20.

MAEVE HAWTHORN.
How dare he? Just how dare he?
I felt heat flow from within me due to how hot the flames of my anger burned. My fist clenched and my teeth gritted as I jumped out of bed, my first thought was to follow him and have him take back what he’d just said but that would only mean I care.
This is exactly why I hate men like him, they’re arrogant, condescending and think the entire world revolves around them.
“You’re no different from any of the girls I’ve fucked.” The words resounded in my head and I felt like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
His mocking tone was irritating and galling, “WELL, YOU HAVEN’T FUCKED ME YET!” I screamed before I got back to my senses and with every ounce of embarrassment tearing at me, I collapsed on the bed and buried my face in my pillow.
Why do I even care so much? It’s not like I really want him to fuck me.
I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head but the more I tried, the clearer his voice when he’d told me that I was no different from the girl he’d fucked was.
Something stabbed at my chest and I felt a pang of pain surging through me. I knew that feeling too well but admitting it was really that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Punching my bed, I let out my frustration in the form of a really loud muffled scream. Blaming myself for thinking that he thought of me as slightly different when I was beginning to see him in a different light.
He had said all those things that made my heart race last night, things that had me blaming myself for saying the words I said to him when I didn’t mean any of them and then he woke up this morning and totally changed.
He became the jerk I knew, the Don that doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings even though that person was a woman, I thought he had a genuine soft spot for women but it turns out that he doesn’t care.
Enzo De-Luca never cares about anything or anyone!
Finally getting my face out of my pillow because I was already suffocating, I curled up like a homeless dog that had been drenched in the rain and had finally found shelter as I closed my eyes.
I didn’t want to think about it but I couldn’t deny the fact that my feelings were hurt when he said that.
It hurts to hear him say that I’m just like every other girl he has fucked when I was the one who stayed up practically all night to take care of him because he was drunk and he couldn’t thank me for that.
Who does he think he is?!
The sound of my door opening put a halt to my thoughts and I looked up to see that it was Clara, she was grinning from ear to ear and I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me why.
My bedside clock indicated that it was almost noon and I’m sure that everyone in the house saw Enzo walking out of my room this morning.
“What do you want?” I groaned, pulling a pillow into me and cuddling it as though it was a cat or a stuffed bear.
“What do you mean what do I want?” She shot back at me as she closed the door and hurriedly made her way to the bed.
I might have been allowed the luxury of having a door but I had one that I could never lock because Enzo had taken out the lock.
My annoyance increased when my mind drifted to how he had told me that he could allow me to close the door but never to lock it.
I’d stood up to him but it only ended in him knocking the lock right out, leaving me with a useless door.
“I want all the tea,” Clara settled beside me, pulling the pillow away from me and forcing me to sit up, “we all saw.” She added, stating the obvious.
“Of course, you saw,” I rolled my eyes, anger smoldering me because I was trying to forget what he said to me, not remember it, “and there’s no tea, that man is just a big blown jerk!” I snapped.
“He came in here drunk and I took care of him, the least he could do was thank me for watching over him while he blabbered on and on but….”
“Wait, he was drunk when he came here?” Clara interrupted and I glared at her but there was only little my glaring could do as she didn’t care at all.
“Did you guys….?”
“God, NO! NEVER EVER!” I yelled, my chest heaving and my breathing paced but Clara only smiled, “WHAT?!” I sneered at her and she shrugged.
“Your entire face is red and-”
“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” I squeaked, my voice more high pitched than I intended it to be and she bursted out laughing while I yanked the pillow she had taken from me and wallowed in my own embarrassment.
“Nothing happened,” I muttered, “he was drunk and burning up and I took care of him,” I went on, “nothing could ever happen between Enzo and I.” I finished with a sigh.
“You sound disappointed when you say it like that.” Clara pointed out and it wasn’t until then did I realize that I was really disappointed.
Why am I disappointed?
“I’m not,” I lied, keeping the pillow on my face, “I’m just angry.” I added which isn’t entirely a lie because not only am I angry, I’m fucking livid.
“It’s fine, I have tons of chores to take care of so I’ll see you soon but in the meantime, try getting your mind off the anger.” She said and when I pulled the pillow off my face, she was beaming at me.
“Stop,” I snapped but she didn’t stop, why does she want something to happen between Enzo and I so much? “I’ll be down in a minute to help you with the chores.” I added.
“You don’t have-”
“Clara, I’m bored out of my mind,” I interrupted before she could protest, “sitting in my room all day like a prisoner isn’t doing anything for me so I’ll freshen up and join you downstairs, okay?” I finished, my expression serious as my face hardened.
“You’re such a bully,” she laughed as she stood from the bed, “fine, I’ll leave some chores for you.” She added before walking out of my room.
Why am I disappointed? Why is Clara so invested in this and why am I still pondering over something I should’ve forgotten?
Those questions roamed around in my head as I got ready for a shower in hopes that it would clear my head a little before I go downstairs.
It didn’t take long for me to finish having my bath but by the time I walked out of the bathroom, he was already there.
Invading my privacy as usual. A privacy I didn’t have in the first place.
His demeanor was different, his brows were drawn together in a frown and his face looked really serious, it was almost as if he was mad at something or someone.
Could he be mad at me? Why would he be? If anything, I’m the one that should be mad at him.
My eyes took their sweet time studying him and I felt chills surging through the entirety of my being, he hadn’t said anything yet that indicated he was angry but a tingling sixth sense kept telling me not to push his button.
A sudden, unwelcome wave of apprehension gushed through me and his very presence gnawed away at my confidence as I waited for him to say something.
Worry cooled my thoughts when my eyes landed on his hand, there was a bandaid on his fist and some of the cuts were still visible, something tightened deep inside my stomach and I forced myself to brush it off.
Why should I worry about him?
“What do you want?” I asked, not caring about the smoldering air in the room, the tension thicker than something a scissors could cut through.
I waited for a response from Enzo but instead of one, he flung a dress at me, “what is this? And did you come here to-”
“Get dressed, we’re going out.” He interrupted, his voice was cold, emotionless and it hardened ruthlessly, the same way his green eyes were suddenly dark and leaning towards turning red.
Holding up the dress, I studied it and as I put it on my body, I realized just how skimpy it was. The thought of wearing this while I was out with Enzo caused heat to creep to my cheeks.
Never in my entire life have I worn something as extremely short and revealing as this, let alone wearing it to a place where there could be lots of people.
Growing up, my father always made it a point to burn any dress I wore that was above my knee because according to him, wearing a dress as short as that is me asking to be sexually molested.
I could still hear him screaming in my head, I could feel the tingling painful sensation on my cheek after he had slapped me and the growling of my stomach after he had taken all of my hard earned money from me and locked me up in my room.
“That’s your punishment!” He would always yell at me with a tone that still made me feel like he was going to kill me.
“I- I can’t wear this.” I hurriedly spoke, my stomach churning and my hand trembling as I dropped the dress on the bed, trying everything in my power to make sure Enzo doesn’t notice how scared I am.
His green eyes met my brown ones and he raised an eyebrow as if waiting for me to tell him the reason I wouldn’t be wearing such a revealing dress.
His eyes clung to me, analyzing my reaction and deep inside me, I shuddered hoping he never sees what he’s looking for, hoping he could never sense my fear and trauma.
Those eyes never left mine for an instant even though I was praying for him to stop staring so intently at me and ever so suddenly, his eyes blazed with sudden anger as he pulled his phone out of his pocket with his eyes still on me.
“Yvette?” He said into the phone, “when I say shoot, you shoot without questions.” He ordered into the phone and I felt my bones chilling.
“You keep acting like a brat, a bullet is going through the head of the only person you cherish.” He threatened, his voice serious and his eyes void of any emotion as he stared.
I knew what he meant by that, I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that he had called that Yvette girl so that she could shoot Scarlett if I didn’t do his bidding.
“You wouldn’t dare.” The words grounded between my teeth but he only smirked evilly, making me shiver in the ferocity of my fear.
“Try me.” He probed, his face was expressionless, everything including the air surrounding him was cold and his eyes were so dead that it sent chills down my spine.
I swallowed as fear and anger knotted inside me and I feared for not just my life but my best friend’s, the thought of what he could have Yvette do to her tore at my insides.
“Fine.” I muttered, giving up as I picked the dress back up since I had no other choice. Rage flowed through me like lava and anger stirred within me as I waited for him to turn around while I dressed.
“Are you going to watch me get dressed?” I questioned, doing nothing to hide my anger and irritation but Enzo didn’t care as he only shrugged.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, now stop wasting my time and put the damn dress on.” He ordered, my teeth gritted and my fury sprang to life but it would be useless to pour my anger out on him.
“We’re going out together and you’re going as my slut.”