Aria slowly looked up from her place on the couch to study Abigor’s reaction.
His face was still and completely expressionless as he stared at her. She had expected rage big enough to burn the whole world down.
Because she stood against everything he ever believed in. She deceived him, something which he hated more than anything.
She had preached to him about how his father had used him, whereas all along she was the one using him, playing with his heart.
“What did you plan after getting me to kill Silverio?” Abigor’s sudden question made her eyes snap back at his hazel-shimmering ones.
“Sylvia would have taken over the Spanish Mafia and I. . .” she hesitated before she decided to grow a spine and tell him the truth “. . . I would have killed you because I knew if I didn’t, you’d find me and kill me first”
“That’s true” he shrugged as Aria’s heart thumped in despair, he didn’t even try to deny it.
“What makes you think that I won’t kill you right now?” venom laced his words as he stood up abruptly from his chair, startling Aria in the process as her eyes widened.
He carefully picked up the chair and placed it in its original spot “Hm?” he asked again, patiently while rolling the sleeves of his black shirt as he approached her.
She took a deep breath “I’d rather die by your hands than Silverio Paulo’s”
He finally stood in front of her crouched body sitting on the couch as he planted his hands on both sides of her head, trapping her.
“Why?”
His simple question made her look away from his eyes as they focussed on his broad shoulders.
She didn’t know the answer herself, she didn’t know why she felt a sense of comfort with him, she didn’t know why her heart hurt just imagining him getting hurt, she didn’t know why she. . . cared.
Her heart had swayed in the small amount of time she had been with him, now whenever her heart beats, it beats for him.
A sharp pain struck her heart as the thoughts of her planning to kill Abigor coldly and then running away like a coward surfaced in her mind.
“I-I don’t know” she gave out a small whisper as Abigor’s eyebrows furrowed as he studied her face.
He trailed his cold fingers down her flawless face as his eyes softened, he did not have to hear it from her mouth what he knew her heart was screaming.
“I’ll tell you why-” his hushed whisper made her look at his eyes again “-because you fell in love”
Her heart squeezed at his direct declaration as millions of emotions ran rampant in her mind.
She couldn’t. After everything she had done. She was a murderer, she used people just to fulfill her desires. Be it Kahlil, Sylvia or Abigor.
It’s all she has ever known. A selfish person like her didn’t deserve a pure thing such as love.
“I don’t love you” her voice came out hoarse as a single tear drop escaped her eyes. The side of her mouth twitched for a fraction of a second, making Abigor realize the truth.
That was the sign that she was lying.
His hands reached out to roughly grab her jaw as she gasped out lowly “Keep lying to yourself little girl; but you cannot lie to me-”
His face closed in on her as she sunk further into the couch, their laboured breathing mingled together as a curtain of haze surrounded his eyes.
“-Not anymore”
His words rang in her head as she didn’t even notice his warm lips capturing her’s in a slow kiss. He took her lower lip between his teeth and sucked it harshly before biting down on it.
She winced in pain as her hands reached up to grab his shirt in a fist. His tongue entered her mouth as he grabbed her hair in a fist and pulled it back while slanting his face over her to kiss her deeply.
A low moan escaped her as she felt his tongue deep in her mouth and then a harsh bite on her tongue making her flinch.
He for sure loved biting her when he was angry.
He backed his face a bit with her lower lip still between his teeth and stared at her eyes squeezed shut. He tugged her lip as her eyes opened in pain to look at him.
At that moment he released her lip and whispered against her now swollen and reddened lips “I love you”
Her eyes widened in surprise but he chose to ignore it as he continued.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I laid my eyes on you, I do not care what games you are playing as long as you do them while being by my side”
He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear “You may have planned everything, the moment we met, how we met, why we met. But you cannot have planned falling in love”
He sighed “You can use me all you want and I’d gladly do everything for you. I can burn the whole world and bring it to your feet if that’s what you want, I’d die a thousand times for you if it means that you’ll be left unscathed”
Tears after tears left Aria’s eyes as her lips trembled. She was in the most vulnerable state he had ever seen her in because it was the first time anyone has ever loved her to this extent.
It had been a long time since she had heard someone say “I love you”, the last time she had heard her mother whisper those words to her.
“You can’t” her voice came out strong, contrary to her current state as she pushed Abigor off her and wiped her tears.
Abigor’s blood was reaching a boiling point after seeing her reject his love again and again. He had never been good with rejections anyway.
“Why?” His voice came out exasperated as his jaw clenched outlining his sharp jawline perfectly.
“I’m a murderer” she said as she looked up at him with heavy eyes.
His face morphed into an indifferent expression as he kept staring at her “So am I. What’s your point? Everyone is a killer one way or another. Some kill animals, some kill insects. We just choose to kill humans”
She gritted her teeth at his weird analogy as she stood up in a start “My point is, that I can kill you!”
At this, he let out a loud laugh making her flinch in surprise as he took a step forward, his eyes focused solely on her.
She backed away all the while keeping his stare but she couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her spine when she felt the cold wall against her back and found herself trapped against his intimidatingly huge body.
“Try, kitten. I want to see you try” his hand wrapped around her throat tightly this time as a low crack resonated in the room from his teeth grinding with such power.
“Do you think I am an easy target like Salvador? I have been managing this mafia for years, I’ve never let a woman close to me” he said through rage as his grip tightened on her neck as her breathing hitched, finding it hard to breathe.
Her hands went up to his in an attempt to save herself, but Abigor just pressed his body further into her making it impossible for her to move.
“I let you in because I felt a certain pull to you. I’m an intense man, Aria. I work diligently, hate fervently, and love fiercely”
His words were like a dagger to her heart. She knew she was incompatible with love, she had forgotten how to love someone.
All these years she was so blinded by her hate and need for revenge that the word love had just become a foreign concept to her.
His grip had visibly loosened but was still strong enough to keep her in her position as both her hands clung to his single arm.
“I’m not capable of loving someone” her declaration left him baffled as she continued “I’m selfish and I come with all this baggage. . . and all this trauma, I’m not sure if-if I could ever love you”
Abigor’s eyes roamed her face in such a way as if he just found out what love is, how love looked. Every time he looked at her, his love grew for her even more.
“Then I’d just have to love you enough for the both of us”
“Then I’d just have to love you enough for the both of us”
Aria pushed at his chest but he didn’t even budge and continued gazing at her intensely “Abigor, no” she mumbled “You deserve better”
“You’re the better I deserve” he mumbled tucking a stray strand of golden hair behind her ear “And why are you pretending like I am a saint? You killed Salvador because of the shit he did to you”
Her eyes watered at the memories as he continued “You killed because you had a purpose, meanwhile, I kill without any purpose most of the time. If anything, I’m worse”
Aria looked down with furrowed brows while her hands fisted his dark shirt.
He had a weird way of comforting her.
If anything, she felt lighter, less guilty now that she had confessed everything. The fact that Abigor had still accepted her and even declared that he loved her, left her totally baffled.
She nodded slowly as she looked up at him and gave a small smile. He returned it with a sly grin as he lifted her head with his thumb under her chin.
Their lips connected once more, but it didn’t start off slow and comforting like before. It was passionate, fierce and all in all aggressive.
He breathed heavily and pushed her further into the wall while his tongue dug deep into her mouth. His hands roughly tugged the buttons of her jeans and pulled them down.