Claimed By My Mafia Stepbrother

5 - Meeting Up With The Devil

Lisa’s POV.

I ended up being the one to pick the restaurant where we’d meet. Seems fitting as I was the one who insisted that we meet, I was surprised when he immediately refused, but after sending about twenty mesages and calling him about five times - much to his chagrin - he finally agreed to meet, but hung up before I could tell him where exactly.

Anyway, it was a small detail and I could always text him the details. What mattered was what I would say when I actually got there.

I practiced with Shonda for a couple of hours, I tried politeness, but Xander would probably scoff and wave me off at the sign of any meekness, I tried bluntness, but Shonda was worried he’d get upset and cuss me out if I tried talking down on him, so I stuck with being straightforward and at the same time polite, I needed to get my point across and I needed answers as to why he did what he did even after making sure to let me know that he was in no way interested in me.

I was going in there bold, straightforward and determined.

But it wasn’t surprising when my confident melted the moment Xander strode in, my tongue became heavy in my mouth and all the words I was going to utter suddenly evaporated, it was like English was beyond me. I cleared my throat when he sat in the chair directly opposite me, he glances around the quaint cafe with an unreadable look on his handsome face before returning his gaze to me, I couldn’t breathe when he looked at me.

The world went quiet and I was sure he could hear my heartbeat given how fast it was beating, it was pathetic really, the mere sight of him was reducing me to much so quickly. I clench and unclench my fists as a way to drum up courage, but once again, the courage doesn’t come and I’m left staring at this man in wonder as he assess me from head to toe.

“Are you going to speak? Or are you going to stare at me all day?” His voice is dry and a bit harsh, but it works to snap me out of my haze.

I clear my throat once again and square my shoulders, the words eventually form on my tongue and I open my mouth to speak. “I’m offended by what you did yesterday.”

He tips his head to the side and drums his finger against his bare upper arm, bare due to the short sleeves of the form fitting black shirt he’s wearing, it takes me a lot of effort to ignore the broad expanse of his chest as he speaks. “And what did I do?” His voice indicates that he knows exactly what he f*****g did, he just wants to be difficult.

“You- you know what you did!” I fume, some of the patrons glance at me and I lower my voice harshly. “Stop playing dumb, I’m just here to make one thing clear here, you’ve been gone for six years, and even when you were here you were barely home. With all this in mind I think it’s prudent that you refrain from getting involved in anything that concerns me. Including who I decide to marry.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Lisa,” my toes curl when he says my name, but I straighten my shoulders and glare at him sternly. “Dax isn’t good for you.”

“You don’t get to decide that!” I hiss, his face remains blank.

“I didn’t decide that. You did, when you ignored my clear warning back then to stay away from him when you were younger. You left me no choice after that,” my heart stops briefly, then picks up again in rage when he continues. “Also, it’s a simple fact. He and his family are…”

“No worse than our family,” I waved my hands wildly, as with every conversation I’ve had with him, frustration takes over and I start rambling. “We’re involved in Mafia businesses in one way or the other, you have blood on your hands. Stop acting like you’re a f*****g saint. I’ll say it again, you don’t get to decide who I can or cannot get married to. Also I’d prefer if you refrained from kissing me ever again as well, it’s-”

“Intoxicating? Addicting?” My face flamed and he leans forward for the first time, his cologne washes over me and I inhale it almost desperately “I know it was for me, and I’d really like to do it again even.”

I ignore the way my heart skips a beat. “It’s wrong Xander. We’re stepsiblings, remember? I’m also engaged and you-” I grasp for more words to explain the utter wrongness of this. “You told me to stay away from you. Six years ago, you made it clear you weren’t interested me and now you’ve suddenly changed your mind?!”

“That was in the past,” he waved off my words. “This is the present. And now I want to kiss you again and I know you want to as well.”

“Like I said, it’s wrong! You’re my stepbrother, and besides, I really don’t,” I argue.

“You do. I know you Lisa,” that damned sentence. “If you didn’t want it you wouldn’t be this flushed, your fingers wouldn’t be trembling and you certainly wouldn’t have f*****g whimpered yesterday despite how light that kiss was. Be honest.”

“I am honest! You’re f*****g crazy!” I spit out. My blood was boiling, whether from how flustered I was or from rage… I couldn’t tell, either way, I was clenching and unclenching my fists while he just sat there, smug and clearly unbothered. “You know what? I’m done.” I stand and grab my purse as I do so.

I make to leave and he follows closely behind me, he’s a good five inches taller than me and his legs are absurdly long so he easily catches up to me and grabs me by the hand, I turn to glare at him.

“Let me go,” I try to yank my hand away. More people are staring now, but no one dared approach. Why would they when it was Xander?

“No, I’ll drive you home,” he yanks me out of the restaurant.

“I’ll order an Uber! Just leave me alone!” I try once again to free myself of him, but he doesn’t budge, he pauses in front of a sleek, black sports car, I eye it without any ounce of awe, I was surrounded by s**t like this anyway. What was really bothering me was the fact that he was trying to get me into it.

“Xander!” He leans close to me and shoved me unceremoniously into the passengers seat. “Let me out!”

“No. Your father won’t be pleased to hear that you took a cab, stay still, I’ll drive you home.”

I glare at him the entire ride and he ignores me even with that. Eventually we pull up in front of my house and I quickly scramble out of the car, but the moment I do I almost scramble right back in.

At once, I stumbled on my feet on noticing a very pissed off Dax standing on the patio. Somehow, I had completely forgotten that i was supposed to meet up with him today, that he was supposed to come pick me up, until right now.

“I… Dax…” my lips part and shut several times as I take in the rage on my fiancé’s face. “What are you doing here?”