The Mafia's Legacy

Chapter 6: Bright Suspicion

Antoni P.O.V

“Cora." The friend beside Victoria holds out her hand to Antoni, chin raised high and confident smile dancing across her lips.

Antoni drags his gaze away from Victoria's simmering emerald eyes with a deep laugh and looks at Cora. “Apologies, Cora. It's nice to meet you." He shakes her hand once, fingers gripping hers firmly before his eyes train themselves back onto Victoria.

Victoria keeps her eyes on his face, but he catches the twitch in her right eyebrow when he shakes Cora's hand. His smile deepens into a smirk, excitement greedily swimming through his veins.

“What are you doing here, Bell?" Antoni probes, his hands sliding casually into his pockets.

“I should be asking you that." Victoria retorts. “What, did a fight break out in one of your fancy nightclubs?"

“No, not at our establishments." Antoni chuckles again as he looks around the café, wariness peaking in through the mental blind he has veiling his eyes. “I'm here on business, as usual."

Victoria's own eyes narrow in suspicion and Antoni forces himself to smile brightly in her direction. His churning stomach becomes more violent, his worries realized. She knows something is up. Victoria is smart, and incredibly emotionally intelligent. As much as it keeps Antoni on edge wondering if she's gotten herself into trouble, he can't help but admit that's what he also finds so appealing about her.

Antoni places a hand on Victoria's elbow as if he could sense the cogs turning in her brain and needed to physically stop them. “You two should hurry on home now. I hear a storm is meant to blow in quickly."

Victoria looks at the hand on her elbow before fixing her eyes on Antoni. He hardens his stare, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Victoria seems to get the message as she tilts her elbow farther into his hold; the ghosting of fingers on smooth skin turning into a gentle caress.

Antoni's shoulders lower as tension rolls down them. He didn't know what he would do if Victoria had put up a fight, refusing to listen. Her fire has always been strong, far stronger than his own at times. Mix that in with her keen intellect, kind soul, and perceptive nature and you got one fiery woman who will face the world head-on, winning by a landslide.

It's one of the reasons he fell in love with her.

The Amato men follow behind him as he guides Victoria and her friend toward the back door of the building, far away from prying eyes and sonic ears.

Cora trails along his right, a bounce in her step causing her flowing orange skirt to billow about. “Victoria tells me that you studied law at NYU too, before going overseas that is."

“Cora!" Victoria hisses.

Amusement flutters in Antoni's stomach. He watches the silent conversation pass between the girls. Victoria, eyes wide in slight betrayal and Cora, shoulders raised in a perplexed shrug. He runs his tongue over his teeth to stop himself from laughing at the blush spreading across Victoria's cheeks.

“Yes, I studied business management there. So, some of my classes did overlap with the law students'."

“Oh, do you have any tips? I'm absolutely bombing Professor Carton's class. Do you know him?" Cora rambles.

Antoni stops when they reach the back door and places his hand back in his pocket, fingers clenched tightly in an attempt to keep hold of the warmth from Victoria's skin.

“Yes, I had him." He tilts his head to the side in consideration, lips pursing to the side. He snaps, “Oh, I remember he used to love the students who asked questions. Especially around finals. Exam scores are a reflection of the teacher just as much as they are of the student. And Professor Carton loves to brag about how great of a teacher he is."

“Yeah, cuz he's a puntura." Victoria mumbles with a roll of her eye. Antoni doesn't stop himself from laughing this time, the sound bright as it travels from his belly.

“Yes, a prick indeed." He watches as Victoria crosses her arms over her chest. Cora is speaking again, going on about how Professor Carton runs his class, but Antoni finds himself only half listening to her high-pitched words. Instead, his eyes trail down Victoria's body, images of her in the form-fitting emerald green dress flashing across his eyelids every time he blinks.

She has always looked good in shades of green – even as a child he would remember the way his heart would pick up speed and his stomach would swoop when he set his eyes upon her own. They were like twin flares with bright green tails set loose at dusk.

However, since then she has grown. Her young body maturing gracefully alongside her mind into an adult woman. A teal sweater covers what he knows to be toned arms and full breasts. It's tucked in at the front of her white jeans, showcasing three bronze buttons sitting like crowns high above her navel. The rest of the sweater is draped like a cape over her firm hips and thighs.

Desire warms his stomach. He wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around that slim waist and drag her close, until their breaths mingle, and their stomachs are flush.

But he can't.

They've been here too long already.

Antoni reprimands himself with a mental slap. 'Focus.' He nods to his men to take a lap of the perimeter before searching the empty space around them. The radio from the café is still soft, the sound traveling far to reach his ears, and there are no other sounds around them.

But that doesn't mean they're completely alone.

In the mafia, there is always someone listening. They aren't often allies.

“I don't think I asked you ladies why you were here today, of all days." Antoni gestures toward the clear windows. “It's a rare sunny day Mother Nature has given us during this Fall season. Shouldn't you be outside having a picnic or shopping along Broadway?"

“And what about you?" Victoria challenges, a ray of fire in her eyes as she flicks a brow up. “Today is the perfect weather for a nightclub and bar owner to be scouting new sites. What are you doing cooped up indoors?"

Antoni feels his skin prickle and itch like he's stood out in the sun for too long, the scorching rays burning his skin into blisters. He pushes his tongue into his cheek momentarily before smiling.

“I asked you first, Bell." He narrows his eyes at her, heart beating quickly in his chest. It's exciting, playing these games with her. He loves it. However, now's not the time.

“We were checking out the café." Cora happily supplies, unaware of the power battle waging on in front of her. “There's a chance Victoria will be working here after she graduates, so we had to make sure her place of business had adequate coffee."

“Ah, is that so?" Antoni drawls. “Hopefully the café talk wasn't too boring."

“Oh, no. We could barely hear anything!" Cora pipes up again. Her voice is harsher now, annoyance coloring it darkly when she huffs. “I was hoping to get some inside scoop on some famous cases being conducted, but if anyone was talking about their case inside the café, I couldn't hear them. Are all lawyers so secretive?"

“Only the insecure one's." Antoni winks at her, cheeky smirk brightening his face. The adrenaline in his veins dissipate at the news, his muscles finally relaxing. They hadn't heard anything about the new firm. Good.

As if sensing his relief, Victoria takes a step closer to Antoni, her face inscrutable. Antoni curls his toes in his shoes when her tan timberland boots kick the front of them, resisting the pull to look down and stomp on her feet.

“What did you think we came here for?"

Antoni's heart swells with admiration at Victoria's continual defiance to him. He ignores it and relaxes. Leaning back on his hips, he smirks. “To ask for tutors."

Victoria clicks her tongue. “You know, Beast. Curiosity is a nasty killer." Victoria turns to step out of Antoni's reach, but Antoni leans sideways, forcing her to stop and lean back lest she bumps heads with him.

“Ah, but satisfaction is a great cure, Bell." Antoni whispers. His eyes flit down to Victoria's twitching lips before he leans back. Victoria doesn't waste any time as she steps around and links her arm through Cora's.

“It was nice to meet you in person, Antoni." Cora waves in between where her shoulder touches Victoria's, her face twisted in perplexity.

Antoni waves back with a smile. It's only once they've become one with the horizon does the smile drop off his face, a deep sigh fleeing past his lips.

Antoni hears his men returning. One of them, Gabriel, stops beside him and holds out a cigarette and lighter. “She seems like quite the handful, Signor."

Antoni huffs as he runs his finger and thumb over his brow bone in an attempt to dissipate the headache he can feel knocking at his temples. The scent of lavender and lotus fills his nostrils, and he pauses.

Tilting his head back, he raises his hand in the air. His palm is a mere twelve inches from his face. The sunlight illuminates the white scar on his palm as his fingers twitch in remembrance.

Four men. Two of them holding him down while the other two are hovering over her. Fat bloody hands around her neck. His young throat tearing itself apart by screaming, tears streaming down his face. The glint of a knife and-

Antoni snickers with a shake of his head as he lowers his hand to his side.

Somehow, she's always leaving her mark on him.

Antoni takes the cigarette from Gabriel, and lights it. He blames the deep pain in his voice from the burning nicotine when he speaks.

“All beautiful creatures are, Gabe."