Filed to story: No Escape From The Mafia Kings Embrace
“Oh, no sir. I was only admiring your book collection. My apologies for intruding”, Mr. Graves said. “Why don’t you have a seat then? I’ll be with you in a moment”, Luca commanded. Bentley Graves nodded as he did what was told of him. Luca faced towards me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Have a seat on the sofa, principessa”, he uttered, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “Yes sir”, I nodded, heading toward the sofa.
Luca watched me with a burning fire in his eyes, as I sat down. He walked to his desk and sat down behind it. I watched him for a few moments, mesmerized by how downright sexy he looked in a suit, sitting at a desk. Luca’s eyes swept up and caught mine as he listened to Mr. Graves talk. I blushed and looked down to grab my books from my bag. I started my assignments, as he conducted his business meeting. Many times we caught each other staring. I would give him a shy smile, or he’d give me a knowing smirk.
After almost thirty minutes, Sandra walked in with the food that Luca had ordered. She sauntered over to Luca’s desk, and charmingly set the bags on the edge of his desk. “Give it to Mara”, Luca ordered gruffly, not taking his eyes off of his work and client.
I watched as she frowned at Luca’s lack of attention, then she locked eyes with me and snatched the bags back up, sulking toward me. She plopped the greasy bags down right on top of my blueprint that I had been working on. “Oi” I grumbled, snatching the bags off of my work.
I sighed shakily when I saw the large grease stain in the middle of my blueprint. “Sandra! Leave!”, Luca’s voice was vexed, as he tried to control himself. “Mr. Graves, as you can tell, my wife and I’s lunch has just arrived. Why don’t we reschedule for another day? You have given me plenty to consider”, Luca said, standing from his chair.
“Oh, yes, okay, Mr. Barello”, Mr. Graves said, reaching for Luca’s hand. “See Sandra on your way out”, Luca informed him, as he took his hand. Mr. Graves nodded as he exited the office. I could immediately feel Luca’s eyes on me. I had set the food down by my feet and had been staring at the stain with teary eyes. I’m way too overwhelmed for this.
“Bambina?”, Luca said softly. I turned my head slightly toward him, but kept my eyes on the blueprint. A silent acknowledgment that I knew he was talking to me and he could continue saying whatever it was that he wanted to. “Piccola, I’ll help you redo it”, Luca whispered gently. I shook my head, as I started to gather all of the work up from the coffee table in front of us. “Mara”, he whispered.
“It’s fine, I’m fine, Luca”, I uttered. “Bambina”, Luca murmured. “Why are people so vindictive? I never would have done something like that to her. Even if she does want to fuck my husband”, I muttered. “I know you wouldn’t”, Luca said, wrapping his arms around me. Giving me no choice but to seek solace in him. I grabbed onto his arm tightly, and closed my eyes, allowing a few silent tears to fall.
Luca sat silently and just held me. I focused on trying to match Luca’s breathing pattern. It seemed to be Luca’s objective as well, because he made sure to make each breath loud and clear. His hand stroked my back in rhythm to his breath. When my breathing and heart rate finally evened out, I sniffed and tried to wipe my tears, but Luca stopped me.
He gently wiped his palms against my cheek, wiping them dry. “You are a beautiful soul in an ugly world. People can see that and they want to stain you, like they are. But you are too good for that. That’s why you have me”, Luca murmured. “I’ll be the ugly for you, and you can be the beautiful for me. We will balance one another out, piccola”, Luca said, pulling my face towards him to kiss me.
Marabella’s POV
“Let’s eat, baby girl”, he uttered, grabbing the bag from beside my feet. He set it on the, now cleared, table. He started pulling the contents out. He placed two very greasy-looking burgers onto the table, along with a paper-boat, slap full of fries. “This looks amazing”, I commented. “It is”, Luca chuckled. “I told you that you would love it though, did you ever doubt me?”, he asked, looking over his shoulder at me. “Not for a second”, I grinned, with a headshake.
Luca smiled as he set up our food. “You know, we still have to practice”, he said, with a smirk. “Practice for what?”, I asked, as I leaned forward and plucked up a fry. “Dancing, for tomorrow night”, he chuckled, watching me closely. “Shit. I forgot about the actual dancing part”, I muttered. “I didn’t”, Luca smirked. Ugh, I really can’t dance. I’m going to end up embarrassing both of us.
“No, don’t do that”, Luca uttered, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Do what?”, I asked. “Get lost in your head about it. You’ll do great, bambina”, he said, kissing my forehead. “Eat your lunch, piccola”, he commanded softly. I picked up the burger and took a bite. I hummed in delight. “These are better than mine”, I moaned. Luca stared at me with a look I couldn’t decipher. “No, they’re not”, he said flatly, as he took a bite of his burger.
“Yours are way better”, he said with a headshake. I blushed and shook my head, choosing to ignore his comment and eat. “Can I ask you something, Marabella?”, he whispered, looking over at me. “Yeah”, I nodded. “Why don’t you defend yourself against Jason, if you know how?”, he asked. I sighed as I set my burger down and took a sip of my drink. “I did, once. In the seventh grade”, I answered. Luca frowned, “What happened, then?”, he questioned.
“I was expelled from school and told that if I ever lay my hands on him again, that they would send me to Juvenelle prison for attempted murder”,I answered. “Why attempted murder?”, Luca frowned. “Because I was trying to kill him. I fractured his skull pretty badly, slamming his head into the concrete”, I explained, looking down at my plate.
“And his father paid off the chief of police to do so”, Luca nodded. “Probably”, I shrugged. “I’m going to handle this, bambina”, he said gruffly. “You already did, Luca. It’s okay”, I said with a half-smile. Luca shook his head as he continued eating. I picked at my plate, no longer supporting an appetite. “Piccola, you must eat”, Luca said, nodding at my plate. I half-heartily smiled. “I have to use the restroom, Luca”, I muttered.
It was as if Luca could see right through my walls, as he studied me. “That door, little one”, he uttered, pointing at a door towards the back of the office. I nodded as I stood and headed toward the door. I quickly did my business and washed my hands. I was visited by an unwanted memory in the process.
