I looked at the men in the room, and they were too stunned to speak at my actions toward Lazlo. "What? Is this the first time you see a woman defend herself around men?" I asked as I placed one leg over the other. Lazlo did not take my warning to heart since he sat next to me on the couch as if nothing had ever happened. However, I was sure he would not repeat that mistake. 

At least not with me.

Mattia cleared his throat and stood up. He walked toward me and shook my hand. "You sounded like my fierce Enola. I admire you for standing your ground. You fit right in with the mafia; there is an opening, if you want. Be our leader." Mattia looked at Dario with a smirk, knowing that his joke would piss him off.

Although the comment made me smile and feel appreciated, it did not last long since the asshole decided to enlighten me with his reply.

"She will cause your death because she always cracks under pressure when things go south. Need I remind you of your reaction toward the rat, Jolene?" Dario asked with a smug expression, thinking he would make me regret anything I had ever done or said, but I crossed my arms with contentment.

"No need. You'd look insufficient and dirty since it was in your house. Not mine." Mattia, Lazlo, and Basilio laughed, and Dario glared at me. "You asked for it."

"You- you know what? Let's discuss the contract. I don't have enough patience not to grab my gun and shoot you," Dario remarked and turned on the projector. His mood swings were worse than a girl on her period. 

He drains my energy the same way I drain his.

His grandpa sat on my empty side as Dario was busy cursing at the blank screen. "Ehi caro, you are remarkable since you are taming the serio don. If someone else talked to him like that, he would not think twice and would eradicate them. You have something in you that makes him civil, and I like that. If he ever hurts you, I am one phone call away, Jolene," Basilio whispered as he gave me his phone number.

I was more than thrilled to have the mafia don's grandpa on my side. 

"Grazie!" I whispered back, and finally, our meeting began.

~~~

After endless hours of arguing with Dario over every damn clause and condition, we finally signed the contract. "Never let me sit with you two when you want to settle on something!" Mattia declared as he packed his things in his bag. He looked like he wanted to disappear from our sight, and I did not blame him.

Dario and I did not match. We clashed on every single matter, and it was exhausting.

"At least you get to take a break from him for the rest of the day... or what's left of it. I am stuck with Dario, and it is not my choice," I reminded the men that I was staying in the same house as Dario, and Mattia gave me a sympathetic look.

I texted my dad and Phoebe that I was alright and would talk with them tomorrow since it was nine o'clock here and past midnight in New York. "Well, good night, don. Good night, Jolene. Mattia is my ride home, so see you later," Lazlo said when he stretched his back and walked out with Mattia. Basilio patted my back and decided to stay behind to sort out a few documents related to their Real Estate business. For a seventy-five-year-old, he was in good shape. Mentally and physically.

Dario and I walked to the elevator and waited silently for it to get to the parking floor. "Per favore, don't argue with me over anything in the car because I am too exhausted to argue back," Dario remarked as we reached his vehicle.

"I wasn't planning to because I am tired too." We nodded in agreement for the first time since we met, and he drove. It was raining heavily, and the weather made me drowsy. I wanted to sleep comfortably under the cozy and warm blankets.

I was used to pulling all-nighters back home, but I was still not used to the time difference and the people around me.

Everything was foreign, and I did not feel that I belonged.

"That's odd..." I heard Dario whisper, so I peeked in his direction to see him glancing at the rearview mirror.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I looked back. There was a black van behind us, but it was not exceptional. Or so I thought.

"We are being followed." His comment made me glance back at the van and then at him. "I took multiple turns to check if they were following us, and now I am positive. My driving pattern was random, but they somehow caught up."

"What should we do?" I asked, slightly worried. I knew that being with the mafia don had consequences, but I did not expect to witness or be involved in them so soon.

"Call grandpa, and send him our location." I opened my phone but paled at my screen. "What?" he asked as he took a sharp turn, almost making me drop my phone.

"No reception and I don't think calling the police is a good idea, right?"

"No, it's not. I indeed have connections there, but I do not want to involve innocent people in my problems, even if it is their job to protect others. Hold on to something; the road will get bumpy." I did as he ordered, and we entered a dirt path, and the van was still behind us. I was getting nervous.

"Shit, now there are three cars," Dario stated, and as I wanted to look back, I felt his arms wrap around my body and duck me down. Gunshots shattered my window, and I screamed. It all felt like a nightmare. "You are okay. You are okay, Jolene. I am here. Nothing will happen to you," he soothed me with his gentle words regardless of the chaos outside.

Finally, the bullets stopped for a second, and Dario took that as his chance to counter back. He pulled a rifle and two pistols from under my seat and started firing at them.

I did not realize our car had hit a tree until I raised my head and looked ahead. Dario did not step out of the vehicle; he opened the car roof and did his brutal charm. I was terrified of looking at the damage and possibly dead bodies, so I kept staring at the tree in front of me.

I did not judge Dario for taking such drastic measures because his life and environment were full of danger and risks, and I came here understanding of the jeopardy. However, I thought I was mentally prepared. I was definitely not.

My screaming, their shouting, the gunshots, the broken window, and my cuts delivered a startling reality check.

That I am in Sicily, surrounded by the underworld.

I clasped Dario's leg when I heard the back glass break, and I prayed we would return home alive. "Jolene, your nails are digging into my skin! Relax, it's over." He sat back in his seat, and I was in a daze. Everything was quiet, but my ears were ringing.

"What?"

He held my hand and caressed it. "It's over. They are dead, and we are safe," he assured, and I released the breath I did not know I was holding. Tears poured down my face, and I wailed like a baby. I was relieved, and Dario's gentle pat on my head calmed me. 

Surprisingly, he can act humanely when he uses inhumane methods to survive.

"Do you know who they were?" I asked, finally out of my trance.

He shook his head as he grabbed his phone. "No, it was dark, and the rain was too heavy to see their faces. Once it stops raining, I will get out of the car and check."

As he said that, my hands acted on their own, and I grabbed his arm like my life depended on it. His hair was wet, and the veins in his arms were visible. "No! Don't you dare leave me here alone!" I yelled out of character. Then I realized how scared and cold I was at that moment. The windows were shattered, and my coat did not prevent the cool air from freezing my lungs. At least the car roof was closed now.

"Calmati, I won't leave you alone," he replied, pulling a blanket from behind my seat. It was like a million bucks. "Here, wrap this around yourself. It might take a while until grandpa comes, and the enemies' vans are as damaged as ours, so we can't use them," he added, and I took the blanket but offered him the other half. He smiled and put it on his shoulders. 

Was it the first time he smiled at me so innocently and genuinely?

"How would anyone know where we are?"

"My car has GPS and a smart system. It always sends a stress signal to my emergency contact, and when we hit the tree, I am sure grandpa was notified. However, he might take a while to get here because of the heavy rain and possible traffic. Sleep if you want," he explained, and I shook my head.

"I can't; I am too anxious to sleep," I reasoned. "So, tell me more about yourself since we are stuck here. Tell me something you haven't shared in a long time. I will listen and will not judge."

"Why should I?" he asked as he crossed his arms and placed his legs on the dashboard like me. The car was pretty much done.

"We are stuck here for a while, and I don't want to feel bored. I can tell you something about me if you want," I said, and Dario sighed, taking that as my sign to talk. "Okay, so have you ever heard of misophonia?"

"No, what's that?"

"It's a condition where I feel furious at human-made sounds, like chowing food aloud, breathing heavily while asleep, snoring, clock ticking, and more of these annoying noises. There is no treatment; I must live with it and endure."

(A/N: if you have it, you are not alone. Almost all of us who have it are misunderstood, and I know it can be tiring and lonely at times, but you are not alone.)

"When did it start?" he asked, and I smiled as I valued his attention.

I ran my hand through my hair and looked at the tree. "I became aware of these sounds when Titan, my dog, died when I was twelve. I get triggered beyond anger when I hear these sounds. I tried to work on it and even went to a therapist, but nothing worked."

"It must be hard," he said.

I nodded. "It is, but I am surviving the same way you are surviving, only using different methods." He chuckled. "Now, your turn. Tell me anything!"

"I don't have anything special to tell you about me," he replied.

I rolled my eyes. "Bullshit... then tell me something related to you," I suggested because I knew he was dogging the topic. He did not want to talk about himself. But he was a mafia don; I was sure there were plenty of stories he could tell me about his life. "How about your family? I know Enola, Uncle Paolo, and your grandpa Basilio, but how about your mom, grandma, or your mother's parents?"

His eyes unexpectedly darkened, and his whole demeanor changed. I felt like I had stepped on a land mine. "Nonna died a few years ago, and I don't know my other grandparents, and that woman cheated on my dad when I was one and left with a man. Grandpa told me when I asked about her, and I felt lucky that I did not know her when I was older because I would have killed her for hurting papà." His tone indicated that he was not joking, so I stayed quiet.

Looking at the larger picture, Dario did not have a normal childhood. No wonder his personality is like that.

~~~

18.01.2023

I hope you liked this chapter! 

Comment if you have misophonia or know someone who does :)