Chapter 15
Marco led Melina to his bedroom and showed her the bags that were on his bed. He grabbed his own swimsuit and closed the door behind her, giving her some privacy to change. She would meet him at the pool once she was ready. She walked into the large bedroom and looked around. The bedroom was tidy and neat, with dark green walls, a large emperor-size bed, and large windows. In one of the corners, there was a sofa with an entertainment center. The room smelled like it had been freshly painted. She realized that a few minutes had passed and she was still just standing there. She didn't want to keep Marco waiting, so she walked to the bed and looked inside the bags.
He had gone the extra mile. In the bags, she found a hat, a pair of Havaianas flip-flops, sunscreen and tanning oil, a beach towel, a kimono, and finally two swimsuits—a bikini and a one-piece, both in green. It must be his favorite color, Melina thought. She opted for the one-piece, as she wasn't comfortable wearing the bikini. She put it on and looked at herself in the mirror and she liked her reflection. The swimsuit hugged her curves nicely, and the underwire in the bra region pushed her boobs up and kept them in place. The back was low, exposing all of her back. She put on the flip-flops and the kimono, grabbed the beach towel, sunscreen, and tanning oil, and headed downstairs.
She found Marco sitting at the edge of the pool with only his legs dipped in. She could only see his back, but even that view took her breath away. Even from behind, you could tell how muscular he was. She quietly walked toward him, left the stuff on one of the sunbeds, took off her kimono and flip-flops, and went to sit next to him, dipping her legs in the cool water of the pool as well. They sat next to each other silently for a few minutes.
"You promised that you would answer my questions honestly," Melina broke the silence.
"I will."
"If the police were to interrogate me about you, could anything you tell me be used against you?"
Marco studied her for a bit before he answered,
"The police can't force you to say anything, but even if you decide to tell them, they'd need to find evidence first. Otherwise, in court, it would be considered hearsay and therefore inadmissible."
"So answering my questions wouldn't put you in any danger?"
"Are you worried about me?" he asked with an amused look.
"I told you I'm curious, but I don't want you to be in any danger with law enforcement because you decided to satisfy my curiosity. And also, I'm a terrible liar, so if the police were ever to ask me, I wouldn't betray you and I would lie for you—but they would know it."
"You’d be willing to lie to the police for me?"
"If you trust me with something, I’ll never betray you, Marco. That’s just how I am. Even if we stop seeing each other, even if things don’t turn out well for us, I will never betray you. The only person I always rat out is my brother to my mom—but that’s just because it’s funny."
"So you never lie?"
"I do, but unless it’s a white lie, like 'Oh my god, your baby is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen', you’ll be able to tell. And if by miracle you believed any lie I said, I’d come clean within 24 hours. I can’t sleep if I lie to someone."
Marco chuckled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He pulled her closer and gave her a peck on the lips.
"So, what do you want to know?"
"Why did you decide to make a career as a crime lord?"
He chuckled at the name she used.
"A crime lord? It’s just that the family business goes back generations. I was expected to take over when I was old enough, but I had decided early on that I would change things when I did. I finished my business degree and my master's, and I worked hard to invest and buy legitimate businesses as well. I didn’t want to rely solely on illegal activities. So now I’m 50% a legitimate businessman and 50% a crime lord, as you said."
"I read online that it's alleged you're involved with drugs, guns, underground casinos—but not sex trafficking. Why draw the line there?"
"Anything that involves exploiting other people is off-limits. It wasn’t always like that, but it’s a line I drew when I took over. Humans are not items to be sold to the highest bidder, and this is a hard rule in my organization that no one is allowed to cross. We also don’t work with organizations that deal in human trafficking. We want nothing to do with it."
"But selling drugs to a drug addict isn’t exploiting?"
"Everyone makes their own choices. The people who decide to start doing drugs and get addicted made theirs. I’m not their parent or their friend to stop them, but I do ensure that our products are clean and high quality, and our dealers sell only small quantities to avoid overdoses. In honesty, it’s a smart business decision. If my customers use too much and overdose, then they won’t be able to buy again. We don’t sell to anyone underage, and we control any drug sales happening in our areas."
"Do you do drugs?"
"No. I wouldn’t be able to run my business effectively if I were under the influence."
"So you don’t drink either?"
"I drink, but I have a high tolerance for alcohol and I know my limits."
Surprisingly, she found Marco’s answers satisfying. She was wondering why, and whether her moral compass was broken somehow—but Melina knew that her next question would be the real test to see how she felt about Marco’s occupation. She was dreading the answer as much as asking the question. His answer to this question could be what would make her walk away. She took a deep breath and went for it.