Chapter 18 - Marco

The days passed infernally slow while I recovered from the gunshot. I hated being confined to the house, only giving orders and far from any action. The only thing that made it easier to bear was having Angel walking around the house all the time, even if that gave me a painfully hard erection.

She grew more and more at ease each day and I was anxious for her to accept the marriage soon; I couldn’t stand the stolen kisses anymore and the constant painful erections I carried at every moment.

Seeing her breasts that day gave me even more ideas to masturbate at night, but that wasn’t solving it anymore either — I needed her, and only that would calm me.

“Good morning.” Her angelic voice reached my ears and made me lift my head from the newspaper, making me realize I hadn’t been reading it. “You woke up early today.”

“Good morning, Angel.” She didn’t argue when I called her that, though she still huffed. “Yes, I woke up, I already exercised and I’m ready to start your new lessons.”

My eyes traveled down her body — the dark blue dress cinched at her waist but delicate at the bust, leaving part of those perfect breasts visible in the neckline.

Angela was a vision of the gods, a complete temptation for any man. And she had no idea; her aura of innocence made me even thirstier to help her become what she really was — to make bloom the femme fatale potential I saw in her irises.

“Really? We start today?” she sat up, raising her eyebrows, looking surprised at what I’d said.

“We do. The doctor cleared you and I’m better, so it’s time to begin your training.”

“You’re going to let me shoot?” she leaned forward and whispered the question, as if it were something wrong to ask.

“I will. You’ll shoot as many guns as you want today — it’ll be good to test the strength in your arm.” I held her chin and felt a shiver run through her body. “And to show me how hard I’ll need to be with you in physical training.”

Angela looked at my lips before returning her gaze to me. Her face was easy to read — she wanted to be kissed, and I knew that once we started she would want more.

But something always stopped her from going further; whenever I thought she was ready to give herself to me, she ran away.

“There’s something I want to ask you besides that.” She murmured, batting her long dark lashes, leaving me completely hypnotized.

“You know you can ask me anything — don’t beat around the bush with me, angel.”

“I want to go to a nightclub alone, without security.” I frowned, not believing what she’d just said. “I need normal experiences for a girl my age to be sure of what I want.”

“And those experiences include spending the night out, getting drunk, dancing and kissing other men?” I asked, already imagining where those stupid ideas had come from.

She nodded in agreement and had the decency to look guilty about saying it. The crease between my brows deepened even more, to the point of causing a pain between them.

Angela couldn’t be serious — she didn’t have these ideas when she arrived here; she was about to accept marrying an idiot without questioning. Those ideas could only have come from Melissa and I was going to kill her for it.

“No. I won’t allow that!”

“You don’t control me, Marco. You’re only saying that because you’re afraid I won’t accept to marry you after discovering what’s outside the mafia walls!” she shouted, baring her claws and really showing who she was. And as much as that excited me, I wasn’t going to give in.

“Do you really think life out there can be so good? People are the same everywhere — petty, envious, murderous. The only difference is the power we have that they don’t. And no man would be able to give you the pleasure I can give you, Angel.” I said, opening the paper and pretending complete disinterest, even though she kept giving me a murderous look.

“That’s what you say, but I’ll only find out by testing, and neither you nor anyone else will stop me from doing what I want!” She rose instantly, clapping her hands on the tabletop.

That was the real Angela — the determined woman who didn’t bow her head and wouldn’t swallow orders from anyone anymore.

“Didn’t I promise to protect you, or have you forgotten? Keeping you inside these walls until we’re married is a matter of security!”

She laughed a false laugh and even threw her head back, completely acting the mockery. Seeing her like that even drew a slight smile from me.

“Do you really think I’ll marry you? If you’re keeping me inside these walls it’s because you know that the moment I’m free I’ll want to put as much distance between us as possible!” She put her hands on her hips and stared at me seriously with those big brown eyes. “You’re right about one thing — people are really the same. Especially you and my father!”

Angela stomped out, completely forgetting to have breakfast.

“Hell!” The last thing I needed now was to fight with her; we were supposed to be about to marry, not arguing over nonsense like a nightclub.

But I couldn’t help the bitter taste spreading in my mouth when I realized she was comparing me to that asshole of a father. That wasn’t how I’d earn her trust or turn her against him.

After those few words I didn’t have the energy to stay in that house anymore, especially with Angela locked in her room like a spoiled child. I could bet she’d never had the chance to act like that, but I hadn’t either — I’d had to grow up early and take on more responsibilities than I wanted.

So I refused to go there to try to convince her to train, which was what she wanted. Instead I went straight to our headquarters — it was time to deal with real problems; I’d handle this situation with her and my sister later.

“Falcone. What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you.” Frank greeted me when he saw me enter the office at our headquarters.

“Weren’t you going to spend the day with your little angel?”

“Call her that one more time and you’ll lose your teeth, Nero!” I growled, because only I could call her that. “And thanks to our little sister we had an argument and she didn’t want to do anything today.”

“Oh, the couple’s first fight. What did Mel do this time?”

“Looks like our beloved sister has been planting ideas in Angela’s head about living other experiences before saying yes,” I practically spat the words and heard Frank sigh, shaking his head in denial. “She now wants to sneak into a nightclub to dance, drink and kiss other men — all alone.”

Nero burst into laughter, clapping his hands, and I snorted; only Frank understood what I was talking about. Although Mel had decided to marry him and had done it quickly, she gave our guards a hard time when she was younger, running away and ending up at parties.

I dived into work, analyzing new shipments about to reach the city and reviewing all the reports from the last days I’d been away.

Before I knew it, it was already late at night; Nero and Frank had left long ago. I’d even missed dinner and my chance to talk to Angela — by then she should already be asleep.

I had just stood up, stretching my muscles before grabbing my jacket and calling the day done. But a knock sounded that caught my attention — at that hour it could only be bad news.

“Boss. They told me you were here and I have a… piece of news for you.” The man faltered in his words, making me even more intrigued about what it could be, especially with his pale face and nervous expression.

“Say it straight — what the hell happened?”

“It’s about Angela…” My whole body tensed and I took long strides toward the man; I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall in seconds. “She… she ran away…”

“What? How the hell could this happen?”

“She found a way to escape the mansion — the guards only just realized and found her at a nightclub downtown.” Nero appeared, speaking up, since the man in front of me looked like he was about to die having to deliver the news that they’d failed. “Luckily she’s in one of our safe houses, so you can imagine who sent her there.”

I was going to kill Melissa! She had to learn not to cross the line with me, but first I was going after Angela and I would bring her back by the hair if necessary!