ROSALINE
I would burn in hell for this. No, not even the devil would take me for the way I had betrayed my people. If my brother learnt of my little crusade with the enemy, it would be worse than hell for me. If I had known I would wake up in De Luca’s bed, naked and smelling of him, I would have never entertained the idea of drinking with him.
I ran a hand through my tangled hair. There was no arguing that I looked like sex if that was even a thing. My eyes drifted to De Luca, his chest pressed to the mattress, breathing even and face peaceful. Do all Mafiosos look this unbothered when asleep?
I leaned in a little to inspect his face. His beard was properly trimmed into shape, and his eyebrows were on-fleek. I had never seen a Mafioso with no facial scars. Adonis had one, and even my brother did—a tiny one on the side of his forehead, but De Luca’s face was unmarked. Without the Omerta tattoo and the brooding expression, he would look like any other normal man.
His face was a well-defined square and his nose pointed, giving his face a perfect structural appreciation. My eyes paused at his thin pink lips, his lower lip slightly plumper than the upper. He was a great kisser. I had no intention of giving in to his tortures, but just one touch of his lips and I was all his. Fireworks had erupted in all parts of my body. And his tongue...
I forced my eyes open and jolted away from him. What the hell am I doing?
My father would come out of his grave and beat me to death for what I’d done. According to him, my innocence had to be protected at all costs… so that they could barter me away like a piece of fresh meat. I hated the idea, and that was one of the reasons marriage to Terenzio scared me.
Terenzio was looking for power like all other men out there. And what better toy to use than the Consigliere’s sister?
I got down from the bed, making sure to not make a single sound. How ironic was it? Just yesterday, Adonis and Matteo had made fun of De Luca and why they had given him a bigger suite.
“The bed would be perfect for him to spread his arms, legs especially, and feel his loneliness,” Matteo had said. “Maybe he will decide to marry my sister sooner than later.”
Adonis had laughed. Yes, laughed. They enjoyed Luciano’s misery. It was only now that I felt pity for Luciano.
My brother had to butt into their conversation because he could never keep his dumb mouth shut when it came to insulting someone. He had said, “Maybe he’ll find a distraction for the night.”
Even in his dreams, he could not have expected his beloved sister to end up as De Luca’s distraction for the night.
I gathered my clothes and tiptoed into the bathroom. Luciano was sound asleep and as long as it remained that way, I was safe. I did not want to talk to him now that I was sober.
I remembered him mentioning that I would regret this morning, and I remembered denying it, and in genuine honesty, regret was far from what I was feeling right now.
I had lost my virginity to a man I knew nothing about, but that did not bother me. I could not help but feel like a betrayer, stepping into the reality of this situation. He was Fabiola’s fiancé, and she has been nothing but a good friend to me.
I wanted to drop to the floor and cry my lungs out, but instead, I got dressed, washed my face, adjusted my hair to look less of a mess, and made my way toward the door. Giving one last look at De Luca, I grabbed my purse, opened the door and peeked my head out. The hallway was empty and, seeing that as the perfect opportunity, I sprinted out of his room.
I ran up the emergency stairs to my room and examined the floor once again. It was a relief that Dom had a habit of waking late in the morning. Holding my stable posture, I made my way to my room and locked the door.
I had always thought that sleeping with a man for the first time would not bother me, even if the man was not my husband, because I hated the idea these Mafiosos had about marriage and chastity. Now, after actually having slept with a man, I felt the exact opposite of no worry.
Dom had once given me ‘the talk’. I was seventeen back then, and I had known what was coming. He had explained why it was important for me to not let any man touch me. I appreciated his efforts, even though he did not need to put any. I had always known of our world and its customs.
I loved him, which was why I had never let a man too close to me. I worried about my brother’s reputation more than anything. He was a mere soldier turned Consigliere and people would make fun of him, saying that he could not control his sister and that our father had not taught him how to take care of his family. They already talked too much because he had given me the freedom girls like me were not allowed to have.
At least, until today I was sure all those rumours would die down at the bloody sheets ceremony… but I had already bled. How was I supposed to bleed again?
***
I sprinted out of the airport until I was inside Dom’s car. I had somehow avoided my brother until now, but the one I truly wanted to avoid was Fabiola. She had sat beside me on the plane and I had to talk to her, laugh and smile at her, when, in reality, I was drowning in guilt on the inside.
“Why the hell are you so nervous today?” Dom asked, side-eying me, while his hands remained straight on the steering wheel. “Is it because of the reception?”
Before I could speak, Julian chimed in, “Oh, girls and their obsession with being perfectionists!”
I had been so distracted that I had failed to notice Cole and Julian getting into the car with us. Snorting at Julian, I remarked, “You’d be the happiest to know I’m not.” I turned to Dom and added, “I just don’t feel like myself right now.”
Dom’s brows creased, and he looked at Julian through the rear-view mirror and said, “The venue is perfect and it’s not like anyone’s going to die if something goes wrong.”
At any other time, I would have had a comeback prepared. He certainly did not understand why weddings needed to be perfect. His friend would not marry twice, that was for sure, so everything had to be beautiful and on top.
“We’ll just need to put up extra security,” Julian said.
“Why?” Cole questioned. Probably the look on Julian’s face explained it to him. “Oh, the Bratva. I get it. Your world is still messy for me, but I’ll get acquainted with it sooner.”
I groaned. “Trust me, you don’t want to. There’s nothing flowery about it.”
Dom said, “He has to. Adonis has hired him as our new hacker.”
My eyes widened. “That’s great. You have mad skills.”
Cole was one of the best hackers I knew. He had been working with Bella for six years, helping her with her projects. I was more impressed with him because he was one of the first people to find out where Adonis lived, despite Adonis's desperate methods to remain out of the radar.
He shrugged. “I mostly said yes because of the payment. Turns out I’m jobless and hacking is something I love to do. So, I’d keep earning from that while spending a lot of money on the stock market.”
“At least some of us get to live in the moment.” I sat back and looked at my brother. “I won’t be attending the reception.”
Dom’s expression tightened, and he asked, “Is it because of De Vitto?”
“No!” Not entirely. I could not stand in front of Fabiola and face De Luca again. If he attended the reception today, I surely would not want to be there for him to create problems for me. “I just don’t feel well. I took too much work at Adonis’s wedding, so my entire body’s a mess.”
His muscles relaxed, and he sighed. “Fine. Take your time, but we will talk about De Vitto after this.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding like an obedient child. “Now that we’re in the clear, can you please drop me at Betto’s?”
“Me too,” Julian said with a grin.
I certainly knew what that glint in his eyes was about. He had been shagging my best friend, Paulina Betto, the daughter of the owner of Betto’s Tattoos, a place most visited by the men in Cosa Nostra. Paulina was not of our world, and I wanted to keep it that way forever. Having Julian near her only meant danger for her.
I did not protest as Dom drove us to Betto’s. Julian and I entered the shop into the waiting parlour and I quickly said to him, “I swear to god if she ends up getting hurt, I’ll cut your balls off.”
He sniggered. “Have you ever seen what actual balls look like?” I cringed at his words and he laughed. “Don’t worry. Your friend and I are just casual.”
“Casual’s what I worry about most. One can have casual until they can’t,” I warned.
Paulina walked out of the tattoo studio, her ebony hair hanging in a loose bun and her lips tugging into a grin. She ignored Julian and walked toward me.
I quickly wrapped my hands around her and asked, “Are you even okay with this arrangement with him?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s just sex. I’m okay with it as long as trouble doesn’t walk up to me in the streets.” She broke from the hug and glanced at him. “What’re you here for? The last I checked, you only come after midnight.” The tone of her voice irked him, but he shook his head.
“Luckily, I’m here not for you. Where’s your papa?”
“Upstairs. What do you want with him?”
“We need him for the initiation of a few Enforcers,” he said, before disappearing into the tattoo studio.
Paulina turned back to me. “Anyway, now that the hot one’s married, I assume your brother’s the next one in line?”
“Marriage and Domenico Guerra don’t fit in the same line, Paul,” I snarled.
It was true. My brother did not even sleep around with women, which was odd. Sometimes, I wondered if he was gay. However, he never behaved like one. Maybe he was a dominating one. Who knew? He had not denied it when I had asked him.
“And what about you and De Vitto? What’s he like? Did you ask him about his kill count?”
“How weird would it be if I asked him that?”
She groaned. “Oh, come on! Your brother’s kill count is probably higher.”
I sighed. “There’s something else I need to get out of my system.”
She was the only one I could tell about Luciano, without the fear of being judged, exposed and humiliated. This was why I liked that she was not one of our girls. It would have been boring otherwise.
But amidst all of this, I could still feel the ache between my legs with every step I took, reminding me of the deed I had committed. Somehow, deep in my gut, I knew I would get into huge trouble for this.
