2. Nerissa
CHAPTER TWO
Nerissa
I t’s late at night and luckily my mother is fast asleep when the small, folded piece of paper slips in through the open window of our bedroom. I grin, my heart fluttering with excitement. I climb out of bed, tip toeing across the wooden floors, avoiding the boards that squeak.
I peek out of the window, but Tuomo is nowhere to be seen outside. It’s too dark. He’s probably already run back around the front of the house, or up the back terrace stairs to avoid getting caught.
I pick up the secret note, tuck it into my shirt, and go back to bed.
I pull the blankets up over my body, making sure my mother doesn’t stir. I wait to see if I have woken her. After a few minutes, when she’s still snoring lightly, I unfold the note, squinting at his messy boy-handwriting. I only have the dim moonlight filtering through the window, making it hard to read the words.
Beautiful Nerissa, meet me behind the orange tree just before sunrise tomorrow. I can’t wait to kiss you again. X
T he butterflies in my stomach are fluttering so fast they could be mistaken for birds. Tuo is this thrill in my life, something exciting and forbidden, and so tempting.
He’s a lot older than me and the thrill of having him chase me is like a drug. He is the first man I’ve ever kissed. I can’t call him a boy. The guys at school are boys, Tuo is all man. I have a crush on him. It’s dangerous and sexy, and I’m not going to deny it.
I shove the note under my pillow, closing my eyes tight as I try to fall asleep again, but I am too wound up.
He likes me. We kissed under the stairs, and my heart stopped and started just from the taste of his lips.
It’s so thrilling, and dangerous, a forbidden love. We might even be a real-life Romeo and Juliette.
I was terrified when his father shouted at me earlier today, and I got so angry when he threatened my mother. I should know better than to challenge that old man. He’s disgusting. She didn’t deserve that. She works so hard every day. This job sucks the life out of her, but she still gets up and does it every day, so I can go to an excellent school and do better with my life. Her children have always come first.
I’ve got two older brothers, Jackson, and Blake, and both of them live here in the mansion, too. But they live a very different life than mine. Tuomo’s father likes my brothers. They’re useful, unlike me.
I guess, if I wanted his approval, I would’ve had to be a boy. To impress the old man, you need a penis, and to want to be a part of the sick, twisted mafia world he rules over. I don’t have a dick, and I detest everything he stands for, so I will never be in his good graces.
I don’t even want to be.
And I can’t smile and be fake at parties like my brothers do. Rub shoulders with criminals and savages. Besides, I am not popular, or pretty, or strong, or athletic, or the life of any party. If I was, then the boys at school would chase me, like Tuo does.
I am nothing like my brothers. I love them dearly, but I’m not following in their footsteps. I don’t want to be in the mafia or joining this sick and twisted family. I don’t want my life to go down that slippery slope. I saw what Tuo’s sister’s life was like, what his brothers are like with women. This is fun, and forbidden, but I will not be a Vece.
I avoided Antonio Vece and all of his children pretty effectively until recently. All I ever used to do was focus on my schoolwork, sport and getting good grades. The things that can get me far away from here. But then Tuomo started playing this game, chasing me, distracting me with his charm and sex appeal. He’s older than me. And I’ve never had such a good-looking man even glance in my direction, never mind chase me.
He’s my first crush — it’s a crush. A forbidden fling. That is fun and thrilling, but nothing more than that.
I take ages to fall asleep because I am so excited to meet Tuomo before sunrise. I dream of a knight in shining armor, a man of mystery and magic.
I wake up with a fright. For a second, I think I’ve overslept and missed the sunrise, but it’s still dark. I slip out of bed and rush to the window. The sky is just lightening. I am just in time.
I pull off the giant tee shirt I sleep in and throw it onto the bed. Then I pull on my jeans and a black hoodie. The whole idea is not to be conspicuous, to seem like I’m just going to school early. I need to be unseen - it’s a secret mission and I can’t get caught.
I rush into the tiny bathroom my mother and I share and check my face, splashing water over my eyes to wake up. I brush my teeth, hoping the sound won’t wake my mom.
When I am done, I sneak out of our room with my heart beating so hard against my ribs that it might break right through the bones.
The house is still silent. Most of the staff only start work at sunrise. The only ones who would be up now are the chefs, preparing breakfast and one cleaner to make sure everything is spotless before the master of the house gets up.
I tip toe down the passage to the back door that leads out past the washing lines. Only the staff ever come out here. I won’t run into a lost Vece child here. I duck below the laundry that was hung up last night and creep along the side wall of the house towards the orange trees right at the back of the garden.
In spring, when all the citrus trees flower, it is one of my favorite smells in the entire world. All of those little white flowers smell like magic and freedom. It’s sweet, intoxicating and beautiful.
It is late spring now, the blossoms have gone and the trees are just green with fresh shoots.
It’s a little scary walking through the orchard in the dark. My shoulders are stiff, all my muscles tense.
“Tuomo?” I whisper, still trying to keep quiet.
Silence.
“Tuom—” he jumps out from behind a tree and locks his hand over my mouth. I scream, but thankfully he stops the sound from escaping.
His dark chuckle rumbles against my back as he pins me to his chest.
Tuomo leans close to my ear and whispers. “You should be careful. You don’t know what could happen to such a beautiful creature, wondering out here all by herself in the dark.”
His words send an erotic thrill through me. He runs his hand over my neck, down my chest, briefly caressing my breast. Then he steps away from me, and I’m dizzy with excitement from his touch.
He turns me to face him and even in the dim light of pre-dawn, he is gorgeous.
“Hello, little bird.” He says, reaching out and twirling a loose curl of my hair in his finger.
“Hello.” I grin.
“I’m sorry about what happened with my father. I hope you don’t hate me for that.”
I shake my head. “I could never hate you, Tuomo.” With a bold sense of confidence surging through me, I take a step closer to him. “I do hate him, though.”
I want to kiss him again. It was so magical last time.
His mischievous smile shows me he wants to kiss me, too. He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me hard against his solid, muscular body. He smells like sex on a stick - that cologne. I’d recognize it anywhere. Tuo smells like — Tuo. It’s unique. He leans down and presses his lips into mine. He tastes even better than he smells, like sin and sugar.
I melt into him. The moment stops time. Nothing else exists. I’m more alive than I’ve ever been. In the cold, crisp air of dawn, I think I might be falling in love.
Tuomo leans away from me, then takes my hand in his.
“Little bird, do you know what you mean to me?” He asks, his voice serious.
I shake my head. Excited and nervous to hear his thoughts. What could I mean to him? Me - a little mousy girl with brown hair and sharp features. My lips are too full, and my eyes are way too big. I’m not pretty. I’m just average, with a bland face and a bland figure.
So, for Tuomo to be interested in me - it seems impossible. Too good to be real. Maybe this is a game he and his brothers are playing? It doesn’t feel like a game when I’m with him.
I wait, focused only on him. What do I mean to him?
“You are my entire world. I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you.” His voice vibrates through me and his words carry me away as though they were being read aloud from a fairytale. Too farfetched to be true, but so tempting to believe.
“You - love me?” I stammer. “You don’t love me, Tuo.”
“I love you, and I don’t care what my father - or anyone else says - I want you to be with me.” He’s lost his mind. Maybe he’s drunk? The men in this house drink way too much. What am I supposed to say? I don’t know what to do.
My lips part as I stare up at him. God, he’s gorgeous. “I - I love you too, Tuomo.” I say, unsure if I even know what love is yet, but it feels right to say it back to him.
“Let’s make a promise to each other, little bird. A pact that can never be broken no matter how far apart we are - no matter what happens—”
His eyes are so dark right now, almost deadly serious. I nod again. Mesmerized by the way I, my whole body heats when he looks at me.
“What pact?”
“No matter where you are in the world - when you turn twenty-five years old - if you are not married or in love - then you will marry me.”
It sounds like a fairy tale. Or a bad low budget Christmas movie. Either way, I know Tuomo Vece will never marry me. His father has a list of suitable brides for all his sons.
I giggle, loving the adventurous undertones of his pact. But he isn’t laughing, and actually, he seems upset when I do.
I stop myself, clamping my mouth shut. He is older than me. He knows better than I do what love is. Maybe I will understand more when I turn twenty-five, and what harm can it do to say yes now? By the time I’m twenty-five, he’ll be married and have forgotten about me.
“I promise.” I say.
“You will marry me when you are twenty-five - no matter where you are?” He doesn’t sound convinced.
“Yes.” I grin, my heart fluttering at the daring prospect of marrying this man.
The smile that spreads across his face is worth every word I just said. Even if it was a lie.
I’m alight with the fire he ignites in me, but I can’t shake the unsettling fear that I’ve just sold my soul to a devil.
Tuomo wraps his hand around my jaw and pulls me towards him to kiss me again.
I am young, falling in love, and filled with hope and romantic delusions. I allow him to sweep me away on a magic carpet ride of passion.