Chapter 17 Anna Cole.
Ariel
"Who is she?" He, Vincent Russo, took a sip of his drink and moved towards the very edge of the rooftop where a barrier was placed strategically in the style of a balcony as I glanced between him and the picture.
"Anastasia Coleman or as she's popularly known in the industry, Anna Cole."
Anna Cole. Okay. She was very pretty, stunning even but what the fuck do I have to do with this woman?
"It is pretty simple..." he said as if reading my mind. "Become friends with her and get invited to an all-exclusive party a man called Derek Malone throws on his yacht every single year."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "A party?"
"Yes. It's a private party that selected guests can only access with an invite from the host himself. You need her to get you that invite."
"What about the police though?” i think that was more important than this party. “What if they find out that I killed Richard? I won’t be able to attend any party or get an invite if I'm behind bars."
I felt my already ruffled feathers bristle even more when he let out a low derisive laugh. "That is nothing for you to worry about. All you have to do is focus on getting that invite and the rest will be taken care of.”
The rest will be taken care of? What does he mean?
“As to how you’ll meet her. We need something natural and believable, which is why you’ll be attending the Rogue Vanity Fair soon that will be taking place in about a month. It will be your first appearance after the whole fiasco with Richard dies down and the one and only opportunity for you to strike a friendship with her. There’s no room for failure."
"What if it doesn’t work out though?” i mean, there’s the possibility that we might not vibe as friends or that she might have her guard up.”
For the first time since I arrived on the rooftop, he turned to face me properly with a blank stare that had a chill going up my spine immediately. "Do you really want to know what will happen?"
I swallowed. That was a threat, right?
"Once you get the invite, send a text using the burner phone saying 'done', and Kael will tell you what to do next."
I glanced at the Kael guy, looking like a robot where he stood, with his gaze trained forwards. He wasn’t even looking in our direction.
“Do you understand?” I nodded my head vigorously, my gaze returning back to him. I was eager to get out of here.
"That'll be all then.
On the ride back down to the ground floor, using the elevator, of course, I realised I hadn’t asked or talked about the one thing that had been bugging me since I visited my mum in that creepy hospital a few days ago. I had been too focused on getting out from that rooftop because of how uncomfortable I felt.
I glanced at the Kael guy who was quiet beside me in the elevator car again. “So…” I started regardless of the fact that I know he might not answer. "...I visited my mum in the hospital you transferred her to.”
No response.
“I was wondering if it’ll be possible to transfer her to another hospital. I just think it’ll be better if she were somewhere closer to the city and near me, no?”
His answer came almost immediately. “That won’t be possible.”
“What? Why?" I asked, already feeling my stomach sink to the bottom of my ass. I had a faint idea of the reason.
“It hasn’t been authorized by the Don.”
“Who? Vincent Russo?” he glanced at me then. then nodded
“As long as you behave accordingly, she’ll receive the treatment she needs and get better.”
And if I don't? I think I already know the answer to that.
Vincent
It's been a while since I allowed myself to get this drunk. A pretty long while, actually, if I consider just how long I've always felt the need to have my guard up. Since pretty much my day of birth.
I still had my guard up but I'd let loose last night, taking a few glasses of alcohol and fucking the blonde slut I must have called in last night after my tool, Ariel, left the hotel.
Now I was sweating profusely, thanks to the annoying night terrors that are an integrated part of my life and confused on where I was.
Wait, fuck.
I rolled out of bed and picked up my phone from the nightstand to check what time it was. 3 am.
Did I just sleep over in one of the grand Meridian rooms?
Ugh.
I stood up from the bed and started putting on my clothes. After I was done, I picked up my phone, touched my jacket pocket to make sure my knife was still there and ran a hand through my hair before heading out into the hallway where a man waited.
I instantly had my knife trained on him before I even recognised who he was. "Kael?"
"Sir". He remained still even after I removed the tip of my knife from his throat. "You've been here since?"
He nodded. “Something has come up.”
“Something? Like good or bad news?”
"Bad. Hollander got attacked."
"What?" I turned to face him sharply. "How?"
"A hit was put out on him, I'm guessing by Derek as a way of getting revenge for what we did to Alan but it didn't succeed. He barely made it out alive.”
"That motherfucker.” I had been expecting him to retaliate but not with a hit. That was an insult, to say the least, not to talk of the fact that he had targeted my financial expert of all people.
“Where is he now?”
"St Valerio".