7. Domenico
Chapter 7
Domenico
S he’s devastatingly beautiful.
I never imagined I would be so enthralled by a woman—no, a girl, before. Her face is framed perfectly with gentle waves of gold. Those eyes that shimmer are the same shade as a sun-filled sky.
She looks nothing like the women in any of the clans I’ve come across. I’m not sure who she is, but I’m speechless. At least somewhat. Her lips are full, pouty, with a soft shine of lip gloss or something. Her body is draped in silver as if she were a prized trophy.
“What are you doing out here alone?” I ask, hoping to turn that darkness she’s exuding like a goddamned aphrodisiac into something bright. A girl like her shouldn’t be sad. She should be smiling, celebrating.
“I needed to breathe,” she tells me earnestly. There’s no hint of a lie in her tone. I doubt she even knows how to lie. There’s something so pure about her, and I’m dying to dirty it up.
“This life can get rather stifling,” I agree with a nod. “But you’re far too young to be feeling so distraught.” Even though I don’t for sure know her age, I can tell by her pristine appearance there aren’t any chemicals in her veins. She hasn’t had injections; she also has never seen the sharp end of a scalpel.
“I’ve always basked in the sweet sorrow of life,” she tells me with a smile that has my chest tightening. Then she pushes to her feet, and as she straightens to her full height, I take in her small frame. She just about reaches my chin.
“I understand that.” It’s not a lie; I completely get where she’s coming from. My life may only be starting, but my future path has been already paved for me. But she’s younger; there are choices for girls her age.
My father will never let me out of the family. Even though I wouldn’t walk away—my loyalty lies with the Montesano name—there are still things I wish I could do. Things I will never get to do because of who I am.
“You should get back to the party,” she says to me with a gesture of her chin. “You’re missing out on all the excitement.” There’s a slight bitterness to her tone, and I’m curious as to why. But I don’t ask. I don’t want to delve into the heartache of this girl.
“What is it you’d like to achieve in life?” I ask her, needing to know about her innermost thoughts. I find myself craving to know her soul, rather than her jilted mind.
She’s silent for a long moment. I can tell she’s trying to find the words to explain as best as she can. This girl is nothing like those I’ve met before. She’s intelligent, that much is clear, but I have a feeling she believes in those fairy tales she scoffed at earlier.
“I want people to remember me because of me, not because of my parents, or because of a name. I want to be me. And I hope one day I can create something that will allow anyone and everyone to recall my name with fondness.”
I smile then. I can’t help myself. I tend to brood a lot. More than my father likes me to do. But she’s got a genuine grin cracking on my face. “Art? Poems? Clothes?”
She shrugs. “I’m not sure.” This time when she looks at me, the blue of her eyes seems to sparkle like stars bursting in her irises.
“Then perhaps you should think about it more deeply.”
“Maybe.”
“Unless you’re too afraid to do so?” I challenge her, and that gets a fire sparking in her sky-blue eyes.
She steps up to me then. Her gaze draws me in like a flame and I’m a simple moth. “Don’t judge a girl before you know her.”
“Don’t judge anyone before you know them. Some people do things to survive, others do it because they enjoy it.” It’s a confession. I’m telling her exactly who I am. But she doesn’t step away. She also doesn’t seem to fear me.
“Everyone has a choice.”
“Nobody decides their own fate.” I can’t stop myself from throwing back challenges at her. There are things I’ve done and things I will do that will ensure I end up in hell when I die. And I’ve come to terms with it.
At first, I was convinced I was evil. I enjoyed my job in the clan. My father trained me from a young age to extract information and instead of running and hiding, I basked in the splatter of blood.
She turns her head away, but I can’t help myself and reach for her chin. Pinching it between my thumb and forefinger, I hold her steady so she can’t look away. Her lips part on a soft breath that smells like berries.
“Don’t hide,” I whisper along her mouth, inhaling the scent of her beauty. It’s as if her perfection has a life of its own. It’s an entity. It’s gripped me, and I doubt it’s going to let me go anytime soon.
“I never hide,” she responds with a murmur and I lean in to feather my lips against hers. “Should you be doing this?”
“Probably not,” I tell her honestly, my tone taking on a husky rumble, and I don’t hide it. The notion of doing this with anyone else is ridiculous. I’m not sure who this beauty is, but I’m addicted without ever having a taste. “But rules are meant to be broken.”
“Rules are there to be obeyed.”
Curiosity burns through me then. “Do you obey every rule?”
The corner of her mouth quirks. It’s not a smile, but it’s still as alluring as if she had given me the brightest of grins. “If I don’t, they’ll bury me six feet under.”
My chest tightens at the thought. My heart bangs against my ribs, and my mind, it tells me to steal her away and take her with me. Whoever she is, she’ll be safe with me.
But will she?
I can’t deny I’m not a good person. And as my life takes me deeper into the clan, I’ll take over from my father and I’ll do things worse than I’ve done before. So perhaps she won’t be safe with me. Maybe she’ll find some gentleman to marry her, give her a white picket fence, and allow her the fairy-tale ending all girls want.
“Are you going to kiss me?” she asks suddenly, surprising me with her candor.
I can’t help but smile. “Perhaps.”
Her lips turn to a pout and her cheeks darken with a soft pink. “I’ve never done that before.” Her admission makes my body ache to have more. I want her to tell me all her secrets. Everything she keeps to herself, those things she thinks about late at night while the moon is high and the stars dance in the inky blackness. That’s what I want to know.
“You shouldn’t be so bold and ask strangers to kiss you,” I tell her.
“What if I have never been kissed? What if tomorrow I’m married off to someone I don’t love and I would never have experienced a first kiss that I truly wanted?”
Another confession that makes my body react, but this time, it’s with rage. She’s too young to be thinking about getting married. She’s far too fucking young to even consider this as an option.
I shouldn’t be here.
I shouldn’t do this.
But I’ve never been a good person.
So I do lean in and steal her lips with mine. The softness of her molds to my hard contours. I claim a whimper that tries to escape her lips and revel in the sounds she makes as her hands snake around my neck. She holds on to me as if I’ve hung the stars in the sky for her. And for the first time in my life, I wish I were good enough to deserve someone so sweet, so pure, and so damn innocent.
When I finally break the kiss, I find her swollen lips still slightly parted. Her breaths come in short spurts. And her pupils are dilated with desire, her eyelids hooded with need. She’s like a blooming rose, opening petal by petal, and I want nothing more than to wrap my hand around her and squeeze.
“I should never have done that,” I tell her, my own voice taking on a husky tone. “You’re too good for me.”
A small smile dances on her mouth. “Most men are,” she sasses before she steps back and presses her fingertips to her plump, shimmering lips.
The sounds from the party are more prominent now. It’s as if the more alcohol that’s doled out, the louder they get. I’m sure Romano and Gian are enjoying themselves, or they would have made an effort to find me already.
The illumination from the moon dims, and we both glance up to stare at the cloud that slowly drifts across the sky. The darkness changes the air around us, and my gut churns with knowing. It’s a sixth sense that seems to play games with me when it wants to. Something bad is about to happen.
Since I was little, I could do it. My father thought I was cursed. He sent me to doctors. I was tested time and again, but the moment he brought me into the clan, that trait dissipated. I haven’t had a premonition or feeling in a long time. But right now, it’s snaking through me like a poison.
“What is your name, pretty star?” I ask the girl, realizing I have no clue who she is. There are so many clans in the city, most of them loyal to the Montesano, but there are a handful who follow Vitale as if he were a god.
He’s not.
The man is evil.
“Perhaps for tonight, we’ll go on as strangers,” she tells me. “Isn’t it more exciting?” Her gaze flickers with excitement. It’s the innocence in her that beckons. She wants the fairy tale I cannot give her.
“Fated to meet but never to learn more?” I challenge. Perhaps she’s right. It may be terrifying to kiss someone you don’t know, especially when you’re in the house of your mortal enemy, but this girl doesn’t look like she’s dangerous. She certainly doesn’t look threatening at all. I could take her down with one hand.
“Exactly.” Her excitement brightens her expression. My chest fills with something I can’t quite put my finger on. I want to see her smile like this all the time. Not the maudlin princess I saw earlier. She shines like the North Star.
“A little Polaris here on earth,” I say as I think about her being a light in the dark.
Her gaze lowers to the floor, her cheeks darkened with a shade of red now. I’m thankful the clouds have given way to the moon, and it’s allowed me to see her the way I long to—happy and shy.
“I don’t know about me being a star,” she says quietly. “There are many girls at the party tonight who are far more suited to you.”
“And what makes you think I want them?”
She shrugs.
“I may think you’re far more beautiful than any of them put together,” I admit, once again reaching for her chin and tipping her head so she’s looking at me.
This time, she laughs. The tinkling sound reminds me of wind chimes. When a gentle breeze has tipped them against each other, the sound is musical. And I decide then and there, I want to hear it all the time.
“I have to go back to the party,” she tells me after a long, silent moment. Her admission makes my stomach drop. I don’t want her to go back. But I can’t stop her.
“Hey, Domenico. The fucking Vitales have spotted us.” Gian’s voice rings through the night air, and that’s when my little star looks up at me, her eyes wide with shock.
And then the emotion turns to anger.