03: Dare to dare

RAYNE

Lilith trembles against me and I love it. I relish in the fact that even when her eyes glares at me with boldness, her body betrays her emotion.

Chris is a fucking idiot to have given his daughter to me in place of an alliance. The Russo Don seemed to have forgotten that the hostility between us was more than just mere rivalry. He seemed to have forgotten what his family did to my brother fourteen years ago.

If he forgot, I did not forget and now I will take out every rage churning in me, upon his daughter.

"You little little feisty thing," I breathe against her ear. "I hate it when people do not listen to me, so now when I let you go, you fucking strip!"

Her eyes blazes with a bravery I rarely see in the women in our world. "I will NOT strip for you, Rayne," she spits out amidst chokes, and with determination, rips my hold from her neck.

I blink, rage seeping into my skin. "It is adorable that you think you have a say in this ma—"

My statement is interrupted by the ringing of my phone which I pick furiously. "What the fuck is it, Lorenzo!"

"Boss, you need to come!" His voice is cool and calm but the panic is not missed.

Something is wrong. "I'll be right there," I say then disconnect the call.

My gaze sweeps back to my wife whose beautiful violet orbs glare at me, her chest heaving. "I will be back for you, my sweet vixen. You better be ready for me," I tell her with a smirk and find my way out of her room, her scent following me and messing with my head.

I will not be distracted by the Russo girl because distraction is a crime I cannot afford to commit.

I find my way to the other side of the building where my office is situated. When I go in, Lorenzo is already in there waiting for me.

"Lorenzo."

"Boss." He nods. Lorenzo is my underboss, he has been with me even before I took up the role as the Don of our family from my Father. He is the closest thing I have to a friend.

"This had better be important that you had to drag me away from my wife, else your head won't last a second on you," I warn.

"It is the shipment from Silk City. Some of the goods are missing."

"What?"

My anger intensifies.

Fucking idiots. They just had to show me how incompetent they are by loosing my goods. My fingers clenches to fist, almost drawing blood.

"Where is Carlo?"

"That's the problem, boss. We can't find him."

Fucking hell.

"We've been trying to reach him too, but his phone is switched off," Lorenzo continues.

There is a rustling sound in my head, one that always rings whenever my anger is at its peak. It gets louder as Lorenzo keeps speaking. "We tried to reach his brother and he says he does not know where he is too. Boss, what do we do?"

This is no case of misplaced goods if Carlo is not picking his call. It is an intentional act.

"You don't think he is working with someone else?"

I raise my gaze to my underboss. "What do you think this is all about, Ren?"

He looks down at his phone and then back at me. A smirk graces my lips at look on his face.

"We should visit his brother, shouldn't we?"

"Yes boss."

I lean back against my chair, all thoughts of my wife tucked deep in the back of my mind.

I will come back to her later, but now I had to go teach some guy what it means to sidetrack me — Rayne De Luca.

[]

Shax club is bustling like it always does, the scent of alcohol, cigar and sweats mixed up. I always come for the fun, the ladies. My eyes scan the podium where the girls dance their hearts out. Today though, I am not here for all that.

My gaze slide to the man sitting at my front. "It's been a while, Dante Romano."

The owner of Shax meets my fiery gaze with a grin. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Mr. De Luca."

I want to wipe the grin off his face with a punch but I have to remind myself constantly that he is not the one who misplaced my goods but his brother.

"You know why I am here, don't you?" I question, watching him closely to see his reaction.

The grin on his face vanishes and he bites his lip, his pupils dilating in fear. "I have not seen Carlo, I swear," he muttered.

I know he is lying. I can see the way he wrings his fingers together beneath the table and the way his eyes keeps darting around like he is expecting someone.

He really is testing my patience.

"You have not seen Carlo," I say, repeating his statement.

He nods vigorously, almost as if his head will fall off. It is a wonder how manages to keep this place up when he is such a scaredy cat.

Although, no one can raise their head before me anyways because I rule thus city.

"You do know I hate it when I am being lied to, Dante? So you had better tell me where Carlo is else I squash you and ruin your clubhouse. You do not want that now, do you?"

His eyes widened at my threat. "I do not know where Carlo is!"

I chuckle. "I like your answer. Now should we move on to the next part?"

I fish out my gun from my pocket and point it at him.

The bastard raises his hands in defense, trembling as he sees my gun. He cannot even defend himself, yet he lies to my face?

"Do you want me to pull this trigger?" I ask, pressing my fingers to the trigger slowly, eyes trained on him as he fidgets, blinking rapidly.

"He came here this morning!" He blurts out. "Carlo came here this money and dropped some money, then he left. I swear that is all I know Mr De Luca!"

Dante is almost at the verge of tears as he speaks, it is a wonder he has not peed his pants.

I scoff, putting my gun down. "Now was that too hard to tell me? You could have saved me the stress by just saying it right away, but you had to keep me on my toes, isn't that it?"

"I... I would never do that," he stutters.

"Well, thank you for your time, Dante. Now run along before I change my mind about sparing your life."

He stands up and stumbled away, hitting people as he rushed to get out of my presence. Freaking dumbass just like his brother. My anger intensifies at the fact that Dante has no idea where his brother is.

The idiot had the audacity to cross me?

Once I get my hands on Carlo, I would spill his guys and watch his blood coat the ground with pleasure.

"Boss!"

I glance at Lorenzo whose eyes are trained at the entrance with his face pale as sheet like had just seen a ghost.

I follow his gaze and when it meets the person he is looking at, I am on my feet in an instant.

"Your wife is here, boss."

[]

LILITH

Fury encumbered me as I ran my fingers against my neck, feeling the sting of where Rayne had his hands on.

I will break you, Lilith.

I should have known that this marriage was too good to be true. I should have known Rayne De Luca would never settle for a truce.

Father was the fool for willingly giving me over to him.

I glanced at my canvas from across the room, even that would not dissolve my rage at this point. I needed something more.

Something more daring to take my mind off my farce of a marriage and I knew just the right thing to do, or rather the right place to go.

I went over to my luggage and ransacked it for the perfect dress for my outing. My gaze finds the dinner dress Amelia had gotten for me the first day I was to meet Rayne and a smirk graces my lips at the sight.

I brought out the dress and a scissors, and I proceeded to adjust it to the perfect fit for a clubhouse. When I was satisfied with my work, I raise it up with a grin.

Here I come, Shax.

Minutes later, I am dressed and I make my way out of my room, my heels slapping against the tiled floor. I am almost at the doorstep when I run into Betty.

"Ma,am!" She exclaims. "Are you going out?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I answer, rolling my eyes.

"But you cannot go. Boss made strict instructions not to let you out of this house," she pleads, her lips trembling.

The motherfucker.

"So he made you a babysitter, technically?"

Betty shakes her head, looking down at her feet. "Please, you cannot leave ma'am. Boss would kill me."

I roll my eyes again, drawing a deep breath. "Fine," I say. "I'll go back."

Betty sighs in relief, her shoulders slumping. "Thank you ma'am."

I turn around, pretending to follow her and when she is not looking, I strike, going for her neck with my palms folded in an ax-like manner. Betty falls to the floor, unconscious. She will be awake in the next thirty minutes.

I smile, wiping my palms against my dress. Rayne is such a fool for thinking just one maid will keep me from leaving this house.

[]

I enter Shax club with a poised confidence a Russo should have. My lips curl up in a sneer when I see the men casting sideways glanced at me, their eyes almost bulging out of its socket.

Unfortunately for them, only their eyes would see, their hands will never touch. I flip my hair and start to make my way to the bar.

"Lilith." A deep familiar voice washes over me.

Holy shites. I stop on my tracks when he appears in front of me, looking all pissed off.

It is my freaking husband.

I clear my throat, keeping my composure as calm as possible. "Hey, husband." I wink. "Fancy seeing you here."

I am not scared of Rayne De Luca, but the look on his face right now is like he wants to bury me alive and I really do not want to die.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He does not raise his voice, instead he speaks calmly. So freaking calmly that it scares me.

I am not accustomed with the calmness. I can deal with the yelling, My Father always yelled at me, and the yelling would advance to the whips. I have lived with it all my life and I understood it.

But this silence. Did they not say there is always a calm before the storm? My heart is beating so fast right now as I stare at my husband.

"You have not answered my question, Lilith, what the fuck are you doing here?" He asks.

I gulp. "I was bored at home and so I—"

I do not finish my sentence before I feel Rayne's tight grip on me, dragging me out of the clubhouse.

When we are outside, I wrench my hands free from his grip. "What is it? Did you really think locking me up with Betty will keep me away? I am not a fucking trophy to be locked up in your house, Rayne!" I yell, frustration biting at my tone.

I should not be yelling at Rayne, but I am past allowing myself to be degraded because I am a woman in the Mafia world so I hold my husband's gaze brazenly, even though the dangerous look makes me want to pee my pants.

"You are insane," Rayne states, staring at me like he is just seeing me for the first time.

"Unfortunately you are stuck with this insane lady in a marriage you certainly do not want."

The moonlight stretches along the horizon, casting its glow on us. My husband steps closer to me, his looming presence oozing trouble.

He lowers his body to my height and whispers to my ear. "Who told you, I do not want this marriage?"

My eyes widened at his question and I stumble back when he stands upright. "You are delusional to think I would marry a woman I do not want," he adds, looking down at my body, slowly grazing his eyes all over, making me feel suddenly self conscious at my choice of dress.

"You look ravishing in your dress, my wife. Shouldn't we take our discussion home?"

My mouth drops at his words, my heart beating faster than never before.

Rayne reaches for my lips and slightly runs his fingers along, when he reaches my neck, he stops. "What do you think I should do now, Lilith?"

"I told you I hate it when people do not listen to me," he continues. "But you have disobeyed me twice. What should we do now?"

I blink. "I am never good at obeying men, you should do well to remember that," I stutter out, knowing it will piss him off the more.

Men like him love it when women crawl at their feet, and I will never give him that satisfaction.

Rayne chuckles, and then presses his fingers to my neck. "First, I am going to kiss you, wife."

No!