Massimo POV
A soft knock fills my office.
I slowly lift my eyes to the monitor that shows the camera outside the door. Outside, just a few feet away, was a familiar head of long brown hair.
A smirk appears on my lips as she lifts her head and looks straight at the camera.
She's been here for one day and already has spotted all the cameras in the house.
"Come in," I say as I look back down at my paperwork.
I continue working as Serena enters the room, closing the door behind her.
I see her walk cautiously into the room while looking around, all the while staying quiet.
I finish the page of shipments before sitting back and looking at Serena.
She was already sitting in the chair across from me, scanning me with her eyes.
"Did you come here to ask something or to just stare at me?" I ask with humor. Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the desk and stare at her amused. She had changed into a pair of sweatpants with an oversized shirt.
She was drowning in the shirt but still looked like the sexiest person on earth.
"My phone?" She asks in a monotone voice.
"Discarded," I say back. Her head nods lightly as her eyes scan the wall behind me. "All of your other belongings from the hotel were packed in your bag Joyce gave you."
She nods again before looking back at me.
"Why?"
"Why what?" I ask as I stand from the chair and walk over to her. She tenses slightly before relaxing as I leaned against the desk in front of her, our knees touching slightly.
"Why marriage?" I feel tense now as I look down at those deep hazel eyes. "We both know I don't need your protection so that's not the reason. All you had to do to get me to help you was ask. Plus, mafia men don't do anything that won't benefit them in some way. So why?"
Now it was my turn to go silent.
A part of me still has no clue why I did that. I had never seen myself getting married and having a family.
Although thus far the mafia has been in blood lineage, I was planning on giving it to the person I trust the most when I was ready to step down. I have fully excepted this mafia as my family and never questioned it since my youth.
So why did I do it?
"I think," My hand reaches up and swipes my hair back out of my face. A long breath leaves my lips. "I think I absentmindedly did it with alternative meanings."
She raises an eyebrow and clenches the arm of her chair.
"What do you mean?"
My eyes scan hers as she expects the worst to come out of my mouth.
"I told myself it was for your protection, but your right. You do not need the mafia shield. I did it because... because you made me feel something again," I pause to gauge her reaction. Shock fills her eyes before she shields them again. "I have always done this job with no emotion and no enjoyment except for when I carved flesh with my knife and drew with blood.
"But these past two weeks, you made me feel something. I don't know what it is. I just know I never want that feeling to go away," I say and look away from her.
She was silent as that information sunk in.
"Alive," She says and my head snaps to face her. She had a look of understanding on her face. "The freedom of not having anyone to count on you, not having a mission or a job to do. It made you feel alive and free."
"Yeah," I say in nearly a whisper.
The room filled with tension as her cheeks turned a light pink and her eyes turned darker.
She quickly stood from her chair and connected her lips with mine. Her legs stood between mine as she leaned her body against me. Every curve of her body I could feel through her clothes.
My lips moved against hers automatically. My hands moved up to her waist and squeezed tightly, causing her to release a little moan against my mouth. My other hand moves to the nape of her neck and lightly pulls her hair back.
A little chuckle leaves my chest at her readiness.
In a quick move, I put my hands under her thighs and lift her onto my desk, pinning her against it with my hands.
We broke apart quickly for a breath of air. Her eyelashes shadowed her eyes which watched me like a predator.
Without thinking my hand goes to the side of her face.
"Beautiful," I say before connecting our lips again.
She wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me in closer as her hands cling to my shirt.
A groan leaves me this time and she smiles against my lips. Her hands go for the buttons in the front of my shirt as she slowly starts to undo them.
A creak fills the room.
"Massimo," A voice says behind me as the door opens.
Serena straightens but I don't move an inch as I smile down at her reddened cheeks and swollen lips. I kiss down her jaw as she leans her head back for me. We both completely ignored the person at the door and enjoyed the moment for a few more seconds.
"What is it?" I mutter against her skin as I continue my soft attack.
"Mhm, sir there is something you should see," The voice says shyly. I pull away from the beauty in front of me and she smirks up at me.
"It better be important," I say and turn around to see one of the computer techs standing at my door with a laptop. Jason, I believe.
Jason walks towards the desk as Serena hops off and moves back into the chair.
The door opens again but I keep my eyes on Serena while she does the same.
Her eyes snap from mine first as she looks at the door.
"Spencer," She greets with a smile.
"Hey darling," He says returning the smile. He then looks at me and the smile disappears as I give him a disproving look.
"What is it?" I ask and turn back to Jason.
"I was monitoring Serena's phone as ordered before destroying it and found something," Jason says wearily while looking over at Serena.
She gives him a nod to continue.
"Someone send something through a secure site. I have been trying to find out who it was since it was sent to the inbox but there is nothing. It's like a ghost sent it as a warning," Jason continues before looking over at Serena cautiously as if she were the convict.
I look over at her to see her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"Sounds like something I used to do but considering your boss has been watching me since I have been here, I can be checked off the suspect list," She says with humor on her face.
Jason clears his throat before placing the laptop so we can all see the screen. Without a word, he presses the file and it opens a few different screens before a clip pulls up.
A person was hanging from the ceiling by chains around his wrists. His feet were inches off the floor as his body swung slightly. A bag was over his head hiding his features but it was obvious they did a number on him.
His skin was full of deep wounds and burn marks.
He was tortured.
The room he was in was dark and built with cement. Old blood stains coated the walls.
"There are a few minutes of him just hanging there," Jason says before going to the computer and fast-forwards it.
Another figure with their back turned goes to stand in front of the man. He says something inaudible before pulling the hood off the man.
The person now turns to the screen before saying something in Spanish.
"Date la vuelta Serena. Sabemos dónde estás,"
(**Turn yourself over Serena. We know where you are.**)
I look over at Serena when I hear her name. She had a bored expression as she watched the screen.
"Tu novio aquí ya nos ha dicho dónde estás."
(**Your boyfriend has already told us where you are**)
"Ahora que tenemos lo que necesitamos, ya no es necesario."
(**Now that we have what we need, he is no longer needed**)
The man pulls a knife from his pocket, jamming it into the man's throat before pulling it straight back out.
Then the screen goes black.
All eyes turn to Serena as she stares at the screen.
"Do you mind translating? My Spanish is rusty," Spencer asks and she looks over at us with the same bored expression.
"He said that I should turn myself in because my boyfriend has already told them where I am," She says in a serious tone before cracking up and laughing.
I look over at Spencer to see the same confused look on his face.
We wait for her to calm down before she looks me in the eyes with a smirk on her face.
"First off, they don't know where I am. If they did they would already be here instead of sending a threat. Second of all, the so-called boyfriend they asked doesn't know where I am. And third, that man in the video had it easier than what I would have done to him."
"Who was it?" Spencer asks looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you know them?"
"That one doing the torturing is my old trainer. He is the worst tracker to ever exist," She shakes her head slightly.
"The other one was Lance."