The Mistress of the Mafia

Chapter Three- Close

The car came to a stop in front of a nightclub that appeared to be shut down for the night due to the lights being turned off. This did not seem to affect Lyle however, as he slid from the leather seats of the car and holding his hand out for Selene as she stood beside him, still dressed in her waitress uniform.

“Can we go in?” She asked nervously before finding him to turn and scoff at her before he pulled her through the front door, past a bouncer and into a dimly lit club. To her surprise, the club was filled almost to the brim with hundreds of patrons drinking and talking and all appearing dressed the same as Lyle with slicked back hair or greaser style hair and dark clothing. But even despite this, she watched as he had still stood out with his specific look and the way he carried himself. She admired this in him as she watched him pull his jacket from his body and reveal a white dress shirt beneath. Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as she watched him roll up the sleeves of his shirt and reveal his masculine hands.

“I feel underdressed.” She confessed to him upon looking around and seeing the girls wearing what would be scene on Hollywood red carpets. He then pulled her into him as his lips crashed against her ear. “You look beautiful.” He answered upon moving across the room and towards the bar where he began to strike up a conversation with the bartender while Selene felt what felt like a million eyes scanning her. When he returned, he handed her a glass of red wine before she looked to him with a thankful glance. She felt overwhelmed with the situation but curious as to what Lyle Dante had to offer aside from his s****l features.

“Have you ever played before?” He asked upon revealing darts that he took from the nearby wall and had in his hand.

“With my father, many years ago.” She answered as he slowly nodded.

“How about “Scram”? Ever played that?”

She looked to him with confusion before shaking her head “no”. “Are you up for learning it?”

“I am up for anything.” She spoke the words before she thought of them as this made Lyle c**k his brow in being pleased to hear such words.

“Good to know.” He said before handing her a single dart and he took one of his own. “The rules are complicated so I will run then by you as we play so it doesn’t get confusing.”

“Sounds good.” She said upon feeling him stand at her side, close enough to brush his arm against hers as this sent her body to tremble internally. “You will throw the dart first and then I will, whoever gets closest to the bullseye will be able to go first. Okay?”

She nodded as she squared off to the board, hitting almost off the board as she blushed at her horribly throw. He smirked at this before hitting the bullseye directly, making her mouth drop open.

“I feel as though I have a slight advantage.” He teased as she shook her head in agreeance. “Do you want to do something else?”

She shook her head “no” as she wanted to at least try. He smiled at this as he admired her tenacity before pulling all the darts into his hand. “There are two positions in this game; the “scorer” and the “stopper”. I will be the scorer as I hit the bullseye and you will be the stopper.”

“Alright…”

“Since you are the stopper, you will throw three darts to try and hit the largest numbers on the board so I can’t get them. I will then use my darts to try and accumulate as many points as possible before you stop me once more. This goes until no more numbers are left on the board, does that make sense?”

She nodded, finding the rules to be a bit fuzzy but knowing she would learn as she went along. She then positioned herself with one foot forward to throw the dart, finding it to hit the “2” spot on the board. Groaning to herself, she saw from her peripheral vision how he had been leaning on a nearby raised table watching her as he sipped his Tom Collins.

Throwing the next dart, she came to hit the “16”, a score that made her smile wide as she knew it was a lot better than her first throw. The third throw made its way to the “12” before Lyle brought himself to the throwing platform after marking off the numbers that she had hit. Almost as if having fixed the game, Lyle then proceeded to hit “20”, “19”, and “18” in that precise order. She then grew determined as she focused on the board, throwing it directly at the “17” and striking it. She jumped up and down as Lyle lifted his glass to her before she turned to throw again. Due to her arrogance, she then missed the board completely and groaned aloud. She then focused hard before making it hit the “15”. She grew happy with this as she watched Lyle take his turn.

This continued back and forth until it grew to the last two turns; one more for Lyle and one more for Selene. She steadied her breath upon blocking his final numbers which were a “5”, “1”, and “9”. This left him with only six points in the final round. His total score had been an impressive triple digit that left her frustrated at how horribly she had done. But the game had only been half over.

“Now it is your turn.” She looked to him in confusion.

“There are no numbers left.”

“You are now the “Scorer” and I am the “stopper”...if you get a higher score than me then you win.”

“What do I win exactly?” She turned to him, growing more and more brave with her teasing with the more alcohol she drank. He c****d his brow before playfully glaring to her. “I wasn’t aware there were stakes.” He challenged as she smiled.

“Perhaps there should be.”

“Okay. What are they?”

“How about if I win then I get…” She looked around the room, able to see in more clearly as her eyes had adjusted to the dark tones of it. She analyzed it quickly as she saw many black and white photos hanging along the walls before her gaze game to the bar. Knowing only bad things come from making bets based around alcohol, she ignored it before then turning back to him.

“If I win...you take your rose back.”

He looked to her in surprise. “That is truly your wager?”

She nodded. “I am not sure what it is that you want.”

He moved to her, making her nervous as he towered over her, allowing her to feel his breath on her lips. “A dance.” She then was the one to look in surprise as she expected something more s****l such as a kiss or even another drink. She found herself slightly relieved by the circumstances but also disappointed.

“Deal.” She said upon extending her hand as he then shook it. He then took his position to throw his first stopping darts and landed directly on the “20”, “19” and “18”, making her chances of beating him already difficult as he kept his high numbers until the end of his turn. She carefully focused as it was now her turn and luckily came to hit “17” and “16”, but miss the “15” and having it fall to the “3”. She groaned before finding him to hit the next numbers until this left them on her final turn. Not wanting to pay attention to the scoreboard, she focused on the final three numbers she had left as she took a deep breath and let it out along with the dart. They came to hit each desired number as she jumped up and down. This came to a stop however when she saw the grin upon Lyle’s face. She realized it had been due to the fact that she only made it into the double digits and had lost the bet. But it was a bet in which either circumstance worked in her favor.

“Do you wish to take your winnings now?” She asked as he nodded before pulling her to the far end of the club where there had been an opening upon the dancefloor. He left her for just a moment before leaning up to the DJ and spoke of his desired song before the club music came to a halt and it changed to vintage Sinatra. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” began to play as he walked towards her. This choice intrigued her as she expected to have to perform moves fit for “dirty dancing” and not the classics. But as he had done since she met him, he continued to surprise her.

“I hope you don’t mind him.”

“I love the vintage.”

He smiled to this as he set his hand on her lower back and took her hand in his as he began to lead her across the floor. They seemed lost in each other as they took the moment in thinking as if they were the only two upon the floor. They did not care of the eyes upon them or even the whispers, they simply smiled as they acted like best friends upon sweeping across the floor. As the next song began to play, this time being “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Doris Day. She found the laughing to subside as he rested his chin against her temple and she rested her head against him. Selene found comfort in his very smell as even this seemed dangerous somehow. A musk aroma mixed with cigar smoke and vodka could be sensed as he pulled her into the perfect steps for a romantic dance. When this song began to play upon its chorus, Selene found Lyle to pull back from her for a moment and look deep into her eyes as he spoke over the music.

“I’m afraid that I should be getting you home.”

“A proper gentleman? I wasn’t sure there were any left in the world.” She commented as he held her hand and pulled her back through the crowd. “I am sure your friend is worried about you.”

“Gia? She’ll understand. I don’t have to go home yet.”

“Unfortunately, we both have jobs to get to tomorrow.” She groaned at the thought. This made him smirk before he pulled her outside, carefully placing his jacket over her shoulders. Upon seeing the disdain in her face, he opened his car door once more and found her to slide in without a second thought. Selene found Lyle’s hand to become placed upon her knee and onto her nylons as she closed her eyes and envisioned his touch pleasing her. Perhaps it was the three glasses of wine or even the adrenaline for ignoring every sane warning in her mind, but she found the danger of it all to not register with her as she felt safe with him.

“Which one is yours?” He asked upon having come to a set of apartments near the diner. She remembered that she had told him she was nearby and due to this, she drew shy for a moment.

“I..lied to you…”

He smirked. “You don’t live here?”

She shook her head. “I live across the bridge.”

“You...you live almost an hour away?” She nodded. “It was the only place that would hire me...no matter how much of a scumbag Sam is…” Lyle seemed to become lost in his thoughts before finding his driver to ask for an address. He then turned to her to retrieve an answer. She then gave the address to the driver as Lyle pulled a button in front of him that divided them from the driver to give them privacy.

“Thank you for tonight. Thank you for the rose...for saving me against Sam.” He nodded to her.

“You don’t seem to me like the type of girl that needs saving very often.”

“I like to think so…”

He drew his finger towards her cheek to bring her gaze back to him as it was focused out of the window abreast her.

“Did you tell me you lived close by so I wouldn’t drive you?” He asked as she found his fingers to linger on her skin, only now having moved from her face and onto her knee.

“I was worried…” She confessed.

“You were scared of me.”

She met his gaze as he continued to speak. “Are you still?” She found it to be a loaded question as she found everything about him to scream danger, but it was the main reason that she found herself attracted to him. Due to this fervent feeling, she shook her head “no” before speaking her answer aloud in a low voice.

“Good.” He also spoke low before pulling a piece of hair back from her face and placing it behind her ear. She smiled shyly as he pulled her chin towards him. “Why do you look away from me?”

“Because you make me nervous.” She confessed as he smirked. “Do you mean aroused?” She looked to him with her eyes having become large.

“What?” He asked with a smirk.

“You cannot say things like that and expect people to not question you.”

“I’m sorry. I just figured honesty is the best policy when it comes to anything. It cuts the bullshit.”

“Yes.” She answered as he looked to her in surprise.

“Yes?”

“Yes…” She spoke close to him as she turned her head in preparation of a kiss. Having expected his lips upon hers, she went to close her eyes before feeling nothing but air hit her mouth. When she opened her eyes, she found him to be looking at her with a grin.

“Oh my God...you didn’t want to kiss me.” She said to herself before closing her eyes tight and mentally lecturing herself as he chuckled. “You seem to find joy in making me uncomfortable.”

He looked to her after placing his finger on his lips. “It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you, it’s that if I started, I wouldn’t stop.” She felt every hair on the back of her neck and on her arms stand up as she felt lustfully pulled towards him. Selene made it to his lips, close enough to push them out and kiss him but before acting on this, she spoke in a low tone to him.

“Then don’t.” She challenged him as he drew his hand up her thigh as she kissed him slowly. It was not a kiss that was sloppy, but one with passion and desire to make said kiss happen. She found whatever insecurities she felt at the moment to dissolve as her appetite for him to please her grew greater than any of her anxieties. Lyle pulled her into him as they would come to a kiss and then pull apart for air. This then led to her bringing herself onto his lap and straddling him-not caring of her short skirt or how unladylike this was because she was desperate for him. He then placed her upon her back in the back of the limousine and removed his lips from her for a single moment before positioning himself so she could wrap her legs on either side of him. As his lips hit her neck and began to pay close attention to her skin, she found the door to the back of the limo to come open and the driver to look at them unphased.

Lyle cleared his throat and assisted Selene out of the car and fixing her skirt that had been pulled up to reveal her teal underwear. He then stood in front of the building with the rundown building standing in front of them.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” She asked out of breath as he gave her a smirk. He did not answer her however, as she moved to the front of the apartment building when she heard Gia calling her name. “I will see you.” He said before sliding back into his limousine and driving away into the dark, leaving Selene to receive a scolding from Gia.