39. Adrian

Enzo leads us into the ballroom before excusing himself to greet the rest of the guests. We step into the big room, and there are already too many people.I see a lot of familiar faces, some of them deeply entrenched in local and national politics. It figures that Enzo"s connections would include the most powerful men.

"I should have expected Martin to make an appearance," Bianca states, nudging me towards the couple on the dance floor. Martin is twirling Allegra on the dance floor, both of them already seeming intoxicated.

"I don"t recall seeing your father drunk before," I add, pensively. Martin"s always been the stoic type, too set on control to relinquish any to alcohol.

"He doesn"t drink in public. Or at least he didn"t used to. Clearly, Allegra has changed that." We"re not the only people staring at them in dismay. I shake my head and try to scan the room for other familiar faces, making mental notes.

The party is full of older men, most of them accompanied by younger counterparts. Not a surprise there. The surprise is seeing respected people from politics, especially men I"d personally met at the mayor"s office. At no point had I suspected they were involved with the mob. This goes to show how deep the corruption runs in this country. And I"d bet that the women hanging on their arms are not their wives. My lips turn up in distaste, and I sneak a quick glance at Bianca to gauge her reaction.

She"s as blank as always.

"Let"s get some drinks and mingle for a while," she says and points towards the bar at the end of the room. I nod, and we head there. Bianca gets a glass of champagne while I get a bourbon.

"I hope you don"t plan to actually drink that," she whispers.

"Why?"

"Rule number one: you never drink on a mission. Just pretend to drink and every so often. empty it into flowerpots."

"But the flowers…" She doesn"t let me finish as she pinches me.

"Empty it in the flowerpot," she says a bit more forcefully before turning her head and plastering a big smile on her face. I take her cue and turn my attention forward to see Allegra and Martin heading our way. Both look giddy and flushed from the dancing.

"Bianca!" Martin exclaims and hugs his daughter. Bianca"s expression immediately turns sour, but she doesn"t shove Martin away. Instead, she pats his back almost reluctantly while looking at me for help. I shrug. I"ve never seen Martin like this, and I don"t know how to deal with him. He seems to whisper something in her ear before Bianca turns to me.

"We"ll be right back. He has something urgent to talk about." She doesn"t seem too glad to go with him, and I wonder what the urgent thing is.

It"s only when they"re out of sight that I realize I"m left with Allegra. She puckers her lips at me before scrunching her face.

"I think I"m going to be ill. Can you help me to the restroom?" she slurs, and my shoulders slump in resignation. I take her arm and let her guide me to one of the bathrooms. Since I know fully well where all the bathrooms are on this floor, I"m surprised when I see that she"s taking me in a completely different direction. Is she that drunk that she doesn"t remember where the bathroom is in her own house?

I"m about to ask where we"re going when she points towards a door and gleefully says, "There," and then dashes for the door. I take a moment where I wonder if I should really go there, but somehow I feel bad leaving a clearly inebriated woman to her own devices, no matter how repulsive.

And so I follow through.

As soon as I close the door behind me, there"s a quick movement in which Allegra reverses our positions and thrusts me into the room, which I now see is just a sizable closet storage, before she locks the door.

What?

"I"ve been watching you," she purrs in a much clearer voice than before.

"Mrs. Agosti." I try to put some distance between us.

"Come on, your wife isn"t here. I know you"ve been watching me too."

What? When? I don"t think I"ve ever spared her more than two glances, tonight included, and I try to tell her exactly that.

"I"m sorry. I think you got the wrong impression," I explain, using my hands to gesticulate and keep her at bay.

"Mr. Hastings. You are so, so naughty," she says in that weird voice of hers as she keeps advancing towards me, deeper into the storage closet until I"m backed against the wall. Shit. She puts her hands on my pectorals and gropes me. I grip her arms and attempt to stop her again by pushing her and trying to bypass her in my way to the door. Her arms suddenly come in contact with my shoulders, and she pushes me against the wall.

"You like to play hard, don"t you?" she half-moans, fitting herself against my body, her hand going directly to my crotch this time. Good Lord, I don"t hit women, but I truly want to smack her right now.

"No. And I would appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself," I say through gritted teeth, trying to control myself so I don"t hurt her.

She doesn"t seem to register my words as she squeezes me through my pants.

Okay, that"s it. I"m not playing nice anymore. I"m about to push her away when the closet door forcefully opens, revealing Bianca.

She takes one look at us, and her eyes cloud with fury. She doesn"t waste any time ripping Allegra off me and grabbing her throat, pushing her against the wall and almost lifting her off the floor.

"You think to touch my husband?" Bianca"s fingers tighten around Allegra"s neck, restricting her breathing.

"Agh." Allegra makes a choking sound, but Bianca doesn"t stop.

"What? I didn"t hear you?"

I can see the defined veins in Bianca"s hand as she applies further pressure on Allegra"s throat, and I realize she will kill her if I don"t stop her. I make a grab for her hand, saying, "Stop. You"re choking her." At my words, she suddenly turns towards me, cocking her head in confusion.

"You"re defending her?"

"No, but you"re killing her right now." I tug her hand, and Allegra falls to the floor, gasping for air.

Bianca snatches her hand out of mine and crouches near Allegra, so they"re now on eye level.

"I see you again making a pass at my husband, I will end you. Do we understand each other?" Bianca enunciates each word, and Allegra looks at her in disbelief.

"You"re a crazy bitch. Fucking crazy bitch… What the fuck?" Allegra says between ragged breaths.

"Yes. I am a crazy bitch. And guess what? Crazy bitches have nothing against chopping your body one part at a time while you"re still alive. You want to fuck my father? Go ahead. You as much as look in my husband"s direction, and I will make it so that even wild animals will scoff at eating your remains. Are we clear?"

Allegra nods her head emphatically, Bianca"s words clearly having an effect on her.

"Run!" Bianca urges her, and Allegra does as she"s told, leaving my wife and me alone in this goddamn closet.

I"m thankful it"s done, to be honest, and I"m about to head out when Bianca stops me.

"Did you touch her?" she asks, her eyes pinning me to the spot.

"What? Of course not," I say casually, and I make for the door. Bianca once again grabs my arm and twirls me around, so I"m against the wall.

"Did you fucking touch her?" What is wrong with the female species? I get rid of a predator just to get myself yelled at by a jealous woman.

Wait… I suddenly stop at that thought.

Jealous? Is Bianca jealous? Because that would imply feelings, and she"s not capable of that. Or…

"No," I answer once again, and she starts her tirade.

"Good, because God help me if you ever so much as…" I stop her mid-sentence when I take advantage of my superior strength and switch us around, so she is now the one pinned to the wall. My hand goes at her throat, enjoying the feel of her soft skin and her throbbing pulse.

"If I ever so much as?" I ask, brushing my cheek against her hair.

"If you ever as much as look at another woman," she starts but can"t seem to continue as my fingers massage her pulse.

"Yes?"

"If you ever…" she moans, and that"s when I attack.

"Let me tell you. If you ever think I would stoop so low as to break my marriage vows, even when my wife is a fucking sociopath, then you are sorely mistaken." I release her and step out of the storage closet, heading directly for the bar.

This night just can"t get any better, and we haven"t even planted the bugs. As I beeline for the bar, I see a disheveled Allegra talking to Enzo, her body language suggesting she"s playing the victim.

Enzo looks at her with obvious distaste. I shake my head at the scene and continue on my way. I order another bourbon, this time tipping the glass back and enjoying the amber liquid"s burn.

Man… I gotta admit, though. Bianca looked so hot, all aggressive and jealous. It almost makes me want to try it again, just to see her all worked up.

Almost.

Because I know she would actually kill the other woman. Why am I not more bothered by that, I really can"t say.

After finishing the drink, I take a few minutes to compose myself before seeking Bianca to complete this mission and get out of here. Since Jimenez isn"t present, there isn"t a reason for us to linger around.

I exit the ballroom and look around until I"m at the entrance of the drawing room. There are a few ongoing poker games at different tables, and I finally spot Bianca by one of the tables, rooted to the spot.

I make my way towards her and realize she"s looking at something with an odd, longing look on her face. I turn my attention towards the table and see one of the men spreading some white powder into a clean line before rolling a one-hundred-dollar bill and sniffing it off the table.

Bianca"s mouth opens ever so slightly, and her feet move. I quickly realize she"s craving this, being that it"s only a few days since she"s detoxed.

As her feet take her towards her addiction, so do mine.