Arranged Mafia Marriage

Theresa

The thud-thud-thud of the beat pours over me, sinks into my blood. For someone who rarely went out on weekends, I have certainly become at home in nightclubs. I’d blame it on Elsa, except really, it was my idea to come here again tonight. In fact, if she knew why, she would have argued to go somewhere else. Somehow, being here reminds me of the day Axel barged in and dragged me to the ladies’ room and had his way with me. My cheeks warm. Heat flushes my skin. Will I see him again? Will he return to me?

I close my eyes and let the music of the night club wash over me. The noise in my head fades away to be replaced by the voices of BTS-my guilty pleasure. A remixed versions of BTS’ Life Goes On fills the space. It’s true what they say. You find BTS when you most need it. I raise my arms above my head and grind my hips in tune with the rhythm. I move sensuously to the music, bump and grind, widen my stance and dirty dance all the way down until I am squatting with my thighs spread wide, then I straighten my legs, jut out butt with my torso almost parallel to the floor before I snap myself up.

Someone slides over to stand behind me; he begins moving his body in tandem with mine. I turn, glance over my shoulder at dark brown eyes-not blue, not eyes fringed with eyelashes so dark they make his blue irises pop in comparison, not cheekbones so high that they could cut into my skin, not a hooked nose or a jaw that’s normally set in disapproving lines. And he’s blond.

Still, he’s cute, I suppose, in a boy-next-door kind of way. And he’s tall…not as tall as Axel, but tall enough to be attractive. Younger though, closer to my own age. The music ratchets up in tempo and he begins to shake his body in earnest.

He shoots me a wicked grin and I can’t stop the laugh that spills from my lips. I increase my own tempo and we move in synchronicity, our actions mirroring each other’s steps. When I move left, he slides right and vice-versa. I laugh again as I let the sheer joy of the dancing overwhelm me. He grips my wrist, turns me around, then pushes me back before pulling me to him. A surprised laugh spills from my lips. The man can dance, all right. He twirls me around then draws me to him, close enough for our bodies to touch.

That’s when someone steps in behind him. I tilt my head back, and further back, to meet blazing blue eyes. Angry eyes that bore into me. His features wear a grim expression, his lips set in lines of disapproval. Something blooms to life inside me. Axel. He’s here.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

I open my mouth, but before I can say anything, he’s grabbed my partner by his shoulder and yanked him back so he stumbles away from me. Then, Axel turns him around and buries his fist in his face. That’s when all hell breaks loose. Blondie falls over and onto another couple, who back away. He turns with his fists raised. Axel lands an uppercut and the man reels back. He shakes his head, then lunges toward Axel, who steps aside. The man smashes into another couple, who spring apart. Another man throws a punch at Axel, who ducks, kicks the legs out from under him, when the first man throws himself at Axel again. Seemingly out of nowhere, Massimo steps in and knocks the guy out cold. A third, and a fourth guy join the fray as Adrian and Seb wade in to help him.

That’s when Axel tosses a guy aside and marches over to me.

“What are you-” I gasp as he grabs my hand. The crowd parts before him as he drags me in his wake. When we reach the end of the dance floor I refuse to move. I slow him down enough that he turns to me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell at him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He roars back. “You let that man touch you. You let him put his hands on you. You were grinding your hips while he held your waist.”

“It’s called dancing,” I point out.

His features contort. He drops my hand then brushes past me and onto the dance floor. I blink, then jump forward to stand in front of him. “Where are you going?” I pant.

“To kill him.”

“You can’t just go around killing people.”

“Is that right?” He growls, “Asshole touched you. I am going to rip him apart from limb to limb for that.”

He begins to plow past me and I throw myself at him, “Oh, for heaven’s sake, seriously, enough with that caveman approach.”

His jaw tics. “I am going to grind his body into the ground, then throw you down and fuck you in his blood.”

“Oh,” I gasp. A ripple of heat runs down my spine. My nipples harden. That was bloodthirsty and macabre, and hell, if that didn’t turn me on even more.

“Let him go,” I clutch at his hand, “he doesn’t mean anything, I promise. I was dancing, that’s all.”

He lowers his head and peers into my face, “From now on, you dance with no one else but me.”

He’s so close now, I can see the lines that radiate out from the corners of his gorgeous eyes. The heat of his body flows around me, envelops me. That clean-man scent of his, spiked with his edgy essence, teases my nostrils. I swallow, “It’s a little difficult to do that when you are not around, you know?” At least, he is standing so close that I don’t need to yell to be heard.

“Well, I am back now.” He grips my arm, and this time, I don’t protest as he hauls me off the dance floor.

We walk past the bar and I spot Elsa, “I need to tell Elsa that I am leaving.” I have to yell again to be heard over the music.

“We’ll text her from the car,” he retorts.

“I need to grab my coat and purse from the cloakroom.”

“I’ll get it delivered home.”

“Home? What do you mean home?”

“I mean,” he yanks me out of the door and looks up and down the road, “our home.”

“Isn’t your home in London? That’s where we were when you told me you wanted a divorce, remember?”

A car drives up and comes to a stop in front of me. Christian gets out of the driver’s seat and tosses the keys at Axel.

“Thanks,” Axel jerks his chin.

“Remember what I told you?” He glances between us, then narrows his gaze on Axel, “Don’t fuck this up.”

“Hold on, so now you guys are on speaking terms?”

“A lot has changed,” he pulls open the door on the passenger’s side.

I hesitate. A wind blows over me and I shiver.

“Why don’t we get back home and then we can talk?”

I fold my arms around my waist and scowl up at him.

“You’re freezing.” His tone softens, “Don’t be stubborn, baby, just let me get us home and then we’ll speak, okay?”

Damn it, why did he have to use that endearment?

I glare up at him and he blows out a breath, “Please, get in the car, Sunshine?”

Maybe it’s the fact that he calls me Sunshine, or the fact that he says please, or that his tone is soft and the look in his eyes sends a frisson of awareness over my skin. Whatever the case, I find myself obeying him. I slide inside the car. He shuts the door, walks around to the driver’s side and gets in. He shuts his door, turns on the car and the warm air from the heater instantly circulates around my ankles. I shiver, this time, because my body is warming up.

“Still cold?” He shrugs out of his jacket and hands it over to me.

I slide my arms into the sleeves and it’s like I am enveloped by him. Goddam it, I’ve missed him. And now that I am seeing him again, I can’t stop my body from leaning toward him. I turn away, glance out the window, as he eases the car onto the road.

“Here’s my phone.”

I turn to find him holding it out to me.

“You wanted to call Elsa?” he reminds me.

“Ah, of course.” I snatch up his phone and dial Elsa’s number. It rings, then goes to voice mail, of course. “Ah, Elsa, it’s me, Theresa. I am calling you on Axel’s phone because I left my phone back in the cloak room. Yeah, long story.” I turn my face away and place my hand over the mouthpiece, “Yeah, he’s back and uh, he’s driving me home. I am fine. don’t worry… Uh, we’ll talk later.”

I hang up, then place the phone in the cupholder.

We drive in silence until we reach Xander’s home. He turns into the driveway, comes to a stop. Why am I not surprised that this is what he meant by home? It’s the only home I have ever known. More of a home than my parents place ever was, and that was because he’d been here with me. Somehow, it seems appropriate that it was Xander’s home before ours… Wait, am I already giving in to him? Am I accepting that this is the home I am going to share with him? Am I already forgiving him for hurting me like that?

I shove the car door open and walk up the steps of the house. He follows me, draws abreast then pulls out a key from his pocket and opens the door. Of course, he’d have the key. Ultimately, he’s a Sovrano and the brothers will always have each other’s backs. They had taken me under their protection, but who’s going to protect my heart from being crushed again by him?

I walk ahead of him, and head into the living room. I turn to find him heading for the bar and pouring himself a drink. He turns to me and we gaze at each other across the length of the room.

I kick off my heels, because damn it, my feet ache, then sit down on the sofa.

He walks over and sinks into a chair on the other side of the coffee table.

The silence stretches, broken only by the ticking of the clock in the corner of the room. I glance away, then back at him, to find he’s still watching me closely. Goosebumps pop on my skin. He brings the glass of whisky to his mouth and takes a sip. The tendons of his throat move as he swallows. A flutter of heat ignites in my lower belly. Jesus, this man is sex on a stick. I can’t look at him without wanting to jump him. I knot my fingers tighter, then fix my gaze on a spot over his shoulder.

“Why are you here, Axel?” I burst out. “Why did you come back?”

He places his drink on the coffee table, then leans forward. “I’ve missed you,” he says in a low voice. “Every single moment that we’ve been apart has been agonizing. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Sunshine. Couldn’t get you out of my mind. You were my last thought at night and the first in the morning. And in between, I dreamt about your mouth, your skin, the scent of your hair, the little noises you make as you come, the texture of your pussy when I fuck you with my tongue, the way your cunt trembles around my dick when I bury myself inside you. The way you feel like home. The way nothing and nobody else will ever measure up to you. The way I fell for you so quickly, so hard, that I lost all perception of myself. The way I cannot live without you, not for a second more.”

His words pour over me, sink into my blood, crawl into every nook and crevice of my body, into my heart, entwining with my soul. Tears prick the backs of my eyes and I squeeze my fingers even more firmly together.

“You hurt me, Axel. You shattered my heart. You left me without looking back once, like I never mattered to you at all.”

“Not true.” He leans forward, his hands clasped between his thighs, “It ripped my heart out to do that. It fucking killed me to leave you, Sunshine.”

“Yet you did. You didn’t even give us a chance to work things out. You simply told the Sovranos to bring me back here and walked away from me.”

“I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing by you. I thought it would give you a chance to try to move on and find a life without me.”

“You told me you’d divorce me.”

“I wanted to,” he admits, “but every time I thought of it, I felt sick to my stomach. It was like my body, physically, wouldn’t allow me to do it.”

“Is that why you are here?” I finally glance up at him, “Because you couldn’t bring yourself to take that step.”

“I am here because I love you.”