Chapter Nine
One Month Later
Clarissa sat at the table and looked around the room, wishing she was anywhere but here. Her parents were across the room, and Lorenzo had excused himself to go and speak with some people, leaving her alone.
She hated being alone at these parties. It reminded her so acutely of how she didn’t belong. After her sister died, her grandmother didn’t force her to come to these parties. She was able to stay with her grandparents, and she lived kind of a normal life.
She wasn’t like others. Mia, Liana, and even Tatiana weren’t here. She hadn’t heard from Tatiana in a long time, actually. She went to run fingers through her hair, but it was pulled back into a clip, and she didn’t want to make a mess of what the makeup artist had done for her.
This was a party within the Colombo Mafia, a Capo, and another daughter bringing more wealth and relations together, but Clarissa didn’t know who they were. This was just an engagement party.
She sat and waited. Time ticked on by, and she was nothing more than a shadow in this world. A tiny, insignificant shadow. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but be brought back to that day.
“You’re going to get married! But boys are so gross.”
Isabella laughed. “You’re going to have to get over your fear of boys, Clarissa. Trust me, I’m getting married, and you won’t be far behind me.”
“I’m ten.”
“And I’m fifteen, but that hasn’t stopped them.”
There was a sudden screech of tires, and Clarissa turned to see an old beat-up car. It had rust all along the edges, and the tires looked like they were worn right down to the rim. A guy wearing a mask got out, and he was shaking.
Isabella screamed, as the gun rose, and Clarissa recalled that the gun had been pointed at her. That day, she was going to die, but then Isabella yelled no and stepped in front of her.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Clarissa opened her eyes and looked at Lorenzo.
He put his hands on her forehead. “You’ve gone pale, as if you’ve seen a ghost.” He rubbed her shoulders and Clarissa couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
The guy had been planning to kill her. Why hadn’t she remembered that?
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” Clarissa said.
Lorenzo frowned. “Do you want to get out of here?” she asked.
“Yes. Please.”
He nodded, and she didn’t know how they managed it, but they were able to congratulate the happy couple and say their goodbyes.
“You’re shaking,” Lorenzo said.
His guards were already waiting by the main doors, with the car door open. Lorenzo helped her inside and pulled her into his arms. “What is it? Are you remembering that day?” he asked.
Clarissa looked up at him, and at first she didn’t want to say anything. “He was going to kill me,” she said.
Lorenzo frowned at her. “What?”
“He was going to kill me. I don’t know why, but I was sitting there, and I couldn’t help but remember that day, and Isabella jumped in front of me, to save me. He was going to kill me.”
It was the first time she had said Isabella’s name.
“Did you tell anyone this?” Lorenzo asked.
“No.” She shook her head. She frowned as she recalled that moment now with different clarity. “But he’d made a mistake. He didn’t expect her to jump in front of his gun. He was supposed to kill me that day.”
“Clarissa, babe, are you sure?”
He cupped her face.
“This was ten years ago.”
“I remember. I just don’t talk about it. Why? What’s wrong?”
Lorenzo looked troubled, and she was a little confused as to why. “Because, what you’re suggesting is not just some gang trying to make a name for himself. If he was coming for you, it was a direct hit, and that changes everything.”
“Why does it?”
“Because a hit was ordered, Clarissa. Someone had to have known you, and your routine. What they didn’t anticipate was Isabella risking her life for yours.”
“A hit? Couldn’t it still have been a gang hit?” she asked.
Lorenzo frowned. “It could be, but then it might not be.”
“Do you think it is possible someone within the Colombo Mafia did this?” she asked, not even for a second thinking this could be the case.
“Let’s not think about that right now, and just focus on getting you home.”
She felt shaken to her core. She didn’t even know why the memory of it came to her so suddenly, it made absolutely no sense to her. She felt sick to her stomach.
They arrived home within the hour, and Lorenzo carried her upstairs to their bedroom, where he drew her a bath. He helped her out of her dress and removed her shoes. Finally, the shaking stopped, but the sickness did not. She felt so cold, but the warmth of the bath enveloped her.
Closing her eyes for the briefest of moments, she sunk into the water. Lorenzo was not finished with her, though, and he climbed into the tub behind her, wrapping his arms around her.
“I’ve got you.”
For several minutes she sunk against him, and his arms surrounded her, and there was nowhere else she wanted to be but in his arms.
Lorenzo kissed the top of her head, and she closed her eyes. She felt completely safe in his arms. Slowly, the sickness abated and Lorenzo grabbed a soap and sponge, and began to lather her up.
Once he was done with her, Clarissa turned in his arms, so that she straddled him, and took the soap and sponge from him.
At first she lathered up the sponge and began to soap his body, but she felt the sponge got in the way.
She tossed that into the water and covered her hands in the soap.
The moment she could get her hands on him, she started to rub his body, watching him.
Between her thighs, she felt the answering thickness of his cock as he started to get hard at her touch.
“I’m trying to be good here,” he said.
“You don’t need to be good.”
“Clarissa?”
She kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning. “I’d like this, Lorenzo. I want you inside me.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” He let out a groan.
“Hopefully, blowing your mind, the same way you’re blowing mine.”
He growled against her lips.
“Please, I want you.” They had been dancing around this for a month, and even though she was nervous, she did want to have sex with her husband. Lorenzo was still her husband.
“Clarissa?”
“Please, I want this. Don’t you want me?”
“More than anything.” He stared into her eyes, and she didn’t look away, staying completely focused on him and only him.
He groaned, pulled her in close, and kissed her. She felt his hand move between them and the hard ridge of his cock as he gripped his length.
“You’re going to need to sit on my dick,” he said.
Her heart raced but she followed his instruction, moved up, and went onto his cock, sliding herself down his length. She let out a gasp, and he hissed. There was no pain.
She slid down his length, moaned his name, and he held on tight. She felt his hands go to both of her hips as he started to pull her down his length. The moment they were touching, skin to skin, she didn’t want to go anywhere else.
He kissed her shoulder, and she felt the pulse of his cock within her. It felt amazing. She didn’t want it to stop.
“You drive me wild,” he said.
Clarissa put her hands onto his shoulders and started to lift herself up, then glided back down his length. She rocked onto his cock, finding herself building a pace Lorenzo joined her with. She didn’t care about the water sloshing over the edge of the tub. Her focus was on Lorenzo.
The sex was incredible—the best they ever had—and he reached between them and shocked her further by bringing her to an orgasm.
She cried his name. He shouted hers as they came apart together.
It was magical.
Only, it was interrupted by Lorenzo’s cell phone.
“I’ll ignore it,” Lorenzo said.
Clarissa giggled and reached across the tub to grab his cell phone, seeing it was Emilio. “You need to answer it.”
She felt like she was on cloud nine.
Lorenzo rolled his eyes but took the call.
The moment he did, after just a few seconds, Clarissa knew something was wrong. “We’re on our way.” He hung up.
“What is it?” Clarissa asked.
“Tatiana’s gone.”
****
Lorenzo knew Clarissa had nothing to do with Tatiana’s disappearance. However, her three friends were all together, and one of them must have known something.
They stood in Emilio’s library, as Mia shook her head. “I’m telling you, we don’t know anything.”
“How long has she been gone?” Liana asked.
“A month.”
Lorenzo looked toward Clarissa as her frown deepened, and suddenly she stood up.
“How did you let it go so long?” she asked, glaring at Emilio.
The room went silent as they all turned to look at him. Even Lorenzo was shocked he’d left it this long.
“I ... didn’t know, okay? I thought she had gone to her parents, and when they called and said she hadn’t even been to see them, I don’t know, the time had just flown by and I didn’t fucking know,” Emilio said.
“I have her phone records and the last person she contacted before she disappeared, is you.” He turned to look at Clarissa. “What did you guys talk about?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember. Probably when Liana was called a doormat, and Mia was called a child, and I was told I was a boring, dull person. And you admitted to keeping a mistress. She felt betrayed, because she...” Clarissa stopped.
She glanced down at Liana and Mia.
“She what?” Emilio asked.
“She thinks she is in love with you, and she wants to forget everything and just go back to loving you, but she can’t do it.
She doesn’t know if you’re telling the truth, or if it’s all a lie.
She never mentioned anything about being anywhere else.
” Clarissa rubbed at her temple, and he knew she was withholding information.
“Fuck!” Emilio threw the glass he’d been holding across the room.
Tatiana was potentially in danger. If their enemies discovered one of the Capos’ wives were gone, without so much as a guard, it would be too much temptation.
Lorenzo knew why Emilio hadn’t said anything.
All their wives had tempers. They all found ways to escape their guards but always came back. Until now.
This was not good.