06: The Date

Rayne

"Boss, we've found him."

I smirk. I have never claimed to be a good man. Never expected flowers from anyone. Everything I touch gets ruined and anyone who dares me gets destroyed.

"Bring him in," I say to Lorenzo after taking a puff from my cigarette.

Carlo is brought in and even before I see him, I can already smell the fear oozing from him. "Imagine running all the way from Italy to Paris? Sometimes I wonder why people do things without the balls to own it. Do you know why, Carlo?"

Carlo's eyes are red when I finally turn around to face him as he is pushed to kneel before me. "Boss," he sputters, his eyes teary and his lips trembling.

I am calm. "I asked a question Carlo, so answer me."

"I... I'm sorry boss. It was not intentional... I... I swear." He is stuttering again, tears streaming down his face already and sweat trickling down his forehead, making a mess of my Persian rug.

Fucking pussy.

My anger is suddenly intensifying. I want to dart a bullet into his skull for the audacity he had to do this. If you have not already figured out, I hate it when things are not done my way. It is no special reason, it is just the De Luca blood in me.

"Where are my goods?" I question, my hands already reaching for my gun.

Carlo's eyes widens. "I didn't want to do it I swear, it was him! He forced me!"

Now I'm interested which makes me lean back on my chair. "And who is he?" Carlo blinks, suddenly looking around as if he would be butchered if he ever uttered the name.

"You don't want to talk?" I was taking my sweet time which was unlike me, given the circumstances I would have put a bullet through his head long before he even started talking.

"Boss," he sputtered again, his eyes widening in fear of the unknown. I already had my guesses of who did this and goddam it if it was actually him, then a war was brewing in the streets of crown city.

"Actually," I start. "You don't have to say shit." And I do not wait for any other thing before cocking my gun and letting the bullet fly straight into his chest.

Crossing me was one thing, but betrayal? I was never a big fan of that.

"Get someone to clean this up," I say to Lorenzo. "And prepare the jet, we are flying back to Italy this night."

"And the madam?" Lorenzo questions, referring to my newfound wife.

"She stays put till I'm back." I say that knowing fully well that the Russo daughter had a problem with taking heed to orders. Apart from the anger brewing up in me, there is an underlying curiosity now at what my little wife would do before I get back.

I don't tell her I am leaving.

•

Lilith

It was past six in the evening and Rayne had not come back. I wanted to feel happy at the thought, at least his unsaid threats of a night together would not come true if he was not around but why did my heart beat at the thought of the night in question. Why was I feeling like I wanted to know what he would do to me if he was actually here.

Perhaps I have gone insane. Perhaps being inside for over five hours doing nothing but drawing was fucking with my mind. Perhaps what I needed was to have fun.

I was going to dare him again with the plan brewing in my head and for some reason my heart burst with excitement at the thought of what he would when he found out.

It took me twenty minutes to get ready and as I stood before the mirror I imagined my newfound husband looking at me through those cerulean eyes of his. I had curves in the right places and although I mostly hated it, today I reveled in it.

I was dressed in a black gown with gold sparkles. The gown had a slit on the left side that ran from beneath to just above my knees showing much of thigh skin than should be considered appropriate. The dress accentuated my caramel skin which was the only feature I appreciated inheriting from Amelia since her roots was Africa. My lips were painted in my favorite shade of red and my braids were packed up in a messy bun while I had applied my mascara and eye shadow to give a smoky sexy look to my eyes.

This night, the city of light was about to get a very special guest in their very special club.

There was no guard to stop me from going out which was a first and my grin widened at the thought. For now I was not going to care wherever the hell my husband was. I just wanted to enjoy myself, drown away my reality in the throes of good music and alcohol.

Stepping into Club 57 was like entering a whole new world. The place was decked out in shiny chrome and cool ice blue, with lights flickering to the thumping rhythm of the music blasting from the DJ's booth on the far left. The entire warehouse floor had been transformed into a massive dance floor, where people were moving and grooving to the beat. Over on the right, the bar stretched out, bustling with bartenders mixing up drinks for the lively crowd. It was like I had just stepped into a party paradise.

I walked over to the bar, took a seat and requested for a shot of margaritas, scanning the crowd with my eyes and bobbing my head to the music being played.

"One shot of Margarita, coming right up!" the bartender says, smiling at me. When he brings my drink, I down it in one gulp, wincing at the sheer hotness that comes with the drink reaching the back of my throat.

The dance floor seems to call me so I request for another shot and down it again before making my way to the floor, actively trying notto collide with different bodies swaying in a drunken slur. My mind tells me I am making a mistake, every step I take reminds me that I am married to Rayne De Luca and he will not like this behavior, but yet the Russo blood in me is adamant and without thinking I find myself swaying my hips when the DJ suddenly switched the music to new woman by Lalisa

I feel like I am on cloud nine, like I can fucking do what I want. At this moment I am not thinking of my husband, I really just want to enjoy myself.

Only if it lasted.

I feel him before I see him. Hot waves searing through my body at his presence. That did not stop me from dancing until his strong hands grabbed mine, plastering my back against his chest with another hand down on my hips, holding me in place and stopping my movement.

"You forget you belong to me now Lilith, and when something belongs to me, no one else gets to see it but me so you had to better have a good reason of showing off my skin to half ass drunken men lest I off them all for looking at what is mine." There is command in his words, dominance coating every alphabet.

"What the fuck, Rayne?" The words tumble out of my mouth without thinking.

"I leave you unguarded for six hours and the next thing to do is find a club? You seem to like clubs don't you?"

Hot breath fans my neck sending shivers of a feeling I will not name down my spine. Rayne's grip is tight, demanding. "What was I to do when you left me alone, probably to go be with your other numerous women yeah?" I don't know why I said that and it is definitely not because of jealousy.

"I am everything but a cheater, I only pledge my loyalty to one person at a time," he answered and I could sense anger in his voice.

No matter how tough I tried to act, I knew that it would only take a twinkling of an eye for Rayne to destroy me with the palm of his hands but yet I am adamant, never heeding to the rules men like himself set for me.

"Fuck you," I grit out although not making any move to free myself from his grip knowing it will be worthless anyways. Before I can blink though, he spins me around to face him and I am taken aback by the sheer rage in his eyes. Never taking his eyes off me, his hands reach for my knees and like I don't weigh anything, he swings me over his shoulder.

"Let's get you home now, shall we?" There is no softness in his voice, only a promise of danger that I wish not to witness.

Scenes flash before my eyes and I shake my head to get rid of them. Not today.