Love Thy Enemy

Chapter 12: Manipulation

He pulls up his boxer briefs and then his jeans. I go to sit once more on his lap.

"Did you like that?" I ask him even if the answer is clear. He doesn't answer, instead he kisses me, slowly and seductively.

"You amaze me" he confesses, smiling while playing lazily with my hair. I lean into him appreciatively.

"Giovanni got away."

"I know" he replies, nibbling on my ear.

"Your men almost shot me."

"I am sorry." I wonder if he really means it or that's just something he knows he is supposed to say.

"You better be, you heartless bastard" I give him a playful shove. I wonder if other couples try to blow each other up when one threatens to leave the relationship. He kisses me and before I know it we are both naked on the couch and panting. We fall asleep with the fire still burning.

Monday comes around sooner than expected and I am still in a robe in Valentino's cottage.

"I can't believe we spent the whole weekend in bed." I admit to myself more than him. Setting down a plate with a croissant and an orange juice next to the bed, he smiles. He has been doing that a lot lately.

"I offered to take you back" he leans forward to kiss my forehead.

"Why would I ever want to go back? I have everything I need right here." I reply, eyeing his delicious six pack and the impressive V on his lower abdomen. I touch his upper lip, where the scar ends.

"How did you get it?" I ask, caressing his hard features with my fingertips. He takes my hand and lowers it, sitting in front of me on the bed, breakfast forgotten.

"It's a long story. You should get ready for school." He answers, getting up and moving away. Time has meant nothing, he doesn't trust me. Not with his secrets or his past. Not with his heart. Feeling rejected, I head for the shower. When I am finished washing myself, I see my clothes from friday lying on the couch. Valentino must have washed them because the last time I saw them they were covered in dirt.

"How long will it take me to get to school from here?" I shout, not knowing where Valentino is hiding inside the house. He comes back into the room, sipping an espresso and watching me get dressed.

"About two hours. Lucio will drive you."

"I am going to be late." I observe, looking at the clock above the bed. I've been late to school far too many times in these past couple of weeks.

"Only by about an hour" he shrugs, handing me a sweater. "It's windy" he adds when he sees me eyeing it with skepticism. I take the sweater off his hands and shrug it on.

"I don't have any of my books with me" I observer, looking around the cottage for my backpack and finding it near the front door.

"You could always skip..." he observes, raking his eyes over my breasts, hips and thighs. My jeans fit like secondskin.

"I can't." I reply firmly, ignoring his naked torso and walking around him towards the door. I've been in this cottage for too long, with him too long. I need to gather my thoughts, get some distance. His refusal to tell me how he got his scar shows me I mean nothing to him. If he isn't willing to show me weakness by now, he probably never will. I head out the door to find Lucio waiting for me.

I get in the back seat and he drives off. Although we spent an entire weekend together, we actually didn't really talk. I still have no idea who Valentino is besides the Boss or where he comes from. The details within themselves don't matter. What does matter is his willingness to tell me.