ALESSANDRO'S POV:
"For you to come here, you must know who I am and what I'm capable of. I will give you and your family the protection you need." I say in a calm tone, urging him to talk.
"Why should I believe you?" The man asks in a skeptical as well as hopeful tone.
"Because nothing is stopping me from killing you. With time, I can find the information I'm looking for. You are extremely disposable to me." I respond in a tone devoid of any emotions.
"Eduardo Ramirez." The man says in a nervous tone, scared that he's making the wrong decision.
Eduardo Ramirez is the head of the Ramirez Cartel family. We weren't friends, but neither are we enemies. Perhaps, I've ignored their existence for too long, and they are looking for a way to get it back.
"Why is he trying to make an enemy of me?" I ask in a confused tone.
"Someone sent the pictures to him. I don't know who sent them. I don't know anything else." The man says hurriedly.
"Very well." I respond, fully believing the man. "Kill him." I say to Archie, as I storm out of the room.
"You promised!" The man says in a desperate tone.
I sigh heavily. He should have known better than to trust me. My mood sours as I remember my impending meeting with the Irish.
The worst part is that I have to go with Aurelia who will most likely find a way to embarrass me.
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AURELIA'S POV:
"Why do I have to go for this meeting?" I ask with a frown on my face. I would rather spend the rest of the day locked up in my room than attend the meeting.
"You are my wife and you belong by my side." Alessandro says in a harsh exasperated tone.
"Can't you tell them I'm sick or something?" I ask, looking for a way out of spending the day with Alessandro.
"You are coming with me, and that is final." Alessandro says before stalking away, leaving me all hot and bothered.
I follow him closely behind, not wanting to incur his wrath. My brow furrows when I see Mia standing next to him. She's coming with us?
"Aurelia!" Mia greets in a feigned excited tone. She isn't really happy to see me. It's quite obvious from the way her smile doesn't meet her eyes.
I say nothing in response, causing Mia to turn away slightly in embarrassment and for Alessandro to glare at me.
The ride down to the meeting is filled with tense silence between me and Alessandro who are the only ones in the back seat. I don't bother making small talk with a man who hates me so badly.
At the meeting, I see the familiar faces of some of the people that were present in the first ever event that I attended with Alessandro.
I'm seated beside Mia who tries all her might to hold conversations with me.
"Why are you being unnecessarily rude and mean?" Mia asks in a riled up tone.
"Forgive me for not wanting to converse with the person who almost tried to kill me and then proceeded to set me up." I say in an annoyed tone.
"You have to move on from that. I was just trying to help Alessandro." Mia says with a small giggle that grates on my nerves.
I say nothing else as I divert my attention away from her.
"How is Rhys?" Mia asks in a loud tone which draws the attention of all the members of the meeting.
I tap my feet nervously on the ground as I glare at her. "I don't know who you are talking about."
"Are you sure? He promised to pay a huge sum of money just to spend the night with you when you were working at Club Ecstasy." Mia says with a smug look on her face as she embarrasses me.
How the hell does she know that? I was indeed working at club ecstasy when I was still living in New York when I was running out of money and I needed to work in order to have money to feed and pay for the roof over my head.
"So you were basically a call girl?" An inquisitive tone calls out from beside Aidan Smith, the head of the Irish Mafia.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything. I thought Alessandro knew." Mia starts to apologize profusely as tears gather in her eyes and her lips wobble as though she is about the cry.
My blood boils at seeing her actions but I say nothing else. Alessandro glares at me with a look on his face that promises retribution for my actions.
Throughout the remainder of the meeting, I receive glares from most of the people present while some look pitifully at Alessandro and Mia.
When the meeting is over, I hurry to the car, settling in before any other person. Alessandro is quiet beside me as we drive home.
"I'm so sorry, Alessandro. I didn't mean to embarrass you." Mia says immediately she steps into the cat.
"It's not your fault Mia. It's mine for choosing to get married to a whore." Alessandro says in an enraged tone.
"I didn't ask to be married to you. I would have been happier on my own!" I say angrily, reminding him that all this is his fault.
Alessandro looks like he is seconds away from strangling me. "Thank you Mia, for exposing this liar who can't seem to keep her legs closed." Alessandro says with a sneer on his lips.
"She's the liar, not me. Right from the first time we met, she has been setting me up and you are foolishly falling for her tricks." I say harshly as angry tears gather in my eyes.
"Watch your words. You will not speak to Mia like that ever again. I've known her longer than I've known you and I would go to any lengths to preserve her honor." Alessandro says in a deathly calm tone.
I feel his warning loud and clear in my bones. I am nothing to him. He believes that I'm nothing but a low class whore who deserves to die