7. Verity
CHAPTER SEVEN
Verity
R ed’s eyes are so piercing I’m struggling to keep my usually easy, cool, and casual attitude in check. My heart is racing when he asks me if I want to be with him.
I do.
But the thought also terrifies me. The idea of any type of commitment. It’s so - serious. So final. But it doesn’t have to be. I just can go with the flow and see where it takes me.
I want Rufino to take me - wherever he goes. Whatever he does.
I want to be with him.
And yes, that terrifies me.
Needing someone was not on my to do list today.
But if I am going to be with anyone - it’s him. He lets me be myself. He never says no to what I want, and he is as wild and chaotic as I am.
In fact, he drives my wildness and pushes my boundaries in the best ways.
He’s perfect.
And I would date him.
But it’s not possible. My father would never let it happen. So, I can fantasize about these things from a safe distance, but I could never date Rufino.
I stare at him through lowered lashes, wondering why he’s asking these things. But I’m glad he did because I’ve been wanting the answers too. I don’t mind playing games - as long as I know it’s a game. my heart has been slipping, tripping over him, falling for him - and if that’s happening to me while he’s still thinking this is just a game - well that would be a recipe for disaster.
The most mischievous smile dances over my face.
He tilts his head.
“What is it?” his deep voice melts me every time he speaks.
I lick my lips. If I ask this question, there is no going back.
But fuck it. Since when did I hold back with whatever was on my mind.
“Are you in love with me, Rufino Vece?” I stare at him. Not letting my emotions show.
He remains silent, those pale green eyes looking right into my soul.
I feel the anxiety growing in my stomach.
I was stupid to ask.
I did not know how much I wanted his answer to be yes and now if it isn’t yes I think my heart is going to shatter into a thousand pieces.
Why the hell did I ask that? he doesn’t love me. We only just met a short while ago. This is just a fling. Nothing more. An adventure. A mistake.
What was I thinking?
Panic surges inside me.
It’s hard to keep my face calm enough to hide the turmoil erupting in my body.
He chuckles, brushing hair away from eyes. His fingers trailing over my skin and sparking desire inside me.
“I would tear this fucking world to pieces for you. Yes. I am in love with you.” His answer is a dark whisper of truth. An underground river, moving in below the surface of my body.
Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to hide my happiness and relief at hearing his response. My body melts against him and I grab his face in my hands and kiss him hard.
Charged energy sparks between us, fueling my body, screaming through my soul.
I’m in love with Rufino Vece.
From the moment I laid eyes on him, it was him. We are destined to be together. Fate threw us into that moment and now no one can tear us apart.
I love him.
And now I know he loves me too.
Love .
“Dance with me.” He says, pushing me towards the velvet curtain and down stairs to the dance floor.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember my bodyguards are here with their eyes on me, annoyed that I disappeared for a while - but maybe they won’t recognize Rufino for who he is. Just another guy in the club on the dance floor with me. It’s hard to care about idiots watching you when your heart is overflowing with excitement and wonder.
I’ve never been in love before.
I’ve always run from it. Hesitated when it presented itself or just flat out denied its existence. No one was ever up to the task of impressing me.
Rufino doesn’t give me the choice. I can’t stop myself from being in love with him. There is no control. Only wild, exhilarating, dangerous love .
I move against him, dancing and touching, grinning to myself as the bright colorful lights flash over our skin and in the thin layer of smoke settled over the dance floor.
This might just be the biggest adventure I’ve ever been on.
“I don’t want to go yet.” I whine a little, leaning against his chest near the exit doors of the club. Tucked just out of view from where I spotted the two personal guards standing outside.
“It’s late, little vixen. We can see each other tomorrow.” He says, kissing my forehead. It is late. And I’m exhausted. It’s been a long, magical night. I want to go home with him though. It doesn’t seem fair that I should have to walk away from the man I am in love with.
He tilts my chin up with his long fingers and gently kisses my lips.
“Text me when you get home.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, kissing him again.
“Promise you’ll see me tomorrow.” I whisper.
“I promise.”
He doesn’t walk me out because it would be too risky. But I can feel him watching me from the doorway as I walk towards the waiting Uber.
In the car I can’t stop smiling. This doesn’t seem real.
I’m filled with a mix of excitement and tension. We took so many risks tonight and I’m not sure what my security guards did or didn’t see. I can only hope that they didn’t recognize Red and don’t go reporting my activities to my father.
The worst thing that could happen right now would be for my father to find out. He’s threatened so many times to send me away. I would die if he sent me away now - when I found love. When I finally found Red.
“Here you go, miss.” The driver says and I realize I have been lost in my thoughts for the past few minutes. I didn’t even know I had arrived at home.
“Thank you.” I say, climbing out of the Uber, glancing over my shoulder as I walk into the building.
The security guards are parking their car to follow me inside.
I roll my eyes, punching the elevator button harder and harder to try make it arrive faster before they can get here so I don’t have to ride up with them.
Unfortunately, one of them climbed out before the other parked and he shoves his hand in the closing door just in time to stop it. He steps inside with me and I huff.
He doesn’t say a word as the doors slide closed and we move upwards.
His eyes are locked onto me though - as though he knows something I don’t.
His phone rings, and he pulls it out to answer it.
“Yes, sir. We have arrived home. Yes, sir.”
He slides it back into his pocket.
“Was that my father?”
He doesn’t answer. Asshole.
The elevator doors slide open and he pushes me gently out of the lift and into the penthouse.
My father is awake and standing in the living room with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes are dark, tainted with anger and disapproval.
“Are you drunk?” he snarls.
I sigh heavily.
“I’m tired, and I’m going to bed.”
“Where were you, Verity?”
“Clubbing with the girls.” I sigh.
“Why don’t you answer me truthfully for once? Just try it out, see how it feels.” He is pushing my patience.
“I really was clubbing .” I moan. “Ask one of these idiots.” I gesture over the security guys.
My father steps forward and hands me his iPad.
“Huh?” I mutter, taking it from him, not sure what he wants me to do with it.
He raises his brows and gestures towards the screen.
Sighing, I look down at the device in my hand and my heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. For a moment I can’t breathe.
It’s a media site. A popular one.
And the primary image on the front page is a photograph of Rufino and me - kissing outside a restaurant. A stolen kiss, I remember it. Quick, risky - we laughed afterwards.
Now it has become a crisp image for the entire world to gawk at.
Fuck.
I take a while to pluck up the courage to lift my eyes off the screen and up towards my father.
The veins on his temple are popping out in thick ridges like blue snakes lying beneath his skin. Pulsing as the blood throbs through them.
His eyes are dark orbs of disgust - aimed at me.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry before.
I tear my eyes away from him and set the iPad down on the coffee table.
It’s too heavy - the evidence of what I’ve been doing is a weight I don’t want to hold in front of my father.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Verity?” He snarls.
“I love him.” I blurt out. Immediately knowing it was the worst thing I could ever have said.
“You - you - love him ?” He screams, his neck muscle taunt and his fists clenched. “You are trying to tell me you love that savage degenerate. Our enemy. Are you fucking stupid ?”
My insides are churning, my mind torn. Fight back, defend the man I love, or keep my mouth shut to try to make this situation at least a fraction easier.
But anger is surging inside me now.
Anger about every time my father has tried to control me - every time he’s manipulated my life and taken things away from me. Every time he’s tried to tell me who I had to be and stopped me from being myself.
That anger bubbles up from inside me and floods out of my mouth in a tidal wave.
“I don’t care what you think. I don’t care if you aren’t happy to call me your daughter. Red accepts me for who I am. He loves me for who I am. Not who he wishes I was. I don’t care if you’re angry. I don’t care about anything.”
I scream and I can feel the tension in the room growing. Security guards take a polite step backwards, creating space between themselves and my rage.
“You don’t care.” My father’s voice is so low I feel my skin crawl with fear.
I bite my lip, glaring at him, too scared to speak again, but too frustrated to back down.
“We will see if you care when I send you to Europe to live in the convent.”
I gasp.
“Break it off with him, Verity. End it. Or that is where you are going. I am sick and tired of your fucking games. You’ve pushed it too far this time. I’m not stupid. This isn’t love. This is you trying to piss me off. I see it for what it is. Now end it. Or I’m booking your flight.”
He spins away from me, his fists still clenched as he marches towards his room. I can’t move.
My heart is racing.
My skin is on fire.
Salty tears blurred my eyes.
One of the security guards clears his throat and I turn my anger onto him.
“Was that fun? Did you enjoy the fucking show?”
He presses his lips together, his arms folded over his chest.
I storm away from them and their pitiful stares. I don’t want people pitying me. Especially not those assholes.