by Fariah Zaidi
He chuckled, moving away, but his hand stayed firmly with mine.
“Let’s go.” he pulled me alongside him and onto the bricked path leading away from the house.
“So where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see.” he replied.
“You know I hate vague answers.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Believe me,” he laughed, “I do.”
I knew he was not going to give me answers, so I continued in silence, walking alongside him with my arm linked to his.
We were now walking through a wooded area. The darkness around us was chased away by the lamps that ran along our path. I could see a clearing up ahead, which only made me more surprised.
“God, how big is this place?” I wondered out loud.
“Oh, its huge.” he replied, “There are so many things you haven’t seen yet. My father bought this estate ages ago. And I expanded it by buying another piece of land right next to us for the rest of the Family.”
“Speaking of,” I looked at him, “where is your father right now?”
“He went back to Italy after I became the Don.” he answered, kicking at a stray stone, “But he wanted to leave way before that. And so did Silvio.”
“Wasn’t Silvio my mother’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” he answered slowly, “after what happened with Diego, they didn’t have the will to work for the Family anymore. They were broken, anyone would be. But they also had a responsibility towards the Family, and the empire they had built. So they waited until I turned twenty-one, and then a year later, they moved back to Italy.”
“What was it like, taking charge of the Family for the first time?”
“I was being groomed for it since I turned thirteen. I did quite well. Sure, there were people who looked down at me like some broken, motherless kid who wouldn’t know how to run the mob, but they were all old assholes who had been sucking up to my father so they’d take away my position.”
“How did it feel, being the head of an organization this big?”
“It was the power that was most alluring to me.” he answered after a moment, “The power to control anyone or anything.”
My hand tightened around his arm.
“Even before I took over, I was determined to avenge the destruction of my family. I built it to what it is today. The kind of vengeance that I had in mind, I could achieve that only when I was the most powerful man in the game.”
“What’s your plan?” I whispered.
“I’ve got a good one.” he gave me a smile, “But my plans for tonight are priority at the moment.”
A loud gasp left my lips as we entered the clearing. The scene before me was absolutely breathtaking.
There was a giant lake, right in front of us, the moon lighting up its blue surface. And right next to it was a pavilion. Its ivory pillars had been wrapped with fairy lights and an elegant chandelier hung from its ceiling.
“Oh my God, Stefan,” I whispered, turning to him, “You did this?”
“With a little help from Rafael,” he replied, “do you like it?”
“Oh, it’s beautiful.” I was awestruck as he led me around it. I noticed a table for two set up in the middle.
As we sat down for dinner, we talked. Our conversation flowed smoothly and for that time, I forgot everything- I forgot Valentin, his bloody agenda, I forgot that a war was coming our way.
For now, it was just me and him and the seemingly endless line of jokes, laughs and sweet nothings.
“Dance with me?” he held out his hand.
Well, I wasn’t going to say no to that. So I placed my hand in his and laughed when he pulled me up in a way that I bumped into his chest. It wasn’t much of a dance. We just swayed side to side with my arms circled around his neck and his around my waist.
“I’m not really used to this ‘gentleman’ version of you.” I whispered, making him smile.
“To tell you the truth, neither am I” he laughed lightly, “I’ve never done anything like this before. And along comes this woman and turns my entire world upside down.”
“Tell me about her.” I played along, my fingers lightly tracing the collar of his shirt.
“She’s fierce, she’s strong, and she’s beautiful as hell.” he said, trailing his fingers up my spine, “She’s a spitfire, with an attitude to match mine.
I’d missed him. I’d missed this. The closeness. The comfort of each other.
“I’m surrounded by murderers and gangsters all day long and each day that I came home, she didn’t look at me like the monster I was. She made me feel normal, human.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. Our breaths mingled. Slow and eager.
“Every time she smiled at me, every time she wrapped her fingers around mine or ran them through my hair, she made me feel alive.”
His whispered words were slow, his hot breath fanned my neck as his nose found the crook of my ear.
“Her sarcasm knows no bounds,” he shook his head at me, “she calls me names, talks back to me, something no one has ever had the balls to do. She tests my patience to the last second and gets on my nerves. But God, God, that only makes me want her more.”
“She sounds like a handful.” I smirked, lightly caressing the side of his neck.
“Believe me,” he chuckled, “she is.”
After a couple more moments of dancing he suddenly stopped. I looked at him, but he was silent. His hand found mine and he clasped my fingers, bringing them to his chest.
“I’m sorry.” he whispered, placing a kiss on my knuckles, “I was scared, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was feeling all these emotions, all of a sudden. But my being an ignorant fuck is no excuse for the way I hurt you. You don’t deserve that. I am sorry, Zara. I am really, truly sorry.”
I looked at him for a couple of moments, unable to stop the growing smile on my face.
“Apology accepted, Stefan.”
The moment I uttered these words, he exhaled, as if he’d been holding his breath. To my surprise, he grabbed me by the waist and spun me around, eliciting a joyous laugh from me. And when he put me down, he pressed my body tightly against his.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
His hands rested on the sides of my neck and his thumbs moved on my cheeks.
“I’d be disappointed if you don-”
He cut me off with his lips. But this was unlike any other kiss he’d given me. He was hesitant, as if restraining himself. It was soft, careful and absolutely not him. When he pulled away, he sighed deeply. He looked in pain.
And that’s when I knew.
So I grabbed his chin and made him look at me, staring deep into those beautiful grey eyes.
“I know you, all of you,” I murmured, “You don’t do sweet, you don’t kiss me that way.”
“I’m trying to be good for you,” he said, “I thought maybe you wanted to take it slow.”
“I do,” I whispered hurriedly, longingly tracing his lips, “but not in the way that you restrain yourself with me.”
A month ago, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do what I was doing. But tonight, I did. I wanted him to crave for me the way I had craved for him the last few weeks. I wanted to show him what he’d missed.
My fingers slipped into his shirt, tracing his chest lightly. His sharp inhale encouraged me, and I felt his fingers dig harder in my waist. I leaned forward, slow, and teasing, pressing the lightest of kisses on his bare skin.
And another.
And another.
Until I reached his neck. I knew his weak spot, right on the side of his neck.
“Zara,” he warned, groaning lightly when I traced the spot with my tongue, “please…”
“Kiss me like you mean it, Stefan.”
His lips came crashing down on mine with such force that I clutched at his collar for support.
It was hard. Passionate. Intimate.
Days of pent-up emotions began rising to the surface and we poured i
t into the kiss. We fought for dominance, his hand moving along my thighs and mine on his chest.
In the end, he won. He pushed me against the pillar, wrapping my legs around his waist. His tongue plunged into my mouth in the most controlling way as I wrapped my arms around his neck, afraid to let go.
When we finally pulled away, we were panting, but still eager.
“There’s the Stefan I know.” I smirked.
Eight:
Green
Zara
The next day, I woke up to a rush of activities in the house.
As I walked down the stairs for breakfast, I was greeted by the maids rushing about and a few other people working on cleaning the chandeliers and the carpets.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, walking into the kitchen.
Mama Bella looked up from the stove with her usual bright smile, although a little tired today.
“Oh honey, I’m pretty sure Stefan forgot to tell you.” she rolled her eyes, “It’s our annual charity ball this Friday.”
“Ball?” I repeated, surprise coloring my voice.
“Yes,” she replied, “every year we have this huge gathering to raise money for a charity that we started in Valerie and Sofia’s memory.”
“That’s so nice.” I smiled.
“I know.” she smiled back, “Given with all that is going on right now, we weren’t going to have it this year. But Stefan insisted that we shouldn’t let it get in the way of helping those in need. And besides, it gave us a reason to let our hair down and have a good evening.”
I nodded in agreement.
“So, who all are coming?”
“Well, since this one is on the legal side of things,” she chuckled, “so mostly people from his company and other associates and partners.”
“I’ve never been to a ball.” I confessed, reaching out to grab an apple, “I don’t even know what to wear.”
“That’s where I come in.”
I turned around to see Ria breezing through the door, a clipboard in one hand and her phone in the other.
“The stylist along with the dresses will be here in an hour.” she informed, swiping on her phone, “I want you both to meet us in the spare bedroom next to mine.”
“But Ria-” I began, only to be cut off.
“Don’t worry,” she assured, “I’m going to turn you into a goddess.”
With that, she breezed back out of the room, leaving me a little skeptic about her ‘goddess’ plans. I turned to Mama Bella for reassurance when we heard Ria screaming out in the hall.
“You idiots!” she yelled, “I asked for gold on black for the place setting not the other way around! And you added glitter?”
Mama and I laughed out loud.
“Wow, she takes this really seriously, huh?” I commented, biting into my apple.
“Indeed,” Mama replied, “the charity helps women and girls who have been rescued from abusive homes, relationships and human trafficking, so it’s very close to her heart.”
“Isn’t human trafficking part of what the Mafia are engaged in?” I asked hesitantly, afraid to get her offended.
“It certainly is.” she replied calmly, “We were aware of how women are treated in the underworld. Snatched off streets and sold to highest bidders, raped, murdered and dumped in the ocean, made to work in strip clubs.”
She sighed, staring down at her fingers.
“I’ve seen how ruthless this world can be. I was once hired to gun down members of a cartel smuggling thirty-eight women into New York.”
“What happened?” I asked, intrigued by her story.
“It was an easy job. I hunted down the driver at diner off the highway and did the same to his friends when they came looking for him. It was only when I opened the bunker did it hit me. There were only fifteen women present, five of whom were alive while the rest were dead.”
“Oh my God.” I gasped.
“The oldest of the five girls was only twenty-one years old, and the youngest was merely twelve. The other girls had been apparently shot because they were becoming too much of a liability.”
“What did you do?” I whispered.
“I took the girls to a safe house, told them to stay there until I returned.”
“And what did you tell your employer?”
“I told him that his cronies had the wrong information, that there were only ten girls in that truck, and they were all dead.”
“He believed you?”
“He didn’t have a choice.” she shrugged.
“Wow.”
“My job wasn’t the most respectable one in the world, but I too had a heart.” she went on, “So I convinced Stefan’s father to shut down that part of his business when I came to this family.”
I was silent for a moment, absorbing the story she’d just told me.
“I know this is a weird question,” I finally spoke up, “but do you miss your job? Like killing people?”
“I only killed the bad guys, Zara, so yeah, I kinda do miss it.” she chuckled. She paused and then went on, “But now my life is devoted to this family. They gave me a home, they treated me with respect. I’ve raised four good men and have the pleasure of calling strong women like you and Ria my family. I’m a blessed human, to say the least.”
“That’s so sweet Mama.” I whispered, rushing around to give her a warm hug, “I’m proud to call you family too.”
As we stood there embracing, and I’m pretty sure I heard her sniffling, everyone started entering the kitchen for breakfast.
“Group hug!” Vincent yelled, running around the counter and wrapping his arms around the two of us.
“Me too!” Ria screamed, throwing her clipboard aside and pulling Rafael with her to us.
Stefan and Enzo stood at the door, looking awkward as hell, scratching their necks and heads. It was only when Mama gave them a warning look that they moved forward, joining the hug.
And there we were, supposedly the most dangerous crime family, having a group hug in the kitchen.
As much fun it was deciding my dress, when the day of the ball arrived, I was having major second thoughts. As I stepped out of the closet wearing the emerald green, off-the-shoulder, mermaid gown, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be able to pull it off.
Five loud gasps erupted from the room and I looked up to see Mama Bella, Ria, the stylist Robyn and her two assistants looking at me with awestruck expressions.
“You look fine as fuck.” Ria commented, dragging out the word ‘fine’.
“She’s having second thoughts about the dress.” Robyn observed softly.
She was an intriguing woman. Not one to talk much but did mighty great at her job.
“Can’t help it.” I muttered.
But even I had to admit, when I stepped in front of the mirror, I couldn’t look away from my reflection. The green smokey-eyes and a nude shade of lipstick looked great with the dress that clung to all my curves.
There was a knock on the door and one of the maids entered, walking straight towards me.
“Boss sent this for you, Miss Zara.” she said softly, handing me a small velvet box.
The ladies gathered around me as I opened it, eagerly waiting to see what was inside. Another round of excited gasps rose around me when we saw a pair of diamond earrings settled inside, studded with small emeralds. There was a small note stuck on the top of the lid-
Heard you were wearing green.
-S
I ignored the gushing of the women around me and ran to the mirror like love-struck teenage girl to put the earrings on.
Mama Bella and Ria shuffled out of the room a few minutes later, as I sat down on the bed to put on my shoes. I took my sweet time doing it, trying to gather the courage to walk out the room and down the stairs to the party.
“Are you worrying about what your man is gonna think?”
I looked up to see Robyn leaning against the vanity, gathering her makeup.
“I hate to admit it
, but yeah.” I shook my head, “I know I look great. I feel great, but there’s a small part of me wondering what if he doesn’t like what he sees.”
She smiled lightly, motioning me to come and stand in front of the mirror.
“I, for one, have learned never to do that.”
“How?” I asked, looking at her through the mirror as she stood beside me.
“It’s pretty simple, actually.” she smirked, “You take away their power.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t let him think you dressed up for his approval. Make him beg for yours. Be confident. Give him smiles that are small, but indulgent. Touch him, but just lightly. Kiss him, but just small pecks. Bring him to the edge, make him crazy about you.”
I took a deep breath.
“Be yourself. Be a woman.”
Best pep talk ever.
Stefan
“Would you stop fidgeting?” Rafael muttered from beside me, “You’re like horny freshman at a frat party.”
“Can’t help it.” I muttered, my eyes trained to the stairs, “Do you think she’s gonna wear it?”
When he didn’t answer, I looked at him. He was looking at me with a grin pasted on his face.
“You really are falling for her, aren’t you?” he observed, rightly so.
Even before I could answer, I saw her.
Descending the stairs as if from her throne, she looked every bit a queen in that royal dress. I couldn’t move my eyes away from her. She was alluring, bewitching, making my heart race.
Almost everyone’s eyes were trained on her. Normally, it would make her nervous, anxious.
But there was something different about her tonight. She was bold, confident, and sensual. Her smile looked far from innocent when her eyes found mine. I was drawn to her. I moved through the crowd, reaching the edge of the staircase and held out my hand for her, all the while in trance of her beauty.
She placed her fingers lightly over mine and stepped off the last stair, standing in front of me.
“You are strikingly beautiful tonight.” I whispered, my eyes moving down from her divine face to her neck, and then to the dress hugging her body.