The Mafia's Daughter

4. EXPLOSION

~ Zoie’s POV ~

If someone this morning would’ve told her that by midnight, Zoie would be following a stranger, walking into what looked like a dark warehouse on the outskirts of the city, she wouldn’t have believed it. And yet, here she was.

The stranger walked in front of her and she was a few steps behind. He went to flip a switch on the wall and the whole warehouse was filled with fluorescent white light. Zoie’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness, and she realized that it was actually a car garage. There were several cars being worked on, stripped, and a few other junk ones that were scrapped for parts. In the corner of the warehouse were a simple mattress on the floor and a big backpack.

The stranger casually pulled the garage door close and it came down with a loud bang. Then he proceeded to go to the small fridge on one corner of the garage where the workbench was.

“You want a beer?” he asked without turning around, pulling out a cold bottle from the mini-fridge.

“No, thank you,” she replied. More alcohol was probably the last thing she needed right now.

But then again…

If I’m gonna make bad decisions… might as well.

“Actually, on second thought, I can use some of that,”

The stranger had closed the fridge door, but he reopened it and grabbed her a bottle. He skillfully used his mouth to open the beer bottle before handing it to her. Zoie was taken aback, but she grabbed it nonetheless.

“T-thanks,”

After giving her the bottle, the stranger walked away casually, sipping his beer and kicking off his shoes. He then threw his leather jacket to the workbench and revealed the sleeveless wife-beater he was wearing. Zoie could see his rock-hard muscles and the sleeve of tattoos running down his arm.

The stranger had his back to her and Zoie found herself watching his every move. It was a hot summer night and he was sweating a little. He hooked up the table fan on the desk and turned it on. Then he took off his shirt in one quick move, revealing his Greek-god-like body.

Zoie was entranced. Her mouth fell open a little as she held the beer bottle shakily in her hand. She watched as he turned back around, he was leaning against the desk. His abs were so perfectly sculpted and the tattoos also ran across his chest and to his upper abdomen.

“Can I help you with something?”

Zoie flinched immediately. He totally caught her gawking.

“So!” she exclaimed in an attempt to change the subject. “…Is this where you live?”

Zoie could feel her cheeks burning up. This was so embarrassing. The stranger was looking at her with a half smirk. His eyes were mocking.

“I guess,” he shrugged. “For the time being,”

“Do you like working on cars?”

“Among other things,”

The stranger took another sip of his beer before putting the cold bottle on his torn knuckles. Zoie could see the scars and scraps of dried blood on it. The blood was recent, but the scars weren’t. They were probably acquired some time ago. And not just on his hands and knuckles, he had scars everywhere, all over his body and face. He then poured some of the beer over the dried blood and grimaced. It must’ve been painful, but judging from the way he was handling this, this was probably not his first rodeo.

“Does that hurt a lot…?” she asked cautiously.

“Meh,” he shrugged, grabbing a clean towel from the workbench and drying his hand.

“Why do you have so many scars on you?”

The question escaped her lips before she could stop it.

The stranger looked up at her menacingly and replied, “From saving helpless little girls like you,”

Zoie swallowed hard. The stranger c****d his head to the side and studied her expression.

“You’re a curious girl, aren’t you?” he deduced. “Asking a lot of questions,”

His dark blue eyes were piercing deeply into hers. Zoie couldn’t look away, and her heart suddenly started racing.

“I-I just…” she stammered. “I just wanna say thank you… for what you did,”

“Is that it?” he said as he stood up straighter, tossing the dirty towel to the ground. “A thank you’s all I got?”

The stranger started moving closer and Zoie stepped back instinctively. He was nice and chill one moment, and suddenly, he had this menacing vibe about him. Zoie kept moving back to keep a distance between them, but he kept coming closer. And finally, she hit one of the parked cars and she couldn’t move back anymore.

“I just saved you from a r****t and those guards,” he said as he put his arms out, leaning against the car and trapping her in place. “What are you gonna give me in return?”

Zoie swallowed hard.

Right. Of course, he wants something in return.

“W-what do you want?”

“How about a kiss?”

A what?

Zoie looked up to see his dark blue eyes piercing like a knife. Her heart had literally stopped beating for a second.

Is he serious?

The stranger kept his eyes locked on hers for the longest time. Zoie couldn’t even breathe. She just watched in terror and anticipation as he leaned closer and closer. And finally, he stopped when their lips were only an inch away from each other. Zoie could smell his masculine scent and her knees went weak.

What’s going on with me?!

“Ha! I’m just playing with you,” the stranger let out a wild laugh as he suddenly pulled away.

The moment there was some distance between them, Zoie let out a breath of relief. She was relieved, but also… she kind of missed his presence.

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” she rolled her eyes, trying to maintain a sense of composure.

Oh, come on! Pull yourself together, woman!

The stranger took the spot next to Zoie as he leaned against the parked black Mustang convertible. Meanwhile, Zoie kept her head on the ground as she took a big gulp of the beer. Her heart was beating like a drum and her knees felt like Jell-O. If she wasn’t leaning against the car, she’d probably be a puddle on the floor.

Just stay cool, Zoie! Stay cool!

“So, you wanna talk about it or what?” the stranger asked suddenly. He was watching her expression and saw that she was nervous about something.

“About what?” she asked back.

“About why you have such shitty friends,”

Zoie wasn’t expecting that question at all. She paused for a moment before answering, “They’re not really my friends… I barely know them,”

“Then were you doing with those people?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I never had any friends. I guess I just wanted to know what it feels like to be normal for once…”

Zoie looked down to the dirty floor as she clutched her almost empty beer bottle. Remembering what happened at the club just now, she felt her stomach sinking down again. For the first time in eighteen years, Zoie thought she finally had things figured out. After all these years of being a prisoner of her own life, she was finally going to be free. She thought she could finally start living a normal life—go to parties, make new friends, and maybe meet a guy that she likes. But all that came crashing down with a rather rude awakening. If her dad or brothers knew about what happened, they would’ve been so mad. And they’d probably say, “See, I told you so. The world is a dangerous place. You should’ve never left the house!”

“How come you never had any friends?” the stranger asked, pulling her out of her train of thought.

“It’s… complicated,” she replied. The stranger looked at her with a confused look, and she just shrugged.

“I’m sorry. This is kind of an awkward thing to tell a stranger, huh?” she said again.

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he said, giving her a playful wink as he finished his drink.

Zoie watched as he downed the entire bottle. The drink went into his mouth and down his throat. Zoie couldn’t stop herself from taking note of his chiseled jawline, it was so sharp, you could probably kill someone with that.

Damn.

Looking at him drinking that beer made her thirsty. Zoie put her own bottle to her mouth and downed her drink. The stranger watched her for a moment, and he realized that her bottle was now empty too. He gave out his hand to take the empty bottle and Zoie gave it to him.

“So, you gonna call an Uber or do you need me to take you home somewhere?” he said as he threw the empty bottles into the trash.

Home?

Zoie was not ready to go home. She was feeling weirdly comfortable being in that place.

Wait a minute. That sounded wrong.

A girl shouldn’t be feeling comfortable being with a stranger late at night at some dingy car garage. She should be running out the door, getting on the next cab away from there. And yet… she didn’t want to leave. The night was still young and even though it didn’t go as planned, it wasn’t completely ruined. She met an intriguing guy who turned out to be very nice, and she wanted to get to know him better.

What’s the worst that could happen if I stay another hour or two?

“Do you want me to go?” she asked back.

The stranger thought for a moment before saying, “No, but I think you should,”

“Why?”

“Because your parents are probably looking for you,”

“No one’s looking for me,”

The stranger strode closer and stood right in front of her, his face hovering above her face.

“Are you saying you wanna stay?” he asked challengingly.

“I’m saying… I don’t wanna leave just yet,” she replied.

Their eyes were now locked straight onto each other. No one was moving. No one said anything, but there was a lot being said. There was so much tension in the air, you could cut through it with a butter knife.

“No,” the stranger said suddenly. “I don’t think that’s happening,”

Zoie almost gasped out loud. They were still standing so close to each other and Zoie felt this irresistible pull toward him. It was such a strong pull, Zoie could’ve fallen into his arms if the wind blew just a little harder.

So how could he not feel the same way?

“Why?” she asked. Maybe it was shameless, but whatever. She had no more filter at this point. “You don’t wanna make a move on me?”

The stranger thought about it, c*****g his head to the side. His eyes grew dark as he stared at her. Zoie could tell that he wanted her too.

“No,” he said coldly, ripping her heart to shreds.

“Why not?” she pressed.

“Because I don’t think you can handle it,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Zoie narrowed her eyes at him, but he just gave out a smile. Then he broke into a chuckle and lent out his hand, saying, “Come on, little girl, let’s get you home,”

Little girl?

“I’m not a little girl!” Zoie glared as she swatted his hand away.

The stranger knew he hit a nerve. He stood back and watched as Zoie went on her rant.

“I don’t know who you think you are and who you think I am, but I’m a big girl and I can handle myself, thank you very much!”

The stranger snorted a laugh.

“Oh, really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, really,” she said reassuringly, crossing her arms in an act of protest.

The stranger searched her eyes and the moment their eyes met, the tension went from zero to a hundred again. There was something about the way he was looking at her. Zoie found it hard to breathe.

“Okay, then,” he said suddenly, closing the distance between their bodies.

Zoie was standing flushed against the car and he was right in front of her. He reached for her wrists and uncrossed her arms from her chest. Then he pinned her wrists back against the car’s window. Zoie looked around and she had no room to move away. His face was now so close to hers. He leaned his nose to the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent. Zoie’s entire body began to shake. Something was brewing inside her like it was ready to explode.

What’s happening…?

“You’re not gonna regret this, are you?” he whispered lowly into her ear. “Little girl?”

And that was it. Something exploded inside of Zoie and she lost all sense of decency and control. Before she could change her mind, she grabbed him by his neck, stood up straight, and crashed her lips onto his.

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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -