ELENAThe feel of the cool floor underneath my knees was a weird sensation that only added to the thrill of what was to come.I had been testing Luca's limit when I had sent those clothes back. But even if I had known I was going to get a reaction from him, I hadn't expected it to be..this.Liquid heat gathered in between my thighs as my eyes leveled with the bulge in his trousers, and my mouth suddenly felt dry and empty.I wanted.. I wanted.... heck.. I didn't know exactly what I wanted."Eyes up here." Luca hissed, walking closer to me, and making it difficult to look up at him without tilting my neck upwards. My lips parted slightly as I took in his form which was now bigger, from my position on the ground. "Good." he reached for my chin, and cupped it, carressing my lower lips with his thumb.I could see his gaze darken, and wondered just what was going on in his head."I've been wanting to do this." Luca was saying. "...for the longest time, Elena." he stepped forward, his legs
LUCAI stumbled into the basement room in the house, feeling mad at myself, and trying not to get lost in my thoughts until I knew I was truly alone.I peered around the room, making sure no one was in sight, before walking back to the door and locking it.There and then, I released a shuddering breath, before staggering my way towards a chair that was all too familiar to me.The softness of the old antique leather chair was like a warm embrace and I sank into it, relishing the feel of coziness it gave me.My head was heavy. My eyes hurt like hell. And my chest, it felt lik something huge was placed on it, crushing it, and almost cutting out the air in my lungs.I stayed in the position for a few moments, trying to get my breath back and block all my thoughts for as long as possible, until I couldn't anymore.The thoughts rushed in like a prisoner released into freedom.Elena.With each time I allowed my self get close to her. Something inside me gave way. And I wasn't sure I was liki
ELENAIt was strange coming to work in my father's office.In fact, two minutes in, and I was already regretting it. I had chosen to wear something corporate, but comfortable, so I had gone for a pair of loose pants, a chiffon button down shirt, no necklace, just earrings, and a pair of comfortable high heel.Alberto had said there would be a meeting on my first day. And while my father may not have been my favorite person, I didn't want to disappoint him. Board or not, this was the mafia. Everyone sitting around that table, had one rank or the other in the underworld, and there was no way I could cower in front of them."You are early." my dad said, too cheerfully for my liking."Have I ever been late to an appointment before?" I hated tardiness. It was a habit he had successfully instilled in me."You don't need to answer a question with a question. Besides, it's simply a complement." Alberto pulled out his cigar, and I scrunched my nose."That thing can kill you, you know." I chos
LUCAI sat impatiently, waiting for Elena to arrive at the restaurant I had booked, a scowl on my face. Anyone who looked at me would think I was in a badmood, and I was. Things were not going according to plan, and it was pissing me off. Badly.The moment she entered though, I didn't need to look to feel her presence. I just knew.The hairs on my arm stood and I turned in the direction of the entrance to see her being guided by the waitress to my table.I instantly felt my insides grow tight. She was dressed so simply, but yet stood out. God, she was beautiful.To my chagrin, she had tied her hair in a bun that was half sleek and half messy. I wanted to pull that hair tie, and toss it away. Even throw all her hair ties away if I could.Her lips were painted a blood red, while the rest of her face barely had any make up on it."Hey.." she said, stopping in front of the table, as I got up to pull out a chair for her."Hey." I swallowed, managing a smile as I sat back in my seat once sh
LUCA"She seems to be getting under your skin a little bit now, doesn't she?" Alessandro said, immediately I stepped into the club. I was supposed to be picking Elena up in less than an hour, but I was stalling. I wasn't in the mood to go to the opera, but I had to be there. Including the man in front of me who for some reason, wanted to be in his club even if it was early.He owned a series of them, on our own side of town, and they were the best, if I could say so myself. It never lacked club goers, no matter the time of the day, and Alessandro always delivered.My brother walked behind the bar to get us some drinks."What the fuck are you on about now?" I hissed, wringling my hands together and observing the club, just for the sake of distraction.I knew what he was talking about. Who he was talking about."Elena. You know....your wife?" his eyes twinkled as he set down the cup of watever mixture he had come up with, in front of me."I don't know what you are talking about. No one
LUCA"You killed one of us." Muscle mass spoke, immediately we went into the room.I said nothing, walking around the huge desk in the middle of the room, so I was facing all of them while keeping a much needed space between us.I could tell it wasn't a wise decision, going in alone with them, but well...call me confident. And I was."One of you?" I asked dumbly, trying to decide between Luke and the ken doll. Although my best bet was Ken doll.We had dumped both bodies in a place Dante referred to as the dumpsite. It was a place for sending very... well... gruesome messages. And only used it when we really needed to. Like now, when we weren't sure who sent those men.It was a tactic to draw out whoever was behind this. And it looked like it had worked."Don't play dumb!" Another one shouted, his voice deeper, but rough. He walked from behind, to stand in front of muscle mass, making me begin to question who really was the leader. "The man you killed and dumped in the dredge!"I cocke
ELENAValeria ended up not going with us.Well she did go to the opera, but earlier, because as it turns out, she had a date, and none of her brothers knew she did. Dante had looked like he was about to wring both the neck of his sister, and the man she had brought as her date, but had held on to a very slim string of control when Valeria had threatened him with something in italian. And spanish.I barely understood any, but there they were, speaking and switching between those, fluently."That damn girl." Dante hissed, twenty minutes into the drive from house, to the location the opera was being held. He had been seething in silence since we left, and only spoke a few words.My consolation was, he was the one driving, and we didn't have any of the bodyguards chokig me up. I wasn't sure I could survive Samuel walking up and down with me in the damn opera!"You haven't said a word since."I had been too in my thougths, that when I almost didn't hear him.I turned, confused. "You haven'
LUCAThe opera house was too posh for my liking. I hated that they had chosen this specific location. Everything seemed too delicate and eligant. Like they were trying too damn hard."Seems like someone overdid them selves." Alessandro remarked, rubbing under his nose and spotting the most unimpressed expression I had ever seen on him. 'I really wish you would have just left me alone.""And enjoy all this on my own? Hell no." I mocked, not paying a glance to anyone, and instead focused on getting to our sky boxes. I could already imagine Elena waiting for me, with Dante.The thought of seeing her brought a strange shiver of excitement to my stomach."Oh... there it is.." Alessandro walked towards the private elevators that led to each box. "I will be next door." He winked, and walked into his, while I pressed the button for mine and waited. "Boss." Samuel's voice came from behind, and I frowned as I hadn't even noticed him before. "Shouldn't you be up there, waiting with her?" I ask
ELENAI looked behind me, feeling a slight chill down my spine."Is there something wrong?" Samuel asked, looking in the direction I was looking at.I shook my head, blinking and turning back to continue towards where Luca had parked his car. He had called and asked me to meet him in front of his restaurant. I wasn't surprised though, since his new forte was removing me from work at any time of the say.This time though, I welcomed it. Anything but the humiliation I had gone through in that office with my father.The tests, came back negative. All three of them.I didn't understand why, but I felt disappointed too, but not for the same reasons Alberto was.Luca was leaning on the car, his features alert. "Alberto." he nodded, reaching out to shake my father's hand firmly. "Luca." My father replied.I cast my gaze down, waiting for them to say whatever it is they wanted to say to each other, but my name was mentioned. I looked up to see Luca casting me a concerned look. "Get in the ca
ELENA"You did not tell me you were coming." I hissed as my father guided me by my arm into my office. He pushed me inside, and I dismissed Samuel who looked ready to pounce."I don't have to tell you when I'm coming to my own office, dammit!" His tone was more biting than usual. "And tell you bodyguard to mind his damn business!"I looked at my father, then as Samuel who had not backed down. "It's okay, Samuel. Please just wait outside." I pleaded when he continued to stand in the doorway. "Really, it's okay."Unlike his normal aloof self, it took him a few moments before stepping away from the door. "I'll just be right here, ma'am." It was one of the few times I heard him speak.I smiled, then closed the door, before turning around to see my father smoking."That thing will kill you." I said distastefully as he took a deep puff, and massaged my arms where it ached.I had barely stepped out of a meeting with a ground supervisor, when he had literally ambushed me and dragged me all th
ELENAI woke up with a banging headache.My head and eyes hurt like hell. I blinked, but only winced as the pain intensified. With a painful grunt, I rolled over to the side to see that I still had every single item of my clothing from earlier, on. Even up to my shoes.How had I fallen asleep with my shoes on?It took sitting up to get the memories of what had transpired earlier between me an Luca, to come flooding into my foggy brain.I hissed and got to work, pulling off the shoes and clothes. "Ouch." I winced when the shoes came off. My feet looked swollen and had an angry shade of red. It hurt to look at. I wondered how it would feel to work in.This was all Luca's fault.How and why did I even like him again?I limped my way accross the room and into the bathroom, wincing with every single step I took. How had I been so careless to sleep of with my shoes!A glance at my reflection in the mirror almost had me screaming from how scary I looked. I hadn't cried, but my mascara had pe
LUCAI wasn't jealous.Luca De Santis could be anything... anything but jealous.I walked straight into the bar and pulled out a full bottle of tequilla and a glass cup. On a second thought, I ditched the glass cup and took a long hard swig, straight from the bottle.The biting taste of the alcohol was not enough to calm down the storm brewing inside of me, but it just had to surfice.I took another, then another, then another.I was in fact, jealous.It wasn't an emotion I wanted to associate with myself, but of course that little bautiful thing of a wife had gone and caused havoc in my head.When Samuel had texted me an update I had almost exploded. I hadn't even bothered with the fact that I was in a meeting with my brothers and a client. I had stormed out, with Alessandro opting to follow me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid while Dante had decided to stay back to finish up with the client.The meeting was already ended anyway.The moment I had walked in there and seen the
ELENAThe car ride was silent.I kept my face glued to the window and my gaze fixated on the buildings as they passed by. Anything but the man sitting on the driver's seat next to me.Luca had ordered Hakeem to go with Samuel ans Alessandro, and had taken the steering wheel. From the side mirror, I could see the other car behind us, matching Luca's speed.I was concerned with the speed at which he was driving, hence the seatbelt I had wrapped around me three seconds in. But I would rather cut my tongue, than talk to him.We arrived, and the gates to the mansion were opened, and Luca drove in. For the first time since I arrived the building once again seemed unappealing to me.Of course he had lied when he had told Theo we had somewhere to be. He just wanted me home.I didn't wait for the car to stop completely before I was hurling myself up the stairs and straight to my bedroom. My intention was to lock the door once I was in, and seeth for however long I wanted, but the thunderous st
ELENAI looked at my empty plate with both embarrasment and utter satisfaction.The moment the food had arrived, I had known I had lost our bet because the aroma, the look, the taste.. oh dear heavens. It felt like I had missed my calling bacause I was certainly supposed to be a food blogger or something.Thank goodness there was nothing on my own side of the bet because I was a sore looser.The waiter cleared out plates and asked if we wanted dessert to which I declined for obvious reasons. Theo asked for some wine, and waited till the waiter left, before turning to me. His eyes sparkling. "Don't bother rubbing it in my face. I am a sore looser. I admit that. And... yes, you have good taste." I told him, before he could say anything. Theo Hayes definitely looked like the type that won't let things slide easily, but I was taking my chances.He pouted slightly. "I wanted to say it's been long I saw a woman so comfortable in her skin she literally enjoyed her food so much that she fini
ELENA Two weeks after the opera, and the images were still on my mind. I looked out the office window in my new office and sighed. The view was spectacular, given the sight if the city below. Below, but it was nothing compared to the view I had from the De Santis estate. Luca had been so busy the past week, that I barely ever saw him, except when he crept into my bed at night. He never stayed though. He held me in his arms, but I always heard the door open and close, just as I was falling asleep. I couldn't deny the fact that I liked him. Despite it all, I liked him. But the man was keeping to his boundaries. There was a knock on my door, and I sighed again, then took a seat just before Samuel opened the door for Theo Hayed. The man already had a smile plastered on his face as he walked in. Like he had the best news to share. "Elena De Santis." Theo said, plopping down on the seat opposite from him, even before I told him to. I hadn't seen Theo since after the very first day
ELENA A few minutes in and the whole house opera house was quiet, and only the sound of the most angelic voice I had ever heard, and instruments, could be heard. She was singing about long lost love and pain. And for the first time since I got married, I actually thought about my relationship with Donavan, and how it had ended. Every pitch, struck a painful cord in my heart, and I felt myself shift a bit from Luca, feeling my throat get clogged. I had experienced heartbreak in the most embarrassing way possible. Yet, here I was, lusting after a man I had sworn to hate. But maybe lust and hate could go together. The woman raised a hand up, her pitch going in the same direction, and the song suddenly took a dark turn. It turned into something really... sensual.. I looked at the hand that had been on my thigh all through, and watched as it squeezed my flesh a bit tighter. "Why did you move?" Luca suddenly asked, his eyes still trained ahead at the performance. I swallowed. "N
LUCAThe opera house was too posh for my liking. I hated that they had chosen this specific location. Everything seemed too delicate and eligant. Like they were trying too damn hard."Seems like someone overdid them selves." Alessandro remarked, rubbing under his nose and spotting the most unimpressed expression I had ever seen on him. 'I really wish you would have just left me alone.""And enjoy all this on my own? Hell no." I mocked, not paying a glance to anyone, and instead focused on getting to our sky boxes. I could already imagine Elena waiting for me, with Dante.The thought of seeing her brought a strange shiver of excitement to my stomach."Oh... there it is.." Alessandro walked towards the private elevators that led to each box. "I will be next door." He winked, and walked into his, while I pressed the button for mine and waited. "Boss." Samuel's voice came from behind, and I frowned as I hadn't even noticed him before. "Shouldn't you be up there, waiting with her?" I ask