Promised: A Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance, page 2
I need to step back from him and catch my breath, but before I can do that, he leans forward, his breath warm on my cheek when he talks. He’s so close that I could turn my face and close the gap between our lips in just a second, but I’m petrified.
“I think you’ll do perfectly,” he says, and I suddenly remember exactly why he’s here.
He’s not some random guy that has fallen for me. He’s the man that I was promised to long ago, long before I could make any decisions about myself or my future. His words break the spell and I step back, trying not to look at his perfect face.
His white teeth. His gorgeous lips.
Xavier’s tongue flicks out and runs over his lower lip and I suddenly feel weak in the knees. It’s ridiculous to feel this way, to want a man who I’ve hated for so long, but I was caught in his spell for a moment.
I’m free now.
Jerking my arm away from him, I free my wrist from his grasp. “Perfect for what?” I snap, taking a step away from him. The more space I can put between us, the better off I’ll be. I just can’t seem to think straight when I’m so close to him.
He’s dressed to kill, in a gorgeous suit that probably cost more than my dress. There isn’t a bulge on either hip, but I know that he’s still packing even though I can’t see it. It would be folly for one of the Columbo family to go anywhere without protection.
A quick glance at the window tells me that there are three cars in the driveway, but I have a feeling they brought more men with them.
“You can’t see them, but they’re there,” he says, confirming my thoughts. “And you’ll be perfect for my wife, don’t you think, Janele? Have you looked forward to this day your entire life?”
My father walks into view, his eyebrow raised. He can obviously hear the tension between the two of us and I know that he wants me to try to smooth it over, but I’m not sure that I can.
I shake my head. “Can’t say that I have.” I think for a moment that Xavier is going to be mad, but he throws his head back and laughs.
“I wasn’t looking forward to it either,” he admits, “but now that I’ve seen you, I can’t wait to have you in my bed. There’s just one thing that we have to do first, then our fathers can finalize the plans and I’ll go.”
“What is that?” I ask. Even though I hate him, have told myself for years that I need to hate him, there’s something undeniably sexy about Xavier. If we just happened to meet randomly I’d want to get to know him better.
But this? This is too much.
“We have to make sure you’re a virgin, of course,” he says, sounding like it’s the most obvious thing and that he’s surprised I could have missed it. “You can’t possibly think that I’m going to marry someone who’s already been touched. Are you new for me, Janele?”
Horrified, I take a step back from him. This was not what I was expecting to run into today with him. “Am I new?” I hiss, anger shooting through my veins. “Don’t you think that’s fucking rude? And can’t I ask the same thing about you?”
He chuckles and heat rises to my cheeks. How the hell can he be so cavalier about this when he just insulted me in front of our fathers? As sexy as he is, I want this man gone. Out of my house and out of my life.
“You can, Janele, but I think that you’ll be happy to know that I know how to make you feel good,” he says, leaning forward. His voice is smooth like honey and I have no doubt that he’s used that exact tone many times to get in a woman’s pants.
“You’re disgusting,” I tell him, taking a step back. I don’t have much more room to try to run, not with the fire behind me, but I don’t want to be anywhere near Xavier.
He’s the devil in a suit.
“Dr. Grabbard,” he says, and a small bent-over doctor clutching a bag appears at his side. “How long will it take for you to determine if Janele is a virgin? I have other things that I want to be doing tonight.”
“You mean a whore?” I hiss eyeballing the doctor. I’m pretty sure that I could take him if I needed to. He looks shifty, like he might put up a bit of a fight, but I’ve known this day was going to come.
My dad always thought that I wanted to be in good shape for my future husband, but I wanted to be able to make a run for it.
“Only a moment after she gets on the table,” the doctor says, ignoring what I said. “As soon as Ms. Lucose will relax, we’ll take care of the check and you can be on your way.”
I look at my father, who’s standing with Xavier’s dad silently watching what’s going on. He looks interested and I realize with a start that he’s about to get involved.
“Dad,” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“Janele, this is part of the contract. You must be checked.”
“No,” I spit, crossing my arms over my chest. “There’s no way in hell that I’m spreading my legs for anyone here.”
“Oh, darling,” Xavier says, closing the gap between us before I realize what he’s doing and can move, “you’re going to open your legs for the good doctor and then, when you’re bound to me, you’re going to open them for me whenever I want. Do you understand?”
Thick fear chokes me and I swallow hard, shaking my head. “No,” I say, but my voice trembles.
He notices and smirks, his gorgeous face twisted as he looks at me. “You’ll learn, Janele, that you don’t say no to me.” Before I can move, he grabs my wrist again, this time squeezing it so tightly that I feel the small bones rub together. “Come on, Janele. I have other things I want to do tonight.”
Again, I look over at my father, but I know that he’s not going to help. He knew that this was coming. He knew that this was going to happen to me and never tried to warn me, never tried to stop it.
“She’s clean,” I hear him say to Columbo. “Homeschooled with a female tutor, only allowed to be with friends under supervision. She’s never spent a night away from home and we always had someone listening when she was with friends to ensure that they didn’t talk about anything inappropriate. You wanted her clean and unaware, and that’s what you have.”
“We’ll see for sure,” Columbo says. I can feel his eyes boring into me as Xavier drags me across the room to the table. “But if she is not new and perfect, Lucose, you know that we’ll have an issue.”
Panic courses through me. “I’m a virgin,” I say, turning to look up at Xavier. “Trust me, I’m a virgin. You don’t have to do this.”
“I don’t believe people until I know for sure that I can,” he tells me, pointing at the table. “Hop on up there or we can find somewhere else to do it.”
I eyeball the table. It’s not designed for this, not designed for any kind of medical care, but I have seen men stitched up on it. I’ve held their hands as our family doctor removed bullets.
“I don’t want to do it here,” I say. “On a bed. Somewhere else.”
Xavier sighs and grabs my hips, lifting me up and setting me down on the edge of the table. “You’re stalling, Janele, and I just want this taken care of. Besides, you think that you have something that we haven’t seen before? I’d pay good money to see something new.”
He grins and puts his hands on my knees. Clenching them tight, I try to keep them closed, but he’s too strong and he pulls them apart.
“Dress up.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“You’ll fucking learn,” he promises me, then grabs the hem of my dress, pulling in opposite directions. I gasp and grab at it as the fabric tears a slit clean up to my thigh. Xavier doesn’t notice that I’m upset, that or he doesn’t care, and simply grabs my legs, forcing them apart.
“Doctor?” He calls over his shoulder.
“Stop!” I scream, clawing at him, but he adjusts his hands to my ankles and pushes them up, throwing my legs out to the side so that I can’t help but be spread open in front of him.
“No undies,” he smirks. “Good thing that we’re doing this check, Janele. I thought that a little virgin like you would always keep her cunt covered.”
“No,” I say, tears springing to the corners of my eyes. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to cry, but I can’t help them streaming down my cheeks.
The doctor sets his bag down and digs through it before pulling out the tools he needs and centering himself between my legs. I gasp at the feeling of the cold metal on my skin and inside me.
My entire body clenches, trying to fight off the terrible things happening to me, but they’re real. They’re real and I can’t stop them.
Closing my eyes, I breathe through my nose, trying to calm the panic coursing through my body. Freaking out right now won’t do any good — all it will do is hurt me. I have to wait until these assholes are done and then I can decide my next move, although I already know what it’s going to be.
My dad may think that he can keep me here, may think that he has complete control over me and that I can’t do anything about it, but I’m determined to make my life my own. I haven’t been able to because of how hard he’s been on me.
I’m never alone unless I’m sleeping, and even then there’s a guard outside my door. But now I don’t care. I don’t care if I get caught because at least it will mean that I’ve tried.
I’m going to do everything I can to get out of here tonight.
“Virgin,” the doctor says, pulling his tools from me.
“Good.” Xavier’s voice is harsh and I keep my eyes shut, not willing to look at him. It isn’t until he drops my ankles and walks away that I sit up and watch him go.
I’m going to run away. And then I’m going to kill him.
Xavier
Alejandro’s call lights up the dark in my car as I drive away from the Lucose house. I’m irritated, on edge, and in need of something to take the edge off. Alejandro won’t be able to do that, but I’m hoping he can at least take my mind off of what just happened.
It’s the first time that I’ve seen Janele since she was a little girl. I was supposed to go there, make sure that she was a virgin, and then leave. I wasn’t, under any circumstances, supposed to feel anything towards her.
But she’s hotter than hell, her dark hair curling around her face, her huge brown eyes practically begging someone to take care of her. I wanted so badly to pull her to me and take her for myself right in front of both of our fathers, but I held back.
We need this alliance. It’s the only way to make sure that our two families are tied together for the rest of time and without Janele’s hand in marriage, it will all fall apart. It doesn’t matter that she’s not willing, the contract was signed, and it was signed in blood.
My phone silences and then rings again.
“What do you want?” I ask, after mashing a button on my console to send my cousin’s voice through my speakers. “You knew that I was going to be busy today.”
“How did it go?” He asks, his voice curious. “Virgin or no?”
I clench the leather steering wheel tighter, digging my nails into it like I’d wanted to dig them into Janele’s perfect skin. She had a pouty little mouth that was turned mostly down when she looked at me, but I’d fix that.
I’d make her smile for me, even if it was just out of fear. I don’t want a sour wife around the house. Her cunt though, that was perfect. Untouched. Unspoiled. Opened only for me.
It thrills me that I was the first man to get to lay eyes on her and that I’m going to be the first man to get to take her. Janele belongs to me, whether or not she likes it.
“Virgin,” I confirm. “Though why you give a shit about the pussy I’m going to be fucking, I don’t know.”
Alejandro laughs and I turn onto the main street in town. Chances are good that he’s out getting drunk and looking for someone to join him. Sure enough, there’s a huge crowd outside Rocky’s, his favorite place, and I pull into a parking spot out front as he speaks.
“Because I have an alternative here waiting for you if you want to wet your cock once more before you’re tied down. Although, if we’re being honest, it’s not like a wedding ring has ever stopped your old man.”
I stiffen. “Don’t talk about that,” I tell him. Yeah, my dad stepped out on my mom a lot. It was almost expected, but that didn’t mean I liked the sadness on her face.
“Get fucked, Xavier,” Alejandro says. “Come meet this pussy I found for you.”
I sigh and disconnect the call before getting out of my car and beeping the fob to lock it. A week ago or — hell, even yesterday — I would have been interested to see what he’d found for me, but now that I’ve seen Janele, I’m not sure that other women are worth it.
Fuck, am I ruined by pussy that I haven’t even touched or tasted yet? The thought makes me scowl and I push through the crowd, nodding at the bouncers who immediately move to let me inside.
Rocky’s is crowded, which I expected on a Friday night, and smells like booze and sex. Indoor smoking isn’t allowed anymore, but it still happens off in the back rooms and that’s exactly where I know that I’m going to find Alejandro.
The crowd parts for me, which is great, because I’ll be pissed if someone spills on my suit. The floor is a hard black tile, which is perfect for hiding spills, but I can still feel that it’s a bit sticky. Even though I want to see what Alejandro’s up to tonight, the last thing that I want is to come out of here dirty and disgusting.
He doesn’t care as much as I do as long as he gets to fuck something warm and wet.
Music pounds my ears and I duck under a speaker, wondering why the fuck Alejandro always wants to come to this shithole. I’d much rather find another bar where we can sit and talk without running the risk of catching an airborne STD, but I didn’t get to choose the location tonight.
I’d had more important things to do.
Finally, I reach the back door and nod to the bouncer there, who opens the door for me unceremoniously. It swings open and once I’m inside with the door shut, a lot of the loud pounding from the music in the main bar disappears. I sigh with relief and walk up to the small bar in the corner, getting a whiskey before I even acknowledge that Alejandro’s here.
He’s in the corner booth, the only man in a sea of women. I used to think that they were gorgeous and my type. They all match in some way, with the right dresses designed to show off all of their curves, their faces full of makeup, and their hair up and off their neck to make them look more kissable.
I can smell them from here, their perfume so sweet that it turns my stomach. Girding myself, I walk to the corner booth. Alejandro manages to stop kissing the girl next to him long enough to look up at me and grin.
“Xavier! You made it. Who do you want to spend time with this evening?” He asks. All of the girls, including the one he was kissing just a moment ago, turn to me and smile. Arching their backs, they angle themselves to show off their curves.
A redhead at the end of the booth slips out and walks up to me. She’s teetering on heels that she’s obviously not used to walking in and braces herself on my chest when she’s closer.
“I hoped you’d come,” she whispers, her eyes bright as she looks up into my face. I can tell immediately that she’s high.
“It’s time for you to go home,” I tell her, taking a step back and pointing to the door. “It’s time for all of you to go. Get out, at least out there where you can dance and maybe find someone who’s a bit more interested.”
“Oh, come on,” Alejandro argues. “You don’t want to get rid of them, not really.”
“I do. Out.” I take a step back from the table and point to the door, waiting as all of the girls get up and walk towards it. Only the one curled up next to Alejandro doesn’t move. She has her hand in his lap and is working furiously to keep his attention on him.
“Blondie. I kicked all of your friends out, and that means you, too.” I say.
She glances up at me, her cheeks bright. “I promise I won’t repeat anything that I hear in here,” she says, batting her eyelashes at me. “You won’t even notice that I’m here.”
“I’ll notice,” Alejandro says, reaching up to lightly caress her cheek. The girl laughs and I roll my eyes.
“Alejandro.” My voice is a low warning and he sighs, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Darling, wait for me out there, okay? I think that you’d like to come by later, am I right? I’ll make that happen. Just don’t go anywhere.” He kisses her and I roll my eyes as they paw each other for a moment, then she finally slides out of the booth and shimmies to the door without looking at me.
“Finally. You’d think that you’d never had sex before,” I tell him, slipping into the booth.
“Not with someone like her,” he quips. “What’s got you in such a bad mood that you don’t want to take one of them for a spin? They were ready for a roll in the sack with you. You didn’t have to choose just one.”
I take a sip of my whiskey, letting it play on my tongue. Alejandro and I have been best friends since we were in diapers, but that doesn’t mean that I always want to do what he does. He’s much more willing to fall into bed with anything that has tits and a slit, but I know that you have to be careful with who you trust in your house.
And, if I’m being honest, now that I’ve laid eyes on Janele again, there isn’t anyway that I could fuck another woman without thinking about her. It took all of my self-control to walk away from her earlier when she was being checked by the doctor and not just slam my cock into her right there in front of our fathers.
She’d have complained, I’m sure about it, but I have a feeling that I could get her to stop complaining pretty fucking quickly.
“I have higher standards than you do,” I tell him. “Don’t you remember a month ago when you woke up with what you thought were twins in your bed?”
He brightens and raises his hand for the bartender to bring him another whiskey. “Yeah, they were hot the night before. I don’t know what happened in the morning.”
