by Krista Lakes
"I'm not going anywhere," he says with a smile. I return the smile and go to the bathroom to clean up.
When I come back out, he's standing at the window. I admire his ass for a moment, perfectly sculpted against the light of the New York skyline. I still want my snuggles, so I know I have to lure him back to the bed.
As I come up behind him, he says, "You have a great view here."
I shrug and wrap my arms around his waist. I love the way his muscles tighten at my touch. I look out the window at the lights and pause. It's been a long time since I've actually taken the time to look out the window. "There's too much light pollution here. I can't see any stars from here."
Dante tilts his head. "I hardly notice the lack of stars, but then again you must not be from New York."
“Not originally,” I reply. I think of my mother and find that I'm sad. She would have liked Dante. He's not the type of man she would have picked for me, but then this life isn't the one she wanted for me either.
He watches me for a moment, waiting for me to tell him more about myself. I don't like talking about the time before I was in New York. That was a different life.
“We should probably get back to the restaurant. Our families are waiting for us. I'm sure they'll be glad to know we've agreed to their marriage plans.”
Dante laughs, the sound rich and heavy. “Oh, I'm sure they're all going to be thrilled. Do you mind if we don't tell them about the part where I chased you off?”
“Deal. See, we're already doing this marriage between families thing like we're pros.”
He chuckles and together we both get dressed. I quickly fix my makeup and together we head back to the restaurant to meet our families and announce that we're going to join the families.
Chapter 10
I wake up the next morning at ten am, exhausted.
Dinner went well. Dante and I had spent most of it quietly eating our food while my uncle and his father discussed terms. Our mothers didn't say much, but that wasn't strange. While the women in our families were powerful, they deferred to the men in public.
After dinner, Dante and I came back to my place. There had been no taming Dante's seemingly insatiable appetite last night. Now he lays there, snoring softly on my bed. He looks adorable, which was probably his intention. I could deal with waking up to this every morning...
I start up my coffee maker and hear a sound like a Nintendo game go off in my room. That's weird, I think. I don't even have a TV in there. I'm halfway back to the room when I hear Dante talking.
"Yes. Yes. I know. I'll be right in," he says, talking into what had to be a cell phone. He hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed just as I step in the doorway. Blue eyes look up at me. "Business. The word is out about combining our families.”
“Before you go, do you know anything about forced escorts on the north side of town?” I ask him.
He frowns and shakes his head. “My family isn't in the escorts. We dropped it a couple of years ago as it wasn't earning out. Why?”
Relief trickles through me that what happened to Sara doesn't have anything to do with Dante.
“A friend of mine had some trouble on the edge of our territories,” I tell him.
His frown deepens. “I'll make sure I look into it.”
"Do you want any coffee before you go?" I ask, already feeling a little domesticated by him. Next thing I know, I'll be baking cookies and pot roasts. It surprises me that I'm not dreading the idea.
He shakes his head. "No, I should get going as quickly as possible." He quickly throws his clothes on and smooths his hair. I watch him, soaking in his easy movements. He checks his pockets one last time to make sure he has everything before kissing my cheek. "See you later?"
I smile. "Count on it."
With that, he's gone, clearly in a hurry. The apartment is quiet without him. I lay back down on the bed, hoping to recover some energy before tackling the day.
I sit up with a start and quickly dial a number on my corded phone. I have to tell Ethan what happened last night before he tells Aunt Sophia.
"This is Ethan," a gruff voice I recognize answers at the second ring.
"It's Cara. I need to tell you about last night." I wait for a response, but he doesn't say anything so I just continue. "I met Dante the other day accidentally. He goes to the bar near my place. That's how he knew where to find me. He thought it was a joke that it was me there. That's why he was mad.”
It's a lie, but it has enough of the truth that it will stand strong.
“That's it?” Ethan asks. “No more problems?”
“Yup. No more problems.”
“Good.” The line goes dead as Ethan hangs up. The man is not one for small talk.
I flop back onto the bed, ready for a nap, but less than a minute later, my phone rings. No rest for the wicked.
"Hello?" I stifle a yawn as I answer.
"Cara." The woman on the other end of the line isn't asking a question.
"May I ask who's calling?" I'm suddenly awake. I don't like unknown callers.
"It doesn't matter. There's a taxi waiting outside for you. If you know what's good for you, you'll get in it immediately."
"Who is this?" I ask, now angry. I may not be in charge yet, but I don't take orders from just anyone.
There's a sigh on the other end of the line. "My name is Victoria. I'm Dante's mother."
It's a long taxi ride out to the countryside. I think of all the things I'd rather be doing than going to meet Dante's mother, and it's a long list. Taxes, jury duty, feeding live cobras...pretty much anything, really. The taxi driver seems to be clueless, trying to make small talk with me while I'm clearly upset.
I text Aunt Sophia, but I don't get a response.
I wore my pencil skirt and a smart blouse, not really dressing up but hoping that I don't come off as a total slob. The whole way there, I think about what she could say. It clearly won't be good, her tone made that clear. Still, what's the worst that she could do to me?
When the car turns into what must be the driveway at the biggest mansion I've ever seen, I know I've arrived. The whole place screams old money. As we pull to a stop, a butler opens the door to the taxi. "Right this way, Miss Savio," he says to me. To the taxi driver, he says, "Wait here."
He leads me through corridors that seem to flaunt wealth at every opportunity. I don't recognize any of the paintings or statues, but it's obvious that they're all expensive. My current job has let me have a taste of wealth, but the displays in this house make me look like a pauper. The butler leads me to a library of some sort, full of old books. "Mrs. Russo will meet you here."
From that point on, it becomes a waiting game. I know she's looking in on me, looking for any reaction and enjoying making me uncomfortable. I sit demurely on an embroidered couch, but I can't help but be impatient. I have things to do, and the last thing I want is to be here. I keep looking at my watch, realizing that she's probably enjoying watching me get frustrated at the lost time, but I can't help myself.
After twenty minutes pass, I let out a loud sigh. The voice in my head, always the voice of reason, says This is just a power game to her, and you don't have time for it. I don't need this, even if she is Dante's mother. I head for the door and open it, trying to remember how to get out of here. The butler looks at me in surprise from the hallway. "Mrs. Russo will be with you shortly, please return to the room."
"I have more important things to do than wait forever," I say sharply. He doesn't react and I realize that he probably gets attitude all day from the people who live in this house. He's a working man, just like me. I smile and immediately act sweeter. "Thank you for your hospitality, sir. Please let Mrs. Russo know that the next time we meet, it will be on my terms."
I start to slip past him, but stop. There's a painting on the wall, one of a man staring out at sea. It seems to paralyze me. I see myself there, commanding the very water of the ocean. I could be that powerful.
I'm about to leave wh
en I hear footsteps behind me. "I thought you had important things to do," a woman's voice says.
I shrug without looking back. "I have time to admire art."
She stands next to me. I can smell her perfume before I see her, and it makes her smell old and rich. Her red dress is flattering, but again screams more money than taste. "Then you have time to talk to me, too."
"What do you want? Or did you just want me to see your expensive artwork?" I motion to the painting. The waves seem to move as the man commands them. Whatever she paid for that painting was worth it.
She grimaces and I get the feeling that this isn't a topic that she wants to talk about. "No. I asked you here to tell you that you cannot marry Dante."
I nearly laugh. “That's up to the families. I thought you wanted this marriage.”
“My husband wants this marriage,” she corrects me. “I know Dante. I want him to be happy. And that isn't with you. You marry him, and I'll make sure your life is miserable.”
I stare at her in disbelief. I don't really have many options here. I can marry Dante, be happy, but she'll make my life miserable or I can leave Dante, be sad, and my family will make my life miserable.
It's a pretty easy choice for me to make.
“You really should discuss this with my aunt and uncle,” I tell her. “You should probably talk to your husband about this as well.”
She grimaces as I call her bluff.
“I have. I'm trying to do what's best for my son,” she tells me. “He deserves someone better.”
I'm sure there's a certain someone that she wants instead. There's always power plays between families. She probably made a deal with another family and is now feeling the squeeze.
"I'll make sure you're invited to the wedding," I say, feeling powerful. I turn in what I hope is the direction out.
I can also destroy your life. Do you understand me?" I can feel her glittering with malice behind me. "I will destroy you."
I sigh loudly and dramatically. "Are we done here?"
She walks in front of me, her heels clicking on the floor as she faces me, giving me the first really good look of her face. She looks like someone who was once very pretty, and very high society. However, now she looks tired, like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. "Of course. You can expect another call from me very soon. I will find something on you."
I smile back. "I hope it'll be to congratulate Dante and I on our pending nuptials." I turn and walk toward the door before I can see her reaction, but I am sure it isn't happy.
Desperate people do desperate things. I wonder why she doesn't want what everyone else does.
Chapter 11
I have the taxi driver drop me off a few blocks from my house, knowing that I need the time to think things over. The cold, crisp air outside feels good against my hot cheeks. It smells like it might snow later and I secretly hope for a blizzard. A physical cage of snow sounds better than the threatened cage Victoria Russo has just put me in.
At least if there was a blizzard, I could spend the time going through my apartment searching and removing the recording devices that were probably hidden in my apartment. That was the only way she could have known that Dante had left or was even there in the first place. She would certainly have the motive and the funds to do so.
I kick an empty can down the sidewalk, listening to it plink and ping against the frozen concrete. There's the steady hum of traffic beside me and the cold wind of winter whistling through the buildings. I take a deep breath, focusing on how the cold feels in my lungs. I'm only wearing the skirt and blouse, but I'm hot with anger. I take another breath, filling myself with the icy wind. It makes my insides ache and gives me something physical to concentrate on.
My mind is still having trouble wrapping around my encounter with Mrs. Russo. I didn't see it coming and that scares me. I'm usually good at seeing things like this. I've been trained by my family to look for things. It's part of running a business.
I wonder if I'm losing my skills.
I turn the corner past my building, still full of anxious, angry energy. I have to come up with a plan. I hate being surprised and Victoria Russo has certainly surprised me. Someone must have dirt on her. She had to have a good reason for going against her husband on this.
I walk faster, pumping blood through my legs and watching my breath mist the air. I don't even have an actual destination, just a need for movement. With my body occupied, my mind is free to tumble and turn and work on the problem on hand.
hat do I feel for Dante? Am I just doing this out of family obligation, or do I truly care about him? I'm not sure. I know I'm not cut out for a future of happiness and love. I'm pretty sure that he isn't either. Does that make us the perfect pair, then? We would never be content in a white-picket fenced yard with two kids and a dog, but I can see us as the two most powerful people in New York. We could make this work.
I step out onto the crosswalk only to have a cab scream past, horn blaring as it misses me by a mere inch. I stumble back onto the sidewalk, heart in my throat. The big red hand glares at me from across the street, admonishing me for even thinking of walking. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't been paying attention. I run my fingers through my hair, trying to center myself.
If I'm going to survive this I need to pay attention.
"You okay?" a small voice asks from beside me. "You look like you don't feel good."
I look down and see a girl looking up at me with big brown eyes. She's probably around twelve-years-old, but she has on light makeup, making her look slightly older. She's no longer a child. She looks so innocent, yet ready for adulthood. It's like looking back through time at a picture of myself. I suddenly notice the cold air.
"I... uh..." I stammer, trying to find the words, but her eyes – the same shape and shade as my own – have me completely unable to form a sentence.
A woman with long brown hair and kind blue eyes puts her hands on the little girl's shoulders. "I'm so sorry if she's bothering you," the woman apologizes. She squeezes the girl's shoulders as only a mother can. She's wearing a yellow sweater. “She's just very friendly.”
"No, she's fine," I manage to mumble. The girl smiles and I'm suddenly transported back in time. Memories hit me hard and fast. My lungs refuse to work. Panic, fear, heartache, and loss all fight in my stomach like rabid monsters. I feel like I'm going to be sick. "I have to go..."
I step out into the street just as the light changes. A cab leans on its horn as I barely miss a collision with the yellow and black door, but I don't care. I have to get away from her. I can't be near her.
I stumble for three blocks, turning at every opportunity to get away from the girl. She's me in another timeline and I fear fear like a physical hand on my skin.
Looking at her is like looking at a broken dream. Even with her safely three blocks behind me, I can feel her eyes asking me, "Why?"
I don't like my answer.
A lone tear trickles down my cheek. It's hot at first, but cools quickly by the winter wind. I wipe it away, and then stare at the damp spot on the palm of my hand. I thought I had shed all my tears over my past. I thought I had left it all behind me. I glance back at the road, expecting to see the girl like a ghost haunting me, but the street is full of adult strangers. The past still haunts me, no matter how I fast I run or how well I hide.
I need a drink. Or a good fuck. Something to take my mind off the little girl I once was. I know where I can get both.
My hands shake as I take a quarter out of my pocket and step into the first phone booth I see. My fingers are numb with the cold but the plastic box seems hot in comparison to the temperature outside. I dial Dante's number and hold the receiver up to my ear.
"Go," comes the gruff response on the other line.
"Dante?" My voice comes out squeakier than I had intended. I'm far more rattled than I care to admit.
"Vesper?" His tone softens with concern. "Are you all right?"
"I need to
see you." I have control of myself again, even if my hand is shaking. I tell myself it's just from the cold.
"Okay," Dante says. "I just need to finish up some paperwork and then I can meet you-"
"No," I cut him off. "I can't wait. I need you now."
"You need me now, eh?" There is a smile and pride in his voice. "You can come to my office then."
He gives me his address. I don't have anything to write it down on, so I just memorize it instead. It's only a few blocks away, so I'm not worried about forgetting it. I've been there before for business. I think of Dante's bare chest instead of the little girl. That's what I want. I hang up the phone and start walking, letting the fires of need keep me warm against the winter wind.
Chapter 12
The lobby of Dante's office is almost eerily quiet, which given that it was the middle of the day isn't that strange, but the silence is still unnerving. A lone security guard looks up from the desk as I open the door and approach. There isn't another way to get to the shiny silver elevators, so I go straight up him.
The desk is situated in such a way that it makes it feel as though the guard is looming over me. The big man stares down his long nose as if I were a bug on the floor, but I don't care. I have done this enough times to know how to behave.
"I'm Vesper. I'm here to see Mr. Dante Russo. He's expecting me." I stand with my hand on my hip, confident and tall. Nobody intimidates me.
The guard blinks slowly and then nods toward the elevator without saying a word. The silence actually makes him more daunting than if he had spoken, but he isn't my problem anymore. I walk to the elevator, feeling his eyes on my ass the whole way. I make sure to sashay just a little bit.
It's a long ride up to Dante's office on the 47th floor. My ears pop with the height increase and I swear I can feel the building sway in the wind as I step out of the elevator. The hallway is painted in a neutral tan that all businesses seem to prefer. His family must be doing well to afford all this. I know that the Russos are big in real estate.