2 - Hypocritical

Federico's POV.

I tilted my head at the woman, curious as I took her in. Even in ratty old pajamas and a stained t-shirt, there was no doubt in my mind that she was beautiful. There was something dainty and extremely feminine about the way she held herself, her movements graceful as she took a seat on the couch, crossing her long legs and leaning back in her seat comfortably before gesturing for us to do the same.

I shook my head at her, too focused on finding the USB to play whatever games the woman in front of me clearly wanted to. "Where is my wallet?" I demanded.

Much to my annoyance, she let out a chuckle. "Eager, aren't we?"

"Do you even know what you've stolen?" I asked, getting even more agitated at her cool and composed demeanor. It was grating on my nerves like no other. I usually wasn't one to get violent with girls but I wasn't above using some threatening to get what I wanted. And that was exactly what I was going to do soon if she didn't give me my wallet back in the next two minutes, my hands itching to pull the gun out that was tucked into the waistband of my jeans.

The chick raised a perfectly plucked brow at me. "One should never underestimate someone without getting their facts straight, Mancini," the woman replied, her eyes glinting with something that looked a lot like amusement as she stared at me as you would a particularly naughty child, her pouty lips turned down into a mock frown.

My eyes narrowed, my jaw clenching. Who the hell did she think she was, making fun of me like that? And how the fuck did she know my last name?

I was a second away from pulling my gun out and aiming it at her when Dante grabbed my arm, probably sensing what I was about to do. I looked at him and he shook his head at me lightly, telling me with a look that he was going to handle it.

Turning to the woman, he cajoled, "Look, just give us the wallet and we'll not press any charges against you."

The woman actually had the audacity to laugh at Dante's suggestion, making me clench my teeth some more. "It is a bit hypocritical of a mafia undergoes to threaten you in the name of police, don't you think?"

My hackles rose. It was clear she knew who we were. That meant this probably wasn't a simple pickpocketing incident like I had thought it was. Frankly, it was embarrassing that this woman had managed to lift my wallet off of me like that without me realizing until much, much later. And to think she had done it with an ulterior motive somehow seemed even more humiliating than it previously was.

I exchanged a look with Dante. We had to approach this differently if we wanted to get the USB back.

"You know who we are. Do you also know why my wallet seems so important to me tonight?" I asked slowly, looking at her carefully to see how she would react.

Much to my annoyance, she simply smiled at me, the same serene smile she had on when she had brought out the damn tea cups. Then, she nodded. "I do. I was the one who created the USB in the first place and gave it to you, Mancini."

My brows raised. She couldn't be serious, could she? No. It can't be. It was a man who had brought the information to me, not a woman. And definitely not her. "You're lying. Tell me what you want in exchange for the USB and let's get this over with already," I said, getting frustrated at the entire conversation and wanting to get it done and over with as soon as possible.

"Am I, really?" The woman said, a perfectly plucked brow raised again as she took a slow sip of her tea. "Then how did I know you had it on you today? And how to take it from you?"

Her words stumped me for a moment. That much was true. But just because she knew all that didn't mean she had created the USB in the first place. "I don't give a fuck how you knew any of that. Only that you give the device back to me," I bit out. I was about ten seconds away from pulling my gun on her to get the damn USB back.

She tutted at me as you would a particularly annoying child, her lips pulled up into a mocking smile. She was actually fucking enjoying this. "Now, now, Mancini. Is that any way to talk to the woman who gave you such valuable information about the murder of your father and brother?"

The fuck did she think she was talking about my late father and brother like that?

I lost it, pulling my gun out of the back of my pants and aiming it at her. "You're fucking lying. Give me the USB back unless you want me to put a fucking bullet in your head."

Any lesser woman would be shaking in her boots by now. But the woman in front of me simply sighed, bringing the cup to her lips again to take another sip of her tea. Then, as if she had all the time in the world and I hadn't just pulled a gun on her, she placed the cup back on the table and leaned back in her seat. "If you're going to threaten me, at least take the safety off first. Besides, if you really wanted to kill me, you'd have done it by now. Kill first, ask questions later, and all that," she said, waving her hand around as if to prove a point.

A point she did have. I wasn't going to actually kill her. Unlike other mafia families, we didn't kill women unless it was absolutely necessary. This hadn't escalated to that point. Yet.

When I didn't immediately say anything in reply, she sighed before leaning forward in her seat, her expression suddenly all businesslike. "If you're done with your theatrics, let's get down to business."

I shared a look with Dante who seemed just as curious about this as I was. This was the last thing I had expected coming here, that was for sure. We gave each other a single nod, deciding mutually to hear her out.

I put my gun away before looking down at her. "What business?"

"Turns out, we both have a common enemy— the Russians."

My brows furrowed. I knew the Russians were somehow involved in the death of my father and brother, but I was yet to figure out how, and why. "What makes you think they're my enemies?"

This time, her brows furrowed, a delicate frown marring her forehead. I had the sudden urge to smooth it off her features so she could go back to smiling again. I shook the thought away as soon as it had come, focusing on her words instead. "Have you not seen what's on the USB yet?"

"I would've, if someone hadn't stolen it from me before I had the chance to," I bit out, getting agitated again. I'd had the USB on me for barely an hour or so before we had left the casino. I was going to watch it in the privacy of my home office but this bitch had stolen it before I could.

"For someone who was eager to find information, you sure took your sweet time getting to it," she rolled her eyes at me.

I ground my molars in annoyance, not saying anything to the jab.

"Well, the USB holds the CCTV footage of the camera on the road where your father and brother were shot. It took me a while to hack into the database to get the files, but I did it," she began, clearly proud of herself. "The number plate on the car the murderers used was a fake one, obviously, but I managed to track down the guy who makes these fake plates. Turns out the car belongs to a guy who has close ties to the Russians and they often use his vehicles to carry out their tasks within the city," the woman explained as if she had actually been the one who had gotten all this information for me all on her own.

Bloody hell. I had tried for months on end to procure that CCTV footage but to no avail. They had told me that the footage had been deleted the same night. If what she was telling was actually true and she was the one who had gotten that information for me along with the rest of it about the Russians, then she was going to be extremely useful to me. And I was going to end the Russian Mafia if they were the ones who had done this.

"So, you're telling me you got that information all on your own? And who's to say you're not lying about the information itself?" I challenged her.

That infuriatingly calm smile was back on her face as she leaned back in her seat again and crossed her impossibly long legs together, drawing my attention to them. I could only imagine what they would look like bare, or over my shoulders when I— fuck. I cut my train of thought short when I realized the direction it was taking. No. I couldn't go there. Not with her. Not until I knew who she was and what she wanted from me.

She clapped her hands once, and her cat bounded down the Chrysler with my wallet in its mouth, jumping right into the woman's lap and purring loudly as it dropped the wallet onto her lap before curling by her side.

"Good girl," the woman praised the cat, running a hand along her smooth black coat almost lovingly before picking up my wallet with the other and holding it out to me.

"You can verify all that on your own. We'll talk once you're done. You know where to find me," she told me, clearly dismissing me as I quickly grabbed the wallet from her and checked if the USB was still inside.

Her cat meowed loudly, looking at Dante and me rather suspiciously.

"No, Whiskers. They're not going to harm us. They're just leaving," she said to her cat, picking it up and placing it on her lap before looking at us. "Aren't you?"

I didn't reply to her, quietly leaving her place with Dante in tow.

This whole encounter had been weird as fuck but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by the woman I had just met.

"Let's see if she's really who she says she is," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else before we got into the car and went back to my mansion.