by K. L Mann
Arianna is wearing a simple long-sleeve floor-length dress that hugs her whole body but flares naturally by her thighs. Gianna is in a black dress as well; it shows off her small waist and fits loose around her legs. Lorenzo’s father is in a tuxedo. Looking around I start to realize that literally every woman is in a black dress and every man is in a tux. Lorenzo, Gio and Luca’s are the only completely all black suits, but still.
I squeeze his hand and stop walking before we make it to his parents.
I take a deep breath.
“Everyone is wearing black!” I yell at him as quietly as possible.
“You’re not.” He shrugs and smiles.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m freaking out! Why wouldn’t you tell me to wear black?”
“I like the dress you picked.” He chuckles.
“This is not funny, I look insane! Am I breaking some sort of dress code or something?” I pout.
“No. It’s not really a rule–”
“It’s tradition?” I guess. Lorenzo nods. I’m still embarrassed but causing a scene won’t help. “I hate you.” I grumble and pull his hand with me to catch up with Luca and Gio.
I force a smile back on my face.
“Oh my god, you look amazing!” Arianna sees me first.
“You look even better.” We hug quickly.
“He didn’t tell you to wear black, did he?” She whispers in my ear, giggling.
At least she finds it funny.
“Of course, he didn’t.” I whisper back.
Gianna kisses my cheeks and Lorenzo’s father smiles at me.
“I’m sorry I'm not wearing black. I didn’t know I was supposed to.” I playfully glare at Lorenzo.
“I thought she’d brighten up the room this way.” Lorenzo pulls me into him with an arm around my waist and kisses my forehead.
Smooth.
“How sweet.” Gianna smiles at us.
I know that we must have arrived fashionably late because dinner is served only a few minutes later. We have incredible ravioli with a red wine that I actually don’t hate. We make normal dinner conversation and time feels like it is going by quickly.
Dessert is a slice of vanilla cake that I thought would be pretty boring or gross but ends up tasting immaculate. Some people are dancing to classical music that is being played from speakers I can’t see. Our empty plates are taken away but we remain seated.
“When does the auction begin?” I whisper to Arianna.
She’s at my side and Lorenzo is at my other.
“Should be any minute now. We usually talk too much through dinner and don’t dance until after the auction ends.” She laughs.
Lorenzo takes my hand and pulls it toward him. I lean to his side to listen.
“If you see something in the auction you like, just tell me.” Lorenzo whispers to me.
“I don’t need anything, but I should use the bathroom before it starts. Will you help me find one?”
Lorenzo nods.
“We’ll be right back.” He tells his mother. He signals Luca and Gio to come along, probably to discuss something I’m not allowed to know about. They follow us.
The bathroom isn’t inside the large ballroom we were just in, it’s in a hallway outside. The noise from the ballroom cuts off as we exit it, it’s soundproof.
Kind of creepy.
The bathroom is entirely as sophisticated as the ballroom. White and gold and marble sprinkle throughout every inch of it. I do my business and start to leave the bathroom when I hear a man and a woman arguing in Italian outside of it. It sounds like Lorenzo. I open the door slowly and quietly to spy.
Lorenzo is like ten feet from the door and Nicole is cornering him. His eyes look dark and he rolls them at her. He’s clearly trying to get away from her without violence but then her hand caresses his arm and I see red. Bright bloody red takes over me.
I open the bathroom door and see Gio and Luca standing right next to it. They are whispering and don’t see me. I grab a stiletto knife from Gio’s pocket and flip it open.
“You stupid fucking bitch, if you don’t get your dirty fucking hands off of him, I swear to god!”
I’m almost to her when I feel arms around me, pulling me back. I’m struggling against Luca trying to fight him off of me. My nails dig into his skin and my body fights against his grasp. I bar my teeth at her, dying to get my hands around her throat.
“Are you insane? Do you even know who I am?” Nicole scoffs with wide fearful eyes.
“Do you even know who I am?” I yell back.
“Yeah, not much from what I see.” Nicole laughs, thinking she’s made a good dig at me.
I fail to lunge out of Luca’s hold.
“If you even think about laying another hand on my husband, I will kill you!” I nearly scream my threat.
Gio disarms me after a small struggle while Lorenzo watches me, seemingly in awe.
“She just threatened to kill me!” Nicole whines.
“Yeah, and I meant it, you pompous airhead! Go find someone desperate enough to fuck you, Nicole!”
“Crazy bitch.” Nicole mumbles and leaves as I’m still fighting to fucking strangle her. “He’s not your husband yet!” She shouts on her way out.
“Fuck around and find out how willing I am to take you down bitch!”
I want to see her lying in a puddle of blood. I want to eradicate her existence.
I haven’t been this angry in so long. My heart is beating out of my chest. Luca finally lets me go after she’s returned to the ballroom.
“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” Gio laughs loudly and grabs his stomach.
“Says the guy who didn’t have to hold her back, I probably have bruises all over my arms now.” Luca grumbles.
“Why didn't you just let me stab her then?” I grimace as my anger starts to cool itself. Lorenzo is still looking at me like I have wings or three heads.
“Your husband, huh?”
I don’t answer him, I catch my breath instead.
Lorenzo closes the distance between us and pulls my chin up to kiss me softly. I kiss him back, sinking into his hold. His lips feel so warm against my fury filled skin. Reluctantly, I stop to speak.
“I was angry, I didn’t think about proper titles.” I shrug. Really, I don’t know why I said husband instead of fiancé or even man.
He’s going to over analyze this.
“The auction is going to start soon, love fest later.” Luca teases.
Love fest, no. Like fest, maybe.
“Am I going to be in some kind of trouble for... all that?” I ask as we start to go back.
“Nicole can’t do anything about it, she’ll complain to her father but nothing will come of it. You kind of already outrank him.” Gio shrugs.
There is a man in the front of the room with a microphone starting to speak when we take back our seats. We have great timing.
Pieces of art, vacation trips, shopping sprees and other random things are being sold off to the highest bidders. It’s actually pretty fun to watch. Arianna wins a shopping spree for some shop she loves and Gianna buys a painting for a million euros by an artist I don’t know. Luckily the auction is in English so I can understand. There are more than a few Americans and Englishman in the audience according to Arianna.
The last item up for auction is an actual crown. A silver, diamond coated crown that was donated by a Jeweler in the back of the room. All of the proceeds go to Telefono Azzurro a child abuse prevention charity.
I watch this bidding war especially closely; the numbers are getting high.
“It’s so pretty.” I comment to Arianna, she’s watching the bidding just as closely.
“One million.” The auctioneer points to a woman whose paddle is raised. “Do I hear 1.2?”
“Three million.” Lorenzo puts his paddle up.
Gasps fill the room and I cover my mouth and look at him. Arianna does the same.
“Three million. Once, twice, sold to Vital
e.
The auctioneer knows his name? Of course, he does.
“Are you crazy? That’s like 3.5 million American dollars, for an accessory!”
“For charity.” Lorenzo scolds me. “It can be your wedding gift if that makes the price tag feel more appropriate.”
“Girl you have to teach me to make whatever love potion you used on him because I’ve never seen him like this.” Arianna laughs at her own comment.
“Surely you’ve seen him be romantic before.” I brush it off.
“Never. You’ve saved my boy.” Gianna beams at me.
Lorenzo plays along and laughs.
“Well, he’s saved me too. You’ve raised a proper man.” I tell her. “You’ve both made him strong and well, perfect.” I declare to his mother and father. I squeeze his hand and he squeezes mine in return.
His father actually smiles.
“Saluti.” He raises his glass and we do too.
“We actually should be leaving. Mamma, will you give Leonardo instructions for the crown?”
“Of course, darling, I need to settle my painting details as well.” Gianna smiles at him.
“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” Arianna hugs me goodbye. She’ll be back from school for the wedding but I won’t see her for a while.
The goodbyes take a few more minutes and we’re finally outside waiting for the car to be pulled around. I can see Nicole stepping into a blacked-out G-wagon with a man who’s probably a driver. I glare at her and she rolls her eyes at me when she sees me.
“If she touches you again, I’ll cut off her little gremlin hands.” I grumble. Gio and Luca both laugh loudly and Lorenzo chuckles.
“I’ll hand you the blade next time.” My fiancé assures me.
“How come we didn’t dance? Is that not sort of suspicious?” I wonder out loud, no one is around to hear.
“We don’t dance together until our wedding, it’s–”
“Tradition.” I finished his sentence for him. “Are we supposed to be celibate too? Perhaps we should abide by all of the rules.” I roll my eyes.
Gio and Luca both chuckle.
Lorenzo’s lips move to my ears. “We both know you would break before I do.” His breath tickles and I shiver. He’s probably right, but I hate that he’s probably right. Sex is like alcohol for me, a tool to make my head clear.
The car pulls around and I’m relieved to sit back down. These shoes are not comfortable whatsoever. I take them off and hold them, willing to walk barefoot into the house no matter how silly it looks.
Chapter 14: Fiery Little Demon
Lorenzo
She was going to stab Nicole for touching my arm. The look in her eyes was practically psychotic. She got a knife away from Gio, fucking Gio. I think he was the most surprised. He’s always on guard and she was quick enough to take something from his pocket. I know practically everything there is to know about her and she still surprises me every day. She drinks too much, complies too easily and apparently has some serious anger management issues. Still, I’ve never seen someone so messed up look so fucking good. Luca was right, she is a little demon, my little demon.
After we’re home, I tell my little demon to get changed into something more tactical. She looks at me like I’m insane but listens. I have plans for her to have a little bit of fun without needing to be drowning in vodka for it to happen. Luca, Gio and I shed our ties and as soon as we can, we’ve always hated them.
“I want the graduates all there, twenty minutes, building four.” Luca nods at my command.
“You sure you trust her enough for this?” Gio doesn’t judge, but he is my right hand. It’s his responsibility to balance me.
“Yeah. Do you?”
“I’ve trusted her since the plane ride.” Gio retorts.
I glare at him.
He’s been telling me since she told me about her son that Katherine isn’t a threat to us. I’m not as easily accepting. He has good instincts but I’ve been burned before.
Katherine comes back downstairs in tight high-waisted black jeans, a strappy black sports bra and black combat boots. Her hair is pulled to the top of her head in a ponytail.
“I look ridiculous. This is the closest to tactical I have.” She grumbles.
“You look hot, let’s go. People are waiting for us.”
She’s always too concerned about dressing too properly. I bet Gus did that to her.
“Where are we going?” She asks as we head out.
“To test your skills.”
Building four is a training warehouse, we have fifteen men who have just passed their evaluations. Luca assures me they will be there to watch. Other recruits will be there training still and I want to play with them a bit.
Katherine seriously watered down how much training she’s received while we talked last night. Diego wanted her far away from the cartel's reach, but he made sure she was trained to fight and to kill as if she were always at risk. I want to see her in action.
We pull up building four and make our way inside. It’s full of recruits sweating, fighting and receiving instructions. We have a few boxing rings, targets, and other equipment scattered throughout the open floor plan. The ceilings are high and climbing ropes hang from parts of it.
“Woah.” She mutters quietly.
Luca whistles and the room falls silent. All eyes are on me, I love it when that happens. The fifteen graduates are standing to the side in a cleared-out area, watching and waiting. I scan the room, taking them all in.
“It’s Challenge Night.” I announce. The graduates all look at each other subtly. They’ve been through a Challenge Night before; they understand what it means. “Normally, I’d have a Graduate do the honors. But tonight… Tonight is different. You’ll all fight tournament style, until four of you remain.” I pause. “Then you’ll fight this woman.” I present Katherine to them.
Her eyes shoot up at me, she’s surprised of course. Possibly a bit scared.
“If any of you can beat her, you will graduate tonight. You’ll immediately rank up and move into field work.” No one speaks but heads turn and glances are exchanged. “She’ll have one knife; you’ll need to take it from her. Be careful, she will use it.”
“I’ll set the rotation.” Gio announces. “Fights start in five minutes. Be prepared to do whatever it takes to win. Only four people have won challenge night since it started, and you’re looking at three of them. Dismissed.”
Chatter starts again and people are moving around frantically. Trainers are preparing the rings; fighters are getting ready to show me what they’ve got.
“You brought me here to get beat up?” Katherine accuses me.
“You don’t think you can take them?” I scoff.
She looks at me like I’m crazy. I take her hand and pull her over to the closest target range. Luca grabs a box of throwing knives and stars and follows while Gio starts planning the rotation. We have twenty recruits to shave down to four.
Luca hands Katherine the box and she opens it slowly. I can see her eyes light up as she realizes what it contains. She’s excited and can’t hide it from me. I can read her expressions like a goddamn book.
“You’re smaller than them, you're a woman and you're beautiful. They’re going to underestimate you. Show them why they shouldn’t.” I tell her and point to the wooden target. It’s a man's silhouette in the center of a thick piece of wood.
“This is way better than a crown.” She pulls out two silver knives by their handles and gives Luca the box.
“Clear the target range!” He demands.
Katherine takes her place about 20 ft from the target. She feels one of the knives carefully, examining it and getting a feel for its weight. She’s smiling and I can see all of the Graduates watching her, like I knew they would.
She tosses the knife playfully in the air above her hand, catches it by pinching the blade and then throws the knife forward in one swift motion. The blade stabs into the wood in the silhouettes ne
ck. Luca and I watch her smile at her throw.
Katherine doesn’t look back at us, she throws her next knife into the silhouette’s thigh.
“She’s aiming for arteries.” Luca tells me like I should be surprised.
Of course, she is.
The Graduates are watching and murmuring amongst themselves. Recruits are watching her carefully, some seem unimpressed, others seem taken back. I pull a few throwing stars from the box and approach her.
“I’m going to call out a body part, and you’re going to hit it. Understand?” I hand her one throwing star and she nods with the sweetest smile on her face.
Fuck she’s irresistibly sexy. A damn mad woman.
“Deep femoral!” I command.
Katherine spins the star between her fingers and then throws it from her side rather than over her head. It digs into the wood with a thud sound. It’s perfect, just a bit higher than her knife is sitting in the target's femoral artery. I hand her another star; this one has more points and is lighter weight.
“Brachial!” I call out next. I told her body parts, but I know what she wants to hit.
She spins herself around and releases the blade from across her body. It hits perfectly, just above the inner elbow. I hand her the last star, it’s only 3 points and heavy.
“Radial!”
She pulls her hand over her head and whips it forward, releasing at the perfect time. The outside of the silhouettes arm is punctured. Applause sounds from the Graduates, a show of respect.
She turns around and jumps into me, wrapping her arms around me. I still my body, and don’t wrap mine around her even though I want to. I want to rip her clothes to shreds right here.
“Oh sorry.” She pulls herself off of me, she’s blushing. “I just haven’t felt this good in so long. It’s such a rush to make every hit.” Her smile doesn’t leave her face.
“You’re alright. You’re wearing my ring after all.” I lean in and whisper. “I don’t do hugs at work.” I add, putting a small kiss on the top of her head.
“Alright! Russo v Chávez, ring 1. Bruno v Marino, ring 2. You all know the rules.” Gio shouts. Cheering starts and crowds form around the two rings. I take Katherine’s wrist and walk her over to meet the men who applauded her. They are still off to the side, probably as uninterested in the first few rounds as I am.