"So you're alive." The words leave Adalena's tongue at an average rate, her soothing drawl filling the bedroom that stunk of sex and alcohol.
She barely bats an eye at the naked woman wrapped up in crumpled silk sheets and instead, focuses her attention on the man who was getting dressed just feet away from his floor to ceiling windows.
Adriano Santino avoids her gaze as he ties the strings to his grey sweatpants and sighs, "What are you doing here, Lena?"
The woman in question arches a freshly waxed brow and rests a hand on her full hip, her red stiletto shaped nails contrasting against her brunch outfit — a cropped white silk shirt that tied in the front and a pair of bell bottom jeans that hugged her thick thighs. Her belly button piercing glimmers under the rays of sunlight blasting through the windows and her plastic-strapped heels adorn her manicured feet.
Adriano, on the other hand, was disheveled. His hair was messy, scratch marks on his back, lips swollen, and the stench of alcohol radiates from his pores. She can spot a red lipstick stain on the cross located on his chest and rolls her eyes the hardest she's ever rolled them.
Corny.
"Why do you think I'm here, Adriano?" She retorts sarcastically. Pulling a pair of pink, fluffy handcuffs from her casual Hermès Birkin bag, she holds it up as evidence with a fake smile on her face, "I'm your parole officer. I'm doing my job."
The girl in the bed gasps at her words and turns to the man that sighs at his best friend's attempts to embarrass him, "Do you two have something going on?" She holds the sheets to her naked breasts and curls further into the pillows, "Oh my God, did I sleep with a guy in a relationship?"
Adalena smirks as the woman rushes to grab her things, but she didn't have to look very far — her conquest from the night before had already gathered her clothes and put them on the bed by her feet.
While Adriano knew completely well that there was nothing serious between him and Lena (much to his disappointment), he didn't bother debating his relationship status with the woman that left scars on him last night.
When she finally dressed herself completely, her attempt to brush her hair down is overlooked by her actively running out of the bedroom and eventually the house.
Adriano sighs, a moment passing as he sends Adalena an annoyed glare.
The woman just tilts her head and with an innocent smile, tucks the handcuffs back into her bag. The longer she looked at him, the harder she had to try not to break out into a fit of laughter.
"You're late." She says finally, moving around the room to rest her bag on one of the love seats in the corner, gracefully sitting in the other one. The two knew there was no point in bringing up the previous interaction.
Adriano begins to strip his bed, ignoring the stains that darkened the sheets. "For what?"
"Brunch." Adalena watches as his back muscles and broad shoulders shift and transform as he completes a simple chore — debedding his bed. A naughty smirk grows on her face.
She was used to his antics and frankly, she didn't care much about them. He slept with who he wanted to sleep with — he's safe and careful when it comes to it so she doesn't care as much when she feels the desire to satisfy her own needs with his help.
He's talented like that.
Add in the fact that he's 6'5" to her 5'10" and absolutely gorgeous. He has his own money and his Italian accent is enough to turn her on every once in a while. Too many men and women are intimidated by her height and the fact that she has her own money.
Adriano is not one of them. If anything, he's the only person that holds a certain power over her at times where she finds herself submitting to him. It's only during sex and never in public. She'd especially never admit it to anyone.
"A phone call would've sufficed." The man scoffs as he throws the sheets in the corner, planning to throw them out immediately.
Lena inspects her nails, "Wow, I had no idea." She muses, "Check your phone."
He does just that — 4 missed calls. "Cazzo." He looks at her, the scar spanning from his hairline to his bearded jaw a pale pink against his olive skin. He knows she's an impatient woman who doesn't like to be left hanging for too long. He should've expected for her to show up at his Las Vegas house. "It was a late night at the casino. Mi dispiace, amore. (I'm sorry, love)."
The woman narrows her eyes. "I don't accept your apology, love."
Adriano huffs out in amusement, his feet taking him toward the seated woman. He squats, propping his elbows up on his knees as he comes almost face to face with his best friend.
"What ever can I do to get you to forgive me, Adalena?" He tilts his head and rests a hand on her knee, slowly inching his fingers closer to her inner thighs.
She leans forward, closing the distance between them, inches of space remaining. "Well, for one, you can take a shower. You still smell like pussy." With that, she rises from her seat, grabs her bag and leaves the bedroom, allowing time for Adriano to get ready.
• • •
Adalena puts another strawberry slice on her tongue, eyes watching Adriano carefully as he sips his coffee. He got it how he usually gets it — two sugars, three creams. She could tell he was still waking up.
She sips her mimosa, glad to get her alcohol intake for the day. She'd need it if she had to deal with all the reasons the two even have brunch everyday in the first place.
As the CEO of one of the top marketing companies in America, she has a lot on her shoulders — having to deal with employees, partners, clients, and the like were enough to cause an early wrinkle or two. Add in the tabloids surrounding her. She's only twenty-five yet she feels like her entire life is slipping away from her.
The last relationship she was in, her girlfriend tried to propose and she declined by default when she left the proposal to attend to a problem at work.
She's told herself she could be better at dividing her time but her past partners never really cared about helping with that. They just expected her to have money but not to get some more. It stressed her out.
She was tired of free loaders and gold diggers.
The most commitment she's shown to anything in a long time is her friendship with Adriano. Since college, the two have been thick as thieves, but twice as classy. She knows what he does for a living — runs his casino, handles the financials for his family's criminal organization, kills people on occasion — and she couldn't care less.
As long as nothing went back to her name (it won't), she's just an innocent bystander in all of this.
It wasn't much to want something else to devote her life to. She's successful enough — though she believes someone can never be too successful — has a magnificent hold on her company and all its branches. She's not getting younger yet her life seems to be pulling every piece of excitement out of her.
She's bored.
"You're awfully quiet." Adriano points out, slicing through the silence like a steak knife. "Terrifying really."
Adalena rolls her eyes at his over-exaggeration. She doesn't talk that much. Her actions speak more for her. "I've been thinking." The pause allows time for Adriano to awkwardly stir in the silence, his nerves building. Adalena is a studious woman — she graduated top of her class for a reason. She's well-spoken, affluent, and immensely precise with what she wants. She doesn't hesitate like this. "I want a baby."
Adriano almost choked on his coffee. He pulls it away before it spills on his white Valentino shirt and rests it on the table between them.
She continues, "I've reached my peak, Adri. I want to give my life to something else."
He blinks. "You're twenty-five, Lena."
"And I'm a successful black woman who has everything she wants."
Adriano arches a brow in shock, "Except for a baby."
"Except for a baby." She confirms, staring into his hazel filled gaze.
He blinks again. "Where is this coming from?"
She arches a brow, "Am I talking to myself, Mr. Santino?"
"This is just ..." He leans back in his seat, allowing Lena a glimpse into his unbuttoned shirt, his cross chain hanging down on his skin. "You've never had this thought before."
"It's a good thing women are allowed to have thoughts then, right?" She questions, head tilted as she watches him. "I haven't thought of details yet, but I know what I want. I'll end up getting it one way or another. I just wanted to let you know as a courtesy that you might be a pseudo-Uncle at some point."
Adriano says nothing. There's nothing to even say about it. He clears his throat. "I have to go back to New York for a couple of weeks. I need to help Luca with something but I'll be back and we ... can talk about it more because there's obviously something you're not saying."
The woman rolls her eyes, "And what makes you think that?"
"I know you, Ms. Washington. That's what makes me think that." He winks, "Eat up."
first chapter down!! and yes, ill be writing this in third person just for a change of pace.
what do y'all think of the book so far?