me like gum on the bottom of his shoe for the past five minutes. Was it just my use of the word ‘please?’ Milli’s tone changed when I said I was planning to ask Gio for better accommodations rather than make demands.
Was this mobster just a stickler for politeness?
Still, with his eyes now on me with pinpoint focus, my nerves doubled. “It’s like I said, my room is awful. The bed isn’t comfortable and it’s cold and dark. I’m not asking for much, but maybe if my one meal a day could be breakfast so that I have energy for the entire day? Maybe a notebook and pencil? I like drawing.” I closed my mouth and waited, but Gio was just staring at me blankly so I tacked on, “Please? If I could have these things, I’d be much more comfortable. If I have to be here, I’d like to not feel miserable. If It’s not too much trouble.”
Gio took this in for a moment before standing up from his desk. He walked around it, taking quick strides towards the door. Just as he was about to pass me, he looked down, locked his gaze into mine, and said, “Stay right there.” The command sent a shiver down my spine.
Not an entirely unwelcome one at that.
I nodded and Gio continued walking towards the door, eventually making his way out and leaving me in his office alone. Once he was gone, I found myself scanning the room and considering looking around for something—anything—that could help me. My phone was probably somewhere in there, right? Maybe his desk. I looked over at the papers and his laptop and figured I could maybe even find something noteworthy if I looked through his things. I prepared myself to get up from the chair but then his words shuddered through me.
“Stay right there.”
I felt compelled to listen for some reason, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized, there was no way his office didn’t have some sort of security. I saw the way his fortress looked when we drove in, there were armed guards, security cameras, and flood lights as far as the eye could see. Gio was obviously a somewhat paranoid person, and probably with cause given his line of work. That dark look in his eyes as he uttered his command seemed to be a warning that he’d know if I tried anything.
On top of that, I found myself hoping that if I showed some restraint, maybe I could ask for more down the road. Relationships, however bizarre and unorthodox they may be, were about give and take. If Gio was actually listening to my few requests, then I could show my thanks by listening to the one instruction he gave me.
If listening to him would get me good things, then I’d be willing to bend the knee a little.
After about an hour, the door to Gio’s office opened and he walked in. He didn’t leave the doorway, but rather looked at me from there, giving me a small smile when he saw me still sitting where he’d left me. I watched as a little bit of warmth drifted back into his expression and he nodded me over. “Follow me.”
On pure impulse, I immediately stood up from my chair, and I wished I’d given just a little hesitation, but whatever. I was fighting a losing battle, and hopefully, I’d at least be doing it in a slightly more comfortable space.
Gio closed and locked his office door, then started off down the hallway and I remained close to his side. Standing so close to him, I could smell that he was wearing some intoxicating cologne and it made me a little dizzy. It was hard to keep my mind focused on the right things around this man.
Rather than the elevator, Gio led me to a stairwell. I could see that the stairs went up one more floor as well as down. We went down one floor to the third floor and walked out into the tangle of hallways where he led me with confidence to a door. I couldn’t be sure, because the place still confused me, but it seemed to be a different door from the one I’d been behind up to that point.
He held out a hand towards the door. “You may enter.”
I stepped up to the door, twisted the knob, and pushed it aside, and my jaw dropped. It certainly wasn’t the small room I’d been staying in, but rather looked like a full-fledged studio apartment. Immediately across from the door was a lounge area, with couches and comfy chairs decorated in a U-Shape facing the fireplace against the wall to the right above which a large, flat-screen television hung. There was a small device sitting atop the fireplace’s mantle that I was pretty sure I recognized as a smart device that would allow me to stream media to the television.
To the left of the door, there was a huge, four-poster bed with a burgundy canopy and plush pillows and blankets covering a king-sized bed. Beyond that was a kitchenette with an oven, microwave, fridge, and coffee pot, along with a cute little cafe table and chairs in the middle for eating. In the far-left corner of the room was a door that I could just barely see a luxurious bathroom beyond.
