by Haley Ladawn
There was a moment of silence while his deep eyes stayed locked on mine. “So, are you a good girl, Lily, or are you a bad girl?”
He continued taking steps forward, until he was right in front of me. His hands gripped the wall, enclosing me around him. I could smell the hint of aftershave coming off his smooth, cleansed skin.
“Which one will help me get the job faster?” I was being sarcastic.
“I like a good girl who knows how to be bad.” His muscles tensed around me, while his breathing slowed down to a halt. “Are you that girl, puttana? Do you want to be that girl?”
He was getting too close to the point where I could feel his warm breath radiating against my cheeks. I smelled mint gum with just a hint of cigarette smoke. I felt the roughness of his facial hair brush against my jaw as he whispered into my ear.
“Well, too fucking bad.” His raspy laugh echoed through my ears. “You will never be that girl. I already have someone filling that position.”
I could hear the double meaning to his words, and it made me want to smack him across the face. I clenched my hands at my side.
“That’s how you tell someone they didn’t get the job?” I went to push him away from me, but he grabbed my wrist tightly. I thought he was going to snap it back, but he just held it for a while. “I bet you have a girlfriend, who you obviously don’t give a damn about!”
“No, I don’t have just one girlfriend. I have many.” His eyes flickered with amusement when he noticed the judgement on my face. “I’m a busy man. They call us businessmen for a reason, and I have some shit to attend to.”
“You’re disgusting.” I shook my head, pursing my lips together. “How would you feel if I found all of them, and let them know what a dirty piece of scum you are?”
“Wow! What an awesome insult! Was that original material?” He dropped his arms down, but didn’t bother moving away from me. His bare chest was keeping me in my place. “You’re not going to rat me out. Pun intended.”
“What are you going to do if I do?” I creased my eyebrows as my heartbeat sped up. This had taken a turn for the worst.
“I’ll kiss those pretty little lips of yours, and then I’ll cut your tongue out when I’m done.” He gave me a wry smirk, sauntering back to his sleek desk. “Don’t threaten me, baby, if you know what’s good for you. I’m not someone you want to piss off.”
“Well, it’s kind of hard when you’re the biggest asshole I’ve ever met.” I straightened out my shirt and skirt before walking toward the exit.
“Your lips would be hot, if they weren’t always moving. You need to find your place and stay in it if you want this job.” His baritone voice stopped me dead in my tracks. I had just crossed over the threshold to my freedom, but his blue eyes were calling me back.
“Look, gattina, my mouth isn’t an Instagram picture. There’s isn’t a filter on it. I say and do whatever the fuck I want. If you don’t like it, you can go back to working part-time at Ronald Mc-fucking-Donald’s. It would be a shame, though, for you to pass up sixty-nine dollars an hour.”
I never told him that I used to work at McDonald’s.
“Why $69 an hour?” My feet had already turned around, and I knew there was no turning back. Maybe it was the promise of money, or maybe there was something else affecting my decision.
“Some people say I act like the devil.” His lips curled into a wry smile. “So, I like to make sure that I’m paying you well enough for dealing with my crazy ass. Plus, it’s my favorite sex position.”
He slid into a black, leather chair, crossing his arms in front of me. He motioned toward an empty seat and said, “Would you like to sign your contract now or later?”
Deciding on whether to step back into his office was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life. I wanted to smash his head with the expensive vase that was behind him, but making that much money was too tempting.
I knew he could supply it too. Santoro Court was a booming school with thousands of enrolled students. He was banking.
Are you seriously considering making a deal with the devil, Lily?
Chapter 4: Hello Kitty
“Are you kidding me?” Elisa raised one of her eyebrows, seeming vaguely suspicious. “He really acted like that?”
“Unfortunately.” I cleared my throat, remembering exactly what had transpired between the two of us. It wasn’t something I’d easily forget no matter how hard I tried to. I’d be thinking about this for the weeks to come.
“Wow! What a motherfucker!” She shook her head in disgust, curling her lip. “But I must admit, he sounds hot! That dominating son of a bitch! Tell me he’s hot, Lily!”
I almost spit up the water I was drinking from laughing so hard. Even I couldn’t deny that Elisa’s personality had a humorous side that paired up well with her wild side. “Thou shall not cheat on thy boyfriend, or best friend will tattle on thou.”
“If you do that—” She gave me a death stare, pouting her natural pink lips. The purple lipstick had worn off throughout the day. “Jesus won’t be the only one that got nailed to a cross!”
“Tone it down, Satan.” I grinned, rolling my eyes at how ludicrous she was being. “I was kidding, for the most part.”
“I can’t believe you just left him there like that!” She pushed my shoulder playfully, creasing her thin eyebrows. She seemed to be joking, but I knew that a good portion of her mind was wondering why in the hell I left his office the way I did. Knowing her, she would’ve stayed behind, even after all his cruel words. “Sixty-nine dollars an hour isn’t chump change! We could’ve ordered pizza twenty-four-seven and took a trip to Bora Bora. With that kind of money, we could’ve done anything.”
“As beautiful as all that sounds, I couldn’t handle being around him five days a week.” I shook my head swiftly, cringing at the thought of working with him. “If I worked for him, I would be wanted for murder.”
“Maybe he was just pissed due to his shitty one night stand.” Her eyes held a glint of wonder in them, as if she’d thought this whole situation out. “It would explain his attitude.”
I scowled with disgust, feeling nauseous. “He made it very apparent that he has several girlfriends, so he’s not missing out in that department.”
“But are they all good in bed?” She asked with a smile on her face as her eyes wondered toward the bulletin board on my wall. When she connected with the picture of Connor and me, her face fell. “I can’t believe it’s been two years since everything happened.”
“Time goes by too damn fast…” She added quietly. “You’re here one day and then you’re gone the next. In the blink of an eye, everything you love can be ripped away from you.”
Elisa never really talked about Connor too much, but I appreciated it when she did. Connor was her step-brother, and she handled his death in the most unusual way. She coped by never talking about it. It made me feel like I was alone in the whole catastrophe that was his death, so in the rare moments she did speak of him, I listened with my full attention
We didn’t have answers for what happened to him and that made it so much harder to move on. We didn’t get a funeral to say goodbye, either. Apparently, his body was too damaged for a wake. He was buried the day after he died… never to be seen again.
The murder investigation ran cold like the winter months that followed his passing. The police department would always tell us that they were following leads, but all them fell through. They never found Connor’s killer, and it was hard to accept that. We didn’t have closure or comfort.
“We can’t forget his presence. He might not be here physically, but his spirit remains with us always.” I shrugged halfheartedly, pursing my lips into a fragile line.
“You’re right…” She forced a smile. “What would thou do without thy wised Juan named Lilith?”
“I think you meant one,” I stifled a laugh. “Juan is a Spanish name, not a biblical one.”
“Well, that explains why I nee
d Jesus.” She stood up from my bed, slipping on her black stiletto heels. I had no idea how she walked in those things, but they made her look good. If I had worn them, I would’ve looked like a cheap hooker. “I also need some ice cream and a bottle of ibuprofen. Let’s go to the store! We haven’t had a Walmart adventure in a while.”
By Elisa’s definition, a Walmart adventure was where we went inside the store, bought the most outrageous things and pushed each other in the metal carts until one of us tipped over. Sometimes it also included climbing on top of the isles, and screaming at the top of our lungs, claiming to be the kings of the world.
We usually ended up being cursed at and thrown out of the store.
Elisa was twenty-one, but that wasn’t going to stop her from acting like a child. Maybe I deserved to act like one too. I mean, I was feeling anything but innocent.
Elliot hadn’t even touched me, and I was already feeling dirty. It wasn’t just skin deep either. I kept thinking about his blue eyes, and how his eyelashes framed them perfectly.
Thinking about him in that way left a bad taste in my mouth, and it was worsened by the fact that I was beginning to wonder what his own mouth tasted like. Would it taste like single malt scotch or mint gum? I wanted to find out…
What kind of shit was this? Why was I thinking about him in this way? Why was I thinking about him at all?
Not only a couple hours ago, I wanted to put him in a chokehold, but now, I was thinking about kissing his neck.
***
“They sell giant teddy bears! Oh my God!” Elisa screamed at the top of her lungs, as if she were four years old. She was jumping up and down as she threw Mr. Cuddles into the rectangular cart. “Now, I don’t have to wait for a dumb boy to buy me one. Talk about independence.”
“I’m seriously starting to think that you’re about to breakup with Daniel.” I crossed my arms, showing my displeasure. Daniel was a good person for Elisa. I knew they were going through a rough patch, but it wasn’t something that they couldn’t overcome. They were both strong people. “Is it because of his white vans?”
“Nope,” she answered flatly. “If I hear that joke one more time—”
“Damn—”
“Please stop!” she interrupted me, shaking her head in disgruntlement. “This is exactly why I’m breaking up with him!”
I smiled as I tied my wet hair into a high ponytail. It started to rain on our way here, and it didn’t fail to leave me completely soaked. Before I could say another word, Elisa ran toward the lingerie section. I was expecting her to fall in her stilettos, but she had coordination, unlike me.
I was going to join her, but then I had a sudden realization. I would forever be alone, with no one to wear lingerie for. Maybe I needed that giant teddy bear more than she ever did.
Bitterly, I grabbed the huge bear out of the shopping cart and wrapped my arms around it.
I turned toward the hygiene isle, looking for a few lady products. I ran my fingertips down the stocked shelves, until I came to the products that were made for that special time of the month. I wasn’t on my period, but I liked being prepared.
I had an internal battle on whether I should by pads or tampons for an embarrassing amount of time. Pads were soft, but Elisa said they were for little girls, and truthfully, I didn’t know shit about tampons. I mean, I got the gist of how to use them, but I was always afraid that they would just disappear up in there. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital because my vagina swallowed an inanimate object.
“To hell with it,” I murmured, grabbing a box of rainbow tampons. At least they were cute. “I’ve got to learn how to use these at one point or another.”
When I turned around to leave the isle, someone pulled me back.
They were gripping me by my long ponytail, causing my head to jerk back. My head rested on something that warm and elevating—a chest that was rising and falling.
My head was resting on a stranger’s chest! To make it even worse, they were wearing a deep V-neck! My head was resting on their actual skin.
“Let me go you son of a bitch!” I twisted in their unrelenting grasp, but I couldn’t move an inch.
“Are you calling me a bitch, fiorella?” A low-pitched voiced growled in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “I really hate it when women disrespect me. You know that?”
“You don’t get respect if you don’t show it!” I struggled to move out of his death grip. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to treat others how you want to be treated?”
“Can’t say that she did.” I felt him shrug but his hold on me never lessened. “I guess she died before she got the chance to.”
I didn’t even have to turn around to know that it was him. The feel of his toned muscles through his shirt and the iciness of his voice gave it away. Elliot Santoro had grabbed me by my ponytail and pulled me against his sculpted, beating chest.
“It’s a good thing she’s dead, then.” I muttered underneath my breath, feeling bad for saying something so nasty. “At least she didn’t get to see what a disappointment you turned out to be.”
“Honey, you’re on a roll, aren’t you?” He whispered into my ear, his voice held a burning hostility. This was the voice of a lover scorned, but we were in no way lovers. Nor would we ever be. “Keep it up and I’ll have to punish you.”
What did he mean by that? I wasn’t planning on staying to find out!
“Get off me!” I gave it all my strength, but I couldn’t even make him budge. Not even a little. “Before I kick you in the—”
“Don’t even finish the sentence, gattina.” He grabbed my throat with his free hand, turning my head back so I could see his face. His blue eyes had darkened, while his eyelashes shadowed them. His eyes looked black, soulless, empty, and devoid of any emotion whatsoever. “There’s only about two things that you’re ever going to do to my dick and that’s not one of them.”
“If you’re implying that I’m going to suck it,” I bared my teeth. “That’s never going to happen.”
“It’s not going to happen now, but it will,” he said as his lips curled into a dangerous smile. “And you’ll give me a hand job too, all the while thinking about how I would feel inside of you.”
I was going to say something, but I felt something hard touch the small of my back. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was coming from the bulge in his jeans. I couldn’t believe that he was turned on by this, but then again, I could. A part of me was too. A part of me that I wanted to keep buried deep beneath the surface.
My skin began to get hot from the temperature that was radiating from his core. He wasn’t just hot on the outside. He was hot on the inside too. Somehow, beneath all the heat, a cool tingle flashed through my body as he tightened his grip around me.
“I tried to play nice with you, kitten.” He nibbled on my ear, biting back a dark laugh. “But you clawed me and it hurt. Do you know how disrespectful it is to leave someone without saying goodbye?”
“I’m sure I really hurt your feelings, buddy!”
Yeah, right. He didn’t have any to begin with.
“Now, let me go before I scream!”
“No.,” he cooed in my ear, while his lips traced patterns against my neck. The little, cold swirls were really starting to distract me. “I won’t let you go, until you apologize, fiorella.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I mumbled underneath my breath, pursing my lips in a thin line. “Fine. I’m sorry for whatever it is that I did to you.”
“Now say, Elliot Santoro is a sex god and I totally want to have sex with him.”
“No! What are you, fifteen years old?” I creased my eyebrows in exasperation. “You’re not making me say that.”
“Don’t say it. That’s fine.” He let out a husky, belittling laugh. “I could stay like this for hours. I’m really comfortable and I have a good view.”
I could practically feel his eyes staring into my chest, so I let out a low sigh, giving up. If this wa
s the key to my freedom…
“Elliot Santoro is a sex god and I totally want to have sex with him.”
“I knew it!” A high-pitched voice shouted from behind us. It made me jump backwards into his chest. Reluctantly, he caught me when he could’ve let me fall on my ass.
Chivalry isn’t dead after all.
Elliot must have been shocked too because his grip loosened and I was free again. I twirled around dizzily, expecting to see an angry girlfriend of his, but I only saw bright blonde hair. It was Elisa, and she was gaping at me, as if she had just walked in on her parents having sex.
“This isn’t what it looks like!” I said immediately, furrowing my light brows.
“What can I say? He’s hot and I would go running back to him too.” Elisa’s surprise dwindled away. Somehow, it seemed to be replaced with jealousy. If she wanted this maniac, she could have him! “Do you happen to have a brother?”
“I do, actually.” He flashed her a crooked smile that somehow seemed genuine. “He really likes girls with blonde hair. He works with me back at the business. You know what; I think we still have one or two positions available for our internship program. I offered one to Rose, and I could offer you the other one. Would you like that? I could put you down as his assistant.”
Who the hell was Rose, and why was he acting professional all of the sudden? This wasn’t the angle he was working two minutes ago. Did he think that I was going to take the job if my best friend was working there too?
“I would love to!” She ran over to him in a nanosecond, giving him a bear hug. He reluctantly wrapped his arms around her, forcing a cheeky grin. While they were intertwined, he gave me a devilish smirk.
“When can I start? I’m available next week! Hell, I’m available tomorrow if you really need me!”
“I’ll get your number from Violet and I’ll be sure to call you.” He released his grip while she jumped up and down in excitement. She didn’t even care that he was getting my name wrong.