Luciano’s POV
Bastards.
Fucking bastards.
They got tired of playing their games and decided to come out on a frontal attack? The fucking nerve of them! In the distance, I shuddered at the thought of the police over here in a few minutes and dragged a hand down my face. I hated getting involved with those dumbasses. It was hard enough not whipping out my gun and blowing off that fucker on the dome-shaped building.
I stood outside the ball, next to my car. Bodyguards, dumbasses who were nowhere to be found when that bastard tried to kill me, suddenly surrounded me, looking everywhere like a bunch of watchdogs.
Raven.
Fuck I thought she couldn’t get any hotter. My eyes closed and I allowed myself to reimagine the way she had flown out of the window. Her hair whipping all over her, that fierce determination in her eyes.
It was fucking crazy. I knew she was strong. Hell, I knew she could be fearless, I didn’t know how much she could be THAT strong, not physically at least.
No. There was something else to it. She had swung out of the window with so much skill and precision, that wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.
She was trained, and well too.
But when? And by who? What exactly did I know to be true about feisty Raven Gonzalez?
I looked around at the park, empty now except for a few valets who had braved the commotion to come and have a look at what happened.
Either they were very brave or they were bumbling idiots, at this point, I didn’t care. I just wanted to know where the hell Raven was.
Going back to my phone, I dialed her number, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I ran a slick hand over my hair, a bit wet with tension. It rang once, then twice. No answer.
I tried again, holding my breath as it rang, to no answer, I could feel the frustration building heavily now.
“FUCK!” I yelled looking around, “Hey, you!”
The valet I was referring to, a young kid with dirty blond hair and more than his fair share of acne looked up, “Sir?”
“Get over here.”
He came, scampering over. This one was eager to please, good.
I looked down at him, a hand in my pocket, face expressionless, “Have any of you called the cops?”
He blinked twice, “The cops? Not sure sir”
“Jesus Christ kid, don’t tell me you are as stupid as you look.” I groaned, “Someone, just tried to assassinate your patron,” I looked at him, my eyes cold and my voice calm. “You haven’t called the police yet?” I lowered my voice a few octaves, ice cold. “I don’t find that amusing, at all.”
His eyes stared at me, unblinking as he swallowed nervously. “I… will g-g-get o-o-n that s-ir” He stammered, looking shaken, his lips quivering.
“Make yourself useful.”
Without another word, he scampered out, whipping my head around, I nodded at one of the bodyguards. “Any word from Marcus yet?”
“No boss.” He replied, shaking his head.
“That kid might be too stupid to call the cops, but someone smarter would already have.” I fished a cigar from my pack and lit it, taking a deep drag. “I don’t want that heat on me, if Raven isn’t here by the time the cops show up, trust me, your heads are going to roll.”
The men shifted uncomfortably, fear in their eyes.
I opened the door to the Mercedes and slid inside the backseat, letting out a deep breath. Where the hell were they?
I was answered by a slight tap on my window, Marcus stood outside, his jaw clenched. I pressed a button whining down the window.
“We have her sir.” He said, squinting. Behind him stood Raven, dress torn, barefooted, looking shaking and a bit disorganized but otherwise unhurt.
I fought the urge to let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, if it isn’t The Black Widow, life and in person.”
She stood there, trying to catch her breath. “Jokes? Now? Really.”
I opened the door, “Come in, you have quite some explaining to do.”
***
“I told you, I took karate classes in school.” She hissed, exasperation in her voice. I raised an eyebrow, “Karate?”
“Yes.”
“Raven, you swung over a 70-foot drop onto concrete on a rope,” I said, turning over to look into her eyes, she looked down, apparently uncomfortable. “You don’t learn that from a middle-aged potential sex offender with a drinking habit pretending to teach children self-defense.”
She looked up at me, amusement dancing in her eyes, “Actually, we found out he was a sex offender AFTER I graduated. Apparently, he tried to grope one of the girls.”
“Not funny.” I rolled my eyes, “Nice try, Raven, but jokes won’t help you deflect.” I leaned in closer, so close I could smell her perfume, missed with a tang from her sweat from all the chasing she had done earlier.
Even in this state, I wanted nothing more than to shove her onto her back and have her right there. Shaking my head, I continued.
“How did you do it? Where did you learn to move like that…?”
“I told you from…”
“Raven, please.” I tilted my head, “Do not insult my intelligence. I can clearly see that you didn’t learn it from Karate”
She rolled her eyes, apparently exasperated “Okay, promise not to laugh?”
“Do I look like I am amused by any of this?”
She gave a momentary pause, looking at me and then sighing. “Fine, after high school, I wanted to become a stunt woman.”
Okay, that took me by surprise. “What?”
“I know, it sounds crazy, but I watched too many female-led action movies and thought I wanted to be an actress, but then I realized I wanted to do my own stunts and be a total badass.” She looked up at me with a little smile, “Plus, the drama kiss pissed me off.”
I kept silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond. She did look tall enough, but I saw her as this unassuming woman. Made to draw out my deepest desires and serve as my secretary, not do stunts.
“You are right, the theatre kids are annoying,” I said finally.
She smiled, and if I didn’t know better, I would say she looked… relieved.
“So, what happened?” I pressed, “Why did you quit?”
She took in a deep breath, “I watched a classmate fall from twelve feet while trying to perform a stunt. I decided I wasn’t passionate enough about swinging from ropes and risking my life for entertainment to risk a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”
I smiled. She was definitely not telling me everything.
“Okay then,” I said to the driver, “Marco, take us home.”
***
I knocked on the door to the guest room, where she was staying for the night.
She opened it and stuck out her head. “What?”
I smirked, “I came to see how you were holding up.”
“I am fine, goodnight.” She said curtly, moving to shut the door. I held it open.
“Luciano,” she hissed, like a viper spitting venom, “I don’t have time for this bullshit tonight. In case you have forgotten, it was a long night.”
I casually swung the door open and stepped in, noticing a couple of things.
One, she was in a bathrobe.
Two, there was nothing underneath by the looks of it, not even underwear. “Sorry to barge in,” I smiled.
She narrowed her eyes, “You don’t look very sorry, asshole.”
“You are right, I am not.”
“What do you want?” She crossed her arms, making her already endowed breasts look even bigger.
“Well,” I replied, taking off my cotton shirt, my eyes never leaving her, “I thought you could need some company tonight.”
“Thanks for the offer,” her voice dripped with sarcasm, “But I don’t need a bodyguard.”
I walked over to her, and grabbing her waist, pulled her into me. “I am not asking.”
She looked up, her breathing slowly getting more labored, “Let go, Luciano, I was just about to take a shower.”
I smirked. “That makes two of us.”
As I quietly disrobed her, she made move to resist, we slid into the shower, letting the warm water cascade over our naked bodies already heating up from the close contact. It wasn’t sexual, I just needed to feel her there, with me present.
I clung to her, and for once, she didn’t protest. We lathered up and soon were toweling up as we went beneath the sheets, spooning as I clung to her.
Just before I drifted to sleep, my mind wandered back to events earlier. The terror I felt while I waited for Marcus to find her, or her body. The relief I felt when she came back unharmed.
I hated it, all of it.