My Monthly Visitor

ELENA'S POV;

As days turned to sleepless nights, Leo uncovered more details, giving both I and Antonio the information needed.

Leonardo did something quite smart and that was to search for the rivals of Derek Antonio and in a mafia group of twenty-one teams, he found four teams that were for him, seven teams against him and the other ten teams were completely neutral. Connecting with them would certainly build an upper hand in this game of the mafia world and that was what Leonardo was working on.

I just believed it would be impossible for any mafia team to reject the offer of The Damon Antonio. As I had gotten to realize, his team is the strongest of all the mafias across the globe. Derek Antonio was the second. Now I understood the reason why Damon Antonio would never want to lose to his brother in any way. I didn't want him to lose either.

The truth was slowly unveiling right before our eyes. Derek was good, I had to admit it. He was a twisted web of deceit and manipulation.

"Now we're getting somewhere. It's all starting to make sense." Antonio stated with venom in his tone. My heart thumped with anticipation as we placed the puzzles in their rightful position. Derek's deception was clear to us now.

"I know Derek enough to know that this is what he has been attempting from the start. Antonio stated, pissed off for not realizing it sooner. "This location and the lack of security are all a part of his plan. He knows what he's doing alright. He's attempting to unveil you; Elena." My name rolling off his lips sounded so beautifully foreign. "He wants to use her." He turned to Leo.

"If that's a fact that means he knows that she's from us and might try to get the truth from her using what is to be considered as a safe means to lure her into danger. He's going to torture you and use you till he's done." Leo glanced at me. Our plan is ruined. There was no way I could lure or deceive him unless he was unaware. I couldn't help but shudder at the thought of getting tortured like the rest of those girls.

"What do we do now?" I asked, looking between Leonardo and Antonio who seemed to be deep in contemplation themselves. Then Antonio's eyes locked with mine.

"We need a plan B and C. I was considering using femme fatale, but Derek is too smart for those women. He will always get them, one way or another. Leo, we need to keep digging, and find out everything you can about his connections and associates, even the mafias that are for him. Anything that can give us an edge. His mafia allies are aligned with him because of their hatred for me. They all obviously have an agenda, and to get that information, I would have to..." Antonio paused, before glancing at me. "I know I mentioned I don't want a femme fatale, but you Elena, are a huge asset to this team. Leo, I'll need you to train Elena in physical combatting and self-defence."

"What?" I questioned and he glanced at me.

"You have to be able to protect yourself. I can't leave you out there without you not knowing how to manipulate your way out of a strong grip." He explained.

"If we don't strike now, when are we going to strike?" I asked.

"Patience. Even your enemies are patient enough to plan against you. We can't rush things just yet, till the time to strike is right." Antonio explained. "Leo..."

"On it." Leo exited the room.

"And you..." He glanced at me but obviously didn't know what he could order me for. Then he chuckled. "All I need you to be is strong."

"What are your intentions? What do you want me to become?"

"Femme fatale."

"You want me to go around seductive men?"

"Femme fatales are like sirens. They lure you into their trap through their beauty before they reveal their dark side. You're not going around seductive men, you're luring them into danger." He rose to his feet and then walked down to his window before folding his hands behind him. "If we can't get to Derek directly, then we'll have to manoeuvre our way through the people that do know him, like his allies. I'm certain they've never seen his face, more particularly that he doesn't trust any of them. But I trust the information they can give if they are convinced to." He turned to me again. "In this kind of case, a female is what we need. And on your journey to becoming stronger, you'll learn that being a femme fatale is much more personal than you think. Many girls become one because they hate men and would do anything to kill us all. Some had a past like you did, and can't stand seeing any girl having to go through that, so they kill, without remorse. A lot of them are feminists." He explained.

"But why choose me to be a femme fatale?"

"Because you're the only woman I can trust. Using just any woman for this course is a lot riskier than you think." I nodded, happy at his confession. "If Derek wants to be a step ahead of us we have to ensure that we're three steps ahead to avoid getting caught off guard."

"To be honest though, I don't really know much about Derek. You and Leo appear to know him more than I do." Before Antonio could say anything Leo rushed in, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he delved into the digital abyss. Tension filled the room as we all anticipated for him to reveal his findings. My heart thumped in my chest with the way his face was stern as he stared at the computer. The room was eerily silent before he finally...looked up.

"I found something." He announced.

"Spill!"

"It appears that Derek has ties to a powerful underground organization. They're fond of their manipulation and infiltration tactics. This is what he has been doing all along."

"How did you uncover that?" Antonio asked.

"I guess he doesn't hide his face from everyone. He's not anonymous to the organization because it's against their rules. I saw the profile as I browsed way too deeply into the internet. His profile wasn't taken off, his mafia identity was. But his details are on his normal profile from childhood. It wasn't easy but I was able to trace the links that he had through his mafia details after... hacking into their system."

"You did what?" I exclaimed.

"Don't be concerned, I'm anonymous." He stated but that wasn't even the point, I was stunned he was actually that good and I didn't know all this while. "He tried to play us, well guess what, he got the fruit of his labour."

"Were you able to get any more details?" Antonio asked and Leo shook his head. "He's way too guarded for my liking. But this is one piece of evidence. He reveals his face in this organization, and his childhood profile isn't off the internet yet. It's just that no one would recognize it's him. Do you think it's intentional?"

"We can't jump to conclusions just yet. It might and might not be that way, but I'll have you understand one thing. And that thing is to expose him and bring him down before his agenda is executed. Like I said before, we can't permit fear to hold us back, and we must work together to stop him. Connecting with the other mafias isn't an easy task to do because I hate working with other people. But to what extent can't your enemy go to bring you down?"

Leo nodded in agreement, his fingers poised above the keyboard. "We'll gather more evidence, expose his true nature, and bring him to justice."

**********

I decided to have a chilled drink that day, but the thing is, I'd been having aches since I woke up and my appetite was down. Nothing appetized me because of the cramps I was feeling. I hated it whenever I was on my period. It really did me no justice to feel lonely and in pain. I couldn't even drink my favourite juice. I sat down on my bed rubbing my palm against it as I tried to ease the pain. I tried breathing in and out but the pain only got worse. Then I lay on the bed, turning to the side before folding. I could feel the sweetness of my body, but I was in too much pain to leave this bed and go have a shower. I tried breathing in to relieve the pleasure but it wasn't helping, I could only wish that I was relieved.

Antonio entered and noticed me, I was certain I looked like a newborn baby wrapped up for his mother.

"Been noticing you since yesterday. You've been getting cramps, haven't you?" He asked and honestly, I was just too weak to answer. So I turned to look at him before nodding. He had a cup in his hand but I wasn't even interested to know what was inside it. So I turned back to my normal position before he walked towards me and gave me the cup. "Sit up." He said, supporting me as I got off the bed before he offered the cup to me. I took it and realized it was really warm before drinking the content. "You didn't mention anything. Did you think I won't take care of you?" He unfolded the duvet before placing the hot water bag on my stomach. I furrowed my brows.

"Where did you learn all this stuff?"

"I realized pretty much that when you're living with a woman you should know her needs. So I decided to learn this online, just in case you needed it soon." He said and I couldn't help the smile that broke out from my face. I would never have imagined.

Antonio was really full of surprises. I guess there was more to him than just his mafia identity. We stared at each other for a bit too long, his piercing blue eyes seeming to be staring at my soul. If he could understand me without me saying a word, I wouldn't be surprised if he did those things for me. There was tension in the air and I believed it was all because I was on my period. His stare at me made me delusional and I loved it. I didn't need sex right now, just some cuddling, and I didn't think he did cuddling. I sighed internally. Of course not, he preferred fast sex to anything else.

"Thank you," I said and while I was about to go to sleep, he climbed the bed, before moving me closer to himself. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I couldn't believe Antonio was actually cuddling me right now.

"Your eyes said it all." He said and I internally applauded him for being so observant and sensitive. He made circles with his finger around my shoulder. While I'd felt so much better than before.

"When you went through this back with your uncle, what did he do?" He asked.

"I never wanted him to know but he always found out one way or another. My menstrual cycle didn't stop him from sexually or physically abusing me. Even when I begged him not to, he never listened to me." I sighed. "Living with him made me feel stuck. I couldn't express myself even when I wanted to. And I never thought I would escape him. When you came I thought it was another episode of plain because that was the way I pictured every man. Even you."

"I knew you were scared of me in the beginning."

"How do you know I'm not scared of you now?"

"You don't run away like you used to. And look, we're cuddling. How will you be scared of me?" I laughed at that, a genuine laughter. "That's the first time I'll hear you laugh at something I say."

"Because you get too serious most times," I said and he chuckled. Soon I got sleepy, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.