C6 Mafia

That was when she knew he was insane. The thoughts of owning her money had twisted something in his head. Eva shifted uncomfortably on the lounge chair and dragged on the cigarette. She had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen to her if she did not find a way to leave Vince. The only thing she could think of was to cheat on him as much as possible. Vince was the jealous type. She knew he hated seeing her with men, and this was what she was going to use against him. Maybe when he realized that she was no longer in love with him, he would take his mind off her. Yes! That's what she was going to do. She must take the bull by the horns. She must prove to Vince she was no longer in love with him. One way or the other, she has to burn that idea into his head. But one part of her mind kicked against idea.

Her husband was a selfish, dangerous, and violent man. A deranged psychopath who had no regard for anyone. Inwardly, she knew her husband would never stand the idea of anyone cheating on him most, especially his wife. He would find a way to punish her and might even go to the extent of harming any man he sees with her. If she was to cheat on him, Eva knew it had to be done discreetly. If only she could find her a way to make him give her the divorce. That would make everything a whole lot easier. Indeed, there must be a way, she thought. There must be a way to get what she wanted from Vince, or maybe she could ask someone how she could go about it. But who? She thought. Who could she ask? She wondered. She had gone out with the few friends while still modelling, but they were airheads who were only interested in expensive shoes, bags, and money. So who could she turn to? She thought again.

Just then, Eva remembered the man he had knocked down at the birthday party, and a cold chill ran through her body. She had almost forgotten about him. What was his name ? she thought and began to think fast. She bit her lower lip tightly until she tasted blood. When her brain could not come up with anything, Eva drew in a long slow breath and brooded for a moment. The stress of everything she was passing through had made her thoughts slip away from him. She hoped he was alright wherever he was. Though she had forgotten his name, the idea of him had not left her. There was something about him. Something different from any other man she had dated. Eva had seen the looks in his eyes. This man wanted her. It was crystal clear.

She thought of the kiss and how he had suckled her breasts, and a smile tugged at her lips. The kiss had been so hot and igniting. It had set her whole body ablaze. " will I ever see him again ? " she wondered. Inwardly, Eva knew she wanted to see him also, and yet she was afraid. She was scared of falling in love with him. She had known many lovers in her life. Men were necessary to her even right before she had met Vince. The physical act of having sex at intervals was essential as food. She knew she was not the fall over heels in love with you, girl, and yet, she had fallen in love with Vince even to the extent of him marrying her. He had taught her a lesson. Men were not to be trusted.

The man she had met at the birthday party was no different from any other man that had approached her. They always wanted something from her. If it's not sex, then it would be love. This man at the birthday party was no exception. She knew his type. He was a man looking for a woman who would love him. Eva knew she could never be that kind of woman. I will have to avoid him, she told herself. He wants love, but I don't like it.

What she wanted was a man who wanted nothing from her except the mere moments of bringing themselves sexual pleasure. A man who wanted no strings attached. Also, he must be able to get her the gift of laughter and joy. He must be able to make her forget all her worries and problems. With these thoughts, she leaned back into the chair and pushed the ideas of the handsome man from her mind.

******************

Gino Rissi and four of his men sat around a table in the center of the room. They were playing poker. The table was littered with chips, playing cards, whisky glasses, ashtrays crammed with cigarette butts, and a bottle of whisky. These four men were the rigid types one can see any day in Miami's sleazy, dirty areas. Their clothes were dirty, their faces burned brown by the sun, sweaty, hard and vicious, menacing-looking .38 automatic holstered to their hip pockets, and their hands, clammy with sweat, always itching to start trouble.

But their leader, Gino Rissi, was quite different. He was tall and heavily built. He had icy-grey eyes, blue-black hair, an aquiline nose accentuated with thin lips. His eyes were always glittering like those of a hungry fox. Etched on the left side of his cheek was a five-point crown tattoo. But the most notable feature of him was that he was always dressed in an expensive Italian suit and an impressive black cloak.

Gino Rossi was the mafia boss of the Latin gangs. He was one of the slickest con men in Miami Beach. He was an intelligent, calculating man. Anyone with a lot of money was a sucker to Gino. He was always full of funny, crazy ideas of laying his hand on some serious cash with only his brain to help him. What scared most people about Gino was his tattoo. It added terror and viciousness to his fearful face. Most importantly, it served as a reminder of the gang Gino belonged to. For the past three years, Gino Rissi had been running the Latin gang, and for those same three years, he had built the gang's reputation. They had made a great deal of money, and they were not doing badly. The other crews regarded them as harsh and deadly. Without Gino's ingenuity and ruthlessness, the Latin king gang would not have gone far. Gino was a hideous, cunning man, and every member of the team was afraid of him.

"I win again," Gino said, tossing a card on the table, jeering lights in his eyes.

The other men looked at the card he had tossed and grunted in response. They knew Gino was always cheating when it came to poker, but none of the men dared challenge him or say anything that might incur his wrath.

"You're always winning, boss," one of the men said. "I'm still hoping for the day you would let us win."

Gino gave him a wolfish smile, revealing his six-gold capped teeth. "Don't hope too much! You'll surely die waiting."

Suddenly, the men in the room stiffened when a powerfully built man came into the room. His eyes were grey; his face was deadpan and cold.

Gino Rissi stared at the man, a bored expression on his face.

"Do you have him?" he asked, staring at the man.

The man nodded his head slowly.

Gino grunted, grinned, and turned his attention back to the men at the table. Then he got to his feet.

"Pack up, guys; I've got unfinished business to attend to."

The men needed no further urging. They all rose to their feet simultaneously, pushing their chairs back. Gino was already at the entrance, where the man who had interrupted them now stood, stiff.

"Where did you find him?" Gino asked in a low voice.

"Sunset harbor. He was waiting for a getaway ship."

"Where is he now?" Gino continued.

"In the basement of my room. I fixed him up pretty bad."

"Good work, Harry," Gino beamed at him, then turned to face the other men, who had been waiting patiently for him. "Let's move, boys," he said.

All the men went out into the hot, airless night. They were all dressed in black; their backs hunched, their faces tight and taut, and their lips curved to a menacing angle. Huddled together as they walked the streets, they made quite an impression on the people who came across them. Seeing the deadly look on the faces of Gino and his men, these people jumped out of their way like frogs thrown into hot oil.

The men made their way through the milling crowd and walked down a cul-de-sac; then, Harry led the way down a smelly alley lined on either side by two-story, weather-beaten buildings. They stopped outside an old-looking laundry shop; it was below this shop that Harry had two rooms. They walked through the narrow stairs that led to Harry's place. The men all waited while Harry unlocked the door and turned on the light. Then, they all entered the sparsely furnished room and locked the door. Only Gino looked around the room. In his immaculate suit, he looked out of place.

This place belongs to a pig! Gino thought, a look of disgust on his face. The walls had damp stains. The rug was threadbare and filthy. In the corner of the room was a divan bed: the sheets and the bed were dirty and stained. There was a scarred table against the wall. On it stood empty bottles of whisky, stained glasses, and an ashtray crammed with cigarette butts. A naked light bulb hung from the ceiling, casting a harsh light over the room's sordidness.

Harry went into the inner room while Gino and his men waited. A few moments later, he came into the room, dragging a man by his hair. The man was naked from the waist up. His mouth had been taped, and his hands and legs were tied with corded ropes. There were bruises all over his body, and his eyelids were puffy from the punches he had received. On sighting Gino, who stood watching him, his face expressionless, he began to whimper, his voice muffled by the tape around his mouth. A striking slap from Harry cut off the whimpering. Harry dragged the man to Gino's feet and moved away, like a snake-hater moves from a snake.