Chapter 6

• Alessia Romero
• -----
• Going for a damn day, and a night without a circus felt unreal. It scared me more than fighting with one of the evil family members.
• After the auction that went wrong, we came back to the mansion. Though I stayed in the dormitory as instructed by Matteo, I still thought Lazza or his brother Romeo would launch their demons again. They did not, actually, I nevert saw them ever since. Maybe someone needed to stab Romeo for the peace of everyone in the area.
• That wasn't supposed to be something to cheer me up, because I wouldn't know what they were cooking under my nose. Perhaps to assassinate me in front of everyone as a life lesson, or to torment me to the last breath.
• I sighed at that, rolling over on the squeaky metallic bed to get a good position so I could continue sleeping.
• Though I was starving, that should have been what woke me up, but no, it had to be the door flying open, the knob slamming on the wall as the noise echoed in the whole dormitory.
• The Lazza’s maid dashed in, her anger visible and her steps hurried to where I had been relaxing.
• "You worthless bitch!”
• I should have seen the wrath racing in her to get up and step away, but I was too late. She had fisted my hair and pulled me out of the bed. I slipped off, close to falling on my knees but she hauled me up. The grip on my hair tightened, forcing a hiss through my lips.
• I gripped her hands, read to yank her off but she used her free hand to offer me a resounding slap. “You asshole!”
• Recollecting my senses, I managed to stand. My senses were up alert maybe from the hot slap or the fact that she wasn't going to stop. She was lucky she got me as I woke up.
• The reason I was being attacked remained unknown. But this time, that wasn't the case, like to offer the same demons she showed me.
• My hands caught her shoulders, still pushing my head so to lessen the pain induced she pulled my hair. Once I had her in my hands, I slipped my hand under her neck. With a swift move, I pushed her off, pinning her on a wall with a heavy thud that got her releasing my hair. Her mistake.
• One hand remained on her neck, pressing her with enough energy that she had to rescue herself. I used my right hand and aimed for her cheek. I offered a sound slap that turned her cheek red.
• “Now we can talk.” I gritted on her face, pressing her harder that she gasped for hair. “The next time you want to fight, find a match!” I saw she aimed to use her legs but I was quick to push my knee on her. “And if you ever touch my hair again, I'll not only shape your manners but also your nose!”
• “Alessia!” Someone suddenly gripped me, pulling me away from the girl. “What is the matter with you?”
• Clara.
• I fixed my messy hair, glaring at the tall girl whose name remained unnecessary. I shook Clara off and stepped away, giving the bitch enough time to breathe. We still had a talk.
• “Mara?” Clara faced down at the girl, she was a mess and her name had to be Mara. “You were in the kitchen.”
• Mara, or rather Lazza's maid, looked up, oh I dislocated her throat. She cleared her throat then shot me a glare. The glare was one of a kind cause I felt it warming down my face and settling on my chest. “Ask her.”
• Now she needed lemon water for the sake of her voice.
• I frowned. She attacked me out of the blue and now I had the answers for the attack? Oh, she did not learn it well. I advanced to her. “So it's me?”
• “Hey. Hey! Relax!” Clara grabbed me and drew me behind her. “Can you talk without fighting?”
• “She started it! She came here and took everything that is mine! I worked for the boss! And you took that from me!" Anger and bitterness raceed in her voice.
• Oh, oh! Someone forgot to remind me she was the dick sucker.
• "Oh!" I laughed because why was it so funny? "I almost forgot who you are." My smile faded and the corner of her eyes twitched. "And at your age, that's the best you could offer?" I glared. “You think I am like you? That I enjoy being here? Let me break it down to you, I don't belong here, and my apologies if I happened to interfere with your dick sucking moment.”
• I fixed my pajamas and then raked her from head to toe. "Bullshit!" I declared and turned to head back to my bed but halted when I fell in another human being.
• She stood behind me with her hands slipped under her chest. I had no problem with the fact that she wasn't one of the maids, like to see she stood on my way. My brow arched as I mantained the glare, matching her attitude.
• "What?!" I moved closer. “You have something to say?”
• "So you are Alessia?" The lady asked. I got to examine her appearance again. She stood slightly shorter than me, with heels, she would be taller than me. Her dark hair fell gracefully on her shoulders, an indication that she wasn't anything closer to one of the workers, because ladies were supposed to have their hair up on a bun. She wore an elegant summer dress that fell above her knees.
• “And you are?” I cocked a brow.
• She sighed, facing Mara. “And you, you are just a few months old here. What's all this?”
• "She took my job from me. I worked hard to be nice and you also know my reputation so far." Mara explained, looking so respectful.
• "Too bad you have been his hoe for months.” I declared.
• “Can you shut up! It's not been two days and you are causing trouble here! Don't remind me you stabbed my brother!”
• Oh, wait. Sofia? Very great, all the Lazza members hated me.
• “Follow me!”
• ____
• Sofia seemed to have a heart hidden in the fact that she was a mafia member. To me, she appeared to be using the coldness to fit in with the familia, but deep inside, she could be a real human being. I confirmed this when I spent three hours with her as she took me through some random shits. Since Lazza decided I had to take over Mara’s work, there were a few things that Sofia had to teach me.
• After looking for reasons why Lazza felt like he owned the entire universe, I found one, they all treated him like one. I noticed that Sofia had some hidden respect towards her brother which to me felt odd. It developed to fear, and that's what she spent her hours trying to teach me—to fear Lazza.
• We started off with a tension between us but before we were done, we ended up having a normal conversation.
• One of many things she blurted out caught my sick side, and I agreed knowing I would rather die than do it to a human being. I had to learn how to entertain Lazza. I went ahead and asked her what ways were preferable, she said Mara had been a stripper.
• I got to east wing as the sun had set and meals were to be served. My work included setting the table with all kinds of food, it was for Lazza to choose what would work for him each day. Good thing cooking wasn't on the list because Mum never allowed me in the kitchen.
• Silence reigned in his place, I even wondered if he was in the house. I did as required, in the dining table, I set all the dishes I had on my trolley, while on it, my eyes roamed around to explore the place he called his own.
• The last time I walked in the house, I never had time to see around. Now that I was, I had to admit that the person living in the house did not appear dark and cursed. The white and beige colors gave a certain warmth that would make you forget your problem. In fact, for a minute I forgot I had an escape plan to cook up.
• The walls were painted white with nothing hanging on them. The tiles shone white, giving a reflection to the lights hanging from above. The couches and any furniture were beige, clean and if you asked, no one sat on the couches. The cleaners were good at their work, good thing there were cleaners in the territory, my work was to make sure the Lazza’s house was to perfection.
• Everything screamed money, but I knew I did not belong with them.
• As I cleared what I had to do, a sound caught my ear. I knew Lazza could yell, growl or even gritt, but I also knew he couldn't bark like a dog.
• The barking sound emerged again followed by repeated door bangs and scratches. There were three doors down stairs, all painted in white. My gaze settled on where the dog had been calling for attention.
• It appeared funny to see a monster keeping an animal.
• Sofia might have forgotten to enlighten me about it. Whether it was my responsibility to feed it or not. But like a person with brain, I knew humans were entitled to feed pets. And maybe it was the dogs time to eat.
• Opening the door, mister black-dog dashed past me, hitting my leg slightly as I stepped away. He was healthy. For a second I felt that Vivo, my dog, needed justice. What was I not feeding Vivo?
• Mister went directly to the dining area. Thanks to him I saw his plate in one corner of the room. He had gotten in his space, busy licking empty dishes and wiggling his tail. When I approached, he turned to me in a fierce manner as though he was ready to punish me for not serving him. Then he began barking and snarling at me.
• “Whao whao whao!” I lifted my hands in a defense manner as I stepped back, that seemed to anger him and continued barking with power. He demanded his respect just like how his owner usually did. Like father, like son.
• I quickly stepped to the table and picked a plate with steak, Mister decided to be gentle and wiggled his tail, sticking his tongue out in pure hunger.
• “See, we are communicating. Something you should teach your master.” I ambled to his plate and served him a generous piece which he commenced devouring. I returned the other piece to the table for the other ‘animal’ and walked back to Mister dog. “Good boy.” I placed a hand on his back which made him stop and growl at me. I jerked off, sitting on my butt as I crawled away. He was just like him. “Relax, will you?”
• He resumed eating. Who even found it necessary to torture an innocent animal by giving it to Lazza? No one knew what that heartless human taught the dog.
• The dog heard my thoughts and snapped to me. Why was it staring? Was it not full?
• I waved. “Hi.” I grinned like a fool. The love for dogs blinded me that this one could consume me like he did to the steak. “Water?”
• He wiggled his tail while showing me his tongue again.
• “Okay. Sit there and let me serve you.” I got up and dusted the invisible dust on my butt. Before I made my way to serve the mighty king, I noticed he sat like I told him. A smile emerged, he was trained. “Do you want it hot or cold or room temperature?”
• The dog frowned and I giggled. “Forget it. Room temperature it is.” I walked to the table and poured a glass of water to a glass then went back. He seemed to watch me, maybe trying to take notes on what to report to his master.
• In the extra bowl, I poured the water and he went for a drink. “You are a good one, you know?” I attempted to touch him again, it kinda growled slightly before giving up. He let me caress his back. “See, you can be a sweetheart.”
• I checked him out as I ran my hand on his back, at least he appeared to be well taken care off. He was huge and energetic. One would want to just watch him.
• Once he finished taking his drink, he faced me. At my position, I notice he had a black collar hidden around his neck. It's either because it was black like his skin or because it sank in his neck looking uncomfortable. It appeared tighter and for some reason, I felt like I was choking on the dogs behalf.
• Pushing my hand on his, I sank my fingers under the collar to feel it's tightness, strangely, it was okay for him. I noticed it also had a name on the lower side if his neck. Very hard to notice it.
• “Well, I'm Alessia, now, let's be fair and know your name.” I peeked, heeding his low sounds he made, similar to how Vivo used to sound whenever he was around me. Some letters on his name had been erased, but I managed to read one name. “Rodion?”
• Once I said his name, he jumped with his weight pushing me off. “Hey, Rodion.” He ran off but I quickly got up to go after him, only to realize he had jumped in the hands of a monster.
• I stopped in an instant, my breath stucking on my throat as I fixed myself. He always had this cold look of a person who loathed your existence. He glared, his hand playing on Rodion’s head. Rodion had jumped on him, his front legs on Lazzas packs that peaked behind his sweaty tee. I realized he looked like a person who had been running, or working his muscles in the gym.
• Silent.
• Glare.
• As a maid, I decided to break the silence. “The food—”
• “The next time I find you opening his door I'll cut off your fingers.” He declared and began leaving.
• Oh, the nerve. “And maybe consider feeding Rodion on time next time.” I shot back causing him to stop. His mighty back on me. I noticed how his muscles stiffened. He would pull a gun and end me. “I like dogs. Oh and Rodion likes me, so—”
• “Get the fuck out!” He suddenly turned to me, face burning and anger boiling on his visage.
• What was there to fume about?
• I knew he was cursed.