Code Of Love

SKY
48 hours came and went and Adrik didn't come for us as promised. Did I have hope that he would? Yes, yes I fucking did because deep down I'm a lover girl and I crave to be loved and wanted.

So I let Ava's man, Ace, talk with his contacts in New York and I was hired at his brother-in-law's tech company. It's like a dream come true. I'm doing something I love, something I've always wanted to do.

And New York houses are fucking expensive. More expensive than Dallas and some apartments look like they have seen better days. So again, I'm staying at my future brother-in-law's penthouse.

Yes, that's right. A fucking penthouse rent free. I couldn't accept that so he told me I'll just have to buy groceries then and even though I feel guilty about it, I would be stupid to say no to the offer.

Ace has a sweet Italian housekeeper who looks after Jules for me while I'm at work. She's really nice to me and I love how her and Jules have bonded in the past one week.

"Sky can I talk to you?" Leon calls me as soon as I get to work. "A client of ours wants us to do him a favor. He sent some footage that needs wiping. Pass it through some software that we have. And don't backup any of his shit. We don't wanna deal with lawsuits" He says.

I have been here for a week but the power that Leon holds in this company is more than even the board. I don't know why or how that happens. He's like in his mid thirties and everyone in the office hates him.

"I had something else to do today actually. I was assigned something else to..." I stop once I see him glaring at me.

"Here's the deal. This footages need to be done by the next 48 hours or less. I'm not supposed to say this but our client is involved with the mafia and trust me you don't want to keep the bloody mafia waiting or else they'll have your head. Plus they are paying us some good money. It'll be between the both of us."

I stare at him. Why the hell would he be involved in the mafia? And what if I see something I'm not supposed to see then they kill me? Or Jules? Fuck, I didn't even think about Jules.

"I can't Leon. I have a kid. I wouldn't want to put her in danger." I say. "Who do you think gives you your paycheck? It's blood money. You work for an Italian mafia. You were sent here by the brother-in-law of the Italian mafia. So how is this different?" He asks.

I opened my mouth to argue but no words came out of my mouth. I just stared at him then sighed and followed him to his office. "it's an old footage from April 2021. It's very grainy. The client wants a clear footage."

"I didn't call you because I want to get you into mafia trouble sky. I called because I only trust you. I know you've been here a week but I feel I can trust you. Don't prove me wrong."

With that I walked out of the office to my cubicle at the corner and sat down. I played the footage on repeat. Even grainy, you can tell something bad is going on. Girls are being loaded into a white van. What the fuck? Is this a trafficking thing?

Once I uploaded the footage on our software I pressed a few keys and it started uploading. What the hell is Leon involved in? What the fuck am I getting myself into?

"How is it going?" Hours later Leon came and asked. "I was able to clean this. Whoever did the face placement did a poor job. It's like it was kid photoshopping this. This guy's face showed up."

"Ran his face through a facial recognition app and his name is Dante Solkov and the guy smiling at the camera is Giovanni Russo." I say and he lean to check the monitors.

"What about the woman in the back?" He asks. "That's what I'm doing now. I'm trying to find out who she is. But you can't tell the girl's names because they are blindfolded." We both stare at the video that's on loop on my desktop.

I look at the time and see it's 7p.m. Shit I have to call Katerina and tell her I'll be late. "Sorry I need to make a call. I'll be right back." I say to him and he nods as he's typing on his phone.

"Hey Kat. I'm sorry I didn't call. I'm held up at work. I had to do a project for my boss that's due in 48 hours." I hear Jules giggle in the background.

"They're overworking you on your first week there? Ooh you poor thing. I'll leave food in the oven for you. And don't worry about Jules. We'll be in bed and I'll watch her." She says. God bless her soul for that.

"Okay thank you so much. You're a lifesaver." I say. "Now go work. We girls we'll just watch some more coco melon." She says and I laugh before hanging up.

"It's still running. Make sure you get her name before leaving okay. And look for any other detail in the video. Even the smallest detail matters okay. Even if it's hand movements or the way they all stand. Note every single thing down."

By ten, the woman's name had not yet come up and I ordered takeout pizza and Chinese because I was starving. I did as told and even with my eyes closed, I could tell you everything that happens in the video. The way that Dante guy limps because his left leg might have been hurt.

The way the woman who's name isn't coming up just stares as the girl's are loaded into the van. Then she stares at the camera and curses then leaves. I assume she walked out of frame.

The way that Giovanni guy looked at the woman and his face pales before looking at the camera and smiling like a mad man then he went after the woman.

Who is she? Did she piss off the mafia? And why the fuck is her face showing up with different names?