NOT EVEN TWO MINUTES IN, AND HER PHONE LIT UP IN RED, a signal that one of them were making a call, so, she pressed her ear pods to hear it better as the names Kingsley Armstrong and Nicolae Scarlat lit up on her screen. The call coming from Scarlat, which brought a grin to her lips.
It took him longer than I expected to contact zio about it. She licked her lips in amusement.
"Frate, tell me. Did you already know that Black Mamba was Ruffy's apprentice, or did you also learned about it through Rebecca, through what Khloe heard from her?" He questioned more serious than he had been before.
Oh, wow. Not even a hello? Chiara arched her eyebrows. Does he has no manners at all? If how rude he was to me earlier wasn't a sign of that already. She clicked her tongue.
"First of all, I'm not your frate. And no, I did not know. Even if I knew it before, I wouldn't tell you, Scarlat. Nonetheless, I didn't!"
Chiara grinned satisfied with her uncle's retort. That's right, zio, you have no reason to lower your head to this testa di cazzo. He already thinks too highly of himself.
He let out an annoyed groan, "Regardless, they contacted us. Offered their work because Rebecca will be part of our familie in the near future. And at last, they extorted our money. Ugh, I get that they are amazing at what they do, but 666 million? Greedy bastard!"
Kingsley giggled, "It's not like you didn't know how much it cost to receive their cyber security system. And that isn't even 10% your fortune, come on. It's not like Black Mamba asked for 6 billion. When did they connect you?"
See? He gets it! I could have asked for more, and it would be totally understandable given the quality of my work! She rolled her eyes, annoyed with Nicolae's attitude. He should be grateful!
On the other line, he cursed in Romanian, "Aye, frate. Black Mamba talked to us a little more than two hours ago. They also said that they would be taking the 666 million from our bank account in 6 hours. That's three hours and a half from now. Regardless of the huge price, it's thanks to Rebecca that we were able to strike such deal!"
She chuckled. Dio mio, he has no idea of how right he is.
"Indeed. It's because of her, so, you should be thankful to her. Buy her a present for it, I don't know. I'm not sure if she enjoys presents yet, since I am not aware of what is her love language. Nevertheless, you should try it out. The last she could do it refuse the gift," he rolled his shoulders.
Nicolae seemed amused with the idea, "What do you think we should gift her with, frate? Jewels? Luxury bags? Heels? More dresses? Maybe limited edition make ups? Perfume?"
Uh? He is totally clueless. I do not need anything, but if you want to gift me something, you should go for either books, weapons, or alcohol! She scoffed, annoyed with the image he was having of her. Though I do like jewels, it's not a present I would like getting from them in this time of my life. I already have the jewels I need.
And to her genuine surprise, her uncle laughed loudly at that, "I am not sure those would be suitable presents for her, Scarlat. Definitely not for someone who is going through what she is, don't be tactless."
Now, that's a good surprise! Seems like he understood me even if for a brief moment. She leaned closer to the table, putting her upper weight on her elbows.
"I'm not good with presents, but those always worked for the woman in my familie, sorry. So, what do you suggest?"
Kingsley tilted his head amused, "Alcohol."
Hah! He got me! She beamed.
"She's 17!" Nicolae gasped in shock.
"And when you was her age, you drank your ass off with Rufus in his room. You little hypocrite, you think I don't remember?" Kingsley scoffed. "Besides, she's already used to drinking. It seems like Rufus and his wife allowed her to do it since she was 15 or 16. Thus, any of us saying anything will mean shit to her. Furthermore, if your uptight as is bugged for this, just take that when you gifted her with it, she'll already be 18 and legally allowed to drink!"
Chiara sit back delighted by her uncle retort again. Dio santo, who could have thought he's so good at this? He has my respect. I'll reward him later for this. Not as me, but as Black Mamba, of course, that will be highly more beneficial for him.
"I don't even know why I'm so surprised, Ruffy was exactly the type to do that," he let out a soft giggle. "I'm doing my best to stay strong, but his passing really hit me hard, frate. He was the brother I never had, and it's painful that he had to leave this world so young."
His words caught Chiara off guard, since she hadn't seen him display any kind of sadness towards her father's passing. Regardless of how terribly painful this is, I know better than anyone that they all lived their lives to the fullest, and that they would prefer if we felt grateful for having had the gift of their presence in our lives, rather than crying for what cannot be changed. It can only be revenged and I'll do that. But I'll do my all to let go off my grief together as I make Taddeo pay for what he took from me. She clenched her fists.
"Believe me, I know. I've broke down more than once because of it, but I'm holding on. I'm holding my shit together because I'm not the one who is suffering the most with this. My niece is. And for all I've ever knew of my brother, he would want me to stay strong for her. Just as I know he would also do if the situation was reversed. No matter how tough she acts, his daughter is still a child. A child who lost her family, and needs support." He said convicted.
A faint smile took over the corner of Chiara's lips. He's really surprising me. I do not need his strength, though. I have my own and that is more than enough for me to do what I have to. I was not raised to rely on others. I was raised so other could rely on me, because that's what a true leader would do! She took a long sip of her glass of water. I appreciate it, either way. I won't forget his, and his famiglia's willingness to help me and be by my side on the worse moment of my life, when they didn't even knew me in person before this.
"You're right, frate. That's what Ruffy would want," Nicolae exhaled tiredly. "So, what type of alcohol is she into? Wine?"
"She does enjoy wine, but she's more into spirits. Vodka, whiskey, gin, tequila, and all. Her favorite seems to be vodka, though," he chuckled. "Can you believe that when she arrived in the villa she was with a big water bottle filled with vodka? I was shocked. Now I'm more used to it. It was smart though. To carry vodka in the plane as if it was water."
That won a good giggle from Nicolae, "That was clever. So, she's a naughty mischievous kid."
"Definitely mischievous!" Kingsley exclaimed.
He's not wrong. She smirked. It seems like I left a very strong impression on zio. But I don't think it was a bad one.
"Any suggestion of vodka?" Nicolae licked his lips.
"She seems to prefer the strong ones!" He noted.
"Got it. Maddy and socru," [father-in-law in Romanian] "are the ones who loves vodka the most in our familie. I'll leave the choice for them."
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is one of the reasons why I like both Madalina and Luca Vasilache better than the other. Chiara bit her bottom lip to hold another grin.
"Okay. Anything else or will you stop bothering me and let me get back to work? I'm not a lazy billionaire like you. I'm not even a billionaire yet. People like me still work a lot, you know?!" Kingsley mocked him sarcastically.
Well, he's lucky that I can help with that. I'm a billionaire in whatever point you see it. Be it alone and thanks to my hacking work, be it with mama's inheritance, or be it with papa's inheritance. One or two billion less won't make a difference to me. I can make that by closing two deals. Chiara played with the curl at the end of her right braid. Besides, he's part of my famiglia even if I do not trust him that much yet.
"Să-mi sugi pula, frate, and stop being an ass."
She choked on her water. Did he just told zio to suck his dick? Aye, I forgot how Romanians curses are so dirty, Dio mio. Well, it's not like I can say much about that, as an Italian. But how am I going to get used to that, while pretending not to speak Romanian, after I marry that entitled bastard?
"I'll take that as a goodbye, bastard!" Her uncle chuckled and hung up the call on his face.
As their call ended, 444 by Ashley Sienna got back to playing on her ear pods. "Seems like I'll be winning a lot of vodka when I arrive on London," she grinned.
By the time the song ended, Marisol came with her order, "I'll bring the cappuccino when you are done with everything, so it'll be still hot, is that okay?"
"It's perfect! Better yet, when you bring the cappuccino, you can also bring a chocolate brownie from the fat desserts menu. You can add that on my orders. It was £4.99, right?"
Marisol nodded, noting it down on the iPad that was in the big frontal pocket of her black and red apron, "With that, it'll be £81.87."
"Do I pay now or when I'm done eating?"
"You choose!"
Better to pay now. Chiara thought as she put on all of the passwords and unlocked her phone, than opened her digital bank account under the name Rebecca, which she tripled the cyber security on. Then she transferred the money to the number that was on the menu. "Done, raggaza."
I think that means girl in Italian. Should I learn the language? "Thank you, Miss Rebecca. I hope the food is to your liking," then she greeted her briefly and left, going to another table.
Chiara made a satisfied sound, but before eating or drinking anything, she smelled it all just to be sure it was safe to dive in.