The following day I was still upset about Maya's unplanned visit.
She had given me an ultimatum and I knew that in two days she would come to pick me up. No matter what it cost.
Maya was like that. When she put something on her mind, there was no way to make her change her mind.
The problem was that I absolutely didn't want to leave.
At Bridge I had become a family member.
Marielle was the mother I had always wanted to have. She always complimented me, tasted everything I prepared and helped me at work when I was tired.
Only Lorenzo had kept his distance from the time we had spoken in the private room.
He was always thoughtful and distracted, almost impatient, as if he too were waiting for Maya's return.
The club was full that evening and I had to help out late.
I served all kinds of drinks and cocktails with elegant dishes or snacks at the tables.
At midnight I was exhausted, since I got up early that morning to help prepare breakfast.
"Lorenzo asked to serve him a Manhattan and whiskeys for his guests and then to finish the shift," Frank, the bartender, informed me, offering me a tray with four glasses.
"Okay," I answered taking the order. It was all day that Lorenzo tried to talk to me, but I had always found excuses to escape him.
Apparently, he hadn't given up yet.
Huffing, I went to his table.
I was about to climb the few steps to get to him when I heard a familiar voice.
"Edoardo trusts me and his daughter can't wait to marry me. Now it's done! "
Brian Esposito!
The tray I was holding almost fell when I realized that the man who was talking to Lorenzo and the others was the very one my father wanted me to marry.
Luckily, he had turned his back and didn't see me coming, but a step in my direction would have been enough for him to come next to me.
Quickly I moved my gaze to the other interlocutors and saw Lorenzo's gaze on me.
I gasped in fear at his slit-eyed and jawed jaw.
What if Brian told him who I was? What if he found out everything and now wanted to hurt me?
My brain was completely discombobulated, and I could no longer think clearly.
The only thing I wanted was to escape as far as possible from Brian and Lorenzo.
Panicked and still incredulous to find one of my father's men in the west side of the city, I backed up and ran towards the bar counter.
I slammed down the tray, telling Frank to call another waitress and ran towards the kitchen.
"You know I don't want you here!" The chef barked as soon as he saw me.
Still too shaken to reason, I slung over to the back door and went out into the alley that bordered the north side of the room.
I looked around.
I was having difficulty breathing, my heart was pounding furiously in my chest, and my legs were shaking.
I leaned against a wall and tried to calm myself down.
What the hell was Brian Esposito doing here?
It was forbidden and dangerous for one of the Rinaldi clan to go to the east of the city.
Could it be that they didn't know who he was?
This would explain why he was still alive and had not already been killed by the Orlando.
My thoughts were racing from one to the next, unable to stand still and make logical sense of events.
"Mia!" Lorenzo's voice made me jump.
Oh no! He followed me!
"Are you all right?" He asked, approaching me, and standing in front of me, so close that I felt my back crushed against the wall.
"Yup."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was taking a breath of fresh air. I am a little tired and I was thinking of ending my shift. I have to get up early to help Marielle tomorrow. "
Even though Lorenzo's voice was firm and calm, his contracted jaw had not escaped my attention, and when I saw him scratch his beard, I understood that he was really furious and that he would soon lose his temper.
"I give you two possibilities: the first is to tell me the truth. The second is to start running away and hope not to meet me again, "he said in a tone so abrupt that it made me understand that he wasn't joking.
"What do you want to know?" I decided to ask. Only a fool would have thought to be able to run away and get away with it.
"Do you know Brian Esposito?"
"No," I found myself lying, too scared to tell the truth.
In an instant I saw Lorenzo throw a punch at the wall behind me, next to my face.
"I hope you can run quickly. I would be really disappointed if my men found you tonight," he threatened me, moving away from me.
"No, wait," I tried to stop him. I had to come up with a likely excuse. I thought of Brian and everything I knew about him, like his trip to New York two months earlier.
"I know Brian Esposito," I admitted before Lorenzo returned to the club. "Two months ago, he was in New York on business. We met at the Plaza Hotel. He was a guest of the hotel and I had gone to dinner with a friend who then stood me up. We met at the bar. We both waited for our friends. We chatted and then he left, "I invented.
"And afterwards, did you not see each other again?" He asked me with a tone of defiance so emphasized that I was afraid. His amber eyes had darkened, and he seemed to be waiting for nothing more than my blunder to tear me apart.
"A couple of times." I had actually met Brian several times, but only rarely had we started talking. Every time he ended up with one of his stupid speeches and I had dismissed him badly because I found it boring and maddening.
"Did you sleep with him?"
I thought back to the last time I had seen him.
For a moment I felt his hands on me again. It had been disgusting.
"No."
"Don't lie to me!" Lorenzo shouted furiously in my face.
"I'm not telling you a lie! He tried, but I ... Brian disgusts me! ", I dangled back and forth uneasily. The mere idea of having to marry him made my stomach turn.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
"Did he molest you?"
I didn't answer. I didn't know if we could talk about harassment when the man in question was convinced that he was touching his girlfriend.
"Answer me, dammit" He became angry at my silence.
"He ... he tried to kiss and touch me, but I managed to free myself. That was the last time I saw it. I swear. You have to believe me!"
"I don't know what to believe anymore, Mia," he sighed, exhausted by my lies.
"Please don't tell him I work here. I don't want him to see me and think of picking up where we left off, "I ventured to ask in a pleading voice.
"Do not worry. He is getting married and right now she can't afford to do something rash with a maid, risking blowing off the wedding of the year. "
"Who is he getting married to?" I tried to ask. I had refused, but something told me that my father and Brian didn't care.
"With Ginevra Rinaldi, the daughter of the boss Edoardo Rinaldi. "
"I figured the Rinaldi and Orlando weren't talking."
"Indeed, it is, but Esposito has interfered in my father's business and has put himself in an awkward position and now has to pay his debt."
"What does this have to do with the wedding with Ginevra Rinaldi?"
"To pay off the debt, Brian has to marry the girl so he can join the board of directors of his father's empire and then give the Orlando the shares."
"This way the Orlando will dismantle the power of the Rinaldi in east Rockart City."
"Exactly."
"It amazes me that someone like Edoardo Rinaldi hasn't noticed."
"Esposito approached him with the agreement to sell him 50% of his share of the traffic by sea which is almost entirely managed by the Orlando. Edoardo has always wanted to have his share of the port since, in the east, the rocky and jagged terrain has never allowed the Rinaldi to have a sea outlet. "
"I do not understand."
"This agreement is only a Trojan horse to tie Rinaldi to Esposito through this marriage. In fact, behind this merger is my family who will finally be able to expand beyond the river and at the same time make fun of the Rinaldi, given that the Esposito quota is managed by us even if in an unofficial form. "
"Are you telling me that Esposito owns the share but has no power over it?"
"Exactly. He lost it the exact moment he started importing the same smuggling goods as my father, competing with my family. Let's say that Esposito now has much to forgive himself and it won't take him a lifetime to pay off the debt with the Orlando. "
"But it is not fair that a poor innocent girl who only has the misfortune to bear the Rinaldi's name will lose out!" I got angry.
"I would agree with you, if it wasn't that dear Ginevra Rinaldi fully agreed to this wedding."
"And what do you know?"
"Brian told me a month ago."
A month ago? But if at the time I wasn't even aware of this thing!
"I don't think she would marry him if she knew the truth."
"Given her health problems, I think she is lucky to find a man willing to marry her."
"What health problems?" I blurted out, unable to hold back my anger. I could not believe the flood of lies that were said about me.
"I don't know for sure, but as far as I understand, she has difficulty walking after taking a strange fever on his trip to Africa. It is rumored that the girl is ashamed of her appearance and that is why she has avoided appearing in public in recent years. "
I've never been to Africa!
I couldn't believe it!
I was disgusted with my father because I was sure he was the one who had put the rumors around to justify my absences.
"I would ask you not to tell anyone what I just told you or my father will make me meat for slaughter."
"I swear. I would never do anything that could put you in danger, " I promised myself frightened at the idea of the risk Lorenzo had run, telling me about that plot.