Chapter 2 : The Devil Follows

Grace 

My heart skipped a beat and my pulse throbbed under his touch but I frowned the second his fingers closed around my wrist. It was warm and strong. Too strong.

Like he could snap bone if he wanted to, but right now he was just… holding.

I blinked up at him. My brain fuzzy from tequila and embarrassment, and stupidly opened my mouth. “Grace,” I whispered. My voice came out as a murmur of a kitten in front of a lion. 

The moment the word left my lips I wanted to suck it back in. My eyes widened as I realized what I had just done. Fuck no!! I should not have told a stranger my real name. Why didn’t I say something fake? Like Emily. Or Sophia. Anything but my real name. Idiot. Absolute idiot.

I gulped the lump that had formed in my throat and nervously looked at his grip over my wrist. Panic surged over me and I tugged gently, trying to get myself out of this beast looking man’s cage and this time he let go.

I blinked and my chest heavily rose and fell before I stumbled back to the booth on wobbly legs and just dropped into my seat like my bones had turned to jelly, and buried my face in my hands.

The girls exploded.

“YESSS! You did it!” Stella screamed, throwing her arms around me. “You coughed like a dying cat but you still did it!” Kristy howled, slapping the table.

“Iconic. Absolutely iconic,” Michelle cackled. She was already recording a clip on her phone that she’d blackmail me with later on. I managed a weak laugh at their words. My cheeks were still burning from the embarrassment and stupidity. 

But something was wrong.

I could feel it.

A burning spot right between my shoulder blades. Like someone had lit a match against my skin. My heart raced, shivers ran down my spine. I didn’t need to look. I knew it was him.

I was lost in my thoughts when Kristy leaned over, voice teasing. “Girl, you okay? You look like you just saw Jesus and Satan making out.”

Michelle smirked and her eyes flicked behind me. “That man’s staring continuously. Like, continuously. He hasn’t blinked since you sat down.”

The moment those words left her lips, my stomach flipped. “Don’t look,” I muttered, but of course I looked. Those grey eyes were still locked on me. Mesmerizing. Storm-cloud grey. Cold and hot at the same time.

I clenched my eyes shut and shook my head hard, trying to shake the image out of my brain. Nope. Still there when I opened them. Without thinking, I grabbed my drink and chugged it down my throat, burning it with the sensation. Then the next one. Then Stella’s untouched shot.

One after another, burning down my throat.

“Whoa- slow down, babe,” Stella giggled, snatching the last glass before I could chug it. “You’re losing your shit already.” I couldn’t hear her properly anymore. My mind was blown and I could not even seem to focus on what they were talking about.  

The music, the lights, the girls’ voices, everything just blurred into white noise. All I could feel was that stare.  Heavy. Unblinking. Crawling over my skin like fingers. Michelle leaned in close and her voice dropped low. “Seriously, Grace. He’s not looking away. At all.”

My heart jumped as Kristy snorted. “Maybe you should just fuck him. He looks into you. Hard.” I burst out laughing- too loud, too drunk. “Shut up, Kris.” I giggled already on the verge of having lost my mind. We were busy in that sneaky teasing conversation when Laila suddenly gasped. “Oh shit- he’s walking this way.”

Five heads snapped around so fast I heard necks crack. I whimpered but turned my head as fast as I could at her words.  He was moving. Out of the VIP section. One hand in his pocket, the other holding the cigarette, smoke trailing behind him like a dark ribbon.

My heart throbbed and unknowingly I clenched my thighs. I watched him, his every step. Every step was slow. Deliberate.

The club didn’t stop- the music still pounded, people still danced, couples still made out in corners but the air changed.  Thinned. Like everyone felt the predator walk past. He stopped right next to our booth and just, right next to me.

The girls froze. His presence felt so intimidating and I clenched my fingers into fists, trying to hold myself calm and composed but the alcohol kicked in and refused to relax my racing nerves. 

Laila spoke first. Her voice was already shaking. “Um- hi. Sorry about that. It was just a dare. She didn’t mean- hope you didn’t mind-” I watched as the man turned his head to her and …… One look from him and her words died.

Throat closed and she shrank back into the seat. I blinked and turned my head, slow, dizzy and just … giggled. I felt my hand reaching out and pressed against his hard chest and patted his chest like he was a puppy.

“Such a good puppy,” I slurred, fingers tapping the hard muscle under his shirt. “Following me.” I smiled looking like a complete pathetic drunkard. The girls’ eyes went comically wide. I could feel it.  All of a sudden, Stella actually slid halfway off her chair. 

“P-Pakhan—” The moment she said that- I watched as Kristy choked on her drink. Her hand moved to hold her throat, coughing.  Michelle whispered, horrified, “That’s… that’s pa-pakahan- The Adrian Valente.”

The name hit me like cold water. Adrian Valente. The Pakhan. The Don. The man half the city whispered about and the other half pretended didn’t exist.

I should’ve been terrified. I would have if I was not drunk but instead I giggled again. Kristy lunged to pull my hand away as if I was committing a crime-, no, a sin. “Grace- ” She called my name, trying to bring me into senses but- 

“Don’t,” he said. One word. Low. Final. Kristy’s hand froze mid-air. She swallowed hard.

Michelle shot to her feet, words tumbling out in panic. “We’re just students- girls’ night- truth or dare, she was dared and we had no idea who you were- please don’t—”

she blabbered. Trying to explain everything in one breath to save everyone from the situation but  he didn't even glance at her. His eyes ….. only stayed on me. On the drunk girl still poking his abs like they were a toy.

Slowly, I stood up. My knees wobbled and my body swayed before I threw my arms around his neck. The moment I did, the girls gasped like they’d been punched. I looked up at him. Black hair. Grey eyes. The hot piercings.

Mint. Spice. Smoke.

The scent wrapped around me like a drug. My vision was already blurred and my mind had stopped processing. My hands moved on their own and slid up to his neck. My nails grazed the warm skin softly, then gripped his collar.

I leaned in, voice barely a whisper and my eyes glassy with alcohol and something else. “Kiss me.” I whispered. I did not know what happened to me. What drug effect was over me but I just …. I wanted him. I wanted to taste him. 

The moment those words left my lips, his arm snapped around my waist in a hard, possessive grip.  Then his mouth crashed down on mine. It was not gentle. Not sweet but hard. Rough. Claiming.

The cigarette was still burning in his other hand and I could smell the smoke- but he didn’t care. He kissed like he was starving. Teeth. Tongue. Growl vibrating in his chest. I whimpered and my fingers tightened in his collar, pulling him closer.

His tongue grazed my lips- once. Slowly and teasing, then bit down just enough to sting.I moaned into his mouth. A sound unfamiliar to me escaped my lips as I felt my knees shaking. 

He growled back. His voice, low, feral and then he pushed his tongue inside my mouth, tasting every inch, stealing my breath, my sanity.

I could hear the girls screaming something behind us- some words I couldn’t hear over the roar in my ears. I was drowning. In him. In mint and smoke and danger. And the worst part? I didn’t want to come up for air.

It felt so good that my body refused to let go of him. Then his lips left mine- just long enough for him to rasp against my swollen mouth,

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Grace.”