Athena
I stepped out of the elevator; my lips drew in a pout. Luciano was gone- again. In the past four days, we never went home together. There was always something or someone -like Luca and Giorgia- demanding his attention elsewhere. That sucked big time. And I wouldn’t say I liked it.
Because they are committing a crime, right? A voice in my head probed.
Sure. If that was the explanation we were going with. I was sad he was leaving me alone to commit whatever shitty crimes he wanted to. I was even more sad because I couldn’t do shit. Luciano had lured me in with honey and then tied my hands and feet.
As I walked out of Moretti Industries, I could see the man he had placed on my tail in my hindsight. I’d say he chose a perfect man for a spy. The man was short, diminutive, and dressed in a plain shirt tucked in black office pants. He looked unnoticeable, like any other employee, and perhaps no one would suspect him.
Well, I wasn’t anyone.
A spy keeps his gaze focused on his target, irrespective of what he feigns or pretends to do. I had noticed when I slipped out of the elevator he stood by it, peering earnestly at it. When my eyes slid over his briefly, he quickly withdrew, lowered his gaze, and looked elsewhere.
That was a spy.
I sighed wistfully, shaking my head at the ridiculousness. Well, he wasn’t excellent. Luciano ought to train his men more. There was more to being a spy than simply keeping an eye on someone.
Hell, I was a spy, and no one would even guess it.
Except for Giorgia.
I paused in my tracks and sighed again. That witch was grating on my nerves. Ever since the day she heard the phone call, she had given me death glares every time I saw her. I had wanted to retaliate. Hell, I had considered telling Cole or someone else to take her out. But I could very well imagine Frederick’s reply.
‘Athena, we can’t go around killing people!’
I don’t understand. When you think about it a little deeper, killing Giorgia was for the greater good. One, it meant killing one of Luciano’s accomplices. I doubted her hand was clean in the whole mafia business. She must have gotten some blood on those stubby hands. Two, Luciano would have something to grieve about. And that would please me. I wanted the bastard to know how it felt to lose people close to you. To lose those you loved to an unknown enemy and then spend years trying to find that enemy.
Luciano could act cold all he wanted, But I knew he cared about Giorgia. She was the first and only woman, aside from me, whose shit he took with levity. Hell, two days ago, she smacked him in the face. I had no idea what they had been talking about; I had been eavesdropping as usual and was staring through the glass door to see her wack him one across the face.
Luciano had clenched his jaw but kept silent as she ranted over some shit. Then she broke into tears, and he wrapped his arms around her like a sucker.
“Sucker!” I said with a sneer. How could he fall for a woman’s wiles so fucking quickly?
He fell for yours. A voice in my head accused.
“After giving me a hell of a hard time,” I retorted to myself.
“There’s no need to put on a desperate show,” A very familiar, annoying but familiar voice reached my ears. When I looked up, green eyes stared at me with all the hate in the world.
“Hi, Marcus. Good to see you’re hale and hearty as ever.” I grinned. For some reason messing with this dude always made my day.
Marcus’ jaw tightened, and I thought it would shatter from how he kept grinding his teeth. He stood at the top of the stairs I was about to descend, his hands tucked into his pocket. I suppose the stance was supposed to make him look relaxed, but in reality, he looked super coiled up.
“What are we angry about today?” I teased, sashaying up to him. “And wow, no silent treatment? You’ve been giving me that for the past few weeks. I’d thought someone cut off your tongue.”
Oh, that made him even angrier. His eyes flashed, and I chuckled. My hands patted his shoulders, hoping to offer a bit of comfort. If he loosened up a bit, I was sure he would have the women crawling all over him, especially with all the broodiness he had going for him.
“Let’s go,” he said tightly and turned to climb down the stairs.
“Aye, aye, sir!” I replied, throwing a mock salute behind him.
Marcus threw a glare over his shoulder. “Don’t call me that!”
“What then shall I call you, you mighty overlord-”
“Just fucking stop it!” He roared, drawing the attention of virtually every fucking employee around.
Why the hell was he so worked up? Hell, he was always sulking and being withdrawn and all that shit. Ever since Luciano had made him my chauffeur, I suppose that made him angrier. But why? I was quite a lovely company. At least, I thought I was. He and Giorgia had to be the only two jackasses being bitches to me.
“What is your problem?!” I demanded.
“What is my problem? What’s your problem?! You’re always yammering and breathing so fucking loud! I don’t know how the boss stands you!” He snapped.
“I breathe loud?” I asked, unable to contain the laugh that bubbled in my throat. “I’m not the one standing over there, yelling his lungs off. I swear people in Florida can hear you.”
His face darted around to see the curious look on onlookers’ faces, and he flushed at the sight. Tossing me one last glare, for good measure, I suppose, he climbed down the stairs and marched to the parking lot. I followed him, and when we were far from intruding eyes when he opened the door to the back of the car, I folded my arms and shot him a stern look.
“Look, Marcus, let’s talk.”
“Just get in-”
“No. You have a problem with me. And it’s time to fucking iron that shit out. I don’t like being yelled at, and in public, no less!” I snapped.
“Why? You seem to like it when the boss does it,” he spat with a snide look.
“No, I do not,” I deadpanned. “Where would you get that idea from?”
He growled, closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them, they looked… Sad.
“Will you quit pretending? That’s the worse part. You’re always fucking pretending.” He said.
My heart skipped a bit at his words. Did he? Fuck, there was no way he knew. I arched a brow and placed a hand on my hips.
“Will you speak in clearer terms? I’m confused as to what exactly I’m pretending about-”
“I know you’re fucking the boss!” He bellowed, shocking the hell out of me.
“Why the hell are you yelling? You could have said that normally!” I yelled, looking around. Fuck, if any of the employees heard that, they would hate me more than they already did.
“Why?” He asked in mockery. “You don’t want anyone to know what a whore you are?”
“It’s not whoring around if it’s just one man,” I shrugged. I was done with the conversation. If he was mad I was fooling around with his boss, who I hadn’t even fucked yet, he might as well take it up with his boss, not me.
Marcus, however, had other plans. His hands slipped around my waist and yanked me towards him until I was pressed flush against him. His green eyes stared down at me, hate shifting into sadness. When he spoke, he sounded haunted. “Why?” He whispered. “You could have been mine. I would… the boss will only use you, Raven Gonzalez.”
Had I fallen into the wrong fucking universe or something? What the hell was wrong with Marcus?!
“Are you okay?” I whispered, not wanting to yell because of our proximity.
His green eyes burned across my face, searching for something I didn’t know. His hand came up, caressing my face lightly. My eyes pulled into a frown, and I tried to step away.
“He’ll break you,” Marcus said, tightening his hold on me. “He’ll fucking take all he wants from you and toss you out as he does to other women.”
Oh, he was crazy, and I almost told him that when a thought dropped into my mind.
Hold up, Athena?
There was no way he could fake that much intensity in his eyes. I almost smiled. The right-hand man of Luciano found himself fascinated with me. If that wasn’t a great catch, then I sure as hell didn’t know what was.
My lips quivered, and I blinked rapidly to bring some tears to my eyes.
“I know,” I sniffed, sagging in his arms. “I cannot… I cannot help what my heart wants, Marcus.”
He nodded and gave my waist one last squeeze before leaning in, his lips against my ear. “I… I’ll be here, Raven. When you change your mind.”
A wide grin split my lips.
Bingo!