Chapter Twenty-Nine
A smack in the face wakes me. I tilt my head in confusion, feeling rested for the first time in days.
The events from last night made me sleep like a goddamn baby. I still feel his blood on my hands and the way his screams awaken my darkest parts.
For a second, I thought I scared Althea, that she'd think I'm sick and disguised, but the woman makes me question if she's the sick one. When her arms embraced me in that tight hold, all I wanted to do was to bury her in my soul and never let her go. The tears in her eyes are the one thing that I hate about her. Althea is a goddess, the strongest woman I know, and seeing her cry is my undoing.
I took her into our bedroom and for the first time, she sleeps deep and long without her pills. I look at her and her beautiful face that is turned toward me. Her long eyelashes are resting on her lowers ones and her lips are a little open.
I could stare at her redoing the same painting for eternity and I still would fine her the most interesting creature in this world.
I feel a pressure on my chest and I look down and
find the source of the smack.
Vincent is laying on my chest, with his arms spared out vertically like Jesus 2.0 and his legs are on Althea's waist. I look confused and see Scarface on the edge of the bed, clean and asleep.
What the hell is going on?
I stare at Vincent's little nose and the bump in his chin and I can't help but smile. He's a strong boy, clearly taking after his sister. He's smart and fearless, making everyone piss themself. His soft face is like a baby's and his chubby cheeks are red.
With one hand tangled with Althea's, I bring the other one close to Vincent's cheek and I caress it slowly.
I can't put my finger on the emotion that I feel right now, when it's quiet and I'm between two people that I would die for, but I know that's worth it.
They are my family.
Whatever feeling my beast is capable of, I know they already exist for my wife and the little boy who tries to steal my heart.
Don't tell him, but he already did it, and I'm not mad about it.
They both sigh in the same time and I smile at the coincidence. Now that Hanibal is dead and Vincent's mystery mom was killed when she birthed him, I need to ask Althea if she wants to adopt Vincent or just be his guardian.
I can see the love Althea has for her little brother, it's greater than anything I've ever seen. He will always be her first option in a life and death situation; she'll die a thousand time over him.
She just needs to let me be the same for her.
Feeling my muscles going numb, I try to move and change my position, but the growl from the panther
makes me narrow my eyes at him.
"Fuck off," I murmur and Scarface moves his face out of my sight.
My eyes widen when I realize that the wild dirt bag is on my bed, making himself comfortable. I try to throw his huge body from my bed with my left foot but the fucker isn't even bothered by me.
In my tries to fight a tired panther, I hear a soft, raspy voice that makes me look down to make sure everything is okay.
"Keaton?" Vincent asks and opens his eyes slightly.
"It's me, buddy. Good morning." I pet his hair and move it away from his eyes. He looks at me and he opens his mouth a bit, then closing it again. I let him take his time, giving him the trust he needs.
"Papa's dead, isn't he?" His question makes me pause. He knows something, that's why he's asking, and lying to him will do no good.
I can see that Vincent's isn't Hanibal's biggest fan even though he is the heir his dad always wanted, but he was still... his father.
I look over at Althea, but she's sleeping.
She'll tell him the truth if the roles would be switched.
"Yeah, bug." I sigh and look at him carefully. "He died a couples of days ago." His eyes stay on me and after some time, he nods.
"Okay." His whisper does something to my heart. He's still a four-year-old, he needs to be taken care of.
I put my hands under his arms and pull him into my arms, hugging him to my chest. His face is deep in my neck and his little hands are chocking me. I pet his head back and forth, showing him that he's safe.
And he'll remain like that as long as I live.
"You're going to be okay, hear me buddy? You have your sister, Scarface, and even me and my family. It's okay." I whisper in his ear and his little sobs are breaking my heart.
Putting my hand on his head, I stand out of the bed, looking at Althea once more. I take Vincent's body out of the room and go downstairs. The sun is very powerful and I look at the clock realizing is over noon.
Vincent tries to breathe through his tears and I whisper to his ear the one thing that'll make him forget Hanibal.
"How about we finish Spiderman universe?"
"She looks like that blonde princess who has the longest hair ever!" Vincent points out when a girl appears on the TV screen.
"Strangled?" I ask and I take a fist full of popcorn. Vincent snaps with head at me, looking like he might explode. "What?" I ask offended.
Then, his laugh echoes in the room, making me smile at his happiness. Well, it seems the bug can laugh.
"It's Tangled," He says laughing harder.
"Whatever, same shit." I pretend to be mad, but bold of me to assume he cares.
We just finished watching Spiderman 'No way home' and now he's already making me start Captain America. At least he doesn't cry his eyes out anymore.
"What are you guys laughing about?" My blood starts running faster when I hear my wife's soft voice.
I turn my head toward her and I can't help my smile. Althea wears her Marvel pajamas that make her look way younger, her hair is styled in a messy bun, but what makes me actually smile is the relaxed face.
Her eyes are soft with a hint of amusement, the dark circles under them are almost gone and her forehead is smooth, without any frowns.
My fucking girl.
I know that part of her being relaxed is the death of the three bastards. Seeing Enrique tortured and eaten by Scarface made her mind quiet and her body calm. Althea was always beautiful to me, even when I was engaged to Keres, but now she looks mesmerizing. She is glowing and I'll make sure she remains like this, even if it means killing all the population.
The dead trio are gone, but I still have to find and kill that motherfucker Ivan. Not only because Althea wants her sister's murderer dead, but because of his betrayal to me.
Ivan made me trust him more than any men that works for me. He fucked my ex-fiancé and got her pregnant, and after he though he escaped my wrath, he attacks my wife.
He signed his own death.
I don't stand liars, but what I despite more are betrayals.
I let him go further into his hiding because I was busy with some fuckers, but now that I'm back, he won't see what I have for him.
Althea rounds the couch and sits on my right, looking at me and Vincent with uncertainty.
"What have you two done?" She asks with a smile and looks over at Vincent who looks back at her with a frown.
My heart beats even faster at his sad face, but I know he needs to talk with his sister. Althea can console him better than anyone.
"What's wrong, bug?" She looks quickly at me for answers.
Vincent gets closer to us, until he stays between me and Althea. His blue eyes look at his sister and without saying a word, his arms fly to wrap her neck in a tight hug. He holds her like his life depends on it, and I think it really is.
Surprised, Althea looks at the kid attached to her like a second skin. Her arms squeeze Vincent in her chest and neck, and her eyes look at me with worry. My gaze softens and I lean down on the couch, watching with a full heart the two people who make me a better man.
Althea moves, with Vincent still in her arms, and puts her head on my chest, staying still. I remain frozen as I try to process what's happening. It's true that me and Althea got close since she told me about her past, but the connection feels stronger now. She looks for comfort from me, her smiles are now a basic thing on her face.
She's coming back to life.
Althea starts to become the girl who was always meant to be. She's turning into a version who was stolen before she even experienced it. And I'll be here, showing her all the things she deserves.
I put my hand on her head, petting her hair while little snores come from the boy who is salivating on her shoulder.
Told him that's too much TV.
I tug Althea's brown hair softly, making her look at me. Her coffee brown eyes are staring into my soul; a
soul that can't live without her anymore. I slowly lower my head and I take her lips into a sweet kiss that makes her cheeks red.
"How about you take him to bed so we can have our fun?" I smirk when her eyes grow with lust at my question.
She moves quickly, but I catch her hand before she goes up the stairs. She eyes me while I rise from the couch and go next to her.
"Dirty girl," I whisper and she looks confused at me. "My kind of fun is your hands marking me with ink."
Althea's eyes grow with excitement at the thought. I've been thinking about getting a new tattoo since I've learnt she knows how to manage a tattoo gun.
My sexy artist.
The though of her over me, with her hands on my hot skin and the needles stabbing my skin makes my cock twitch. I'm sure that this woman was made for me.
"Wait for me in the art room." I smirk and slap her ass when she turns and runs over the stairs. She goes into Vincent's room and I go into hers.
The moment I step in her little sanctuary, I let out a long groan of pleasure. The painting with me between her legs is finished, being hanged over a wall to dry. She drew my face with so much detail that it feels like I'm looking in the mirror. She painted my face so good that I can see the hunger in my eyes. The burning ash from her pelvic zone is the beginning of the painting and her hand tangled in my hair is the end. I moan hard when her concentrated face appears on my retina. I think my little fox had a hand on the brush and a hand in her panties when she painted this.
I move my gaze to the other paintings in her room and my beast falls in love.
Blood.
Naked forms.
Sweat and tears.
Althea paints the most beautiful images that I've ever witness. The details make the canvases look like pictures. 3D styled blood that makes me linger my eyes at the scene and then I realize that's my body.
Althea painted my body without some tattoos that hide underneath any shirt. The blood dripping down my muscled forearms makes my skin feel the blood.
Jesus Christ, if she painted herself like this, I want that damn canvas over our bed so I can pray to her every night.
The door opens, and without waiting I grip her face and slam her mouth on mine. Her surprised moan comes after I shove my tongue through the teeth, feeling her desperation that matches mine.
"You are incredible, Althea Seraphina Moretti. Goddamn incredible." I murmur and kiss her hard again.
"Thank you for being my muse." She smiles and separates from me before I have the chance to grab her and fuck her on the table she prepares.
I take off my T-shirt and throw it in the room, sticking my front to her back. I bury my head in her neck and plant wet kisses all over. She moans, bringing her fingers to my hair. I smirk when I feel her tugging hard, bringing my face underneath hers.
"Be a good boy and stay put." She whispers and goes to the room that has all her supplies. I stop a laugh at her words and decide to listen to my wife.
When Althea comes back with her gun, needles and ink, I'm already on my stomach. Her eyebrows rise in surprise and she takes a table and put it next to the
table I'm on.
"You want it on your back?"
"Yeah," I murmur and try to hide my excitement. While my arms are full of tattoos and little of my pecs, my back is clean. I want her to mark all of me. I don't care if she's doing it with her ink gun, teeth or nails.
"How big you want it?" She puts one finger at the end of my neck and other one between my shoulder blades. "Like this?"
I shake my head no. Her fingers go lower and she waits for me to stop her, but I don't. The moment her finger touches the place two inches higher above my ass, I say, "There."
I can feel her wide eyes looking at me, and her teeth biting her lower lip.
"That's gonna be a big tattoo." She says and starts getting ready.
I laugh at her comment, murmuring, "I know, baby."
Watching her put her black gloves on her like the sexiest tattoo artist does things to my body, especially my cock. Althea takes her Marvel shirt off and my eyes drop to her big, round tits. I groan at her pointed brownish nipples, trying to resist the temptation.
"Sometimes I like painting naked. Makes me feel more in control. Tattooing is not different."
The fucking vixen.
I bury my head in my arms, her naked body stuck in my brain. My dick already hurts at the feeling of not being inside her, and I'm sure it will fall out in the next hours she spends painting my back.
"What design do you have in mind?"
"The blade you made on my stomach in blood." My response is quick.
"W-what?"
With my head still buried in my arms, I say loud, "I want the blade you created on my stomach with their blood."
Her breathing is low and her hands tremble on my back. "Look at me."
I groan and stay in the same position.
"Althea, if I look at you again and see your naked tits staring at me, you won't tattoo anything this evening." My voice is raspy.
I feel my skin on fire when her lips touch my back in wet, sweet kisses.
This woman will be the death of me.
After twenty minutes of her sketching the design on my back, I hear the gun buzzing. The blood in my veins starts running faster and when the first pinch of the needles in my skin travels my body, I'm addicted. The numbing skin feels tight and hot, pain making me close my eyes in pleasure.
I let my body in Althea's hands. I let her take control over my skin, manipulate my back into the addicting ink gun.
I let my heart in her hands.
Hours passes by and I can't feel my back anymore. Althea put some music in the background, but I can't hear it because of the buzzing. I don't say anything though because she enjoys it.
The words in my brain are at the tip on my tongue, deciding if I should let them out or not. I move my head to the left and see Althea over the middle of my back, fading some shadows.
"Are we gonna pretend that Hanibal didn't said that your mother cheated on him?" I say and feel Althea's eyes to me.
She continues to tattoo, and after I think that she
doesn't want to talk about this subject, she speaks low. "Mamma always loved Hanibal. Since she was a teenager, then a betrayed woman. Her love for him never quietens, and that's one of the reasons why she got sick.
"They fell in love at a young age. Mamma was the daughter of one of the Captains and probably the most beautiful woman in Italy. When they started to get interest in each other, my grandparents arranged a marriage between them, and of course they were excited. In this world we don't choose who we marry, but they had luck." Althea says and then stops for a second. "You and Keres had luck." I curse and stay silent.
I want to say that I regret asking Keres to be my wife, but she wouldn't believe me. Me and Keres always acted like two best friends instead of future husband and wife. The connection I have with Althea is strange, but the most incredible feeling.
"They had Keres in the first year of their marriage and Hanibal was obsessed with her. She was everything like him." She lets out a bitter laugh. "After six years from my birth, Hanibal started being distant with me. He couldn't even look me in the eyes, and Mamma started her heartbreak. They fought every night. Yelling, crashing, screams. He always knew about her lover, didn't knew who he is and Mamma never told him. That's why Hanibal started being abusive towards me. Keres was his favorite while I was hers."
I try to keep my anger in check, focusing on the needles, but it feels impossible. How many fights has she fought?
How many has she lost?
"I met my mother with a broken heart from both her husband and lover."
I shut my eyes at the tremble in her voice.
"If she loved him, why did she cheat?"
"That's a question you have to ask her when you meet her in hell." She murmurs and goes back to her activity.
The biggest question stays stuck in my head. I have the answer which seems to be the truth, but can she handle it?
Althea is strong, but how much does she have to endure before she collapses? It's a risk I won't take with her. I'll make her happy. Vincent will make her happy.
She just needs to let us.
I feel my eyelids closing from tiredness. I think it's almost midnight when the buzz stops and Althea moves out of the chair.
I groan as I move, my back numb as hell. I try to stretch, but Althea slaps my arm with a frown. She puts a mirror in front of me and I can see the anxiety in her eyes. She puts another mirror behind me, and when my gaze found my back in the front mirror, my eyes snap.
My sanity is gone when I look at the dimensional blade that sits in the middle of my back. Drops of blood drip from its sharp point and what makes me wide my eyes is the fox at the handle of the blade. Her tale is around the first half of the blade and her head rests on the right handle.
I move my gaze to the woman next to me. In one slide, I take her waist and slam her body to me. My lips find hers, my lips sucking her eager tongue.
"Althea," I try to express my shock. "Althea, holy fuck," She laughs and pats my chest.
"Because you always call me little fox, I though it's a good way to mark you."
"And you let us call you heartless." I murmur in awe.
"I'm not heartless, Keaton. I just learned to use my heart around people who deserve it." My breath gets stuck in my throat.
I look at her soft expression and I feel my knees weak, and my heart numb.
If before I didn't knew how to live around Althea, now I have to learn how to live with the love I feel for her, because it might kill us both.