ATHENA
The screen of the burner phone glared back at me, blank and white like a freaking white December morning. I had no idea how long I had sat on the bed, staring at the stupid device willing it to ring. I hadn’t heard shit from Damian in a while and for some reason, it bothered the hell out of me. Luciano had stepped out of the cabin “Briefly,”- according to his words- And that was two hours ago. The probability that he was on his way back home was very high.
“Why the hell isn’t this fool responding?” I mumbled to myself, trying to stop my head from bringing up worst-case scenarios- and thoroughly failing at it. Had Luciano gotten to him? Was that why he had left? I frowned, glancing down at the mattress I sat on. That would mean he had found the phone where I had hidden it.
I shook my head at the thought, I doubted it. He would have confronted me about it.
He should have, right?
Ah crap, I had no idea what to think. Luciano had been completely unpredictable ever since the night he had dragged me out of the hideout. Hell, he had been unpredictable ever since we stepped foot in Italy. Crazy. I still wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Okay, perhaps that was a lie. I had an inkling of my feelings about it. Just one word.
Guilty.
I felt so fucking guilty, It was unbearable as hell. I hated that I felt that way and wished desperately that I could free myself from this burden.
But dwelling on feelings was for weaklings and for all the sands in Sicily, I didn’t think I was one. Whether Luciano had a hand in my father’s death or not, He was still a bad person. He had caused hundreds of deaths in the past five years, He had raked hell both in Italy and in New York.
But he has been nothing but nice and sweet to you, my mind chipped in and my brows furrowed angrily. Who the hell was nice and sweet to me? That bastard put me through hell, especially in the first month I started working for him. I could swear he was after my blood.
He wouldn’t have been if you weren’t bent on seducing him, you ninny!
“Ninny?” I gasped rising off the bed, the phone forgotten. The last thing I was, was a ninny. I had risked my life for the FBI, I had put my everything on the fucking line.
But if it wasn’t for revenge, would you have done all of that? A tiny voice in my head questioned and I sighed. Now I was questioning my motive for becoming an agent. Luciano must have worked some voodoo on me because there was no way I was in my right mind. Not with all these ridiculous thoughts flying around my head.
Eager for a distraction, I grabbed the phone, turned it off, and stashed it in my secret hiding place before walking towards a wall. The only window in the room was on that wall but hell, Luciano must have built the place to either keep something in or hide from something out because the window was as high as hell. I could probably reach it if I tried to launch myself from the Headboard of the bed, or if I made rough cuts into the wood for gripping. But that would take a lot of time. The time I didn’t fucking have. m
I sighed and dragged a hand down my face. That was all I had done since I got here anyways. Sigh like some old granny whose kids had abandoned her in some old people’s home. I was tired of sighing. I couldn’t remain here when Frederick and the police come tomorrow, shit would hit the fan. Luciano still didn’t know I worked with the FBI. And I honestly wished he wouldn’t know. Right5 down to the end.
A sour taste formed in my mouth and it wasn’t until I felt something slide down my face, that I knew I was crying.
“Pathetic,” I chuckled, wiping my tears hurriedly. Fucking pathetic! “You knew this would happen. This was the fucking goal all along, why the hell are you crying!” I hissed at myself, pulling away from the wall, and stormed out of the bedroom, feeling quite suffocated.
Whatever happened tomorrow, was well deserved by Luciano. He killed all those people.
You deceived him.,
“I had to!” I screamed to no one in particular. Fuck me, I was going crazy. I was having a damned argument with myself! Furious, I walked into the kitchen, searching for something- anything- to lessen the pain. Anything to make me fucking breathe.
If he deserves it, why did you ask Frederick for more time with him? Why are you content with just staying here when you could have escaped a long ass time ago? Why are you still here, Athena?
“Because I don’t want to fucking leave!” I yelled then clasped a hand over my mouth. “I’ve gone mad, I’ve gone fucking mad-”
The front door was kicked open, the sound echoing through the building. My heartbeat increased, and I could hear the sounds rushing through my ears rather loudly. Luciano was back. His rapid footsteps were all over the living room.
“Raven!” He called, his deep voice reaching the stupid inner parts of me that refused to be quelled by fear.
See what I meant, when I said I’d gone mad? I should have suspected right from the very first moment I yearned for him to touch me.
Disgusted with myself, I stayed still in the kitchen, listening to him rant all over the place, screaming my name like a damned lunatic. It was almost satisfying. Until I realized that I shouldn’t enjoy it. Hell, I should be mad at him. He had held me here against my will for three darned days. I should be furious.
At least I thought I should be.
“Gonzalez!” He yelled in the bedroom and I chuckled. Lord, if we had met under entirely different circumstances, I would have thought he was cute. The way he addressed me under different conditions was borderline adorable. I had come to pick patterns of the names he had for me, over time. He called me Raven when he was calmer. Cara, when he was in a rather passionate mood. Or helpless. Like when I had my mouth wrapped around him. My face flamed at the memory and I swallowed. I loved the rapturous look on his face. Loved the way he sounded helpless, as if he couldn’t help the way he reacted. The way he wanted me.
“Gonzalez!”
Ah, my personal favorite. He called me Gonzalez when he was at his fucking wit’s end. I’d driven him crazy too many times to know that. A tiny smile played in the corner of my lips as I recalled the times I had seen him lose his shit because of me. And I loved it. I loved it very much.
And I hated how much I loved it too.
“Gon-” He stopped mid-yell at the entrance of the kitchen, looking every bit as gorgeous as always. His eyes, dark and liquid hot were wide with.. fear? I frowned at the sight. Even his breathing seemed incredibly loud, his chest heaving as his eyes slowly receded in size, narrowing into a glare.
“It’s amusing you, no?” He snapped. “I have been busting my ass looking all over the place for you and you’re here with a shitty smile on your face.
‘Why? Were you afraid I had escaped? You locked down the whole place. How on earth would I have escaped?” I taunted, keeping a straight face.
He shrugged, walking towards me. “Anything is possible. You are a very formidable woman. Hell, I bet it’s killing you to be in here with me.”
“You know it is!” I snapped as he drew closer until he was a few inches away. He was dressed in a suit as usual, which meant he had gone to town for something business related. Perhaps another meeting with his mafia goons.
“Mhmm,” He hummed, reaching out a palm to hold my face. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
His thumb did a thing that brought me to my knees like some pathetic weakling. It gently stroked the undersides of my lips. Any hatred that I was trying to hold on to, any slip of anger, I was desperately trying to grasp onto, dissolved.
“If I was, would you take care of me?” I murmured, parting my lips so that his thumb would slip into my mouth.
He sucked in a breath and stepped closer. “Aye, you know I will Cara. Come here,” he murmured, sliding an arm around my waist until I was flushed against him. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d probably have bolted for the woods to look for you.”
I chuckled dryly at his words. “Ah Luciano, you do not know me at all.”