Chapter 5 ADMITTANCE

The only one who was by her side to listen to her experience was Anita.

"I warned you. You're lucky he made a joke out of the whole situation and did not see it as disobedience like other Dons. It was better for you to simply do as he asked and he would let you go," the older woman said. "He may be ruthless, but he is human."

"That was it. I didn't want to give him what he wanted." Aria paused, before asking Anita again. "Did he do the same to you?"

The woman turned away, but Aria clearly saw the colour come into her cheeks. It was all the truth she needed to hear.

"He is so evil. I hate him and everything he is. What makes him think that he can make anyone his servant and get away with it? I think he has a God complex."

"He is a god of his own around here," Anita finished.

"Do they fear him so much?"

"They do. And if you live with Don Nico for long enough, you will understand that all he does is to correct you like a loving father does to an errant child. He commands respect without lifting a finger."

"Why do you speak like you like him?" She asked.

"Someday, you will understand in the same way I have. And you will come to love him in the same way."

Aria only lay on her back in disgust, harbouring a silent resentment for the maid too. It was the same thing her mind lingered on until she fell asleep, until she was woken by the shuffling feet of Anita, who was trying her best to be quiet as she moved through the room.

"What is that?" She asked, eyeing the bag that the maid held in her hand.

"Don Nico sent this for you. A change of clothes. He also says he will be coming to see you tonight, and that you should be ready for him."

The thought of seeing him once again triggered something in Aria. "No... no. I don't want that man anywhere near me."

"Can you help it?" Anita asked. "You cannot run away from him, and you have no choice than to endure it. Like the first time, I would ask you to be wise."

Yes. Being wise.

It was the only reason Aria got into a pretty silk dress that was among the clothes. He would have come to see her in her panties since he wanted her naked body so much, but Anita had asked for her to be wise. She saw the need for that.

**

She was waiting by the window when he came in that night, and it took all her willpower to not turn to look at him. Still, the scent of his cologne filled the room from the moment he stepped in, and the sweet scent lingered in her nostrils.

"Aria, right?" He asked, and she heard the clink of glass. It was the one thing that made her turn, and surely enough she found him holding two empty glasses and a wine bottle. He was similarly dressed to the previous day, except that this dress shirt was quite untidy and ruffled and not as neatly tucked in as it was supposed to be. "I brought some sweet wine."

She looked in amazement, watching him turn the wine into both glasses and handing her one. His blue eyes fixed themselves on her as she took the glass from his hand and held it close to herself.

For a while they were both silent, and during all the times she tried to look at this man that irked her so much, she could not help but notice that he was staring at the window and into the darkness.

"I should be angry and looking for a way to punish you for disobeying me," he spoke up, breaking the silence. Again, he turned his full gaze upon her. "Yet I am here sharing a glass of expensive wine with you."

Aria did not say anything because she was lost for words.

She did not know what to say.

"You would not drink your wine? Or do you suspect that I have drugged it?" He asked, and without waiting for her to answer, he snatched the cup from her hand and downed it in one gulp before going to fill it again. This time, Aria took it more confidently.

"You are here to serve me for your father. You offered yourself up and said that I could do anything I wanted with you. Then you went straight to disobeying your very first order. You don't know how to hold up your end of a deal."

"I didn't come to slave myself." Aria answered.

"And I didn't bring you here to enslave you. You must know that."

She turned and looked at him, and saw him drink more of his wine as she stared into her own cup before taking a first sip. He did not have a God complex, she decided. No wonder Anita admired him so much.

"What would you have done if I continued to disobey you?" She asked him.

He chuckled gently. "You could try disobeying me now. You will see."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I made a mistake the first time."

"I cannot say for sure what I would have done, but it would be something that puts you in your place so you accept who I am. There are so many evil things in this city that do not happen because of me, Aria."

She opened her mouth to remind him that he harassed her father, but she saw a glint in his eyes, something like a tear.

"I am one of the few moving to reduce crime here, and I have enemies over it. I want the men doing better jobs and the boys back in school instead of robbing and shooting in the streets. I would see less and less women made into hungry widows who cannot feed their sons because their fathers have been killed in the streets, and would see less sons driven onto the very paths on which their father perished by hunger. That is my story, do you know?"

She looked at him, curious.

"My father was a part of the Mafia but he was killed and when my mother could not feed me anymore, I was driven out to the streets and joined the Mafia too. But we must be thankful for the happier times now, hey," he suddenly laughed.

Aria looked at him confusedly as he gobbled the cup's content.

"I must go now. Serve well, and I will see you again."

And as she watched his retreating back, she was surprised.

This man was human, too, after all.

And a man with a heart.