"Che bella sei–Valentina?" Elio circled the room, and stood in front of her.
His eyes shone with admiration, as he took in every bit of her stunning face.
"He wants to be sure your name is Valentina," Natalia whispered.
Vittorio, listening, took a mental note of the little dynamic he just witnessed. Certain, that in time, that information would come in handy.
"I figured. And yeah I'm Valentina." She returned his piercing gaze with an uninterested one.
No one who could easily brush the death of a sibling, especially a twin which was practically a better half of them, was a good person.
And as she had concluded in her head, not a single man in wherever this barbaric jungle they found themselves in had any good in them.
"Valentina," her name rolled out his tongue seductively. "I'm Elio. Let's be friends." He stretched out his hand.
Valentina's nose scrunched as she looked down at his hand.
God knows where those hands had been. Probably dissecting the remains of a dead body, to pluck out and gobble their hearts raw, seeing how they didn't have any kind of heart here.
"What is the problem, belle? You don't want to shake me?"
Her head snapped up. "I—"
"That's enough." Vittorio intervened.
"Zio Vittorio, let the girl explain, per favore."
"Don't you have your duties for the night?"
"Per favore, Zio!" He whined. "Who cares about duty when there's a pretty girl that needs to be stared at until the sun comes up. You don't have a romantic bone in your body."
"You won't have any bone in your body if you don't walk out right away."
The smile on Elio's face faltered, as he took cautious steps back. "I'll report to LuceNera." He turned around quickly, and hurried out of the room before Vittorio could respond.
"Marmochhio," he muttered under his breath, before lifting his gaze.
"Take the man back to where you brought him from. You two, come with me."
Valentina and Natalia exchanged glances. One reassuring, the other panicky.
"Jack, you'll be alright, okay? I promise we'll get out of here," Valentina managed to get the words out before the skillful man disappeared through a door with Jackson.
"He'll be fine," Natalia whispered, trying to reassure herself..
"He will. Let's go Natty."
Their arms linked, as they walked through the door Vittorio had earlier walked out through.
They found him a few paces ahead, clearly slowing down his steps so they could reach him.
The men clinging to the white walls had reduced drastically.
Some remained. The ones that did, had thirsty eyes.
"Bellasima!" One whispered, as both girls passed by.
"Si, very beautiful!" Another responded, which was closely followed by grating laughter.
Others were going to follow the patterns of the first two men, but one look from Vittorio had them clamping their lips tightly.
Valentina observed the dynamics. VittorioMorettii.
She still didn't know the name of the other guy. She hoped it remained that way.
"Yes you do. It's Luciano, remember?"
"Shut up!"
He was a problem. A problem she prayed she avoided at all costs.
Vittorio didn't slow down after picking up pace again. They took two turns, and one staircase.
All white surfaces. Sometimes- a little hint of gold sprinkled around.
"What is this place?" Valentina questioned her mind.
One more turn, and a walk straight down a hallway, Vittorio finally stopped in front of the last door.
"You'll stay here tonight," he simply said, and turned to leave.
"That's all?" Valentina couldn't hold back her itching tongue anymore.
His arrogance reflected greatly, as he shunned her and kept on walking.
"At least tell us Jack will be alright," Natalia, despite the great fear in her eyes, pleaded.
Vittorio's heels came to a surprisingly abrupt pause. "Here's a visual for you. Your friend is in less friendlier condition than you two are. When you're ready to speak the truth, a renegotiation could possibly be made." He took the corner, and disappeared out of sight.
Valentina sucked in a breath, as she pushed the door open. "That bloody bastard! Who does he think he is? He ignored me. The iguana–ignored m–" she paused, as her head quickly moved around the room she would be spending the night.
Stupid white walls. One singular closet. Wall mirror. Single bed slightly big enough for two. And a door she hoped to God led into a bathroom.
"This is all? This is where I'm supposed to spend the night? And that clown had the nerve to not respond to me?!"
Natalia sighed, as she walked up to her. "I'm sorry Val."
Her brow furrowed, as she regarded her friend closely. When she saw the look of dread in her eyes, her eyes widened.
"Oh no!" She dragged Natalia to the bed. "What are you being sorry for? We're in this mess together, Natty. There's no need to feel sorry. You didn't do anything." She held both sides of her arms soothingly.
Natalia exhaled, but it still felt cramped in her chest area. "It's because of me we even came into this country in the first place. Despite my mother's warning." Her eyes watered, as she lowered her head.
"Don't say that. It's not a crime that you wanted to meet your father. If I had the opportunity, I would want to meet my parents too. But that option was taken away from me a long time ago. Your mother was instrumental in making sure I lived without that hole in my heart consuming me. And now by extension when you finally meet your father, I'll also feel like I have a parent figure too. We're sisters right? So you're doing this for both of us."
Natalia sniffled. "But look at where that has gotten us. Val," she raised her head. "Do you now have an idea of where we are?"
"A swamp for pigs coated with white to cover its dirt? And by pigs I mean the men," she explained further just in case she wasn't clear enough.
All of this she did with a straight face, causing Natalia to giggle.
"Oh lord, Val, you crack me up. Even when I'm trying to be serious."
Valentina smiled. "Well I don't know why you're laughing when I'm dead serious. This place has a darkness to it despite its incessant advertisement of the white colour."
"Honey, that's because we're in a mafia's nest."
Valentina's heart tensed. "I thought of it. I just didn't want to believe it." Her hand fell out of Natalia's shoulders.
"Thats why I'm worried Val. My father is supposed to be the good guy right? He fights crimes. Why is he fraternizing with mafia lords? And now they think we're trying to kill him? Shouldn't we just tell them the real reason we're here?"
"No!" Valentina covered her hand with hers. "Listen to me, Natty. We can't do that yet. Like you've rightly said, we don't know the kind of relationship they have, and why they even have any kind of relationship in the first place. What if we just get into more trouble. It's too much of a risk please."
Natalia's shoulders slouched. "So what do we do? They took the purse. What if they figure it out."
"Natalia?!" She called her full name with a cautious tone. "The letters? The letters are in the purse, right? Oh, you may be right this time. We've been discovered."
"No," she pulled one hand out of Valentina's hold. "I removed them from the purse last minute. I don't know why I did that, but they are right here." She reached into her chest area through her dress, and pulled out a couple of letters.
Valentina gasped. "Natty! You naughty, naughty girl!" She laughed.
"Did I do well?"
Valentina beamed as she ruffled her hair playfully. "You did excellently well. We still have our anonymity. They're never going to get us to fess up to a crime we didn't even try to commit. Eventually they'll have to let us go."
"You think so?"
Her gaze wore a faraway look. I hope so.