Luciano
Funnily enough, I had never thought about that question until I heard it from her mouth. You’d think a mafia boss would be a little bit more suspicious of an undercover FBI agent who was sent to specifically bring him down and who had up till very recently, bad a specific agenda against him and was determined to destroy him by any means necessary.
But I didn’t. I consider myself a logical man, and logically I should be moving as far away from this wam as I possibly could, if not immediately killing her. But whenever I was around Raven Gonzalez, all logic flew out the window, and I wanted nothing more than to have her around me, to keep her by my side, to keep her happy so she would never leave me, matter how illogical that sounded.
“Oh, Luciano.” She said quietly, tears brimming in her eyes. “You don’t mean that, do you?”
“Every single word of it.” I said calmly. It was true, there was no point hiding from it anymore.
“That’s not enough Luciano, and you know it.”
“Raven, I just need you to trust me on this okay?”
“Have I done anything to earn your trust?” She asked, turning to look at me, “I have been nothing but trouble since I came into your life, how can you possibly trust me?”
“I don’t know, okay?” I said, frustration in my voice, why didn’t she get it? Why didn’t she see it like I did? “I just fucking know, in my guts, okay?”
She fell silent, her eyes facing straight ahead.
As I anxiously awaited Raven’s reply, I found my heart racing with anticipation. The weight of the world seemed to hang in the balance, as though her answer would determine the course of my existence.
I had only known her for a while, but I knew she was an intelligent woman, and she understood what I had asked her. If she said no, that was it for us. I couldn’t keep someone who wasn’t part of the business and family around, for her own safety and for mine. I would have no choice but to send her far away, where I would never see her again while I worked on trying to forget she even existed. That would be it, the end.
If she said yes, however, then her life would never remain the same, she would be committed to me, and her future would be linked to mine. There would be no going back to being Raven Gonzalez of the past, she would become my queen, and my empire would be hers as well
“I don’t know, Luciano,” She said finally.
Okay, that had gone from a “No” to an “I don’t know.”
Definitely progress.
“Just think about it okay?” I said as we pulled up to the hotel lobby. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure at all, or feel like I am forcing you-”
“We are way beyond that point Luciano,” she interrupted, her hands pausing at the door handle, “You and I both know that. If I say know, it’s the end right?”
“The end of what?” I asked, avoiding her eyes.
“The end of this, this thing we are doing, it’s the end of us, you can’t have someone you don’t completely trust so close to your business, and you can’t trust someone who isn’t in your business.” She looked at me, get eyes sad, “If I don’t join you, you will have no choice but to push me away, we both know that, there is no need to play dumb over it.”
I looked at her, pursing my lips. “You have already got it all figured out haven’t you?”
She opened the door stepping out of the car and stood waiting for me as I parked it. When I joined her, I offered her an elbow and she hooked her arm in it.
It was a small gesture, yes, but it filled me with hope, maybe it was a sign she didn’t want to leave me yet.
But as we got to the elevator, she got in and gently shoved me away, “I think it’s best you stay in the lobby for now.” She said quietly.
I frowned, just a literal moment ago she seemed to want to be so close to me, now she wanted to be alone?
“Why?” I asked.
“I need to think about this with a clear head Luciano.” She said, “I am sorry, but with you so close, I don’t think that would be possible.”
The elevator doors shut as she stared at me, and letting out a deep sigh, I walked over to the chair at the bar, flashing the bartender a smile and shaking my head politely when he asked if I wanted anything.
After what seemed like forever, my phone beeped, a notification for a message.
“Hello.” She texted.
My heart, beating like a teenager with a crush, forced me up as I held the phone. My hands were shaking hard while I typed my reply, “Hi.”
It took a while before she started typing again, “So, I have thought about it we’ll enough, and J think I have an answer.”
I hadn’t felt this amount of anxiety since the Patriots beat the Eagles in two thousand and seventeen.
Actually, scratch that, this was much worse, I could almost hear my heart pounding uncontrollably, “Okay, and?”
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, those three beautiful letters appeared on my phone screen: “Yes.”
A surge of indescribable joy rushed through me, and I couldn’t help but break into a victorious smile.
“Are you sure?” I texted back.
“Yes.”
I punched the air, multiple times, fighting the urge to yell out as loud as I could, I had her, she was mine.
“Okay, I am coming up now,”
“I am waiting.”
I hurriedly drove to the hotel, blasting music on my speakers all the way, still unable to believe that this was actually happening. The drive was a blur, adrenaline coursing through my veins, pushing me forward. Thirty minutes and a million curses from New York drivers later, I finally got to the hotel. When I finally reached her door, my hands trembled as I knocked, my eagerness palpable. The door swung open, and there she stood, radiant and captivating as ever.
I pulled her into me, hugging her deeply, kissing her cheek.
“Are you sure?” I whispered.
“Positive.”
Without wasting a single moment, I took her hand in mine and led her to the adjoining room in the suite. We walked in silence, enveloped by the electric tension that filled the air. It was as if time itself had come to a standstill, and all I could focus on was the throbbing anticipation within me.
As the door closed behind us, the outside world faded away, leaving only Raven and me in this moment of surrender.
Our gazes locked, exchanging the unspoken agreement of what was to come. With a gentle touch, I cupped her face in my hands, feeling the warmth of her skin against my palms. Her eyes sparkled with desire, mirroring the intensity of my own longing for her. I needed to have her, I needed to have her now, it just felt like the right thing to do, like we were putting the final seal on our new relationship.
I leaned towards her and kissed her. Lightly at first, our lips meeting only in small, gentle moments, but soon the passion over took us and pulling her deep into me, kissed harder.
She obliged, her hands curling around my neck, rising on her toes and jumping to wrap her long legs around my waist as I stumbled towards the bed.
* * *
We had spent the night lost in each other, our bodies wrapped together so tight I thought she was trying to dig into my skin.
But of course I wasn’t complaining.
As the first rays of dawn broke through the heavy curtains, I watched Raven sleep peacefully, her body curled next to mine. A sense of contentment settled over me, and for the first time in my life, I allowed myself to embrace the vulnerability that love brought.
And for the first time in my life, I accepted that vulnerability, craved it.
And it felt really fucking good. In that moment watching her sleep, I knew I had found something worth fighting for, something worth protecting with every fiber of my being.
The morning arrived, birthing a new day pregnant with possibilities. I gently woke Raven from her slumber, placing a tender kiss upon her lips.
“Hello sleepy head.” I said, smiling down at her as she squinted at the direct rays from the sun, bathing her face in a yellow glow.
She returned my smile, stretching before leaning up to me for a quick kiss on the lips, “Good morning.”
“How was your night?”
“Fine,” she replied, “Thanks to someone of course,”
I smirked, “You are very welcome.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“So what’s the plan for today?” She asked, watching me walk into the bathroom.
“Oh not much.” I replied, grinning, “You are just going to meet your new associates.”