Little Lila

four | house of men

THREE YEARS AGO

I peer into the office. 

A man stands next to Sir. He's relaxed. He holds a cigarette to his mouth. His laugh is light-hearted. 

I don't feel sick when I look at him. 

I feel safe. 

Sir glances in my direction. He beams at me. I blink, surprised. He never smiles so sweetly at me. "Ah! 102! Come inside," Sir waves me over. When I stand next to him, facing the man, Sir says, "this is Mr. Aigner. He's my new business partner."

I politely nod and smile. Sir hasn't told me to speak yet. 

Mr. Aigner speaks, "Hello, 102. Aren't you sweet? My fellow here has told me all about you. You're quite a little prodigy, hm?" 

I giggle. "Thank you, Mr. Aigner." 

Sir chimes in, "102, Mr. Aigner here wants you to do a few missions for him. You'll leave with him right now, promptly." He's giddy. Excited. I wonder how much money Mr. Aigner gave him. 

I don't respond. I only follow Mr. Aigner out of the Center. I'm blindfolded before exiting, but the blindfold is removed when I find myself on a fancy jet. I'm usually in the cargo section. 

Mr. Aigner sits on the sofa in front of me. He smiles gently. 

"Hello, darling." 

I stare. 

"You can talk to me. I'm not a heartless animal like Ivanov." 

A smile escapes me. He grins back. 

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I ask. Normally I'm just told to kill a person and then I'm sent back to the Center or the asylum. 

"You are special, darling. You have potential to rule to underground." I blush a deep red at the compliment.

"Thank you, Mr. Aigner." 

"Please, call me Valentin. That's my name. What's yours, darling? I don't want to call you a number. We'll be working with each other regularly." 

"Lila."

His eyes flash with confusion for a brief moment, but he masks it. Smiles. "Very well, Lila. Now, I'm going to tell you something important, okay?" 

I nod. 

"Don't tell anyone about our encounters. Alright? Not even the people you think you can trust. We must remain secretive if this will work." 

I don't really understand what he's talking about, but I shut my mouth and nod. "I promise." 

He chuckles, and holds out his hand. My small hand wraps around his large one. We shake hands. "Pleasure doing business with you, my prodigy." 

Mr. Valentin Aigner.

Don of the German-Austrian Mafia. 

He only reached that position the year prior, after building up his organization— he told me at our last meeting. "I'll come back for you, Lila. Don't worry. I'll get you out and you'll come with me to Vienna."

I didn't see how he would do that. I didn't know how many connections he had. I was ignorant to his blatant power and influence. 

Which is why I'm standing in the middle of my biological family's foyer, gaping at the closing front door, watching the retreating figure of Valentin getting into a black limo and speeding off.