Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
ALISON
F ucking Max!
He had definitely made his way under my skin. He had crawled and lodged deep inside, burning some kind of branding mark that stung with an intensity I never thought him capable of. There was something that pulled me to him like a polarized magnet. A force that almost made me break my will and give in right there.
I felt like the worst person in the world just for thinking about it. I wanted him to lose control. I wanted him to kiss me. I craved it with every fiber of my being. And that alone was enough to disgust me.
I have never felt this uncontrolled need to be with anyone before, and of all people, it had to be someone who I couldn’t understand, someone I couldn’t have. I thought I had felt the same need in him by the way he kissed me. Fuck, I’m sure of it .
So why didn’t he give in? Because of Zoe, maybe. Because he had someone else, and I was just a distraction from the path he had already chosen. I was too much of a mess. Too much trouble to be worth it .
I had to fight against these invading, unwanted, and unknown feelings. There was no way I could erase how I felt, so I just had to bury it and move on.
Yes, move on!
“Hello?” I answered my buzzing phone on the first ring, which thankfully interrupted my thoughts.
“Hi, Gata . Is everything okay?” Victor chimed into the phone.
“Yes, perfect. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I just wasn’t expecting that text. Nothing else.”
“It’s just that I had plans tonight, and they just crumbled. I’m on my way home, and I was wondering if you were going to ask me again any time soon. As in… right now?”
I heard a deep, sexy chuckle rumbling on the other side before he replied. “Fewer things would give me more pleasure. Do you want to meet up for a drink, Gata ?”
“Hum… let me think.” I paused, faking my indecision. “I do. Where can we meet?”
“You said you’re on your way home, where exactly are you?”
“About five blocks from your gym.”
“Are you alone?” The alarmed tone of his voice was now clear, as if walking alone was shouting a death wish into the universe and waiting for it to happen.
“Yes, why?”
“Send me your location, I’ll come to get you. And don’t hang up the call.”
“Victor, I’m fine. It’s barely ten o’clock.”
“Alison, it’s dangerous! Send me the location, now.” I tapped on my phone, sending him the pin to my location as requested, my body shivering from the commanding tone of his voice, but it sure wasn’t fear. It was something else. Something else that connected straight to my core .
“Jeez! There,” I said, hitting the send button, faking annoyance.
“What are you doing walking around alone? I thought you would always have a tail or something.” I knew he was talking about bodyguards, protection provided by my brother and his Mafiosi men.
“No, I don’t need that. I’m not in the game.” I was walking in circles on the sidewalk with my head hanging low as I waited for Victor, and for some reason, I stopped to look over my shoulder for the first time ever .
I’d never felt threatened or followed before. I’d never even felt afraid of being alone. I wasn’t now, either, but once Victor mentioned it, I had the feeling I was being watched.
I spun around on my heels, looking for any sign of my brother’s men, for any sign of Max, and I, fortunately, saw none. He took what I had told him to heart and had finally backed off. I just wasn’t sure if that was relieving or bothering me.
But that feeling hadn’t subsided, so I stepped into the shadow of the building behind me, keeping my eyes wide open for any movement, and soon enough, there it was. A black Mercedes SUV, one I was extremely familiar with. It was one of Matt’s.
Max was following me, just as he said he would. Would he be affected to see that soon enough, I wouldn’t be alone? Some sick part of me wanted it to gut him just as seeing him with Zoe gutted me.
“Alison?” Victor pulled me out of my thoughts.
“I am perfectly safe. Besides, I kick ass at Wing Tsun. I’m not the kind of gal you want to mess with,” I teased, slowing my pace now, kicking imaginary stones on the floor with the tip of my pumps as I flirted over the phone. I had this new rush of exhilaration driving through me. The mystery behind this date I was planning with such an exquisite man was sending my body and mind into overdrive.
“You? Kick ass?” He laughed. A strong, grave sound that immediately brought a smile to my lips that started from inside my chest. “I’m sorry to say, but the only ass I saw being kicked was yours. It was still very much a fine as fuck ass by the end, but it definitely got kicked.”
“Oh! You wound me.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to make it up to you tonight.”
“Is that a promise or a threat?”
“Whatever suits your needs, Gata .” He whispered into my ear from behind, purposely grazing my earlobe with his lush lips.
I jumped in fright, turning towards him, walking straight into his hard and proud chest. His strong hands held my arms to help me steady myself.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Victor!”
“See? You were totally unaware of your surroundings. How can you be so oblivious while you’re out here at this hour completely alone?” He berated me in an angry tone that I’d never heard from him before.
He didn’t know that I was being watched over, after all. And even though Max had been messing with my head and my heart – admitting to that wasn’t an easy pill to swallow – I knew in my bones that he would come out of the shadows blazing guns if someone was set out to harm me. Because of my brother, I told myself, but I knew it was far more complicated than that.
Concentrate, Alison. You are here to fix this mess. Take Max out of your mind and focus on the hot guy in front of you.
“Have you learned nothing in my classes?”
“It's kind of hard to concentrate.” I smiled as he placed a kiss on my cheek after positioning a strong hand on the small of my back and pulling me towards him. My hand instinctively rushed upwards to lessen the impact, landing on his bulging pecs. “You have a shirt on. That’s a first!”
“Come,” He laughed at my remark, pulling me by my hand as he started to walk. “Maybe you can help me lose it once we get home.”
I couldn’t help the thrilling enticement that ran through my body, heating it up as if freshly erupted lava was running through my veins. This man knew what he wanted and headed straight for the kill. No walking around in circles, no pretending, no games. It could be so easy with Victor.
I needed to be straight with him, too, and tell him exactly what this was – friendship and absolutely nothing else. Victor had always been kind to me, he deserved as much.
“I want to be straight with you, Victor.”
“Are those walls coming up again?”
“No. I just don’t want to lead you on.”
“I know you’re in love with someone else, Alison.”
“WHAT? No, I’m not!”
Victor chuckled, my tone a little too telling of the lie I was spitting out as quickly as possible. I didn’t love Max.
I didn’t!
“Is he here?” Victor spun his head around, looking for Max, and I pulled on his arm to stop him. There was a smile on his face, and I knew he was enjoying this game a little too much. Did he even know who he was looking for?
“Victor, stop!” I laughed, tugging on him, but he was too damn strong to even feel me pulling.
“He is here.” He finally stopped, turning towards me and caging me against the building to my left, his mouth hovering over mine. “What do you say, Gata? Want to give Max a little show and have some innocent fun in the process? ”
My heart stopped beating right there. It was his closeness. It was his proposition. It was the damn fact that he knew it was Max.
“Come on, Princess. I’m not blind. I saw the way you looked at each other every time you came to work out with Francesca. He ate you up with his eyes and killed me with his looks every time I touched you.”
I opened my mouth to counter, but no words came out. Had we been that obvious?
“So, are we putting on a show tonight or not?”
“Maybe?” I hesitated.
“Okay. Let’s see where the night takes us. Deal?” Victor’s fingers slid through mine before he pulled me away from the brick facade as we started walking towards his apartment again.
“Deal.”
We walked hand in hand as if we were long-time lovers, my mind wandering off to the prying eyes that had been following me since I left the restaurant.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at Victor’s gym. Instead of remaining on the ground floor as I always had, we took a side door that led us to a red metallic staircase. Two floors up, and we were passing yet another metal door, surrounded by brick face walls, into a huge loft.
My breath hitched in my throat at the beauty of the eclectic space. High ceilings in an open floor plan, where metal, wood, and glass mingled in antagonistic harmony despite the evident mix of styles.
The industrial space felt open to the world through huge floor-to-ceiling windows that brought the city indoors. I could see influences of various types of art and architectural movements clashing in a raw but creative cosmopolitan kaleidoscope that somehow felt natural and welcoming .
It was like a mirror of New York. Eclectic, multicultural, unique, and mundane. The perfect blend of different pieces, opposites that attracted and complimented each other to create this incredibly singular space.
“Wow!” Was all I could say to shut my mouth that had fallen open as soon as we walked inside. Victor took my coat and hung it on a nearby rack as I walked deeper into the living room.
“I’ll have to agree with you on that. Wow!” He said in a lower tone, capturing my attention. I turned back towards him, noticing the way his eyes fell to my feet and back up while he took in my appearance. “You should most definitely not be walking around alone looking like that. Night, day, or ever .”
I couldn’t help but blush a little at his words. It was just a loose-fitting, deep green, satin dress with a halter neck that left my back exposed. The length was more decent, ending just above my knees, paired with a pair of black pumps.
“You are always so flattering,” I mumbled, trying to tone it down.
“No. I’m always truthful. There’s a difference.” He walked towards me slowly, stopping just before his body collided with mine. He pushed my hair out of the way, leaning in to whisper. “You look ravishing, Alison, and I… I'm famished.” Again, a royal fucking flush of goosebumps spreading all over as a result of his sultry and promising words.
“Thank you,” I finally said, trying to swallow those thoughts together with the new lump he had now put in my throat. His words had worked. I was hot and bothered by his closeness, an irreverent heat building between my thighs. My body felt the aftershock, but my mind was still overthinking this. I had to find a way to put it to rest .
Victor smiled and took a step back before turning on his heels and heading towards the kitchen, leaving me to stand rooted to my spot, still trying to cool down.
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“I have, actually.” I somehow managed to coherently conjure. He was teasing me, and I, for one, wasn’t doing anything to hide how it affected me. Why should I, anyway? “But I can still keep you company.”
“I’m sure you won’t be able to resist my pancakes.”
I slowly walked towards him and into a fully equipped kitchen, looking around at the wide array of tools and shiny appliances that, despite looking spotless, also looked like they were actually used.
“I spent my childhood in the kitchen with my Nana Carmen,” Victor said, noticing my evident surprise. I would never expect to see such a well-equipped and well-loved kitchen in a bachelor's apartment. “She loved cooking her paellas and taught me how to be an independent man in the kitchen. She used to say that women fell head over heels for men who could cook. I was just a kid, but I immediately understood the importance of learning it.”
The small glimpse into his life and the affectionate tone his voice held were endearing, especially as he spoke of his grandmother. Victor was revealing to be the complete opposite of what his bad boy, ‘too sexy for my shirt’ vibe gave away.
“I think I just got hungry, too,” I said with yet another smile as I sat down on one of the tall stools at the white-marbled island. Damn, I think I’ve been smiling ever since I set foot in his loft.
“Then brinner it is. We can’t go wrong with breakfast for dinner, can we?” He laughed as he placed a black apron over his clothes, turning around as he tied a knot at the back. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt that smothered his muscles, but much less than those dark jeans smothered his taut ass.
“We surely can’t. How can I help?” I jumped off the seat, walking towards him, prepared to do whatever he told me.
“You can’t. This is on me. Just sit that sexy ass back down, and I’ll have this all ready in the blink of an eye.” I exhaled heavily in exaggeration, hoping he caught on. I was not a porcelain princess who couldn't stand the idea of breaking a nail. Why did everyone treat me that way?
“I’ve got dibs on the dishes, then,” I stated, not leaving any room for discussion.
Just as he said, soon enough, we were both eating side by side at the kitchen island, savoring the simple but delicious food he had prepared for the both of us. He truly had a talent. Besides the bacon and eggs, toast, and orange juice with vodka, his pancakes surely took the prize. They were unlike anything I had ever had. Heated syrup dripping down the stack, topped with strawberries and whipped cream.
The alcohol in that juice traveled straight to my head, and I was feeling a lot more than thinking.
“Oh my God, Victor!” I moaned as my eyes rolled back and fluttered closed in utter delight. My taste buds were exploding in ecstasy, craving more after each new bite.
“I’ve waited long enough to hear those words come out of that pretty mouth of yours.” He murmured as he intently watched me savor each piece with the same delight as the previous. “Granted, I had pictured a different setting, but it’s a step in the right direction,” He finished, cleaning a drop of syrup from the corner of my lip with the pad of his thumb and taking it to his mouth to lick it off.
I shot up from my seat, grabbing both plates and taking them to the sink before Victor could say or do anything. I turned the water on and started washing the dishes, glad that he hadn’t protested or tried to stop me. Finally, someone who wasn’t treating me like a useless, entitled princess.
I had hardly washed the first plate before I felt Victor’s hard body pressing against mine, pinning me against the sink. His big hands gliding across my forearms to reach my wet and soapy fingers.
“There has been a black SUV parked across the street since we got here. I’m sure he can see us from this angle. What do you say, Princess? Are you gonna give in just a little?” He was goading me. I knew it, but I also wasn’t rejecting him. Still, there was some kind of moral standard holding me back, so my lips were shut, and no reply came out of my mouth.
“You have to scrub harder,” Victor whispered before taking my hand in his and rubbing the sponge harder against the surface, pressing his body further into mine with every new brisk move. “You can’t say yes, can you? You’re too much of a good girl. But there’s no need. Just push that ass into me if I have a green light to kiss you.”
My mind flew back to Max, a feeling of betrayal rising in my chest.
But why? He wasn’t mine. And I wasn’t his, either.
Shut it all out, Alison. You have six months. Enjoy it as much as you can.
Yet my body was frozen, and all I could think about was not becoming like my father. Who did I think I was betraying by being with Victor?
Vincenzo? No. I wish it was.
It’s strange how a sense of propriety doesn’t need a signed deal or open agreement to hold me back. It was more than clear to me that my heart felt like it was betraying itself. I couldn’t give in to one man while another owned my every thought.
Before I could make sense of these feelings, Victor spun me around and hooked his finger under my chin, tilting my face up to look at him. I held his deep, unwavering gaze, unnerving as it was. Not a staredown to establish dominance, but more of a soul-searching moment.
“You’re completely lost to him, aren’t you, Gata ?”
My eyes shut tightly, trying to avoid the loud truth I knew they held. Victor spun us around, and before I realized it, I was in the air, landing on top of the island’s counter.
Victor placed himself between my legs, pulling me towards him and closing the space between our bodies. It was undeniable that we were a perfect match, two pieces of the same puzzle. But I just couldn’t go through with it. My mind ran off constantly to where it shouldn’t.
“I’m not gonna push you any harder. Just giving him a little shove to see if he grows a fucking pair of cojones and makes you his.” Balls. Victor whispered, his nose deeply buried in my hair. “I’m sure this looks a lot less innocent from down there. Tilt your head for me.”
And then, I saw it. I turned my head to the side, facing the huge window just a couple of feet away from us, noticing the black SUV parked on the other side of the road.
I was sure Max saw it all. That was the point, I knew that, so why did it make me nervous?
“Why are you doing this?” I asked while Victor pretended to be devouring my neck, holding the back of my head with one hand while gripping my waist with the other.
“Because I’m sure he’s holding back because of your brother. And because I’ve seen how sad it makes you.”
“Wow. That’s selfless.”
Victor laughed, the deep rumble of his chest making me smile along with him but stopping as soon as he pulled back and set those dark eyes on mine.
“Don’t take me wrong, I’d snatch you for myself if I thought I stood a chance. Fuck your brother. Fuck that little Boy Scout cult of theirs and all their rules. If these green eyes looked at me the way they look at that fool down there, you’d be screaming my name in ten different languages by midnight.”
“Victor!” I admonished. His bluntness was so refreshing that I had a hard time knowing how to react. “Not that I’m thinking about it, but names don’t have translations.”
“Shush. No one likes a know-it-all. I’m just being truthful, Gata. Besides, we’re friends, right? That’s what friends do. They help each other without needing to be asked. Now, I’m gonna pull your hair and hope to God I can stop myself from kissing you while I pretend to, and then I’m taking you home.”
His words hadn’t properly registered in my brain before his hand knotted in my hair and he pulled my head back, covering the view from the window with his head as if he was placing one of those all-consuming kisses on my lips.
“Good breaks,” I said with a smile as he stopped a few inches away from me.
“It’s taking all my self-control, Baby.” Victor paused for a moment, his fingers playing with my hair as we allowed a few seconds to pass in honor of our audience of one. I couldn’t help the anticipation of what was to come from consuming my every thought. Would he mention it? Would he be pissed. God I hope he’s pissed.
“It’s time for you to go home now.” Victor broke my reverie before standing straight and helping me off the counter. “Come, I’ll take you. Not a chance you’re going alone. ”
“No, no. There’s no need.” I motioned towards the window, the black Mercedes still parked in the same spot.
“You’re going down to face him?”
“Yeah! What’s the use in revenge if you can’t see the destruction?” I couldn't deny that I was nervous, but if I craved his pain, I might as well revel in it, too.
“Sounds fair. Let me know how it goes.”
“I will.”
Victor walked me over to the door, helped me put my jacket on, and placed a kiss on the back of my hand, just like the gentleman he was. Yet my mind was racing, my palms sweating, and my heart drumming a hole into my ribcage with the anticipation of facing the Gentleman downstairs, hoping this little show cut as deep as his did this morning.
“Oh, and…clear your schedule for Saturday night. I’m taking you on a friend date.”