Wrath (Part II): A Mafia Romance (Esposito Series Book 2)

by Fariah Zaidi

  As the two of us began to calm down, I couldn’t help the giggle that erupted from my lips. His horrified expression had now successfully ingrained itself in my brain. One giggle turned into two, and the next second, I was laughing loudly, slapping my hand on my knees.

  “Yo-you shrieked…like a child.” I wheezed loudly, leaning against the wall, “Oh my God, Stefan.”

  “It’s not funny.” he muttered, moving away to the counter, his hand still on his chest, “You scared the shit out of me.”

  I wiped a tear from my cheek and stood up straight, still chuckling.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” I asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be out with the guys?”

  “I was,” he replied, uncovering the large box he’d placed on the counter, “but Mama called and told me you were alone in the house, so I got you…”

  He held up a small container with the picture of red dragon on its front.

  “Chinese takeout.” I finished for him, trying hard not to smile.

  “Lots of it.” he wiggled his eyebrows, reaching for some plates.

  “But why?”

  “What do you mean?” he replied, still busy in taking out the food, “I just told you, Mama Bella called-”

  “Stefan,” I cut him off, moving forward into the kitchen, “why are you here? You could’ve easily sent someone else.”

  His shoulders dropped and he stopped and turned around.

  “When Mama called and told me you were all alone, my first instinct was to get in my car and drive here.”

  “So?”

  “So I did!” he exclaimed, “On the way home, I passed by the Dragon Palace, which reminded me how I’d ruined your movie night with everyone.”

  “And?” I prompted, enjoying the he was getting all flustered.

  “And,” he sighed, “this is just a sad attempt to recreate the said night. I have enough food to feed an army. We can just get some chilled beers and watch a movie.”

  I had to smile.

  “This is very nice, Stefan. But you didn’t have to do all this.”

  “I wanted to.”

  His voice dropped considerably, and his words came out almost as a whisper.

  “I didn’t want you to be alone at home.” he went on, “Even though this place is crawling with guards and I was getting updates every ten minutes, the thought of you alone didn’t sit well with me.”

  “You don’t have to be so overly protective, Stefan.” I rolled my eyes, “I can take care of myself.”

  “I know you can, and I trust you.” he shook his head, “But I don’t trust Valentin and whatever lengths he will go to get what he wants.”

  I nodded in understanding, rubbing my arm at the chill that crawled over my skin at Valentin’s name.

  “Plus, I was hoping to get you drunk enough to make some weird confessions.” he grinned cheekily.

  “Not gonna happen, Stefan.” I gave him a small smile.

  However, I couldn’t deny that the Chinese smelled good. Really, really good.

  “Did you get a chance to think about our conversation last night?” he asked suddenly. I paused, the smile vanishing from my face.

  Yesterday morning was one of revelations.

  Since the day I met Stefan in that alley, I’ve always felt that pull towards him. Every time I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder why they felt so familiar. I’d sleeplessly tossed and turned in my bed all night last night, wondering, trying to recall anything from that moment in the hospital. I just couldn’t.

  But his confessions from yesterday were shaking my resolve.

  “I did.” I replied to him, watching his shoulders tense up.

  “So what’s it gonna take for you to give me one last chance?”

  I smiled, snatching the beers from the counter, “Depends on what movie you’re gonna pick.”

  Six:

  Orchids

  Zara

  “Just eleven more, Zara!” Enzo counted from beside me, “Come on, you can do this.”

  “I-I can’t-” I panted, lying flat on the mattress, shaking my head in desperation.

  “Come on Zara.” he encouraged, “Just eleven more crunches and you’re done for the day.”

  Another shadow loomed over me and I saw Rafael standing near my legs, hand folded at the chest and a loony grin on his face.

  “Do eleven more and I’ll take you out for some chicken nuggets.” he winked. Now that was an offer I liked.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Enzo interrupted his delicious offer, “she’s my trainee. And what’s even the point of a workout if you’re gonna blow it all away on deep fried food?”

  “Come on, dude,” Rafael laughed, “you’ve been training her for three weeks straight now. She needs a break.”

  A third person entered the conversation.

  “I don’t think she’s even up for it.” Vincent sauntered up, “Look at her, she’s done.”

  And that, I took as an insult.

  “Wanna bet on that, Vinny Pooh?”

  Everyone’s eyes shifted to Mama Bella.

  “Alright, what’s going on?” I asked, confused as to why almost the entire family was in the back garden, where Enzo had decided to squeeze in a morning workout session for me. I was still panting. My question went completely ignored as four people began betting over whether I’d be able to do eleven more crunches or not.

  “What do you say, Vinny, two?” Mama quirked a challenging eyebrow at him.

  “You’re on, Mama.”

  “Just two dollars?” I asked, feeling a little offended.

  The two gamblers looked at me like I’d said something stupid. It was Rafael who bent down a little to tell me the actual figure, “They meant two thousand Zara.”

  My eyes snapped up. “You’re betting two thousand dollars on me? Just for eleven crunches? Are you crazy?” I shrieked.

  “Tell you what,” Vincent moved forward, desperately trying to intimidate Mama, “I’m going to raise the bet to five grand if she does fifteen crunches.”

  “Um, excuse me-” I began, but Mama Bella cut me off, dropping to the ground beside me, “Come on, sweetheart, I know you can do this. Think of this as a challenge for the entire womankind. For every male guy who ever teased you for not running fast enough or for not being able to keep up in sports.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Vincent raised his hands in surrender, “When did this become a feminist issue? I only said she couldn’t do it ‘cause she looked spent, that’s all.”

  Any other time I would’ve laughed at how horrified he looked at being called sexist, but Mama Bella’s words had fueled me to the point when I was ready to win the five grand.

  It soon turned into a whole spectacle as a couple of maids and even a few soldiers gathered around the mattress I was lying on. Once they heard what was going on, they too began placing their bets and judging by the uncertain look on Vincent’s face, it was clear they were all in my favor.

  There was cheering and hooting and as I began doing the crunches, intent on wiping the floor with Vinny. By time I’d done eight I wasn’t sure about it. My abdomen was begging for relief and the past hour’s workout was now cramping the muscles in my arms.

  In the end, however, I did it!

  And that will be the story of how I won five thousand dollars by doing fifteen crunches.

  As I walked away from the crowd, slapping high fives, I felt this sudden warmth, the feeling of being watched by someone. And there was only one person who could make me feel that way. So when my eyes snapped towards his bedroom floor, I saw Stefan leaning over the railing with a drink in his hand.

  He had this beaming smile on his face, and it was quite clear that he had seen my small victory. I couldn’t help but pause and marvel at how beautiful a man he was. My own smile widened when he raised the glass in my direction and gave me a wink. And that small action alone had my heart racing with joy.

  Celebrate even the tiny triumphs.

  I knew Stefa
n was hell bent on earning my forgiveness, but I’d no idea he’d be moving that fast. Later that afternoon, there was a knock on my door and upon opening it, I saw a massive bouquet of orchids. There was no doubt who sent them. I picked up the ivory card and read Stefan’s cursive scrawl:

  Meet me at the rear entrance at 7.

  Wear a jacket.

  Stefan

  “Is that a love letter?”

  My eyes snapped to the door to find Ria leaning against it with a teasing smile on her face.

  “You’re back!” I shrieked happily, putting the bouquet aside and rushing to engulf her in a hug. She laughed loudly, returning my embrace with equal force.

  When we pulled back, I was relieved to notice that she looked better, much better from the last time I’d seen her. Her bruise had healed considerably, and it looked like going away with Vincent had helped her in her recuperation.

  As we moved further inside the room, she stopped me.

  “Zara,” she started, looking down at her hands and then looking back up, “I don’t remember much from what happened that night. The doctor said that my mind is blocking the memories to stop me from dredging up the trauma. But-”

  “But?” I prompted, wrapping my fingers around hers for support.

  “But Vincent told me everything, what you did. And I wanted to thank you, becausef you hadn’t come in at that time-”

  Her voice broke.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” I held her shoulder, “the bastard is dead. He will never, ever be able to hurt you again. You hear me?”

  She bit her trembling lip, wiping away her unshed tears and nodded at my words.

  “I just hope Valentin meets the same fate too.” she whispered, “Soon.”

  Her words made me look away. Even I couldn’t shake away the thought of how close I came to his clutches, “I hope so too.”

  “Now,” Ria suddenly plucked the card from my fingers, “what about this date you have with Stefan?”

  I shook my head off the memories and answered her question, “He’s uh- he’s been trying to make up for everything, kept asking me for a chance.”

  “And?”

  “I gave him one. Hence, the flowers and this.” I waved the card in her face.

  “There’s just one big problem that I have right now-” I muttered as I thoughtfully looked around the room. And then we both we spoke up at the same time.

  “What am I gonna wear?”

  “What are you gonna wear?”

  The next second, the two of us were scrambling for the closet, talking excitedly about the perfect outfit to wear.

  After over an hour of upturning the entire closet, we finally decided on a simple black dress and a pair of heels. I decided to go minimal on the makeup with just some eyeliner and mascara and she offered to straighten my hair.

  “We don’t want you to come off as trying too hard on your first date, but we also want him to know what you’re made of, girl.” she muttered, assessing my final look after over two hours.

  As we stared into the mirror, I was satisfied with how I looked. It’d been a long time since I dressed up like this. Ria however, looked slightly unsure.

  “Do you think we should’ve chosen a dress that showed more cleavage?”

  “I thought you said we didn’t wanna look like we’re trying too hard.” I reminded her, pushing back my hair.

  “Yeah, but we also wanna remind him of what he almost lost.” she shrugged, giving me a grin, “Because if I had your chest, I’d show if off as much as I could.”

  “Ria, I’m going there to talk to him, not seduce him.”

  “Oh please, nearly all men out there think with their dicks.” she waved her hand, “But you’re right. Tonight, you guys should just talk. We’ll opt for more cleavage some other time.”

  With that, she gave me a hug, wished me good luck and waltzed out the room. I couldn’t help but laugh when she walked away singing something about wearing protection.

  “For the last time, I’m going to talk, and not straddle him the first chance I get.”

  During the entire time she helped me get ready, she gushed about how much Vincent had helped her through her trauma.

  “He helped me find myself again.”

  Even after she left, her words remained with me. She was recovering, healing. She was moving on. Maybe it was time for me to do it too.

  As I slipped on my shoes, there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in!” I called out, adjusting my dress in front of the mirror.

  “Wow!” I heard someone exclaim and I turned around to see Rafael leaning against the door frame with an impressed look on his face.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” I smiled at him.

  “You should, you look amazing.” he returned my smile with one of his own.

  “Listen, uh,” he moved further into the room, “I wanted to talk to you about the other night.”

  “What about it?”

  “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. You were my responsibility and I wasn’t able to-”

  I cut him off.

  “Hey, please don’t apologize.” I moved towards him, “You couldn’t have known they would go to such lengths.”

  “But I should’ve known.” he insisted, running a hand through his hair, “I oversee the security. And I should’ve been more careful. You and Ria were abducted on my watch. God knows what would’ve happened if we hadn’t reached you in time.”

  “This reminds me,” I said, “how did you guys know where to find us?”

  He gave me a suspicious smile.

  “For the record, it was Vincent’s idea, not mine. He, uh, he hid a tiny tracker in Ria’s bra.”

  “He did what?” I exclaimed loudly.

  The same moment, Vincent appeared in the doorway, holding a file in his hand.

  “Hey Rafael, Enzo’s looking for you- what?” he paused when he saw the two of us staring at him.

  “You put a tracker in your girlfriend’s bra?”

  The sheer accusation in my voice was enough to make him throw his hands up in surrender and start backing out the room. I wasn’t angry, just trying to scare him.

  “In my defense,” he started rambling, “it was only that night and only because I was concerned something like that would happen. I’m not a creep. I respect women. And I love my girlfriend. Bye.”

  And like a child afraid to get caught with stolen chocolate, he ran out the room.

  Rafael and I laughed loudly.

  “Well, that was hilarious.” he shook his head.

  We chuckled for another moment before he spoke up again.

  “By the way, Stefan told me how he screwed things up with you.”

  “He did?”

  “Yeah,” he grinned, “and on your date tonight, if you see a small bruise near his jaw, its cause I punched the answers out of him.

  “You did what?” I laughed.

  “He tried covering it up with some concealer though.”

  I laughed even harder.

  “So he told you about tonight, huh?”

  “Told me?” he mocked, “I was the one who gave him the idea. I’m so rooting for the two of you to end up together.”

  “Are you now?”

  “You kidding me? You two are like the betrothed couple of the underworld.”

  “Betrothed? We’re not engaged, Rafael.”

  “Oh take it in the romantic sense, would ya?” he waved off my point, “I’ve always heard how your and Stefan’s mothers wanted the two of you to get married when you grew up. God, what an epic story that would be.”

  “Someone’s been watching too many romance dramas.” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

  “Oh, come on, it writes itself.” he ignored my comment, “Two star-crossed lovers, separated ages ago and reunited? Epic.”

  For added effect, he gazed into the distance, sighing deeply with a hand over his heart.

  “Alright Nicholas Sparks,” I shoved him in the chest, making him lau
gh loudly, “what about your love story? Do I get to hear that someday?”

  His sudden silence and the small smile on his face was an indication enough.

  “You met someone, didn’t you?” I asked excitedly, “Who is it? Who is it?”

  “I did meet some someone.” he grinned from ear to ear, “But it’s new and she’s special and I like her a lot. So I’m not really telling anyone about it. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not.” I gave him an understanding smile.

  “Meanwhile, may I have the pleasure of escorting you downstairs?”

  How could anyone resist that smile?

  I laughed and linked my arm with his and walked out the door.

  Seven:

  Kiss

  Zara

  I opened the French doors and stepped out into the cold evening, looking around for Stefan.

  There he was, leaning against one of the pillars, swiping away on his phone. And dear Lord, did he look good.

  He had swapped his usual suit for a dress shirt and pants and his usually set hair was messy and tousled. The top two buttons on his shirt were left open.

  I took a good moment to not only admire his handsomeness but also to steady myself from the rush of warmth that flooded through my body upon just looking at him. I gulped and exhaled a breath and then moved forward.

  The tapping of my heels attracted his attention and he looked up, his face creasing into a smile. He slipped the phone in his pocket and straightened up, his eyes travelling from my hair right down to the heels Ria had insisted I wear.

  “You look beautiful.”

  The way he whispered those words, with such intensity, almost had me weak in the knees.

  God, what was this?

  I was almost sure he could hear how hard my heart was beating when he moved forward to stand just inches from me. His scent and his warmth engulfed me, and I instinctively leaned forward as he bent down and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.

  “You know, I got a whole evening planned,” he mumbled, his fingers entangling with mine, “but if you wanna stand here like this, I’m good with that too.”

  I laughed lightly, looking up into his eyes, “I don’t want your efforts to go to waste, so let’s go before you start convincing me to change my mind.”