Tainted Affair

Three: три

Sophia leapt from her car with a snarl on her lips, slamming the door behind her so forcefully she was surprised that the window didn't shatter.

Her fury was singled on one person, and one person only.

Giovanni was waiting for her on the vastly large driveway of the manor, leant against his own car with his huge arms crossed tightly against his chest. Dressed as he had been a few hours prior - when he had been in the bar - the pale blue, short sleeved shirt stretched across his muscles in a way Sophia used to admire. That, along with his grey slacks, tailored to him perfectly, and the smart shoes that adorned his feet, confirmed that Giovanni had very much been out on business today.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, compromising my kill like that?" She spat, making her way without pause towards the main doors or the manor.

Giovanni said nothing in return, her furious words falling on death ears as he stalked towards her with purpose, meeting her before she could get inside, grasping her bleeding arm in his hands and pulling her to a stop.

"How many times were you hit?" His thick eyebrows knitted together, his expression showing genuine concern as he examined her bicep.

"Fuck off."

She ripped her arm from his grasp, despite the pain that burned through her flesh, throwing her middle finger up between them, and turned towards the main doors of the house. She had driven all the way here absolutely furious, her anger growing towards the D'Onofrio by the second. How could one man, whom she knew to be intelligent, be so, so stupid?

In silence, Giovanni followed her inside, of course he did, and followed her all the way to Mercello's office.

Without halting to knock on the heavy oak doors, too eager to escape the man hot on her heels, Sophia stormed inside, her heated glare meeting Mercello's head on.

"If I'm to work for you, I expect to be trusted to do the job without a babysitter!" The fierce words came tumbling from her mouth, her fury getting the best of her.

Mercello stared at her in silence for a heartbeat or two, eyeing her tense stance, the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the clenched fists by her side, and lingered for longer on her wounded arm, where she knew the blood had ran down towards her fingers. Then he glanced behind her to the open doorway, where she knew Giovanni stood. Mercello allowed his eyebrows to knit together into a deep frown before finally, his voice broke the thick silence.

"If you ever come in here without invitation, speak to me in that tone, and dare to command me like that again, you will regret it. I don't care how close you are to my wife." His stern words had Sophia's scowl hardening, but she forced her tense stance to relax nonetheless. He was right.

This wasn't Alessandro Barbato, she didn't report to her uncle any more. If she wanted to survive in this world then she needed to follow the rules. Mercello D'Onofrio had already proven himself to be an unforgiving man, if the number of bodies that followed his reign was anything to go by; she had killed enough of his enemies to know not to cross him.

"Did you complete your assignment?"

"Yes."

"And the body?"

"It's in my car," she sighed, jaw clenched, eyes cast low.

"You brought it here?" Mercello snapped. Her eyes shot to his, and darted away again under the weight of his anger.

"I had no choice," she uttered sharply. "If your idiotic brother hadn't blown my cover I wouldn't have been shot and I wouldn't have had to drive around the fucking city for an hour trying to lose the people who put a damn bullet in my arm!"