FALLING FOR THE DON: A DANGEROUS AFFAIR

THE TRUTH

MAX’S POV

Lilly was staring at my tattoos as if she was trying to figure out what they meant or decipher some kind of hidden message that was written there. She was acting weird and I couldn’t understand why. The only thing that I had done was offer to take her on a trip and I thought she would also like the idea of attending classes on line. She had been complaining about how hard it was to attend classes and her peace job at the same time so even though I had done this for my selfish reasons. I had been expecting her to appreciate it a little more than this.

“Lilly…just be reasonable” I said as I started moving closer to her and she tried to back away from me

“No Max, I don’t want to-“ she stopped talking as she stumbled on the ottoman and sat on it.

“You can’t make me do anything” she said as I got closer to her. It felt like she was scared of me, I wondered what she thought night would do to her. Her behavior not only unsettled me but it also kind of hurt my feelings. Why would she behave like this? Why would she act like I had hurt her before when I had never really even raised my voice at her.

“Fine…I just thought you might like something nice” I said at this point I realized that the more inputted the more scared she was. I couldn’t take no for an answer from her but at the same time I didn’t want her to feel like I was trying to kidnap her or hold her hostage. Everything that I was doing or planning to do was for her own safety and I wished she could just see and understand that.

“I am sorry for trying to make you do something you don’t want to do” she seemed unsure if I meant that or not.

“I can see that you are scared and I am sorry for scaring you, it was never my intention to do so’ I apologized.

“I brought a bottle of wine thinking we were going to celebrate our trip but I guess I jumped the gun,” I said with a chuckle and picked up the bottle. “I guess I will have to enjoy it by myself” I said with a pout And she frowned.

“Where are you going with that?” she asked me, things were almost going the way that I wanted them to go.

“I am going back to my house, I will see you this weekend,” I said and she shook her head.

“you can go but leave that wine. I need it after the day I just had because of you” she said and I smiled and nodded, I knew Lilly could never say no to wine especially if she had just had what she classified as a “bad” day. I knew she was going to be mad at me after this but if she knew why I was doing this she would understand why I had to do it.

I opened the bottle for her and poured her a glass and then handed it to her. I watched her gulp it down and then poured her another glass. She took a sip and set it on the table. I got closer to her and pulled her into my arms. She seemed to be a lot calmer after drinking the wine and this was what I had been counting on and hoping for.

“I am sorry,” I said again and she kissed me and then yawned

“it’s okay Max…” she yawned again “I mean I am still mad at you obviously but maybe I will enjoy it. It’s not like I wasn’t under pressure anyway” she said

“Just know that everything I do is for your own good’ I said and she eyed me suspiciously but said nothing.

“I am so tired. Let’s talk some more tomorrow” she said as she let me go and then threw herself on the couch. I stood there and watched her doze off to a deep sleep. This had worked faster than I had been expecting it to. I grabbed the bottle of wine and sniffed the contents. It still smelled the sake and tasted the same. I made it a point not to taste too much of it because I needed to be wide awake for this.

I wondered if I had put too much sleeping pills in there. Luca had told me to put five and that was how much I had put. At the time putting five sleeping pills made a lot of sense but now it didn’t, drinking five sleeping tablets had to have some kind of side effects and I hoped that she wouldn’t end up being unconscious. If she did I would never forgive myself and I would probably kill Luca and also blame Jim for the tragedy.

I knew she wasn’t going to be happy about what I had just done but this had to be done. I came here knowing that there was a possibility that she wouldn’t want to come with me and that is why I came with the bottle of wine. I had to make sure that she didn’t spend the night here. As a matter of fact, I didn’t want her to stay here anymore. It wasn’t safe for her to be here all alone and this was something that I was still going to discuss with her. Maybe Luca would even move her belongings to my house while we were gone.

I picked her up and walked out of the apartment with her snuggling up to me. Luca had told me that the sleeping pills that I had put in the wine would take her out as soon as she drank the wine and that she would be in a deep sleep for a few hours. That was fine with me, at least I would have a few hours to myself before she woke and gave me hell for ‘kidnapping her’. I had no doubts that she was going to blow this out of proportion as she was very dramatic. However, I was willing to take responsibility and take whatever she threw at me. I was willing to tolerate her anger because I knew how this looked and how it would make her feel. Lilly hated not being in control and this was going to be one of instances where she wasn’t I control.

When she woke up we were already on the plane and on our way to the place that I had chosen for us. It took her a few minutes to finally figure out where she was but when she did all hell broke loose. Of course, she was upset with me but if she knew why I did this she would understand my reasoning, but then again I had no plans to explain myself to her. She was just going to this to accept the decisions that I had made for us.

I had been lying in bed next to her when she woke up. At first, she didn’t seem to understand where she was but after looking around and seeing the windows of the plane she jumped up from the bed and ran out of the bedroom. That was when she came to terms with where she was and she stormed back inside the bedroom and slapped me across the face before I could say anything.

“What the f**k Max?” she yelled at me close to tears

“How many more boundaries of mine will you cross?” she asked me

“Lilly-“

“I told you I didn’t want to go anywhere with you, I told you I didn’t want to do online learning and yet you continue to do things without my consent. Who the f**k do you think you are?” she asked me and now my temper was also rising to meet hers.

“Just listen to me and let me explain myself” I said and she scoffed

"You kidnapped me, don’t you know that this is a crime?” she asked me

“I know that, but I don’t cate about that right now” I said.

“you don’t care that I will open against you for kidnapping? You don’t care that once j get off this plane I will get a restraining order against you?” she said and I couldn’t help smiling.

“Lilly, just relax’ I said “it’s not like you know where we are going and its not like you can speak their language either’ I said

"what! So this was your plan all along, you wanted to take me to a place where I know jo one so that you can do what?” she asked me sobbing

“oh Lilly stop crying, you are being very dramatic right now” I said

“It’s not like you woke up in a plane with some stranger” I pointed out.

“Do you not get it?” she asked me “it’s not about who I am with in the plane but how I got here!”

“I understand but will you just sit down, we will arrive soon and then we will talk properly. If you want to go…no…I can’t let you go no matter what” I said and she looked like she wanted to scream

“who the f**k do you think you are Max? Why do you think you have the right to make these important decisions about my life and without my input?” she asked and now she was getting on my nerves. She was acting unreasonably. She was acting like she had woken up with some stranger with a gun to her head.

“I am your fuckin man, it is my f*****g job to keep you f*****g safe. Which part of that do you not understand?” I yelled at her and she was silent for a little while as if trying to think of a clever comeback.

“Do you realize that what you did is illegal? I could call the cops” she threatened and I laughed.

“I would like to see you do that, especially because we are a thousand feet in the air. I am sure the police will chase me with their private jet” I mocked

“the fact that you are making this a joke sickens me. Do you not realize the seriousness of what you have done and how it makes me feel?” she asked me

“You may not be scared of the police but yhat doesn’t make what you did right” she said.

“what will the police do to me?” I asked her and she threw herself on the bed

“I can’t believe this is happening to me, how did I end up in this situation? Why did I end up with you?’ she was asking herself.

“It’s too late for regrets now baby we are locked in for life,” I said with a wink

“This is kidnapping,” she said and I scoffed

“Once this plane lands I would like to be taken back home. I don’t want to be here with you” she said

“I can’t be with someone who has such disregard for my feelings and my rights.

“Lilly…’

“No Max, if this is what a relationship with you is like then I don’t want to be in it” she said

“I am sorry Lilly, I know how this feels but-“

“But nothing max, you completely ignored me when I was telling you that I didn’t want to go anywhere. You went to my school and ruined things for me there too. If this was just about my school and the online lessons I would have let it go but you have kidnapped me and now you are taking me to a place that I don’t even know” she said and now that she was saying it like that I almost felt bad. I wasn’t really feeling bad because of the decisions I had made for her but because she was threatening to end our relationship.

“Lilly, I am sorry. I know you won’t understand it when I say it now but I did all thus for your own safety. One day you will see it the way I do too” I said

She looked at me as if she had come to some kind of realization and I saw a little bit of fear in her eyes. I hadn’t said anything to make her suspicious and I hadn’t done anything to make her suspicious of me either but right now I felt like the truth was about to blow open and there wasn’t much I could do to stop it. I could deny everything and pretend as if she was delusional or I could just come clean. I couldn’t imagine telling her the truth, I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth.

“Please tell me the truth….who are you?” she asked me. Her eyes penetrated my very soul in search of the truth.