9. To the nearest bed
2001 Words
Erica
I stood up from my chair, ready to walk out as I picked my purse and finished the last few sips of my wine. Just as I passed him, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a stop. I didn’t look at him, instead kept my eyes on the glass doors where his two men stood like sentries. I was starting to hate him. No, I already hated him. How many glasses of that wine did I have? Or maybe it was just the man making me crazy. God, I can’t believe I was so wound up because he hadn’t contacted me in the last eleven days. The fucker.
When I didn’t look up at him, he gripped my chin and tilted my head. Looking into my eyes with that unusual gaze, he said, “You are angry.”
I snorted. “Do you want a medal here and now, or would you like to hold a ceremony for it?”
He blinked down at me looking totally baffled. I swallowed and pulled my arm free. Taking a step back, I said, “Don’t play games with me, Antonio. I don’t like them.”
He didn’t deny it, maybe because he had said that he doesn’t lie. Instead he said, “I was busy.”
“Well... I was too, until you came and sabotaged my date.” I replied, wanting to let him know that I have no shortage of guys. But for some reason I was stuck on this Italian arsehole.
“I don’t like when someone shows interest in something I have set my eyes on.” He said it like it should mean something.
It meant s**t to me. For me actions speak louder than words. And he has been nothing but a jerk and too full of himself. “I am not something, Antonio. I am a person. And right now I don’t like you.”
His head tilted to the side slightly and then he sighed. He released my hand and said, “Fine.” He held out his hand toward the door. “If you want to leave then leave. I won’t stop you.”
I stood there. For some reason as much as I knew that I should walk away because of his arrogance, I also didn’t want to. His eyes lit up as if recognising his win against me. “Goodbye, Antonio.” I couldn’t let him win. I would never let another man win when it comes to me. I turned away from him and started walking.
“I am leaving for Italy tomorrow.” I paused, stopped. His accented voice came from behind me and I could feel the heat of his body as he closed the distance and said, “I am a busy man, Erica. Empires don’t run themselves.”
“Then go find a woman who would wait for you while you run your so-called empires. I’m not someone who waits.” I replied back, not turning around to look at him.
“Maybe that’s why I’m here. Because you are not most women. And I wanted to spend my remaining time with you, before I have to go. I don’t know when I'll get the chance to come back.”
“Then you should go.” I said, my throat tight for some reason.
His fingers clasped my arm and he turned me around. When I met his eyes, he said, “I will. I just want to know...”
“Know what?” I whispered.
“Why can't I shake the thought of you from my mind? Why do I feel fascinated when you talk back? And what you’d look like spread naked on my bed?” With each word out of his lips my heart climbed higher and higher. I felt hot and chilled at the same time. Excited and scared.
I sucked in a breath, feeling like somehow I had stepped into an alternate dimension or maybe I was still asleep and seeing a dream where he would undress me and take me like he had been hungry for me for years. “Antonio...” It wasn’t me who spoke, because somehow my voice sounded foreign to my own ears.
“Yes.”
“Can we go?”
“Where?”
“Wherever is the nearest bed.”
His eyes hooded and he looked dangerous as he clenched his jaw and then in one smooth move he picked me up in his arms. I let out a surprised gasp as my hands went to his shoulders. His wide shoulders. My hand dropped to his bicep and I couldn’t help but be impressed by the muscles that jumped under my palm. Oh.
There were more men standing outside the restaurant as if guarding the whole perimeter around, they parted as Antonio strode out with me in his arms, holding me like I was the spoils of his victory. But for some reason I felt like it was my win too. One of his men opened the car door and without breaking a stride he stepped inside with me. The moment we sat and the door closed, I turned and kissed him. I had to.
I had to know what a kiss— a proper kiss, with him would feel like, taste like. I gripped his hair and felt his hand at my back as I pressed my lips against his. I pushed my tongue, parting his lips, seeking entry. He allowed me entry and sucked on my tongue. I kissed him almost desperately, tasting coffee and almonds on his breath. Something addictive too, that I was sure was all him. Slowly, his fingers tangled in my hair. It felt like he didn’t want to scare me but I let out a soft moan when his fingers tightened and fisted my hair. He let out a rough sound as he took my lip between his lips and sucked on it. I dug my fingers into his chest, and got on my knees on the car seat to get closer to him.
Then his lips dropped to my neck and I felt like someone electrocuted me. I let out a startled moan and protested on a whine when he started to pull away. “Hush... diavolo...” I shivered at his words. He said, “We are here.”
Just then I heard a knock on the window. “Here? Where?” I asked, blinking up at him.
“To the nearest bed.” He took my hand and stepped out of the car.
When we came out it took me a moment to understand what was happening. I looked up at the two story colonial style brick house. “This... This is the place you are staying at?” I asked, looking at the place. It was at least two thousands square feet.
“Yeah. It was available for sale. Why?” He asked it so casually.
I sputtered and coughed. Looking up at him, I asked in horror, “You bought this big place just for a few days that you are staying here.”
He frowned. “Not days. Almost a month now. And I can’t possibly be living in a hotel room.”
“You can’t?” I asked, honestly confused. “Why not?”
“Privacy issues. And security issues.” His ‘of course’ was silent but I heard it.
“Why do you have to make so many enemies if you’re going to live like this?” I asked as we started walking.
“Did you ask that question to your brother-in-law?” He demanded to know.
“Fine.” I looked at him and said, “But he does only what he has to. He’s the good guy.”
“Is he?” The tone of his question made me pause. When I turned back to him, he was looking straight ahead and asked, “How do you differ between good and bad, Erica?”
“I don’t know. I guess something bad that’s done for the good of the other, can’t be that bad.” I answered honestly.
“Like murdering a lion because you are afraid he will eat all the rabbits?”
“No. Not that.”
“So you won’t murder a lion if he was attacking your pet dog or a cat?”
“I would.”
His golden eyes came back to me. Trapping me. “Why? Isn’t it bad? You killed a lion who just wanted to have his next meal?”
I shook my head. “Its not what we were talking about.”
“It’s not?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe not. But it’s the same, you see, one man’s good can be another’s bad. Do you not have something that others love but you don’t? You can’t? It’s just not right for you?”
My father. Everyone loves their father but I don’t. “Yes.”
“So you get it why a person has to do what he has to do?” For some reason it felt like my answer meant much more to him than he showed but then we were at the front of the huge carved wooden doors and a man in a black suit opened the door.
“Good evening, sir. Miss.” He nodded and took a step back. I recognised him as the same man who had come to deliver the gifts.
“Oh, I remembered something...” I turned to face Antonio as we came into the huge open hall. I said, “The gifts you had your man deliver, I can’t accept them.”
“Why not?” He asked as he shrugged off his suit jacket, effectively making me distracted with the way his shirt was clinging to his body. Damn. He was built like a tank. I licked my lips wondering what I would find beneath that shirt. I can’t wait to rip that off his body and lick— “Erica.”
“Umm...” I looked back into his eyes. He looked amused. I tried to remember what we were talking about, I said, “Oh yes. The gifts. I can’t have them, they are too expensive.”
“So? They are gifts from me to you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I can’t and they are not even my style. I don’t wear those kinds of things.”
He stepped closer. “You are beautiful and you deserve beautiful things.”
I felt the sudden tightness in my chest and realized that I had worn a dark blue dress for my date and even made the effort to curl my hair but Dane hadn’t complimented me and here he was. The Italian mobster called me beautiful in his million dollars worth of house that he bought just for a month. I looked around, wanting to look away and gather myself. I said, “This house is beautiful...” I sounded flustered. I am never flustered.
He captured my chin and turned me around to face him. “You don’t know how to take a compliment, diavola?”
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“Devil.” He leaned closer. “I will make you learn how to take the compliments.”
I licked my lips and to change the subject because this felt more intimate than the prospect of getting naked with him, I said, “You mentioned bed. I’m not seeing one here.”
His lips twitched. His thumb swiped on my bottom lip and he said, “It’s upstairs. But I think we should share a drink first.”
I shrugged. “If you want.” I could definitely use a drink and a pill or two. This intimacy stuff wasn’t working wonders for my mind. For some reason, this side of him— almost soft, made me feel confined.
A. Gupta
- Writer
