Mena
I furrowed my brows and pursed my lips, deciding not to interfere. This should get interesting.
The guy nudged my shoulder. “Excuse me. Do you know him?”
“Oh, I-”
“Does she know you?” Alessio moved his arm over my shoulder, pulling me in a protective matter. “She wants you to get up, and walk away. Now.” he became colder by each word that left his mouth.
“I asked you first. Who are you anyway?” This guy didn’t know who he was dealing it, and by the looks of it, would not take no for an answer.
“W-Who am I?” Alessio struggled to find his words. “Back home I never have to answer this question.”
I laughed at the idea of some random guy humbling him like that.
“Alessio Fanucci. My name is on the club,” he snarled. “Now get up and get going.”
This time the guy’s demeanor had changed. With his hands in the air, he got up from the stool. “Sorry man,” he apologized. “My bad.”
I felt bad for him as he stumbled away because of the nerves. He didn’t recognize him, but he recognized the name, and would probably shit himself at night. If you didn’t know him, you would hear of him and his family through stories, and all of those stories were gruesome. That’s how I got familiar with them.
“Was that necessary?”
Alessio gave me a nonchalant nod, follow by a happy chuckle. “Yes. How else was I going to get rid of the guy?”
It was hard to believe that he had come all the way down here to ‘get rid’ of that guy. It was never that serious, and besides, why would it matter to him anyway?
Although he wasn’t drunk, he was still a bit tipsy. The Alessio I knew would never be this annoying. At least not in this way.
Or maybe I didn’t know the guy, and this had been the real him all along.
“Seriously?” I showed my annoyance with a flick of my eyelids. “How did you find me anyway?”
“Oh, with my binoculars,” Alessio gave me his most sarcastic answer of the day. “Of course, I saw you heading down.”
My cheeks flushed. “You saw me?”
I had thrown a damn tantrum worse than a toddler’s, nearly breaking the stairs with my stomping, all because he was surrounded by women-and he had witnessed it?
Alessio leaned his elbow on the bar, so he could take a good look at me. “I always see you Jimena,” he spoke. “I see the way you act, I can see you changed your look. I see the way you clench your teeth and stomp around because you actually enjoy my attention. I see you.”
“Ah-Eh-Enjoy your attention?” I burst out laughing in his face. Who the hell did he think he was?
“Apparently, you can see everything, except the problem.”
He furrowed his brow. “Which is?”
“It’s unfair you get to flirt with all these women and make me look like a fool-while you ran down here because I can’t make you look like a fool!” I yelled over the music, making sure he didn’t miss a single beat.
All I got from him was a cocky grin. “Speaking like a true fiancee,” he pointed out. “I didn’t know you were the jealous type.”
“I’m not jealous, I just don’t want to look stupid.” I sat the record straight. “Neither do you. That’s why you came over here.”
I saw him gulp, thinking about my words. “Fair enough.”
“And what was that about seeing how I changed my look but refusing to acknowledge it?” I was on a roll. That was a thing that had been bothering me the entire night.
Alessio smiled softly as his hand reached out towards me. He let his fingers brush against my newly dyed blonde hair, carefully touching the strands as if they were something precious. Then, he locked his eyes with mine. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t have to say anything,” he shifted his hand to my cheek, caressing it with his finger. “You have a pretty face by default. Anything would work.”
Time stood still as he kept his hands on my cheek for a few seconds longer before removing it. I was speechless, a mess even-so I wouldn’t even try to say something.
The touch I feared so much had managed to make me feel protected, and it was just a touch on the cheek.
He was a charmer, knew his way around women-and I was scared. Terrified.
Everything was much better when he pretended not to care, seeing me as nothing more than a silly girl.
Anson had never shown me much affection, and I didn’t want to be the type to swoon over any man who did. Yet, here we were.
My thoughts were interrupted by Alessio, who grabbed my hand and pulled me off the stool. “Where are we going?” I protested, but he was much stronger than me. I could tell which direction he was pulling me in, and I was not feeling it. “What are we doing?”
“Dancing!”
“No, no.” I pouted, being pulled onto the dance floor. And once again, I didn’t know he was that kind of guy.
“Come on, I can tell you used to party back in the days. You look like you’re feeling right at home!” Alessio read me like the morning news, and he was right.
God, when did I became that boring?
Alessio’s hands found their way around my waist, pulling me close. My body moved on my own as I wrapped my hands around his neck and swayed to the rhythm of the music.
“See, there you go.” Alessio smiled, moving his mouth to my ear. “I know you were living like some nun back in Texas, but starting today, no more.”
If his words weren’t that offensive, I would’ve melted at the shivers going through my body.
How ironic for him to call me out, while he was the one keeping me locked in that mansion?
“I didn’t know you liked having fun.” I commented, giving him my honest observation. It felt as if we were the only two people on the dance floor, and I felt comfortable enough to hold a conversation.
” Neither did I when I first met you.” Alessio responded. “I chose you because I thought you’d be boring, meaning I wouldn’t have to talk to you that much.”
“Oh yeah, and how’s that one working out for you?”
The soft laugh escaping from his lips, made him squeeze my waist. “Not good,” he admitted, glancing from my lips to my eyes, back to my lips.
He removed one hand from my waist, using it to cup my chin instead. Then he pulled a face as if he had committed a sin, and pressed his forehead against mine. With a light bump, he removed his head and let out a breath.
What the hell had just happened?
Was he just going to kiss me, except… he didn’t?
“We didn’t get each other at first, but now… I think we’ll end up being good friends. I think this might work out for the both of us.” Alessio said, giving me an half-assed reason for not kissing me.
“Ah,” I replied, nodding slowly. He didn’t want to kiss me-that much was clear. I wasn’t disappointed, as I hadn’t wanted to kiss him either. Sure, if he had made the move, I wouldn’t have rejected him-but he didn’t, and that was fine too. The world wasn’t going to end because the Alessio Fanucci would kiss any other woman or even the floor before he would kiss me.
I didn’t care anyway.
“If I were you, I’d be careful.” I teased him. “At this rate, we might even end up being best friends.”
“No,” Alessio spoke firmly, yet teasingly as he shook his head in disagreement. “Let’s not push it.”