Mia’s pov
I let my eyes full shut for a moment while I tried to figure out if I was hallucinating or not. Blinking my eyes open and seeing the shock look still plastered on Lorenzo’s face as he raked his eyes over the man who had spoken and the rest who were all slowly taking off their masks.
Lorenzo slowly huffed out a breath, eyes slowly trailing over the bared faces and I watched as more recognition dawned on him.
“Marcus?” A disbelief laugh escaped his lungs this time as he slowly moved his feet off the throat of the dude trapped underneath it.
“What the fuck?” Lorenzo whispered and I watched as the leader who supposedly went by Marcus closed the distance between Lorenzo and tugged him into an embrace. My confusion tripled when Lorenzo returned the hug tightly, a throaty laugh leaving his mouth.
It took a little while for the hug to be over and one after the other, Lorenzo exchanged hugs with them all, except the last one whose throat Lorenzo had stepped on. Lorenzo held him at arms length while scrutinizing him.
“I don’t remember you.” Lorenzo stated and the man let out a bashful laugh, eyes darting nervously between Lorenzo and Marcus.
“Yes, you’re right. He just joined the gang recently, he’s pretty new to all these.” Marcus explained and when Lorenzo glanced back at the man, he let out an awkward crackle, causing Lorenzo to snort before patting the guy on the shoulder and letting him go.
“Where the fuck have you been? You said you were gonna stay clear off this city, remember?” Lorenzo murmured, easily falling into a rhythm with Marcus and almost all the team, proving that indeed, Lorenzo and these men must have gone way back.
That left me feeling extremely confused because I was lost as to why they abducted me in the first place if they were on good terms with Lorenzo. They seemed to have forgotten my existence as they conversed among each other.
“Why this dumb ass stunt though?” Lorenzo asked and I perked up at once, wanting to listen in now. I watched as Marcus and a few other guys snickered while exchanging looks.
“That’s because we knew you were definitely gonna show up if you knew we had your girl.” A different guy responded this time, the one who had been certain that I was Lorenzo’s girl.
“Oh?” Lorenzo murmured and in the next moment, his eyes darted toward my direction. Our eyes met at once and I hastily averted my gaze, as I felt my entire cheeks heat up.
“Yeah, man. That was a pretty brilliant move, you’ve got to admit that.” Marcus snickered and the rest of the gang burst out laughing.
They said something else which I was unable to catch because I was focused on counting my accelerating heartbeat, and because I was trying to avoid glancing in their direction so I don’t mistakenly lock eyes with Lorenzo again.
Seeing as Lorenzo was pretty much caught up in a concert with these guys, I contemplated slipping away without any of them noticing, but that look in Lorenzo’s eyes in that fleeting moment when we had locked gazes had flashed through my mind, causing me to discard that thought as fast as I could. The fact that he had actually come to rescue me was still making my mind reel.
I knew damn well that I’m in so much danger in his hands without having to ask him, and that made dread clog my lungs and made me feel dizzy.
“Are you still gonna be staying around the city for now?” Lorenzo’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I glanced towards the direction they’re huddled in.
“Fuck yeah! I’ve been around for a while now, we’ve all been, we all just chose to stay in the shadows.” A different guy responded this time and Lorenzo hummed while nodding his head.
They exchanged a few more words before preparing to part ways when Marcus spoke.
“Your girl should be more careful next time. It’s dangerous around here at nighttime.”
Lorenzo’s gaze landed on me almost immediately and I instantly wished I could sink into the ground. The side of his hips tilted a little as he hummed out a response.
“You think so?”
“Definitely. If she had landed in a different person’s trap, she’d have been dead meat now. Or, she could have caused way more damage for you. You know just like how we saw her in her arms over and over again, so did everyone else, and I’m certain your actual enemies wouldn’t have thought twice about abducting her if they had seen her all alone tonight.”
All eyes were on me right now and I squirmed, face heated and blood pounding in my eyes as I stared pointedly at my feet. Lorenzo’s eyes raked over my body for a couple of moments before it moved away and that left my stomach flipping around.
Lorenzo exchanged a hug with Marcus and a few of the guys and finally, they parted ways.
With my heart stuck in my throat and my blood pressure rising impossibly high from hypertension, I watched as the guys slowly began to make their way down the darkened part way.
“Be more careful next time, hot shot! You’re too cute to be playing around these dark places.” One of the guys called out and the rest laughed amongst themselves before they finally
Once they were finally gone, I realized that I was currently left with Lorenzo, causing my throat to close up even more and for a moment, I contemplated running after those men and asking them to take me along.
When I glanced up, I realized that Lorenzo was already looking at me with a blank expression on. I gulped emptily, not knowing what to do or say.
I attempted to speak but nothing came forth.
Lorenzo regarded me for a few more long seconds before turning around and walking back to his motorcycle, which I didn’t know he owned until tonight. He smoothly swung over it and my stomach clenched at how attractive he looked doing that.
For a moment, I thought he was gonna leave me behind in order for me to get caught by one of his enemies for real this time in order to teach me a lesson, and I almost wished he would… but he tensely nodded his head towards the space behind him.
“Hop on.”
~~~
Lorenzo’s pov
The wind howled as I sped through the highway at a pace which I knew was reckless, but I didn’t give a fuck.
I could feel Mia’s warm body firmly plastered against my back while her fingers were tightly clutching my shirt, I didn’t need any other confirmation that she’s currently scared shitless.
It was almost comical how she had attempted to decline the helmet when I offered it to her, knowing damn well that it was gonna give her some sense of security to have that piece of plastic protecting her head in case the bike crashes.
There’s a bit of traffic tonight, but it had nothing on me since I was currently riding a bike. Which is a good thing because I couldn’t wait to arrive home.
If I say I wasn’t pissed off right now, then that means I’d just be lying through my teeth.
Anyone who takes a look at me right now would see how pissed off I am.
Even Mia behind me is definitely aware.
The reason as to why I was mad? It’s because of Mia.
When I received a call from my guards that she was gone, I had instantly assumed the worst.
It never crossed my mind that she had actually attempted to run away because in a way, I thought she was too scared to attempt that, and also because I wasn’t maltreating her despite her being my prisoner.
I had my guards start to look for her after that phone call, and immediately after that, I could barely focus on anything else except the thought of finding her safely.
That pissed me off so damn much because it proved to me that indeed, I actually cared for her and wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.
There’s a difference between lightly acknowledging something in one’s mind and being forced to outrightly accept something because of unexpected circumstances.
That was how I felt as Mia got searched for, and as much as it pissed me off, I still kept searching for her.
When that call came in hours later, it felt like everything in my head stopped for a heartbeat.
As soon as the call ended, despite me claiming to not be coming, I was out of the house instantly and on my bike, heading to the attached location.
I knew that had been reckless as hell and that I’d have been in actual danger if Mia had gotten held by actual enemies. Which is why I’m feeling hella pissed right now, because of that reckless move.
Not like I could really blame anyone for that except myself.
That said reckless move somehow made it starkingly obvious that I indeed cared for Mia, and I hated that.
Things like that are what makes humans vulnerable to their enemies. It’s why we’ve always been advised to never get attached to a woman, because when you don’t have a weakness, then your enemies would have no opening to get at you from.
Marcus and the gang.
Bunch of dumb boys who I befriended decades ago.
We had all been homeless on the street many years ago. We struggled to remain alive together and went through a lot of shit together. We all grew stronger together and created so many memories with each other.
As we matured, I had to part ways with them because of the future path I needed to take because of my revenge starved soul.
Whereas Marcus and the rest of the gang wanted to become assassins, I wanted to be a mafia lord just like my father, just like I was supposed to have succeeded my father if he hadn’t gotten murdered.
That was why we went our separate ways to work towards our goals.
At a point, I had forgotten about them as I made new memories and crossed new feats. It hasn’t even crossed my mind that it could be them as I rode down here at an insanely high speed.
Marcus and the rest of the gang had referred to Mia as my girl. They claimed to have noticed her around me a lot, and how I look at her and touch her.
That gave me an instant headache because if this was how my rivals had been noticing me, then perhaps they’ve all somehow figured out that I cared for Mia, and they might have also been planning to get at me through Mia.
That made my head pound harder and I shook it slightly while forcing the thought out of my head in order to focus on the road.
Should any dumb person try that, then it means they want to be sent to the grave early.
As I took a mean curve that had the bike tilting halfway to the ground, a startled and panicked squeak drifted into my ear as the tight grip on my shirt instantly morphed into hands being wrapped around my waist tightly.
That made me snort as I felt her accelerating heartbeat vibrating against my back.
It’s almost comical how scared shitless she is right now.
As she should though, because she knew damn well that she crossed a line today.
One which I most certainly won’t be overlooking.
She’s going to get punished tonight, so that when next she thinks of pulling this stunt, she’d have to remember the punishment and think twice before carrying said stunt out.
If being taught a lesson is what it’s going to take, then she’s gonna be my guest tonight.
And I wouldn’t be holding back.
I’ve been holding back since the moment I moved her into the apartment I live in, despite how much she mouth off at me every now and then, I made sure to not lose control around her because she had no idea of the fire she was playing with.
But tonight, everything is getting loosened.
All hell is breaking loose.
Thinking about how that’s gonna play out had me tightening my grip on the handles of the bike and I let out a sharp breath before shoving that thought aside.
Now isn’t the time for that.
We’d be home soon, after all.