Mafia's Devil part 34

2 Chapters remain this week. Next update is tomorrow!

KARINE

He knocks… and knocks, and knocks on the door. While he could easily rip the wall off, he has enough sense in that sick head of his to stay away.

“Karine.” He repeats for the umpteenth time, and the echo is so daunting that I hear it over the flow of water.

“No!”

He sighs. “You were going to suck my cock.”

I cover my face to suffocate my embarrassment, and I fail. Because, yes, I thought I was ready to please a man with my mouth. To cradle the unknown and show a vulnerability I’ve never shown before. How stupid of me. This is what I get for lowering my barriers.

“Go away,” I moan, exhausted.

This is an emotional turmoil, because while I’m falling for Luciano, it’s not happening smoothly. Instead of skydiving into cool, free air, I’m slamming through clouds made of ice.

He’s strong, attractive, compatible with my nature. But we’re not normal people — we’re citizens of the criminal underworld, and our circumstances will always remind us of that.

I’m so fucking frustrated. So overwhelmed because nothing ever seems to go right. I sniffle as I fight back tears like a weakling.

Luciano seems to hear it, because he groans. “You were going to suck my dick out of pity. I wasn’t going to let you give me pleasure out of guilt and take advantage of you.”

I’m glad he stopped me, but he shouldn’t have lied in the first place.

“I was only fooling around to get your attention. I knew you wouldn’t leave if you thought I was hurt. Making you mine has been my latest obsession. I’m aggressive when I set my eyes on a goal. Previously, this was never a problem. I didn’t care if I hurt any bastard’s feelings, but now there’s you and I…”

I jump away when there’s a loud boom at the door.

“I don’t know how to keep you. I tried brute force, I tried lying. For the first time, my privilege and money are worthless because they can’t get me you. I want you so fucking badly, woman. I’d die of boredom without you.”

My fingers fidget, because Luciano is laying his feelings out for me, and I know he’s the type of man that would rather pluck out his molars than do this.

He stops talking, and I process. He said curse words and crime confessions, but that’s as romantic as Luciano can get.

I stand up and shut the water faucets. My eyes meet the mirror, and I find sadness staring back at me.

“Come out. I need to see you.”

“I need a minute.”

A hundred minutes, actually.

“No more lies,” I tell him.

“No more.”

I wipe my hands. They’re dry, but lathered in invisible anxiety. With a final glance at the mirror, I unlock the door and leave its protection behind as I walk through it.

Luciano lunges for me with the prowess he never lost, and hugs me tight. I’m an idiot for thinking a push down a set of stairs could hurt this guy.

He rests his chin on my head. “I will do things right this time.”

I don’t know what ‘doing thigs right’ means, but the pressure is on him. I’ll be bitter over this little stunt for a few.

“Will you go on another date with me?”

“Don’t push your luck,” I mutter as I pull away. “I’m going to take a nap now.”

He sighs, and I know it’s because he’s getting tired of not getting what he wants.

As I declared, I go to bed and tuck myself in. Luciano is silent for a few minutes, but I can’t see what he’s up to because I’m hiding under the sheets.

The hours come in and out. I quickly get hungry, but I don’t say a word because I don’t want anything from Luciano. He has given me enough.

He frequently asks me if I want anything, but he’s met with a linen wall of silence. This was a major setback for us.

I fall asleep with my stomach grumbling. When Luciano shows up in the morning with a tray of all breakfast foods imaginable, I take it and eat it with my head low.

“I have something planned for us today.”

“What? Are you going to pretend that you broke an arm this time?” I reply bitterly with a mouth full of scrambled eggs.

“It’s a surprise,” he declares.

I think I’ve had enough Luciano surprises to last me a lifetime.

I eat my breakfast and keep an eye on Luciano. Who knows what this so-called surprise will be.

I’m browsing through an old magazine when I hear a knock. Luciano stands from his loveseat, from which he had been creepily staring at me, and gets the door.

Curiously has me peeking over my magazine. There’s a brief exchange, and then Luciano returns holding two boxes.

I can’t help it. I ask, “What is that?”

“You didn’t want to go out on a date, so I’m bringing the date to you.”

Alright, I’ll give it to him. That was witty.

I watch him kneel and unbox a projector, a laptop, and many sets of wires. He sets up everything expertly, and positions the projector in the middle of the room so a video is projected onto the wall.

It’s paused, but I can see a couple staring at each other. I can’t believe it. He wants to watch a romance with me?

“Why this movie?”

He shrugs. “I asked my assistant, and she said it’s the latest hot thing.”

He stands to his full glory and walks up to the bed I’m sitting on. I shrink in intimidation.

“So? Will you go on a date with me?”

“Uh… I’m not dressed for a date.”

He looks around the room and pulls up the bags packed with my clothes, even pulling one full of makeup that I never noticed.

“Here. You have everything you need to get ready.”

I look at the lipstick he’s holding out to me. There’s a furrow on his brow, as if he’s stressed.

“I have a better idea for this date.” A snicker makes its way out of me, and Luciano smiles as if enjoying the sound.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

I love how dreamy he sounds.

“Let’s have a makeover.”

His face falls. “Come again?”

I snatch the lipstick and stand up. With a hand to his chest, I guide him to the bed.

He groans. “Karine, please. Let’s talk about this.”

“Hush. Pucker your lips and let me paint you.”

He looks at me like I’m a Russian torture master and he’s kidnapped in my basement. There're lines of stress on his forehead, his fingernails dig into the mattress as if it’s the wooden torture chair he’s strapped onto, and he looks ready to spill all of his business secrets.

“Mercy, please,” he groans as I paint him with red.

“You owe me this, Luciano. Or should I say, Lucy.”

He groans.

Fifteen minutes later, Luciano has become the baddest bitch in Canada. My foundation is too pale on his tanned skin, a winged eyeliner highlights his eyes— although it’s not smooth because he kept blinking and the best I could produce was a zig-zag mess. The straightest part of his face is his pursed lips.

His cheeks have so much highlight and blush that he looks like he face-planted into a glitter factory.

I admire my work. “How do you feel?”

“Suicidal.”

“Well, you look the furthest thing from death. You’ve never looked so alive with all these colors in your face. You look like summer.”

“I look like I’m begging for a bullet between my eyes. Can you see my tarnished soul in my eyes?”

I roll my eyes and sit next to him. For the next few hours, Lucy and I watch the movie, and he looks hotter than the female lead in the romantic comedy we’re watching. I make sure to remind him throughout the movie, to which he grumbled every time.

— —

Over the next five days, we switched hotels twice and go on dates every day. There is no more mention of his deception. We go through our dates, with me reminding him that while he scrubbed his face to remove his makeup, he rubbed hard enough to bruise himself red.

Luciano, of course, argues that it’s the cool air that keeps his face looking like it's permanently blushing.

“Did you have fun?” he asks as he walks me back to our motel.

“Yeah. It was awesome. I, uh, you make me feel nice.”

He’s silent after that, even when we make it to the motel. I regret my admission, because it seems to have made things awkward.

Am I an idiot for hoping he asks me on another date tomorrow?

I think about our date as I lie under my warm blankets. I’m falling asleep when I feel a body sink atop of mine.

“Luciano?” I say groggily and look up at him.

He’s silent as he slaps handcuffs on my left wrist. I fight him instantly.

“Stop. Stop, that hurts! You’re scaring me.”

I fight, but while our wills are made of iron, Luciano is iron on the outside, too.

I’m helpless against this bulk, and he doesn’t stop. When he’s done constricting my hands, he goes for my legs. He binds me down and renders me immobile. Meanwhile, hysteria and fear run through me.

a/n: 2 Chapters remain this week. Next update is tomorrow!