Chapter 3: Proposal

Federico's POV.

It had taken me half a day to confirm everything, but turns out, the woman, Mia Carter, hadn't been lying.

A quick background check on her told me she was an orphan who had grown up on the streets, dirt poor, along with her younger sister Delilah. Mia had resorted to pickpocketing to get them by before managing to learn coding and hacking along the way which had also helped the two sisters keep their heads above the water.

Interestingly enough, her sister seemed to have disappeared miraculously a few months back. Mia had filed a missing person's report, of course, but the police had been no help to her so far.

My mind flashed back to last night when she had told me that we had a common enemy, the Russians.

I was willing to bet my right arm that that had something to do with her sister. Though what, I had no idea just yet.

On the plus side, everything Mia had told me about the car, the fake number plate and about the owner of the car having ties with the Russians had been true.

How she had gotten that information when the Russians had obviously been so thorough with covering their tracks that even months of trying to find out any kind of information about the attack hadn't gotten me anything was beyond me. Why she had given all that information to me on a platter was even more baffling. She ought to have a motive behind all this. No one did something like this for a mafia boss without expecting anything in return. That gave rise to a new question— what did she want from me?

A lot of things were unclear, but something that was crystal clear was that the woman sure was useful. It'd be a good thing to have her work for me.

So, I had sent Gio to pick her up from her dingy, old basement and bring her to the underground fighting arena I often used for meetings with other mob bosses.

I tapped my foot impatiently as I sat in my office, my eyes honed in on the camera that pointed at the entrance as I waited for the woman to make an appearance.

Gio had informed me that he had picked her up and would be here soon, but that didn't mean I wasn't anticipating her arrival.

I hadn't been able to get my mind off of her since our brief meeting yesterday. I had never met a woman who had piqued my interest like she had. And no, it wasn't just because she was insanely attractive, even though she clearly was. It was the way she managed to look sophisticated and elegant in those well-worn clothes, the way she didn't even flinch when I pointed a gun at her, and the way she spoke with an air of confidence, so sure in herself and what she was saying, that had me thinking of her nonstop ever since I had left her basement last night.

And since she had managed to get all this information for me, she was obviously smart and resourceful. A beauty with brains, so to speak. And fuck, if that wasn't turning me on like no other.

"She here yet?" Dante asked as he entered my office and stood behind me, peering down at the camera footage.

He seemed just as impressed by her, if not more when we had found out everything she had said was true. Mutually, we had decided to bring her in here to talk to her.

Before I could say anything to Dante, she came into view.

Dressed in a figure hugging low neck top, skin-tight jeans and knee-high boots, she looked sexy as hell. And judging by the sultry look on her face as she looked at my bodyguard near the entrance, she knew how she looked and wasn't above using that to her advantage. It was hot how confident she was, and how comfortable she was in her own skin.

My crotch tightened and I shifted in my seat just as Dante let out a low whistle behind me. "Fuck, she's hot."

Damn right, she was. But the fact that anyone else but me was saying it made me irrationally annoyed.

I pushed the thought aside, watching silently as my bodyguard turned to putty in her hands as he practically bowed his head and let her through. She let out a breezy laugh before patting him on the shoulder and passing by, Gio close behind her.

Unfazed by the bloody fight going on in the cage below and the hundreds of men shouting and cheering all around her, she leaned back into Gio and talked to him for a few moments, leaning her head towards him probably so she could hear him better over all the ruckus.

Gio pointed ahead of him, probably to the staircase that led to my office upstairs, making her nod her head.

Then, she began to push through the crowd and make her way towards me. Or more like, the crowd parted for her when they noticed the beautiful woman amongst them. Some of them tried to flirt with her, or make a pass at her that had my fists clenching in anger, but she easily handled it all, glaring at some, being playful with some, but never stopping on her mission to get to me.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have thrown her into a room full of rowdy, grown-ass men like that, but all it had done was prove that she wasn't a weak spined bitch at all. She knew how to handle herself in every situation. And that somehow kicked up my respect for her a few notches.

"She's gonna be here any minute," Dante muttered and I nodded almost absentmindedly as I watched her finally make it to the stairs and climb them up expertly in her heeled boots.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door before it opened to reveal her standing there with Gio right behind her. Gio saluted me in greeting and I nodded at him before he turned around and left, deeming his job here done.

"Quite a match you have going on down there," Mia commented as she sauntered into the room, her perfect ass swaying sexily as she took a seat across from me.

Fuck, how I wish it was my lap she sat on instead of that chair.

"You're welcome to place your bets if you so wish," I told her, leaning back in my chair as I drank her in.

She shook her head, her ponytail swaying behind her. "Not what you called me here for, I presume."

I shook my head with a smirk. "Definitely not. You, mia cara, have proven to be quite useful to me by giving me all that information. What I want to know is, what you want in return for it from me."

She smiled at me, that same serene smile that I was quickly starting to associate with her. "Glad to be of service," she said, letting out a breath, her smile dropping before she leaned forward in her seat, her expression suddenly serious.

"If you've run a background check on me, like I'm pretty sure you have, you must know by now that my sister has been MIA for quite a while now," she explained.

I nodded. That was pretty much the only substantial piece of information about her I had been able to find. There were no records of where she had lived growing up, what school she went to, or anything of the sort. It made her a bit of a mystery but I had gotten enough information on her to know she wasn't at least a wanted woman or involved with the police somehow. That was good enough for me to consider talking to her. For now, at least.

I focused my gaze back on her as she nodded, her eyes glinting with anger and determination. "Very well. I have a proposal for you."

My brows raised at her words. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I let her speak anyway. "I'm listening."

"The Russians have my sister. I want your help getting her back, and in return, I will help you avenge the death of your father and brother."

I let out a breath through my nose. Even though I knew she was going to say something along those lines, I was hoping she wouldn't say that. Not because I was going to reject the proposal, no. She was clearly a skilled hacker with a good head on her shoulders and that was something I could definitely use. But we all knew what happened to the girls taken by the Russians. The Russian Mafia was known for their human trafficking rackets all over the country. There was no saying where her sister could be, or if she was even alive. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. A lost cause, so to speak.

But it was her sister. One she clearly felt extremely strongly about, seeing the lengths she was ready to go just to get her back. I mean, she was here, striking up a deal with a Mafia Boss just to have a chance at finding her sister. It was understandable, too, seeing as her sister was her only family left.

"I don't want your pity," she suddenly bit out, making me snap my eyes up to hers. "You either help me with this, or you don't, and I'll find another way to do it."

I held my hands up in defense. I wasn't pitying her. If anything, it was actually admirable what she was doing for her sister. "I'll do it. I'll help you find her as long as you help me get my revenge on them."

"Oh, I have a few ideas on how to do that," she told me, a positively wicked smirk taking over her beautiful features, that look paired with her words making her ten times hotter than she already was.

Fucking hell. It was going to be one hell of a task keeping my hands off of her if we were going to be working together.

But maybe, I won't have to, I thought to myself as a plan formed in my head.