“Yeah?” she set her wine glass on one of the coasters on the coffee table. “Let’s have it.”
Lucian laughed softly. “I think I’m supposed to go down on one knee.”
Her jaw dropped immediately. “You mean?”
Lucian bent down on a knee in front of the couch. “I thought you would appreciate not doing this with a crowd, hmm bella?”
“Yes.” She breathed. “Thank you.”
He pulled a black velvet box from his pocket. Opening it to reveal a large diamond set on a rose gold diamond band.
“Adelina Lucille DeMarco, will you marry me?”
She hiccupped.
Lucian Luchese was down on one knee before her with a gorgeous ring and she hiccupped. In his face. The shame of the action made her face go red, but Lucian just laughed.
“Say yes, bella.” He whispered.
“Yes, bella.” She replied.
◆◆◆
Apparently, there wasn’t a moment of peace to be had at an engagement party. So far Adelina had spoken to every Italian she had ever met in her life. Massimo had shown her off like a piece of meat, and most of the guests would much rather talk to Lucian than her.
The women on the other hand were happy to talk to her, as long as it was about the large rock on her finger or the extravagant wedding that was being planned. Neither of which Adelina wanted to discuss.
Lucian kept a hand pressed to her lower back as he spoke to the men and sipped expensive cognac from a crystal tumbler. The periodic squeeze of his hand reminded her that he was there with her.
His parents arrived last night, Carlo and Anette Luchese were the definition of a power couple. Carlo’s eyes looked at his wife like she was the only woman in the world. Anette was beautiful, draped in a long navy dress and strappy heels. The two of them were the center of attention, more so than Lucian and Adelina. It wasn’t every day that Providence hosted a New York power couple.
Adelina was quick to realize that the Luchese’s were the were a pretty powerful family in the Mafia.
Now she understood why this marriage was such a big deal.
Next week, she would be in New York to attend her engagement part in the Luchese family estate, where she would meet all the other heads of the Mafia families.
It was becoming clearer to her that her pending marriage was really just a trade for her family to get closer to the high rollers in the mafia. Part of her didn’t understand what Lucian’s family gained from this deal.
Sure, Adelina was pretty, but Lucian could get any girl he wanted, so why her?
It was clear that Carlo Luchese had no interest in Massimo as he made every effort not to talk to the man tonight. Adelina had spent her whole life fearing the man, and now in this situation, he looked like a kitten trying to play with the big cats.
“So, this is the fiancé?”
Lucian chuckled beside her at the man who now stood before them. He was as tall as Lucian with the same dark black hair, tanned skin, and high cheekbones. And he was every bit as gorgeous as Lucian in a fitted black suit and expensive Italian leather shoes.
“This is her.” Lucian smiled. “Adelina, meet my brother, Enzo, late as usual.”
“Fashionably so.” Enzo smirked. “Nice to meet you, sis.” Enzo pulled her into a hug.
“Uh, sis? Already?” She told him pushing out of his hug.
“Yep.” He smiled. “You’re my first and only sister-in-law, I think we should roll with this nickname.”
Adelina mulled it over. “Not yet.”
“Whatever you say, Addy.”
She gave him a disapproving smile. “Clearly you’re the better brother.” She said turning to Lucian, who laughed.
“Clearly, bella.”
“Hey now!” Enzo mock pouted.
“Boys,” Carlo interjected. “Come with me for a minute.”
“I’ll be right back.” Lucian whispered, pressing a kiss to Adelina’s temple before he was gone.
Adelina sighed, glancing around the room. Massimo’s mini-mansion was filled to the brim. All of Providence’s Italians had to be here. She moved through the crowd to the one room in the house where she felt safe. It was a small room in the back of the house, home to the grand piano that Adelina spent half a lifetime playing on as a child.
Play for me. Theo would tell her, and she would always happily oblige.
She brushed her hand around the sleek black piano.
“Topolina,” Massimo’s voice purred in her hear.
“Uncle,” She jumped at the intrusion. “Sorry, I was just- “
“It’s fine, Adelina.” He smiled, but she wasn’t foolish enough to think it was genuine. “You should sing for us, topolina.”
“I, uh,”
“Come,” Massimo shouted out of the room. “Our little mouse is going to sing for us.”
If there was one thing Adelina hated more than a room full of drunk Italian men, it was singing to a room full of drunk Italian men.
The Blue Door was a separate use case. Sure, there were men there that pull her aside afterwards, placing grimy hands on the curve of her waist, and telling her they loved her music, but that just came with the territory of being a female musician.
Massimo was different. He showed her off like some sort of prize. He treated her like she could be purchased, a toy anyone could have but he was the keeper. It made her sick to her stomach.
Music was hers. It was the thing that kept her breathing, and she shared it when she wanted to.
Not to be used as entertainment.
Chapter Twelve
“Sing for us, topolina!” Massimo cooed.
Adelina rang her fingers together. Lucian watched from afar. She looked pale at the request of the Boss.
She sucked in a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. “Oh, I don’t think so, not tonight.” She couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough. “I need to find my fiancé.” She wiggled her ring finger hoping this excuse would placate the men.
“Nonsense, here he is!” Massimo gestured begins her where Lucian was just walking back into the room, his father and Enzo tailing behind him.
“Hope you’ve kept my fiancé entertained.” Lucian slid in perfectly next to Adelina, who clung onto him like a lifeline.
“On the contrary, we were hoping she’d entertain us.” Massimo gestured to the grand piano next to him. “Just had it tuned. Little Mouse used to play this thing for hours when she was kid. Drove my wife mad.” The men chuckled around him.
Lucian gazed at the piano in a deep thought.
“Didn’t know you played, Addy.” Enzo swept his hand along the sleek black piano. “Anything good or just the classic shit?” He smirked.
“I think my fiancé needs a refill, Enzo.” Lucian eyes his brother.
“Yes, Enzo, get the girl a drink so she can sing for us.” Massimo nodded to him. “She used to play beautifully for Theo. Come on now I insist.” Massimo peered down to meet her gaze. His stone-cold eyes intimidating her.
She didn’t ask for much when Lucian had asked her what she wanted from life, but one thing she did mention was not wanting to be used as entertainment.
Never refuse a boss.
Lucian could hear his father’s words echoing in his head. But who gave a fuck about Massimo Maranzano?
A look around the room showed men who followed him.
One song?
Was it worth pissing him off?
Lucian squeezed Adelina’s hand. “Pretend it’s just me.” He whispered in her ear. “You’re just playing to me.”
She nodded her head and Lucian pulled out the bench for her and leaned against the piano blocking the party from her view.
Tepidly she began to stroke the keys playing a light melody. Her voice was so light as she began singing the words. Lucian knew the song immediately. Hallelujah written by Leonard Cohen. It was a classic.
She sang the word Hallelujah in succession four times as she hit the chorus. Lucian kept his g
aze focused on her but he could hear the mumbled whispers of the crowd gathering behind him. He couldn’t blame them, Adelina was beautiful when she sang.
Her eyes drifted closed as she became immersed in the music. Her fingers dancing along the keys effortlessly while her painted red lips belted the words in a beautiful tune.
If he didn’t know how shattered the girl behind them felt singing for all these people whom she despised he’d say this was the most beautiful symphony.
She belted the last few hallelujahs before her voice lowered and she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze and concluded. They held the eye contact for a minute before she broke it.
“Bravo!” Massimo cooed from behind them.
Lucian helped Adelina up from the stool, pulling her into him. “That was beautiful.” He whispered to her.
“Let me have a moment with my fiancé, yes?” Lucian turned to Massimo.
The boss nodded in agreement, and the room quickly emptied.
“Thank you.” Adelina’s words came out in a hushed whisper.
“For what?”
“Distracting me. Making me only think of you.”
Lucian laughed. “I can keep that up if you want?”
She looked up at him through her thick lashed. “Yes, please.”
Lucian could barely contain himself at her words. “Is there a bathroom around here?”
“Through that door.”
Lucian ushered her through the door into the bathroom and pushed her up against the tiled wall.
“You have no idea what you do to me.” He told her.
She smirked. “I think I do.”
He kissed her, softly at first and then harder. Taking everything she had to give.
This woman was magic.
Pure ecstasy.
She was one in a million.
He closed the bathroom door behind them, pushing her against the tiled walled and placing a hard kiss against her lips.
“I need you.” She whimpered, pushing against his erection.
“Then you’ll have me.”
Lucian moved to his knees, pushing up her dress while slowly kissing up her thighs. She moaned as he worked his way closer to her core. “Tell me again, bella.”
“I need you.” Her voice was a breathless whisper.
In one swift motion Lucian pulled her black panties down, and used his hand to her legs apart further. “Don’t move.” He told her. He used his fingers to gently open her folds, and his tongue drove in.
She was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted, and he didn’t think he would ever get enough.
“Please,” she begged.
That might have been her most beautiful song.
◆◆◆
Adelina ran her fingers threw her dark waves and smoothed down her dress as they left the bathroom. Even after fixing herself she looked thoroughly fucked.
Lucian wasn’t the slightest bit ashamed.
Both of their ears perked at the sound of music coming from the main room. Lucian could have sworn that was Adelina’s voice. The shocked look on her face all but confirmed it.
“Addy,” Gemma appeared frantic. “Finally.” She huffed. “I tried to stop him, but it’s Massimo, you know how he is.”
“It’s fine.” Adelina replied sharply to her friend.
Gemma shot Lucian a pleading look. “I’m sorry.” She mouthed.
Adelina was off, rushing to the main room where the commotion was coming from, Lucian on her heels.
A screen was pulled down on the main wall, a high-end projector was hooked up showing what looked to be a home video on the screen of a young Adelina singing. She was wearing a skimpy red dress, her long hair flowing in her normal wavy style.
She was singing a familiar song, Beyonce’s Crazy in Love, Lucian thought. The song was slowed down and Adelina swayed her hips as she sang, looking at whoever held the camera.
Her raspy voice was sexy as hell, and the strap on her dress had slipped down her shoulder giving the camera a good look at her cleavage.
Lucian gazed over at Adelina who had a single tear falling down her check.
Yeah, he didn’t think this was a video made for the public.
Why didn’t her family stop this non-sense? Her mother was nowhere to be found and he spotted Vinny in the corner nursing a glass of cognac and staring right at them. Useless.
Lucian pushed through people until he spotted Massimo. “Turn it off.”
Massimo looked amused. “We’re just listening to the girl sing.”
“Turn it off, Maranzano.” Lucian said again.
“Touchy, as always.” Massimo muttered, hitting a button on his cellphone. “I guess the entertainments over.” He said looking Lucian in the eye.
When Lucian turned around, Adelina was gone.
Chapter Thirteen
“Sing for me Ads,” he had asked laying the red silk piece on the bed.
“In that?”
He laughed at her. He brought his hand to her cheek in a symbol of loving affection. “My naive girl.” He said. “Yes, in that.”
◆◆◆
Adelina felt sick to her stomach.
She could remember filming that video like it was yesterday. Theo’s rough, calloused hand ran up and down her body after he handed her the red dress, or lingerie as she insisted it was.
Just for me. He assured her. He was always assuring her of things.
He wanted a video of her singing. Said he loved the way her voice sounded, but he wanted her to wear this skimpy ensemble.
Adelina hated being filmed. Hated being the center of attention really, but Theo, he craved it.
Please, baby. He had said. Do it for me.
He was always pleading, and Adelina was always caving.
The song, was one he had heard her singing in her bedroom. A slowed down version of Beyonce. It was her song of the week, as Theo would call them.
If she would have known that it would come back to haunt her, she wouldn’t have done it. She would have held strong and told Theo no.
Maybe.
Theo had a way of always getting what he wanted in the end.
◆◆◆
“Hey,” Lucian’s light voice swayed her from her thoughts. “I think I would have found you sooner, but I didn’t expect you to be in my car.” He laughed softly.
“Sorry, I just needed to get out of there.”
“I get it.” Lucian waved his hand. “He’s an asshole, bella. If it makes you feel better, my father told him he’s taking 20% cut of his next shipment.”
“He can do that?”
“He can do whatever the hell he wants, babe.” Lucian chuckled.
Yeah, that made her feel better.
“Thank you.”
“Hey,” Lucian used the tips of his fingers to lightly tip her head up to him. “Seriously, you know you can talk to me about anything.”
Her eyes drifted downward. She wanted to think this perfect man in front of her was 100% hers, but truthfully, she didn’t think he was. Men like him, men like her family, were loyal to only one thing, the Mafia.
Lucian made her feel like maybe, just maybe, he’d put her first. But could she really trust that feeling?
Or would it stab her in the back. Again.
“I know.” She finally responded.
“Talk to me,” Lucian pleaded. “Tell me why Maranzano would do that in there?”
“To punish me.”
“Why?” Lucian questioned.
“Because,” Adelina could put the words around how to tell him. Because he hated her? Because he blamed her? “Because it was my fault.” She told him.
“What was?”
“He died.” She whispered. “And it was my fault. So, he’s punishing me.”
“Theo?”
Adelina’s head snapped up at his name. That name felt like a bullet wound to her chest. “Yeah.”
“How was that your fault?”
“Can we not talk about it anymore.” Adelina closed h
erself off. Turning away from him. She had closed the door on Theo three years ago, and nothing was going to let her open it up again.
◆◆◆
“Tell me again,” Adelina asked while she trampled over sticks and debris through the dark woods with Gemma. “Who ever thought a party in the woods was a good idea.”
“We have a flashlight,” Gemma waved the thing, lighting up the path and the trees around them. “We’re fine.”
“Yeah,” Adelina mumbled. “Until we’re not.”
“Addy!” Max called, when the girls hit the clearing where students where packed in. A keg was situated against a tree and there was a cooler of wine coolers floating around. “Come here, sing with me.”
Max was settled on the top of cooler, guitar in hand. Next to him was Tim, a guy Adelina had only met a handful of times, with a small box drum.
Adelina squeezed in between them. She hated singing in front of people, but Max was always pushing her past this fear. He strummed the guitar and Adelina found herself lost in the music.
She could no longer hear the party-goers around her, drinking and singing along. A bright fire was roaring in the background, but Adelina was oblivious. When she sang, it just her and the music.
The rising and falling of her voice, along with the guitar kept her alive.
The world around her could be crashing down and Adelina would probably never notice. Music was the only thing that kept her going, kept her sane. Her former boyfriend was dead. Her father buried along with him. Her life was handed over to the New York Mafia like she was a contract that could be passed around. But Adelina, she had music, and that was all she needed.
Max and Gemma handed her drinks between songs: Vodka Cranberries that were sour and contained more vodka than cranberry juice and burned her throat on the way down. She inhaled them though and waited for Max to begin strumming the guitar, a new verse for her to lose herself in. Jimmy, a mutual friend of her and Max sat alongside them using his hands to rhythmically beat the box drum in time with the song. The sound reverberated through Adelina.
This must be what heaven feels like.
She was sure of it.
Her confidence sky rocketed as she sang, she never felt sexier than when she was singing. The party goers around her engaged in conversation and swayed to the beat of the drum. Only a few were focused on her, but honestly, she could care less.
Velvet Lullabies Page 7