Chapter Twenty-Two
Anubis's bark makes me almost break the car window.
Him and Trinity are staring at me while I try to fix my car, again. It's not something I wished I was doing at eight in the morning, but I can't face my wife right now.
She lies, and she knows I'm not that stupid to believe her. Not when she almost had a panic attack when I said that bastard's name.
How am I gonna earn her trust when she doesn't even trust herself?
I can give her time if that's what she wants. I can give her anything in this world, even my own heart. I just wish she would stop lying to me and to herself. To admit that she's not okay and let me kill whatever hurt her.
Last night when I asked her about her birthday, she whispered something unknowingly. Something she said on our wedding night also.
Them .
Them, emotions. Feelings.
The tear that left her eye is a reminder for me every time I think of her. A reminder that I don't hate her. It feels impossible to hate her.
I'll give you time, Althea.
I look at the heart my wife drew on my car feeling kind of fond. The lines around the car are gone, but I think I'll keep this pretty little heart.
One that has a knife in it.
Anubis barks again and this time he went straight for the door. Trinity looks at me with doe eyes and I raise my hand slowly toward her, letting her smell the shit out of me.
Her wet nose touches my skin and then she licks my hand shyly. Her non-existing tail wiggles and she bumps her head around my hand in excitement.
Well shit. I didn't expect that.
"You're much nicer than your brother, I have to give you that." I say to the Dobermann and I freeze. I just talked to the damn dog, didn't I?
Anubis barks again and this time I realize that multiple voices appear from upstairs. I turn to put my tools in their place while Trinity shoves her head into me.
"Can you make your mom like me like that too?" I whisper to her and she licks my face. I scrunch my nose at the feeling.
"Your family arrived." At her voice, I turn my neck until I hear a crack. I let my eyes stare at her bags under the eyes that somehow still make her so beautiful. Her hair is pulled into a ponytail and she wears a pair of short black pants with a floral purple shirt.
You're supposed to be mad at her.
Trinity runs to her immediately, leaving me behind like I'm a bag of trash.
I shake my head and I stand from my position, feeling her eyes on my back.
"I'll be there in a minute." I dismiss her but of course she's not listening. I turn slightly and see her petting her dogs, but she looks at the car.
"That poor car." She whispers but it's loud enough to hear. "Who did that?" I smirk a little and erase it before turning to face her. I walk toward her and when I'm in front of my wife, I look down into her brown eyes. Her lips are big and shiny and they beg to be kissed.
"I wonder the same thing." I say at I leave the room before I do something that I'll regret.
I can't think when I'm around her. It's like she takes my thoughts and erase them, putting herself in there. My father would love this.
I go in the bedroom to change my shirt into a clean one, seeing the bed untouched.
She didn't sleep in our bed last night.
I look over the desk and find my laptop. I quickly open it and look at the security cameras Arius put in Ivan's house. The cameras aren't showing anything and I let my frustration out.
Where the fuck is he? He disappeared in a day.
I put my hands on my face, tired of everything that's happening.
I leave the room and head for the kitchen and when I'm in front of Vincent's room I can see him on his bed, playing with his fingers. I look at his little face and all I can see is Keres. They both took Hanibal's eyes and face structure, along with the nose and the little dimple in the chin.
And while Vincent looks like his father and other sister, when you get to know him, he's all Althea. His voice is fearless, his eyes are ready to bury you and his temper is copy pasted from the one who raised him. I know he'll grow into an honorable man, nothing like
his snake of a father.
I enter his room with little steps because the damn panther is looking at me with fury. Vincent sees the tension his animal is in and he looks up to me. His blue eyes hold too much emotion for a four-year old. Vincent looks conflicted and his face has a little frown.
Vince puts his hand on the panther's head and that gives me green light. I lean in front of him and take his cheek in my big hand.
"What's wrong?" He looks at me for a second, trying to trust me.
"I-what if- e se non gli piaccio?" I've never felt more dumb than right now. His face looks very anxious and I'm pretty sure he asked me something.
"Bud, if you want me to help you, speak English." I softly say. I don't want to make him believe I'm angry because he speaks in Italian. I'm actually impressed.
"What if they don't like me?" His whisper makes my chest hurt.
"They... who?"
"Your family." He avoids my eyes. I let out a sigh and I stand from my position just to sit on his bed. I put my hands under his armpits and place him on my right thigh.
Vincent buries his face in my chest and stays there. I swear my heart missed a beat.
Vincent is my heir. He needs to be strong and merciless, but he turned out just like his whore of a sister.
Hanibal never hold Vincent in a fatherly way, didn't he? He never hugged his son and assured him everything it's fine.
The boy in my arms doesn't know what a father is. Or a mother. All he has is Althea.
I raise my hand and put it on his hair, caressing
gently.
"They will love you, bud. Do you know why I'm so sure?" He shakes his head in my chest. "Because you're a strong boy who loves his sister very much and you'll do everything in your power to protect her, and my family admire boys like you."
I feel him move and when I look down at him, I meet his baby blue eyes.
"Promise?" He whispers again.
My sister doesn't believe in promises.
"You have my word, Vince." He nods and I stand up with him still in my arms, but he doesn't argue.
I move toward the door and when I see the animal walking with us, I quickly close the door behind us.
My mother will have a panic attack if she sees Scarface.
I walk down the stairs and I see my parents and Emmeline at the table laughing at something Allan said.
I see Althea next to Emmeline and when she sees me and Vincent, she comes quickly at us.
"Everything okay, bug?" She asks him with concern. Vincent simply nods and then he moves his gaze at the people who are watching us with big smiles.
I put him in the high chair between mine and Althea's and his cheeks are turning red.
"Look at this handsome boy, Seth." My mom looks at Vincent with a big, warm smile. My dad, too, looks at him with gentle eyes.
"I'm Seth and this is my wife, Vivian. I see you like Marvel?" He adores that shit. His room is full of superheroes and comic books and even know, he wears a T-shirt with Avengers logo and pants with 'I am Hulk' written all over.
Vincent looks at Althea and she nods with a little
smile.
"I'm Vincent and I love Marvel." He says so adorably that I think my heart melt.
"Really? Who's your favorite?" Emmeline asks with curious eyes. Vincent's face is red at the attention.
"I can't choose." Spiderman. He'll always choose Spiderman, but he's being a good boy right now.
"Mine's Thor." Allan says while drinking his coffee.
"No one asked you." Me and Emmeline say in unison. Vincent looks at me with narrow eyes. I take a spoon of yogurt and put in my mouth, waiting for his question.
"Who is your favorite, Keaton?" I freeze. About that.
"I never watched any Marvel movies." Four heads turn to look at me with wide mouths.
"What?!" Vincent yells.
"How is that possible?" Allan asks with horror.
"Not even Spiderman?" Althea asks, the shock making her forget that she is mad at me.
"You're no brother of mine." Emmeline says with disappointment.
"I watched League of Justice." I try to defend myself.
"WHAT?!" Vincent snarls.
"You're no brother of mine." Emmeline says again. Althea and Allan are to stunned to speak.
"Why are you all reacting like I just killed someone?" I say offended.
"Killing someone would've been understandable." Allan says and Vincent nods.
"We'll watch Iron Man tonight." Vincent says confident.
"No, we're not." What the fuck is happening.
"I'm not staying in the same house with someone who prefers League of Justice over Marvel."
The little shit says back.
"Then you can sleep with the dogs." I bite back.
"Enough." Me and the little shit stop at Althea's firm voice. We're still throwing daggers at each other with our eyes.
My mother's laugh makes the table turn to her. She looks lovingly at us while she holds my dad's hand.
"It feels like we're watching Everette fight with Emmeline over the remote when they were kids." She says to my dad and he kisses her forehead multiple times.
We eat our breakfast in peace and sometimes I throw glances at Althea and Vincent.
They make so much sense together.
"Any development in finding Ivan?" I look at my father and then Vincent, but the kid is happily talking with Trinity.
Who let the fucking dogs in the house?
I let out a sigh and lock my gaze with Althea's. She shouldn't be this beautiful while I'm mad at her.
"No, after Althea got the fingerprint from him, he disappeared." My father nods and looks at Mom, who nods and whispers something at him.
My father sighs and looks at me with pride and what I think, sadness?
"We actually came here to announce something." He says with a little smile. Oh, God. The last time they said that was when they announced I'd be big brother.
"You're pregnant?" Emmeline yells and makes Vincent flinch. He looks around with big, alert eyes, but Althea calms him down quickly.
My mother's face is pale and Dad starts laughing.
"As much as I love you, sweetheart, I don't want an army of you." Dad says, still laughing.
Emmeline lets out a puff in relief and then makes the sign of cross. My parents roll their eyes at their dramatic daughter and then put their focus on me again.
"A month ago, I said to you that you're not ready to be Boss," Dad starts and my blood stops. "I thought that losing Keres and being forced to marry Althea will make you take reckless decision that would kill you."
Althea lowers her head in her plate and I want to kill my father for bringing that up in front of her.
"But I looked at you being in action with the whole Ivan thing, and being with them," He looks at Althea and Vincent who are feeding the dogs, laughing, without listening to us. "I realize that I was wrong, son. You deserve to be Boss and I've never been prouder of you. The Outfit will never have a much better Boss than you."
His words are stuck in my head and I look at him like I can't believe what's happening.
The mafia is finally mine. I finally have it.
But you don't have the girl.
Yet.
Allan makes Vincent flinch again when he pretends to cry. He looks at us confused and waits for Allan to finish his drama.
"You were insufferable before, now that you're Boss, you're going to torture me." Allan whines. He's not wrong though.
"Who's Boss?" Vincent asks with a little frown.
"Keaton." Althea says to Vincent but she looks into my eyes. I see something flicker in her brown irises.
Pride.
"Like Papa?" His question makes my parents tense.
Althea looks at him and brushes her fingers through
his hair.
"Yeah. He's the Boss of Outfit." She's so patient with him, so good. Like a mother is to her child.
Vincent turns to me and his eyes sparkle. What is this little devil planning now?
"We need to celebrate, Keaton."
"I appreciate it, bud, but-"
"We'll watch all the Iron Man movies!" He lifts his fists in the air in excitement.
Great.
I stop the movie with the remote and carefully I pick the boy from the couch in my arms. We watched all three Iron Man movies and thirty minutes from the first Spiderman. The little devil made me sit my ass for the entire day in the living room and watch all these movies. I even had to ask for permission to go to the bathroom.
Althea would come at us and give us snacks and drinks, laughing when she saw me so interested in the actions.
The little shit is right. This Marvel universe is amazing.
I walk slowly to his room, opening the door to meet Scarface with a grumpy expression.
I put Vince in the bed, putting the blanket over him and I stare at his little peaceful face. His nose scrunches at something from his dream and I smile softly.
I stroke his hair gently and I open the lamp from his desk. Thousands of stars are on the walls and I know he'll be good.
I leave his room and I go into the bedroom but it's
empty. I look into the bathroom also but no sign of my wife.
I go toward her art room and I knock slowly. When no one answers I put my hand on the doorknob and open it. A lamp is lighting the room and I see my vixen with her headphones on and in her full artist mode.
It's so sexy seeing her so focused on adding details and being so confident about what she's doing.
I let my gaze lean over the painting she's doing and my breath gets stuck in my throat.
Althea is adding some shadows to the cigar ash that is on the girl's pussy. Lower is... me. She painted my face like it's a photo. My green eyes that are staring into my real ones with my mouth open, swallowing her clit. She painted herself without panties. One of my hands is buried in her thigh and her hands are in my hair.
Jesus fucking Christ she's amazing. I always wondered how I look from her perspective and now... now I know.
I feel my cock pulse and my heart beat. A lethal combination when it comes to her.
Still clueless of my presence in this room, Althea bites her lower lip. I groan at the sight of her and I can't control myself.
You talk to me by touching me! How can I trust you when all you do is confusing me.
Maybe I don't like being touched by you.
My little fucking liar.
I walk toward her until my back meets hers and I feel her tense. I lower my head so I can kiss her neck and then I let my tongue dance on her soft skin. I moan when her taste fills my being. When her perfume possesses me.
With one hand I keep her steady and with my other
one I stroke her soft skin until I reach the band of her pants. Althea takes her headphones off and turns her face a little to look at me.
"You are such a fucking liar, Althea." I whisper in her ear and then she gasps when my hand is inside her pants, stroking her clit through her panties.
She trembles under my touch and I feel her hand over mine. She wants to feel how I milk this pussy?
What my wife wants, she gets.
I start making circles on her clit and her body tenses as the pleasure takes over her.
"Did you enjoy lying to me?" I bite her neck until I leave a red spot. Althea shakes her head. "Talk, little vixen."
"N-no," She whines but puts pressure on my hand to keep stroking her.
"Then why did you?" I pinch her wet clit and she moans loud.
"B-because y-you make me feel things that I-I shouldn't," Althea moans and I feel her pulse throbbing hard.
I move my head higher and I bite her ear lobe. I move my hand from her waist to her breast and I squeeze it hard.
"You can let them out with me." I say to her hoping she would feel the seriousness in the words.
I feel her wet panties and with a fast move I put them aside and I touch her naked, hot flesh.
Althea freezes and I take my head out of her neck. She pales and her body trembles but not with pleasure.
"Althea? Althea, what's wrong?" I ask desperate, taking my hands off her.
"Stop touching me," She trembles hard. I move in front of her and cup her face with the hand that was
on her tit.
"I'm not touching you anymore,"
"I-I'll be good, I promise" She looks at me but she doesn't see me.
"Althea." I shake her hard.
"Just please stop touching me, Enrique ." The name she just said makes my sanity leave and my blood stop.
Stop touching me, Enrique.
Enrique.
Enrique.
My vision gets blurry and a big red stain is in front of me.
Ask her what happened at her twenty-first birthday.
No, no, no.
My hands feel something and I take it and throw it on the wall just to see it was a glass of water for her acrylics.
Althea flinches and then her brown eyes are back, looking at me with shock.
"Keaton,"
"I will ask you one more time and if you're lying to me again, I'll kill everyone from that country." I snarl at her. She shakes her head and tears are invading her eyes.
"Keaton please,"
"Who hurt you?" But I know. I fucking know the answer.
"Please-"
"Should I call your fucking father? Because he'll tell me I'm sure." My damn mind is gone. I'm gone.
"NO! Keaton, don't." She sobs and my heart can't take the sight of her crying. I can't watch her cry for the first time since God knows when and not be able to hug her. Because I can't do anything else besides killing.
Tearing apart limb by limb until animals will eat their remains.
"Promise me you won't look at me like they did. I can take their disgust, but I won't bear it from you. Please don't turn like them." She cries so hard that her body spasms.
But I can't fucking focus on that.
I focus on that word.
Them .