Page 14

FOURTEEN

zina

“Y ou’re coming with me.” He snaps, standing in the doorway of my bedroom. I’ve just stepped out of the shower and I’m staring at him in disbelief, clutching the towel against my body as his eyes roam unrestrained over me.

“You can’t just barge in here, Giovanni. You have to at least knock.” I blurt out.

“Wear something corporate.”

“Where are we going?”

“I have a meeting. Hurry up. You’ve got thirty minutes.” His voice is commanding and cold. He throws the information at me and walks away without waiting for my reply.

I blink at the empty doorway, trying to figure out why he would want me at a business meeting. But I’m happy for the chance to get out for a bit and to do something different. I’m also secretly pleased that he wants me with him. Any time with him means something to me. Regardless of his moody attitude.

From my closet I select a body hugging white dress, the bandage style designs accentuates my waist and has a power-suite vibe to it when I pair it with black heels and a black blazer.

My hair is pulled up into a high bun on top of my head and I opt for a dark shade of fudge colored lipstick.

When I walk into the living room to tell Giovanni I’m ready he stares at me, wide eyed and gawking. I grin, pretending not to notice his admiration.

He catches himself and clears his throat loudly, gesturing towards the door. “Let’s go.” He snaps.

I walk ahead of him out to the car and the entire way I can sense the heat of his eyes on me.

He tugs my door open and his gaze is locked onto my legs as I lower myself into the seat. “Thank you.” I say sweetly.

“Mph.” He huffs in response.

The meeting is hosted at a warehouse near the docks. It’s clear that he brought me here as a show of power. Maybe this is a subtle threat after what happened last night. He wants to show me the strength of his control over his allies and his enemies, just in case I’m working with his rival.

The men seated around the table look rough and dangerous. Some wear black suits, clean cut and crisp, others, seated in the outer edge, are in overalls, covered in grease and grime.

Giovanni stands at the head of the table, leaning forward with his knuckles pressed into the wood.

“Another shipment was tampered with. Who the fuck knows what is going on? I want answers.” His voice booms across the room and the other men tense. He has power here. The air is thick with ego - but Giovanni is the one in power.

I watch curiously as people hurry to offer their thoughts and solutions, but none of them has anything valuable to add until one man stands up, his dark hair falling forward into his eyes. His name is Marcus, and he is Giovanni’s strongest ally. “I brought you a gift.” He says calmly.

Giovanni folds his arms over his chest and tilts his head to the side. His jaw is set as he watches Marcus, waiting.

Marcus waves his hand to one of the guys dressed in overalls and he disappears from the room. The rest of the room is silent, curious, waiting -

A few minutes later the goon drags in a prisoner.

A man - blindfolded and bound at the wrists, filthy, coated in blood, his skin torn and bruised. His front teeth are missing, punched out or pulled with pliers, it’s hard to tell.

My stomach twists. I’ve never seen someone who’s been tortured before. And that is obviously what’s happened here.

Tensing, I sit up straighter in my seat and glance at Giovanni. A sly smile drifts over his lips. He wanted me to see this. Maybe he knew all along.

“Did you get anything from him?” he asks without emotion. My eyes are torn between Giovanni and the prisoner. My heart is beating fast I watch them both.

Marcus nods. “He mentioned our old friend Emiliano. But he didn’t give any specifics.” My chest tightens at the mention of that name.

“I see.” Giovanni says, walking towards the prisoner. The goon pushes the prisoner down into a chair and he lets out a yelp of surprise. Giovanni slowly pulls his blindfold down and the prisoner blinks rapidly, squinting against the bright lights above him.

He narrows his eyes and sneers at Giovanni who is standing over him.

“Do you work for Emiliano?”

“Fuck you.” The man snarls.

He’s about to spit blood at Giovanni when his eyes catch sight of me. His mouth drops open and his eyes narrow with malice.

“Pretty little fucking thing. Something so pretty should watch her step in this world.” He snorts laughter and Giovanni’s eyes darken with anger.

He pulls his gun from the shoulder holster and flicks the safety off.

“Do you know her?” he growls, pressing the gun into the top of the man’s knee.

He laughs. “If you let me fuck her, maybe it’ll jolt my memory about whether I know her or not.” He licks his blood stained, bruised lips, his eyes devouring me from across the table.

The loud snap of a single gunshot bites into my ears and I jump in my seat, my heartbeat tripling in speed. My breathing is faster, sharper, but I try to cover my shock, noticing that no one else in the room is surprised by Giovanni’s cruel and violent display of power.

The prisoner is screaming.

He’s leaning forward and clutching at his knee. Blood bubbles from the hole in his leg and flows down onto the floor forming a puddle around his foot. His face is distorted in pain.

“What the fuck?” The prisoner spits, tears streaming over his face, streaking against the grime.

“Nobody threatens Zina.” Giovanni says darkly. He turns to look around the room. “Does everyone understand that?” he asks, and men quickly nod, glancing at me, then back at Giovanni. “She is under my protection. I want my enemies to know that. Send a clear message. Use his body, make it look good, leave it somewhere they can find it.” Without looking at the prisoner he lifts his gun towards the man and fires a single shot into his skull.

The men standing and sitting within range of him get sprayed in a fountain of blood, brains and bone fragments as the bullet erupts from the back of the prisoner’s skull and smacks into the concrete wall, missing one of the goons, but coming close enough to make him yelp.

In slow motion the dead man rocks forward, Giovanni steps aside and lets him fall into the concrete floor, his face landing with a wet slap against the ground.

I press my lips together, fighting the surge of nausea churning in my stomach.

Giovanni turns to look at me and his eyes are so dark they’re almost black. One corner of his mouth curls upwards in a dangerous smile. My heart beats faster and my body floods with desire despite the gory scene behind him.

His darkness, his power and the ruthless way he was willing to declare his protection over me - it’s incredibly enticing.

Despite knowing better - I can’t help but be attracted to this side of him.

Giovanni slides the gun back into its holster and walks to me. He holds out his hand. “Come, let’s go.” He says calmly.

I place my hadn’t in his and he lifts me to my feet. When his eyes lock with mine, a smile spreads over my lips. I bite my lower lip, fighting the wild urge to kiss him.

“Marcus.” Giovanni says, turning towards the other man. “Good job with getting that information. See what else you can find out.”

“Will do.” Marcus says. He gestures over the body and nods towards the goons. “Clean this up. We have work to do.”

The drive back to the estate is quiet. Giovanni is focused on the road ahead and he doesn’t notice me watching him, my gaze tracing the outline of his profile, his solid chest and the way his arms flex against his rolled-up sleeves while he shifts between gears. His thick, muscular thighs stretched against his pants.

I’m fighting the urge to climb onto his lap. I want to sit on his cock and ride him until his body gives in to me.

All of that power he has - it can be mine if I have power over him - and I know I do.

I know I am some sort of weakness to him. Like Kryptonite.

Every man has his Kryptonite.

A dark, silent smile drifts over my face and I turn to look out the window, watching the buildings race by as we speed through the streets.

Giovani is more than I ever imagined. He’s stronger, darker and more in control of the world than I thought. He is the king in a dangerous kingdom - the darkest force. I saw how the other men looked at him. I saw their obedience. Despite their own power - they were all willing to concede to his.

And now he has made me his queen in their eyes.

At the estate Giovanni goes to his office and I head up to my room to figure out what all of this means. I don’t see much of him until dinner, and then after dinner he disappears again, closing his bedroom door and shutting everyone out.

It’s disappointing, because I’m desperate to find out why he did what he did. I want to know what he was thinking, why he chose to defend me so coldly.

I’m lying in bed, trying to fall asleep when my phone buzzes. My heart immediately somersaults when I see his name on my screen.

Giovanni: Come to my room. I need to talk to you.

Without waiting another heart beat I throw my blankets off and rush towards my bedroom door. But then I hesitate, smiling, I turn back to my closet and wiggle out of the sweatpants I’m wearing, and instead I slip into a pale pink lace nightie. It’s practically transparent.

When I walk into Giovanni’s room I pretend as though I’ve been sleeping. I hurry in, bewildered and confused.

“What’s happened?” I stammer, “Is everything ok?”

His eyes flare with dark desire as they roam over my body.

“What are you wearing?” he growls angrily, standing up from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed. He’s wearing black sweatpants, no t-shirt.

I glance down at myself and gasp. “Oh my word.” I murmur, trying to cover my body with my hands. “Um.” I stand next to his bed, my eyes wide and my cheeks flushed pink with shyness.

He grinds his jaw and closes his eyes for a moment.

Giovanni shakes his head and grabs his shirt from the back of the chair. He hands it to me, refusing to look at me. My eyes trace over his chiseled chest and down to the budge of his cock, pressing against the soft fabric of his pants. I bite my lower lip and take the shirt from him.

“Thank you.” I say with relief.

Slipping my arms into the oversized shirt I don’t button it up. And I let is fall off my shoulder when I climb onto his bed and curl my legs up beneath me. “What did you want to talk about?” I ask, leaning against the headboard, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

A low growl rumbles from him.

His eyes drift over me as he settles on the bed next to me, leaving a very obvious gap between us.

“I want to talk about what happened today.” He says.

“Ok.”

“You need to understand that you have been elevated. My enemies will see you differently now that I have stated you are under my protection. A move against you will be a declaration of war. It adds a layer of security around you - but it also puts a target on your back for those wanting to start war with me.”

I nod, listening closely, watching his eyes move over me.

“It also means that you have power, Zina.” He says quietly.

“What do you mean? What power do I have?”

“My allies know you have meaning to me. And that gives you the power to command them. They will do what you say, because you are with me.”

“With you?” I say quietly.

“Not like that - “ he stammers, looking away and taking a sharp breath.

I shift closer to him, closing the space he left open between us.

“Why not like that?” I ask in a seductive whisper.