Silence in New York - Book One

~Chapter 3~

Luca Genovese had only been promoted from Associate to Soldier for a short time. He had been part of the Abandonato family since he was a baby. His parents and the parents of the Abandonato brothers were always in close contact. Although Luca enjoyed and appreciated the privilege of being an Associate of the crew for many years he eventually outgrew the ranks and proved himself loyal enough to step up to more important tasks. Tasks such as bailing the brothers out of lockup.

Ben O'Conner let out a small sigh of frustration the moment Luca stepped towards the desk. He knew very well why he was here and who he was here to bail out. "Always the same story with you punks". Ben stated practically throwing a pen at Luca before he even had a chance to speak. "I know why you're here" he continued in an aggravated manor, "no need to even explain it. Just sign the paper work and pay the amount stated. As usual I'm sure you're paying cash tonight?" Luca smiled, "yes Sir. Cash it is"

As Luca nonchalantly signed the appropriate paper work a guard proceeded to unlock the male holding cell and released Salvatore. "Hey Luca" Salvatore called out to him with a cheeky smirk on his face, "ask O'Conner for this lovely ladies paperwork, Adriana. We're bailing her out". Luca raised an eyebrow breaking his attention from the paperwork and over to Adriana who's jaw was practically hitting the floor.

To say she was stunned could not even describe the look on her face at that moment. She had practically no idea who this man was and why he had suddenly taken quite an interest in her.

Officer Ben O'Conner on the other hand had suddenly felt as though he had had all he could take from Salvatore and his crew for the night. "I don't think so" he chimed in abruptly immediately refusing to organise the paperwork. He looked over at Adriana who was still in the women's holding cell. "Listen honey you have no idea who this guy is, I mean it when I say it's safer for you to stay in that cell than leave with him" he pointed to Salvatore with a look of utter disgust. If it wasn't clear to Salvatore yet that Ben absolutely despised him, it would be now.

"Right" Salvatore laughed, "she would be safer getting sexually harassed by your boys than leaving with me?" Ben could not believe the colourful accusation suddenly escaping his mouth. "Sexually harassed?" He repeated angrily, "you've got quite an imagination on you!" He looked back at Adriana who was now holding onto the cell bars tightly intently watching the men.

She really had no idea who she could trust or not, she did recognize though that there was no way she could continue to stay in this cell. This was no place for her; she had never been arrested, especially over a crime she did not commit. Her faith in these particular police officers was simply shattered, they hadn't even allowed her the decency to explain herself or speak to the many witnesses outside the bar. They identified her and a gun and had immediately come to their conclusions.

"I want to leave". Salvatore who was now standing right next to Luca smiled as he collected his few belonging from the desk and placed them in his pocket. "Looks like the lady has made her decision" he looked over at Ben who was shaking his head in dismay.

"Adriana, you have no idea what you're doing, if you would just wait it out-"

"No", she cut him off abruptly. "Let me out now, I'm leaving".

The moment Luca finalised the paperwork the guard was instructed to let Adriana Di Dio out of the holding cell as Ben gathered her belongings and placed them before her on the desk. "My gun?" She asked with curiosity wondering why it was not being returned to her. "Gun?" Salvatore and Luca asked simultaneously with a hint of shock in their voices.

"Miss Di Dio once we have conducted the appropriate checks on your firearm and checked on your registration details we will give you a call to come and collect it". Ben stated explaining the protocol to her. "I'm sure you'll come to the conclusion that it was never fired seeing though as I explained there were no bullets in it but anyway..." Her voice trailing off not wanting to revisit the anger building up in her once again.

Once the three of them walked a few meters away from the building, Adriana suddenly stopped and sighed an immense sigh of relief. "Thank you" she said quietly yet with a large amount of gratitude. "I will absolutely pay you back" Salvatore smiled and shook his head as if she were speaking total nonsense. Where he came from women did not pay men back. "Absolutely not Adriana" he replied almost offended, "I can most definitely afford it".

'Arrogant much?' Adriana thought to herself noticing the smirk on his face. "I have no doubt you can Salvatore" she stated back, "that doesn't mean you get to do it without repayment".

"Let me drive you home", Salvatore stated now changing the subject. He found there was no point arguing about something so minimal, he knew he would never let her win as he simply was not going to take any cash she offered. "I have to get back to work, I don't even know if the cops had the decency to close up, I was practically dragged out" he nodded and motioned to Luca. "Luca go get the car and bring it around" Luca nodded obediently taking the hint to get lost quickly. "I'll drop you off at work then" Salvatore stated drawing his attention back to her. He was suddenly very aware of her nervousness. She was no longer walking next to him and had stopped dead in her tracks after she had thanked him. "That's really not necessary" she said back almost in a whisper, she was very nervous. "Look Adriana" as he spoke he stepped forward and she took two steps back. "I'm not going to hurt you" he assured her quickly stopping his advances towards her. "I can't leave you here on the street, it's late and dark and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a woman out here. If you would just let me take you to your work place I'd feel much better about it". She looked down nervously at her hands; she didn't even notice she was spinning one of the rings on her left middle finger in a nervous manner.

"I'm not leaving you here" Salvatore continued authoritatively, "I'll either wait here with you for a cab or you can let me drive you back to work, either way I can't walk away Adriana". She nodded understanding where he was coming from, she didn't necessarily trust him, but she could understand his reasoning and felt as though he was being genuine about the current safety situation.