17. Constantine
CHAPTER 17
Constantine
“ S he seems to have acclimated here quite well,” Rico informs me in his nonchalant tone, already bored with the topic.
It has only been two weeks since Carina has come into our home. She doesn’t see it as home yet, but she will. If only she would stop fighting herself and let her darker side give in.
And as much as I could coerce her, I want her to fall herself, and trust me to catch her.
Even in the little span of time of her living here I can’t imagine the space without her. She’s breathed life into these walls. She’s breathed new life into me. And for a man who is surrounded by death, life is so very precious.
Which is why I’ll never stop making her feel alive.
Every sharp intake of breath, each glare of her eyes, the goosebumps that appear across her flesh, and the desire she denies, all of it is the precious life finally returning inside her.
Dio mio, what a sight it is to behold.
“In her heart she knows her place is here, Rico,” I tell him confidently.
He regards me impassively. “Her heart means nothing if it battles with her mind.”
While I respect Rico and trust his judgment even more, there are times, especially now, where it concerns my Carina, I have to restrain myself from wanting to shoot him.
He sighs, an act he’s seen of mine that he’s adopted to feign exasperation. Even I can admit it’s unnerving. How well the man can emote when he’s never experienced emotion. “She will never accept you if she can’t accept herself.”
And as much as I want to throttle Rico I know this to be true.
The war Carina has wagered upon herself is the one war I can not win.
My efforts do remain, and they will not be for naught.
Smirking at Rico I respond, “What is the Devil without temptation?”
He challenges, “And what is temptation to resistance?”
I raise my glass tumbler to him. The dark liquid of bourbon sloshing as I toast to him, “Touché.” Snapping back the drink I swallow the remainder in one smooth go.
The only burn within me is the one Carina created years before she knew of my existence. A burn which had never dissipated but grew and grew, and will continue to do so until it engulfs me.
And I am not too far off from being inflamed. All it will take is her acceptance. Her hand in mine, her eyes gazing into mine with love and not hatred. Only then will I truly be engulfed by her.
“Are you sure bringing Luca to this meeting is wise?” Rico is back to business.
A sneer forms on my lips without thought. It’s a visceral reaction, one I can act freely upon with my most trusted men and mia leonessa.
Luca Fiore is worth less than the dirty and infected streets of New York City that kiss the bottom of my shoes.
His death is imminent. It’s just a matter of who will do the honors.
Perhaps it will be my wedding gift to my beautiful wife; his head served on a silver platter.
Now that brings a smile to my face.
With his death in my sights I can not act rash. It would be foolish to kill him without knowing and preparing for the consequences.
Luca Fiore’s death will have to be simultaneously done with his papa’s, Don Savio Fiore.
Killing two birds with one stone, if you will.
It will be the fall of the Fiore Empire. And what a glorious fall it will be.
“We both know if I don’t start to include them their suspicions will cause them to start a war against me.”
Rico regards me flippantly, as always. But in his usual vacant eyes I can see him strategizing. “And what if gaining information will give them ammo?”
I have thought about that. Bringing them into the fold will grant them information only my three most trusted men have knowledge of. It’s a risk. Which is why I’ll only present to them the information that can’t be used against me. I’ll give them breadcrumbs.
I set down the empty tumbler. “Then we guarantee their ammo are blanks.”
Rico nods his head but even a blind man can see he doesn’t approve. It’s why Rico is my most trusted confidant and appointed consigliere. He always has the best interests for the Famiglia without the consequences of morality and emotion.
Rising from my chair I button my suit jacket and nod my head at Rico. He nods his head back, following behind me as we exit my office.
It comes to my surprise and delight to find Carina standing under the skylight. Her head is tipped upwards, as if she’s basking in the sun. And while her eyes are closed I admire her.
It’s as if God had created her himself. A fallen angel amongst mortals to tempt any man. Her features, so feminine, yet bold and striking, like a siren, lures anyone in. The flare of her hips meant for my hands to grasp. Her long legs to wrap around my waist. Nothing about her is ordinary. Every single inch of her is a divine work of art.
And though she’s surrounded herself with an air of melancholy it doesn’t diminish how breathtaking she is.
Even now, with her eyes closed I can still see the pain in her face.
Mia leonessa waging the war of morality.
Her eyes open, and as if she sensed me all along they immediately land on mine.
Enchanting emeralds met with intoxicating whiskies.
“You’re staring.” Her voice holds the same flat tone, that is until I push her.
“Admiring.” I correct.
I watch as her body betrays her, as it always does with me. Crimson stains her cheeks. And the lovely shade travels down to her chest.
Coolly she asks, “And are you going to continue admiring or go about your day?”
I must say it, I love it when she sasses back at me. How she has the balls to do it in front of my men.
I take a step towards her and she remains where she stands. Seeing she won’t back away from me I close the distance between us. I can smell the cherries from her hair and see the tiny specks of gold when the rays of the sun hit her eyes.
A masterpiece.
Boldly, I run my knuckle across her cheek. Her eyes flare as her breath hitches.
A wonderfully full of life response, but one I won’t point out to her.
“I could spend a lifetime admiring you, and even then it wouldn’t be nearly enough.”
Her beautiful lips part.
And I love her stunned expression just as much as I love her anger.
For every expression I become undone by her.
As if she’s disgusted with herself she breaks eye contact with me and her lips twist.
Denial.
My beautiful woman is in denial.
When her eyes meet mine again they’re narrowed. “I won’t fall for the charms of the Devil,” she spits.
My lips twitch. Her fighting spirit I’ll always admire but I do wish she spews this much venom to the people responsible.
I lean down, my lips brushing the shell of her ear as I speak. “But, my dear, you already are.”
She shudders, one of pleasure, but she plays it off as disgust. She takes a step away from me and I allow her.
Emerald eyes meet mine with fire. “If you think for one second I will feel anything except this burning hatred then you are delusional.”
“Why, they do say love is delusional, do they not?”
Her head rears back. “You don’t love me, Signore.” She’s baffled. After a mere second of recovering she scoffs, “You don’t even know a single thing about me except for my name.”
And that’s where Carina Fiore is delusional.
I know her better than she knows herself.
All of her desires, the secrets she’s kept buried deep inside her bones, and the life burning inside the cavity of her ribs.
If there is one thing I know for certain in this world it is her.
“Come with me today.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “And where will I be going?”
I know if I am to tell her that we will be conducting a business meeting with her brother she’ll refuse. Omitting the truth I say, “Trust me.”
She huffs out a laugh. “First you think I’ll fall for your charms and now you want me to trust you?”
I offer her my hand with full expectations of her refusing it. She stares at my hand suspiciously. As if it’s the snake itself and my touch will poison her.
Internally I all but implore her to take my hand yet on the outside I remain stoic.
As her hand slips in mine, tentatively at first, and then confident with a harsh grip, the stoic expression cracks with a victorious grin.
With my Queen in hand I turn us towards Rico whose eyes glance at our union before they meet mine.
No temptation.
No resistance.
We are both witnesses to it.
She’ll never know it but this choice, this act of taking my hand and trusting me is earning her the respect of Rico.
As we all join the elevator, Rico first, to check out of precaution, he glances back at her hand still in mine before the elevator door closes.
When their gazes meet she says to him, “To complexity.”
He stares at her in a way that would make anyone uncomfortable but my rose doesn’t wither. He’s searching, searching for the truth, trying to detect the lie in her words. And when he finds his answer he nods his head at her and says in return, “To complexity Ms. Fiore.”
She stiffens beside me. Her hand in mine like stone. Through terse lips she advises Rico in more like a warning, “Do not address me as such.”
He inclines his head towards her. “Then how shall I address you?”
“As Carina, never Miss Fiore,” she orders.
He nods his head in response.
Tilting my head I say to her, “And soon you’ll be addressed as Mrs. Donati.”
She turns her head, our faces a hairbreadth apart. How even more stunning she is up close. Every detail is etched in my brain. I’ll never forget her, and I never want to.
“I may hold your last name in time but I will never answer to it.”
Her fire, her spirit, it stirs my blood with desire. She knows, she must know the effect she has on me. And if so, dio mio, I love her all the more for it.
Smirking, I respond, “One day you won’t just answer to being addressed as Mrs. Donati, you’ll lead by it.”
Her eyes never leave mine. It’s as if Rico doesn’t exist. I’m sucked into her orbit. She’s the sun, the moon, the stars, the whole god damn galaxy. Whenever she’s in the room it’s just her. It always has been.
Icarus to the sun is absolutely nothing compared to me.
“Don’t hold your breath, Signore.” Her words echo back to me from our night on the ballroom floor. A night I’ll never forget, for it was when I finally had her in my grasp.
I echo my very own words back, “I won’t be holding for long.”