Finding Beauty in the Darkness

Quickly grabbing my laptop from my office, I settle into my reading chair in the corner of the room to work while I wait for the doctor to arrive. Nico sent over the quarterly earnings for La Stella and as usual I’m in the black. The gentleman’s club makes more money than most of the business ventures my family owns. When I took it over, I made significant changes and obviously for the better. I made it more exclusive by requiring a membership and allowing only powerful and wealthy men access.

When I told my father I was gutting the place and renovating it completely, he thought I was crazy. My mom thought it was a wonderful idea and it feels damn good that in the last ten years since I took over, I’ve always been in the black with my numbers steadily increasing.

I attempt to read over the reports probably ten times before I accept I’m not in any place to deal with work. Instead, I send an email to my housekeeper requesting for her to order clothes, under garments, and toiletries for Aria. Not knowing her size, I have her order a couple different sizes.

There’s a soft knock on my door and I check on Aria to make sure she hasn’t woken yet. After setting my laptop down, I open the door to find Cecilia and Dr. Fox standing together. “Giovanni, I didn’t know Dr. Fox was needed.” Cecilia gives me a perplexed look then tries to peer around me to see who is in my room. I block her view, closing the door behind me and stepping out into the hallway.

“Thank you for coming, Dr. Fox. The woman I need you to take a look at is sleeping right now. I’m not sure when she’ll wake up. If you could wait inside, I just need to speak to Cecilia for a moment alone.” After letting Vivian into the room, I close the door. “I’m going to be occupied for a few days, so I am going to need you to be on your A-game with the club. Go to Johnny first, but if you need me, I’ll be here.”

“What’s going on, Giovanni?” she questions. Sooner or later, I’m going to need to tell Cecilia about Aria since she’ll be here for the foreseeable future, but at the same time, my business isn’t her business, and she needs to understand that.

“I’m helping a woman get well. She was drugged and beaten badly.”

Cecilia looks at me baffled. “At the club? How was I not aware?”

“No, not in the club. Elsewhere, but she’ll be staying here while she’s healing.”

Cecilia looks past me at my closed door. “In your room? You don’t let anyone in your room.” Her hand goes to her hip, angrily. Looks like I’m going to have to nip this shit in the bud right now.

“Who I let in my room isn’t any concern of yours. Your job is to take care of the escorts, that’s it. Nothing more.” Cecilia flinches before composing herself. She steps close to me, running her hand down my arm, flipping her switch from angry to sweet.

“Don’t act like that, Giovanni. You know I just want to help.” Her voice is meant to be seductive, but it doesn’t work on me because I’m immune to her fake-ass charm.

I remove her hand from my body. “You can help by making sure the front end is running smoothly and there are no issues with the women or members.” I turn my back on her and go into my room, closing the door on her face.

When I step inside, Aria is awake and in tears. Dr. Fox is holding her on the bed while she sobs in her arms. “I- I need something. Please. I-I’m in so m-much pain,” Aria hiccups through her gut-wrenching sobs.

“What do you need?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed next to the women.

Aria swipes away the falling tears, taking deep breaths until she composes herself. Then she narrows her glossy eyes at me, shooting me a glare like I’m the devil incarnated.

“Are you in the mob?” she seethes. I try to hide my smirk. This woman has some sass to her and she’s not stupid. She guessed right on the first try.

“What do you need?” I repeat, ignoring her question. I’m not going to give her drugs, but I need to know what she was on so we can help her kick that shit.

“Xanax or Oxy, please…or…” She contemplates what she’s going to say next, her bright red nose scrunching up like she’s not sure whether to say what she wants. After a moment of hesitation, she murmurs, “Since you’re in the mob, maybe you can get me something stronger. I’m sure you have access to the good stuff.”

Holy shit, this woman has no filter. Dr. Fox is quietly listening, her eyes volleying back and forth between Aria and me. “There are no drugs on this property,” I growl out. “Whatever the doctor says you can take is what you’ll get.”